Tag Archive for SCAG. Go Human

5-year old fatally shot riding bike on neighbor’s lawn, reclaiming road space for bikes and dining, and Pasadena BLM ride

August 13, 2020 / / Comments Off on 5-year old fatally shot riding bike on neighbor’s lawn, reclaiming road space for bikes and dining, and Pasadena BLM ride

My God.

A North Carolina man is being held without bond on a charge of 1st degree murder, after shooting a five-year old boy point blank for the crime of riding his bike onto the man’s yard.

There are no words.

Or a pit in hell deep enough for someone who could do that.

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Today’s common theme is trading space for cars in exchange for space for bikes and diners.

That’s what’s happening on Culver Blvd in downtown Culver City, where city leaders approved plans for quick-build “tactical mobility lanes” for buses, bicyclists and emergency vehicles for the next two years, with additional space to be used for outdoor dining.

Hermosa Beach is trading the sharrows on Hermosa Ave for dedicated bike lanes and more outdoor dining space for at least the next six months.

San Luis Obispo is removing a traffic lane to stripe what may or may not be a temporary bike lane to accommodate the Covid-19 bike boom, while providing a buffer for outdoor diners.

New York goes the other way, moving a bikeshare rack to make room for diners at a 100-year old restaurant.

However, a writer for USA Today questions whether people dining al fresco at restaurants newly expanded into the streets to provide a safe space from Covid-19 are actually safe from people driving cars. Short answer, probably not in most cases.

Today’s photo shows SCAG’s revived Go Human campaign mentioned below.

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Ride to support Black Lives Matter and demand civilian police oversight in Pasadena on Saturday.

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LA’s Slow Streets movement finally made its way to Valley Village.

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The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition talks with ’84 Olympic cycling hero Nelson Vails on Instagram this Friday.

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When is a Scottish pathway not a pathway?

When it’s a raging river.

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Christian Bale is one of us, as he takes his mountain bike out for a spin with his wife, in what may or may not be LA.

Britney Spears is one of us, too, going for a ride along the beach with her boyfriend.

Die Hard star Bruce Willis is one of us, going shopping by ebike in Santa Monica.

MMA fighter Ronda Rousey is one of us, though she may be rethinking that after she “ate it so hard” falling off her bike.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes keeps going on.

Road rage incidents directed towards bike riders are up in at least one Oregon county.

Once again, someone has sabotaged a British mountain bike trail, hiding spikes and barbed wire in a deliberate attempt to seriously injure someone.

Someone may be deliberately targeting bike riders by spreading oil across a greenway trail; a little girl was injured when her scooter skidded off the trail and into a wall.

A Land Rover driver hit a Scottish bike rider on a narrow country road, then got out of his SUV to push the victim off his bike before driving away.

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Local

No surprise here, as a new report from the Southern California Association of Governments shows a massive drop in both public and private transportation compared to last year since the coronavirus crisis kicked in, including a 39% drop in bikeshare use. Meanwhile, SCAG is revising its successful Go Human campaign.

Metro Bike is offering discounted daily, monthly and yearly passes through this month.

 

State

A San Diego County man reports he was stung over 150 times after being surrounded by a swarm of bees while running on a North County bike path. Which serves as a reminder just how lucky I was to ride into a similar swarm, and escape with major injuries — but not a single bee sting. 

The San Diego Bicycle Coalition is kicking off a semi-virtual scavenger hunt; no word on whether the recalcitrant North Park businesses actually opted out.

Police are looking for a cowardly Murrieta driver who fled the scene after crashing into a woman riding a bike; fortunately, she only suffered minor injuries, but her new bike was damaged. Thanks to Jeff Hammons for the heads-up.

Ventura police bust a bike thief, only to discover he has over 30 priors in the last six years.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 95-year old Santa Maria man just hit 100,000 miles on his bike. Although I’d have to back up to get back down to a 100,00 miles. But I’m not 95-years old, either.

A volunteer group is helping San Francisco restaurants fight high delivery fees by delivering food orders for them by bike, foot and car, at no charge.

Modesto police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who ran down a bike rider, leaving him or her with undisclosed injuries.

 

National

A man honored his late father’s legacy and raised over $6,000 to fight cancer by riding a century every day last month. The story is available on Yahoo if you can’t access it on Bicycling.

Meanwhile, Bicycling drops its paywall to call the new Tern GSD the best-equipped electric cargo bike. As long as you’re willing to fork out over $4,500, or more than eight grand for the version they tested.

Finishing out our Bicycling trifecta, the magazine wants to tell you how to avoid road raging drivers.

Used bike sales have helped US bike shops to survive the pandemic bike boom, which has cleaned many shops out of new bikes for the foreseeable future. However, Cycling News says there are still good deals on new bikes if you know where to look. And apparently, they do.

City Lab says life-saving technologies already exist to keep people from getting killed by drivers, yet manufacturers aren’t required to install them.

Now that’s more like it. Cars could be considered guests on Denver streets in the not-too-distant future.

A Western Colorado rafting guide rescued a family trapped by a wildfire on rental bikes.

Kindhearted Colorado cops bought a new mountain bike for a 12-year old autistic boy, after he inadvertently left his bike next to a Free Furniture sign and someone helped themselves to it.

An Iowa man was killed when a tree limb fell on him as he was riding his bike during the 100 mph derecho storm that tore through the Midwest. And no, I never heard of one before, either.

No bias here, as a Dallas newspaper says they’re glad to be rid of the “bike litter” of dockless bikeshare bikes, even though there’s now a shortage of bikes due to the bike boom.

You can have as many lights as you want on your bike in Texas.

A New York priest raised $20,000 for a food bank with a century ride through Long Island.

This week’s VeloNews podcast talks with Wall Street Journal sports columnist and dedicated bicyclist Jason Gay about the bike boom and the rescheduled Tour de France.

A Georgia man learned the hard way that if you’re going to ride with meth on your bike, put a light on it, already.

 

International

Red Bull directs your attention to the best bike accounts on YouTube.

Vancouver cops are facing criticism for crashing a patrol car into a bike rider three times before knocking him off his bike, then violently tasing him, kneeling on his neck and wresting him to the ground before taking him into custody — all because he didn’t stop for a damn traffic violation.

A Canadian community will pay $120,000 to rip out temporary bike lanes that were part of a pilot project.

Talk about damning with faint praise. Bike-riding British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists that “not all cyclists are Lycra louts.”

You might be able to get that Brompton you’ve been dreaming of after all. The British bikemaker is starting a subscription service in the UK for the equivalent of $39 a month, with Germany and the US likely to follow. Although there are other, much cheaper alternatives.

That didn’t take long. Just days after opening, Britain’s first Dutch-style protected roundabout had to be closed after a driver plowed through it.

Speaking of Dutch style, The Netherlands offers a guide to cities looking to build a better bike culture, from discouraging cars to building an actual network of separated bikeways.

The City Fix says African nations can still become more walkable and bikeable through targeted investments, despite the coronavirus crisis.

A Cartier ad featuring two men taking a romantic bike ride apparently crossed a line with Chinese sensors; a later version described them as father and son, which somehow seems worse.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here, as the 2020 world road championships were the latest Covid-19 domino to fall.

Just days after winning Milan-San Remo, former world cross champ Wout van Aert won the opening stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Former Tour of California champ George Bennett rolled to victory at Italy’s prestigious, 114-year old Gran Piemonte race.

Weight weenies rejoice! Canyon tells cycling’s governing body to stuff their weight minimums, checking in with a complete new bike weighing just 13lb 11oz, over a pound lighter than UCI’s minimum weight restriction.

 

Finally…

It’s not exactly the Virgin Mary in a tortilla or anything, just Simon Cowell’s face in a rock wall. Turns out that towing your kid’s bike with a towel tied to your car may not be the best idea.

And yes, you can carry your groceries home on a bike. Even if they’re already in the fridge.

Thanks to W. Corylus for that last link.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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