Tag Archive for sharrows

California media ignoring problems with state’s moribund ebike voucher program, and bike bills whittled down in legislature

July 3, 2024 / / No comments
Just 181 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Happy Independence Day!

There’s no better way to celebrate the 4th than with a good bike ride, whether you’re riding during the day or to the fireworks at night.

Just remember many people may have been drinking before they get behind the wheel, and many others driving distracted. Or both. And they may not be looking for someone on a bicycle.

So ride defensively this weekend. I don’t want to have to write about you or anyone else.

As for me, if past is prologue, my 4th will be spent all night huddled in a closet comforting a corgi terrified by the near constant bombardment of illegal fireworks outside our Hollywood neighborhood. 

Good times. 

We’ll see you again bright and early on Monday.

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels.

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It’s now 195 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 37 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s ebike voucher program ran out after just 18 minutes when over 10,000 people attempted to claim one. This was the program’s second attempt to launch after the website crashed from high demand a few weeks ago.

Neve mind that the launch came just one year after the program was created by the legislature.

That compares with California’s still moribund program, which still hasn’t even attempted to launch yet. And probably won’t anytime soon after serious questions were raised about program administrator Pedal Ahead.

Which oddly hasn’t been mentioned anywhere other than in the local San Diego paper, despite its status as a failed statewide program.

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Sharrows only exist to help drivers improve their aim.

Meanwhile, Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry reports a bill to ban sharrows from high speed roadways is still alive in the state legislature, along with the Caltrans Complete Streets bill, but both have been whittled down to reflect the status quo.

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This has got to be one of the most evocative cycling photos I’ve seen.

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I forgot she was one of us, too.

https://twitter.com/cyclartist/status/1808199538345230525

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

No bias here. After new separated bike lanes were installed on San Diego’s Convoy Street, a local TV station focused all its attention on anecdotal reports of customers avoiding the area due to a loss of previously super convenient parking spaces.

No bias here, either. London bicyclists want to know why the Royal Parks Service won’t allow early morning time trials in the city’s Richmond Park over concerns about speeding cyclists, but is going ahead with a much larger duathlon race consisting of running and bicycling.

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Local 

The Los Angeles Times looks at California’s deadliest freeways, topped by I-15 in San Bernardino County and I-10 in Riverside County, with 48 deaths and 31 deaths in 2022, respectively. Another reminder that any transportation system that accepts death as a frequent and predictable consequence is an abject failure.

Speaking of freeways, Metro still plans to flush billions down the climate change-inducing, induced demand toilet by expanding the 605 and 5 Freeways.

 

State

A 77-year old San Diego man suffered severe, but not life-threatening injuries when he crashed his ebike into a raised curb in the Serra Mesa neighborhood.

A Santa Rosa mother joined with local bicyclists to call for the CHP to address an increase in hostility directed towards bicyclists, as well as stepping up the investigation into her son’s death after he was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike.

 

National

In a bizarre story, a Denver bicyclist was somehow killed when a driver rolled their vehicle over the center freeway divider, raising questions of just where the victim had been riding, which the local media doesn’t seem to be asking.

Sheriff’s deputies have arrested a suspect in the hit-and-run crash that killed an 82-year old man taking part in the five-day Tour of Nebraska last weekend.

A planned overhaul of the main concourse at Chicago’s Union Station will included expanded bike parking options, after respondents overwhelmingly preferred adding secure, indoor bike storage.

New York’s congestion pricing may not be dead after all, as political leaders attempt to persuade the state’s governor to accept a revised plan with a lower fee for motorists driving into Manhattan.

An off-duty New Jersey cop has been charged with a relatively minor third-degree felony for the hit-and-run that critically injured an 18-year old man riding a bicycle; he turned himself in after giving himself time to sober up the next day.

 

International

Bike Rumor looks forward to the return of the Eurobike trade show in Frankfurt, Germany this weekend.

Megan Lynch forwards a heartbreaking Mastadon post showing the work of an Australian woman who made a quilt from her husband’s bicycling jerseys, after he was killed while riding his bike.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tadej Pogačar climbed back into the yellow leader’s jersey on stage 4 of the Tour de France, dropping rival Jonas Vingegaard on the summit of the Col du Galibier on his way to a 45 second lead over the peloton.

Velo examines Biniam Gorman’s long journey from impoverished Eritrea to cycling stardom as the first Black African to win a stage at the Tour de France.

Greg LeMond remains the only American to officially wear the yellow jersey, after Tour de France stage and general classification wins by Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, David Zabriskie and George Hincapie were officially erased, as if both the wins and the people who won them had never existed.

Ouch. A Utah paper asks if anyone in America even cares that the world’s premier bike race has started.

Cycling News offers the best deals on bike gear inspired by the Tour.

Eight years ago, US Olympian Kristen Faulkner didn’t even know how to clip into her pedals; today, she’s a medal contender in the individual time trial at the Paris Olympics.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could come with drone DNA. Apparently, riding your bike naked with a group is okay; riding naked alone not so much.

And forget debating, make Trump and Biden race bikes.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

New LA-area bike lanes including Hollywood Blvd, and bill banning sharrows on higher-speed roads loses support

July 2, 2024 / / No comments
Just 182 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers updates on three LA-area bike lane projects.

  • The new separated bike lanes on the east end of Hollywood are partially in place on the eastbound side, and already rideable.
  • Bike lanes have been installed on the newly resurfaced Foothill Blvd in Lake View Terrace, demonstrating what’s possible with Measure HLA, which mandates building out the city’s mobility plan whenever streets are resurfaced — if city leaders would stop actively blocking it.
  • Redondo Beach extended and upgraded the bike lanes on a resurfaced section of Torrance Blvd, adding green paint in the conflict zones. Because as we all know, a dab of colored paint stops distracted, aggressive and/or intoxicated drivers every time.

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This is how the sausage is unmade.

 

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All you have to do is ask nice, right?

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Riding a bicycle in the right lane of a multilane highway is legal.

Using a handheld cellphone to record them isn’t.

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It’s now 194 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 37 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here. The New York Times reports on a “bizarre culture war” against bike lanes in Queens, where nearly every home in the neighborhood sports a “No Bike Lanes” lawn sign, as residents prefer the convenience of parking directly in front of their homes to the safety of kids riding their bikes. Although as others have pointed out, nearly every news story about a similar conflict somehow identifies bike lane supporters as “cyclists,” while opponents are always “residents. Because evidently, people who use bike lanes never, ever live there.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels who are behaving badly.

An Iowa man was shot and killed by police offers after he shot two cops who had responded to reports of a bicyclist with a gun, in an incident in which the shooter’s form of transportation seems incidental, despite being treated by news outlets like the most important detail.

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Local 

Here’s your chance to tell Caltrans to improve safety on the deadly 22 miles of PCH that runs through Malibu, as the agency calls for comments on the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study; a virtual workshop will take place from 1 to 4 pm on Thursday, July 18th. Unfortunately though, the link to register for the workshop is broken.

 

State

A bill banning tuning kits that can allow an ebike to exceed factory speed limitations sits on the governor’s desk after passing both houses of the legislature.

The CEO of a San Diego micro ebike company calls for giving ebike buyers the tax credits they deserve, while fixing the outdated regulations that hold them back.

Five years after a 12-year old girl was nearly killed by 17-year old driver while riding her bike in a Sacramento crosswalk at an intersection on the city’s High Injury Network, her parents complain the city hasn’t done anything to fix it. Before you click on the link, though, be forewarned this one is really hard to read.

 

National

Time Magazine selects the best “cheap” ebikes for different types of riders, with most retailing for under a grand.

Cycling Weekly examines how a former Portland high school principal became one of the most in-demand custom bicycle painters, with a client list ranging from Andy Schleck to Ayesha McGowan.

A 31-year old photographer is recreating her great-great-grandfather’s cross-country bicycle trip from 128 years earlier, following his route from Seattle to Boston while taking pictures with the same model of early portable camera he used.

A Houston public radio station considers whether the city will get a new bikeshare, now that the current one has shuttered due to financial problems after a dozen years.

Hundreds of a naked and nearly naked bike riders turned out for Chicago’s nocturnal edition of the World Naked Bike Ride, as bystanders cheered them on.

Vermont now has a four-foot passing law, with a $200 fine for breaking it. But as we’ve seen, a passing law is only as good as the local cops commitment to enforcing it.

A DC train line was stopped for several hours after a man repeatedly stabbed another man on the platform, before throwing a bicycle onto the tracks.

The leader of a North Carolina search and rescue unit was killed when a squirrel caused him to crash after darting out in front of his bicycle, resulting in cardiac arrest and irreversible spinal damage.

A 23-year old Florida woman faces charges for killing a 67-year old Florida journalist and pastor in a drunken, high speed hit-and-run; she was traveling around 90 mph at the time of the crash, with a blood alcohol level more than two-and-a-half times the legal limit, while dragging the victim’s bicycle under her car nearly all the way back to her home.

 

International

Your next bike helmet could inflate before you wear it.

This is the cost of traffic violence. Residents of the 800-year old town of Huntingdon, England held a vigil to honor a “much loved” bike shop owner and bike safety advocate, killed by a careless driver while riding his bike.

Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive, an 83-year old British man walked without a single day behind bars for killing a 54-year old man riding a bicycle; he was still driving despite suffering from degenerate eyesight and failing a roadside vision test.

Momentum highlights the year’s top 15 European bicycling routes.

Cycling Weekly highlights their favorite bespoke bikes from the recent MADE Australia handmade bike show.

 

Competitive Cycling

About damn time. Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay became the first black African cyclist to win a stage in the Tour de France, capturing stage three in a mad sprint to the finish; meanwhile, former Giro champ Richard Carapaz slid into the yellow jersey, while matching the time of Tadej Pogačar.

USA Today highlights the three remaining Americans in this year’s Tour de France after Sepp Kuss withdrew due to Covid, including Tour rookie, US road champ and LA native Sean Quinn.

NBC explains the rules for Olympic road cycling, mountain biking, and BMX competitions.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new bike shoes honor a tennis legend. You can find a lot of things riding a bike, including your new kitty.

And riding the Tour while unleashing your inner Batman.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Beverly Hills backslides on bike safety, Rancho Palos Verdes considers bike ban, and a prop cash bike theft scammer

May 31, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 214 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’ve inched up to 1,151 signatures, so don’t stop now! I’ll forward the petition to the mayor’s office next week, after getting tied up with health issues this week. So urge everyone you know to sign it now! 

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Beverly Hills is backsliding on their new found commitment to bike safety and Complete Streets.

The gilded city will rip out its only protected bike lane, on South Roxbury Drive next to Roxbury Park, because some drivers found the new parking configuration confusing and thought it reduced visibility when backing out of parking spaces.

Even though the city doesn’t seem to have done any actual studies to see whether it improved safety during the three years it was in place with no documented safety issues.

The planter-protected bike lane will be replaced with sharrows — even though protected bike lanes have been proven to improve safety for all road users, while sharrows have been shown to make things worse.

And never mind that the arrow in the sharrows symbol is just there to help drivers improve their aim.

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Speaking of gilded cities, Jim Lyle forwards news that Rancho Palos Verdes is considering banning bicycles and motorcycles from Palos Verdes Drive South, due to the same shifting ground that forced the closure of the famed Wayfarer’s Chapel.

However, that could put the city in conflict with state law unless cars are also banned from the street, since since state law requires bicycles to be permitted anywhere motor vehicles are allowed, with the exception of limited access highways in urban areas.

On the other hand, the suggestion to voluntarily avoid the area is probably a good idea until the ground stops literally shifting beneath your wheels.

Dear Bike Community,

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes would like to inform the Bike Community that the City will be considering prohibiting bicycles and motorcycles on Palos Verdes Drive South (PVDS) and an agenda item is planned to go before the RPV City Council on June 18, 2024.

  • City staff and consultants are seeing rapid and substantial rates of movement (6 to 9 inches per week, depending on location) in and around the vicinity of the landslide area along Palos Verdes Drive South.
  • Despite the warning signs in place, we are seeing injuries.
  • Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking the City Council to consider prohibiting bicycles and motorcycles on PVDS.
  • We are requesting the Bike Community to voluntarily consider alternate routes.

Please let us know if you have comments and questions regarding the above bicycle and motorcycle prohibition proposal.

Please contact:

Ramzi Awwad

Director of Public Works

City of Rancho Palos Verdes

rawwad@rpvca.gov”

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Police are looking for a con man who stole a Huntington Beach man’s electric bike, as well as victimizing several other people with similar scams.

The man poses as a prospective buyer for expensive ebikes advertised on on Facebook Marketplace and other online platforms, and shows up with cash in hand for a test ride.

But only after leaving with the bike do the victims discover the envelope full of money he left behind as a deposit is just counterfeit prop money for intended for film shoots, and marked “For motion picture purposes only” in small fine print.

In this case, the Huntington Beach victim was scammed out of $4,200.

There’s no word on how many other people have been conned, or the value to the bikes he’s stolen. However, after reporting the crime, the victim heard from several other people claiming they had also been victimized in similar scams, including in Redondo Beach and Escondido.

So watch out if you’re selling an ebike — or any other high-end bike — through an online marketplace.

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This protected bike lane on 7th Street in DTLA was agreed to as part of the approval process for the Wilshire Grand Center.

And it only took 14 very long years after the project got the green light.

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This is who we share the road with.

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Anyone?

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GCN suggests five reasons people don’t bike to work and 13 suggestions to overcome them.

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It’s now 162 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 35 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here. El Paso police blame the victim, saying a 76-year old man died ten days after striking a car on his bike when the 22-year old driver pulled out in front of him while exiting a parking lot; needless to say, there’s no mention of a charges or even a ticket for carelessly killing an elderly man.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A British borough is spending the equivalent of nearly $51,000 to install closed circuit TV cams to deter anti-social behavior by riders on a new bike path.

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Local 

Streetsblog reports protected bike lanes — or what passes for them in Los Angeles — are finally coming to Hollywood Blvd this summer. However, they won’t offer any protection for tourists strolling along the crowded boulevard, other than a few flimsy plastic bollards and whatever cars may be parked alongside it.

The Los Angeles Times highlights six “must-see stops” along the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail. Never mind that the bike path would extend to Malibu by now, instead of stopping at Will Rogers State Beach, except for a misguided campaign to halt the extension over the optics of spending millions to build it. 

Culver City is moving forward with plans for a three-mile concrete bike lane on Overland Ave, along with new safety and streetscape improvements, extending from Venice Blvd through Fox Hills.

Malibu locals can get a free T-shirt calling for speed cams on deadly PCH, complete with an acronym calling for drivers to slow the fuck down, at the Tracy Park Gallery this evening.

 

State

As we noted yesterday, the California legislature has rejected Governor Newsom’s call to gut the state’s Active Transportation Program; Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry explains just how awful the cuts would be. Not to mention the draconian cuts also shows the lack of actual climate bona fides for our ostensibly “climate champion” governor.

Goleta opened a new community garden, playground and extended multi-purpose path through a local park.

A woman in San Mateo County was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges for the drunken crash that killed a 60-year old bicyclist in 2022; 33-year old Samantha Mei Hartwell qualified for the murder count thanks to her previous DUI convictions.

 

National

Men’s Journal recommends three “must-have” mountain bike and/or accessories for when you decide to chuck it all and live out of your van.

A blog post examines the science of why we give up, as it relates to a failed century ride.

An op-ed in a Boulder, Colorado paper suggests that instead of conducting a road diet to improve safety, bike riders should just ride on quieter neighborhood streets. Never mind that the purpose of a road diet is to tame a dangerous roadway, and the bike lanes are usually a tool to do that. And no one would suggest that drivers should be forced to take a slower, circuitous route filled with stop signs just to get where they’re going.

A New York man was killed riding his bike home from his job as a Manhattan dishwasher, after the city delayed installation of a protected bike lane last fall that might have saved him.

 

International

Now you, too, can ride up Glasgow, Scotland’s 650-foot long Montrose Street hill, with it’s “infamous” 14% gradient featured in last year’s World Championships.

Derby, England’s iconic bespoke bike brand Mercian Cycles is entering voluntary liquidation and shutting down operations after 78 years; Leigh Timmis rode one of their bikes on his seven-year, 44,000-mile ride around the world.

After spending the last decade focused on building “bicycle superhighways” for commuters, London’s transportation department is launching a series of leisurely bike routes of up to ten miles for weekend riding.

National Geographic recommends the 15-day, 535-mile bicycle-and-train Slovenia Green Gourmet Route, providing a fresh two-wheeled perspective on the country’s food, history and culture.

A pair of German sisters are now three years and over 6,200 miles into a bike tour of Africa, after they initially set out for Portugal and just kept going.

Over 5,000 elementary school kids in Kitakyushu, Japan have received an official-looking bicycle license after taking a course in bike safety and passing a simple test, although the license doesn’t seem to be required or provide any added benefits. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgium’s “Spy in the Peloton” offers an insider’s look at motor doping inspections at the recently completed Giro, which was the fastest in the race’s storied 115-year history.

The Tour de Suisse will honor fallen pro cyclist Gino Mäder at this year’s race, a year after he was killed in a high-speed crash during last year’s tour.

Former pro Peter Sagan failed to qualify for Slovakia’s mountain bike team for the upcoming Paris Olympics, after his training was derailed by a heart condition earlier this year, ending his illustrious career with a whimper instead of a bang.

 

Finally…

Your next gravel bike could be an e-Ducati. Nothing like putting the blame on you to avoid getting hit by a careless driver.

And look, ma, no feet!

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Ebikes blamed for actress injured in e-motorbike crash, and bill banning sharrows on high-speed roads gets CA Senate nod

May 24, 2024 / / One comment
Just 221 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’ve inched up to 1,147 signatures, so don’t stop now! I plan to forward the petition to the mayor’s office next week, so urge anyone who hasn’t already to sign it now! 

Photo from Nina Dobrev’s Instagram account. 

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When is an ebike not an ebike?

Vampire Diaries actress Nina Dobrev posted before and after photos showing her on an electric off-road motorcycle, and in a hospital bed wearing neck and knee braces, saying it’s going to be a long road to recovery.

The problem comes, like Simon Cowell before her, in how the media has reported it.

News stories have variously described the motorbike she was riding as an ebike, an electric dirt bike and an electric motorcycle. Or sometimes more than one.

But only the last two are accurate.

By conflating all two-wheeled electric bikes as ebikes, they add to the misperception that ebikes are dangerous, as Malcomb Watson points out below.

Part of the problem comes from the ebike classifications that began in California, and have been adopted by states across the US.

But there’s a big difference between a ped-assist ebike with a top speed of 20 mph, and a throttle-controlled moped that can do 30 mph.

Let alone a motor scooter or electric motorcycle.

Yet to most of the media — and much of the public — they’re all ebikes. So if you wonder what the ebike panic is all about, that’s a good place to start.

Chart by Orange County Bicycle Coalition

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A bike bill moving on to the state Assembly would ban sharrows from streets with speeds over 30 mph.

Now we just have to ban them from all the other streets, too.

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Gravel Bike California offers a beginners guide on where to start.

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It’s now 155 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 35 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

A Houston woman was the victim of a road-raging terrorist, who allegedly tossed roofing nails onto the side of the road following a back-and-forth encounter with a group of bicyclists; she suffered a broken collar bone, pelvic bone injuries and a concussion after hitting the nails on her bike while riding at around 25 mph. A crowdfunding page to help pay her medical expenses has raised over $11,000 of the $15,000 goal.

In yet another example of cops without a clue when it comes to bike law, a Georgia man was detained for riding his ebike in the street after dark, with the cops apparently unaware what an ebike is, and why he couldn’t just ride it on the sidewalk, where it’s prohibited.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A 36-year old San Francisco man is under arrest after allegedly running a red light on his bicycle and slamming into a 65-year old woman, then fleeing the scene and leaving the victim with life-threatening injuries. Yet another reminder that you’re required to stick around after hitting someone with your bike, just like the people in the big, dangerous machines. Even if they too often don’t. 

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Local 

Enjoy a ride under the full moon with tonight’s Moonlight Mash in Long Beach.

 

State

Caltrans officially opened a new bike underpass beneath the 5 Freeway in San Diego’s Carmel Valley, providing a new connection to the State Route 56 Bike Path, North Coast Bike Trail and Coastal Rail Trail.

This is who we share the road with. A Subaru driver apparently tried to turn a Goleta 7-11 into a drive-thru, plowing through the front windows to completely embed his Outback in the convenience store. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

Speaking of Goleta, a recent series of bicycle and pedestrian safety stings operations resulted in 53 citations, but the story doesn’t break down how many drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians got them. Thanks again to Megan Lynch. 

The Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission moved a step closer to ripping out the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and turning the bridge over to the people in motor vehicles, who want the whole damn thing for themselves.

Streetsblog asks how many San Francisco bike riders have to get doored before the city stops installing painted bike lanes.

 

National

Bike Index has launched a new app to simplify registering your bikes, for free, from anywhere in the world.

After 412 days and 18,000 miles, Spencer McCullough has finished riding to all 51 National Parks in the lower 48 states.

Gear Junkie picks 13 of the year’s best bike helmets for roadies.

Bicycling looks back at the horrific coal rolling case that nearly killed six bicyclists in a rural community outside of Houston. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

Indianapolis is now the first American city to offer free bikeshare to all its residents, with a fleet of 325 new ebikes. Which could be the best way to keep people from stealing them, since they can just go out and use another one.

Tennessee invited bike riders to “explore 52 stunning, epic landscapes” on the state’s 52 curated bike routes, traversing 1,739 miles across 53 counties, complete with a nifty pedaling logo on their website.

A writer for the Harvard student paper says the contentious new bike lanes currently being built on the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts represent a bitter division in the city’s politics, leaving may residents at a loss for how it can be bridged.

New York’s Indian Consulate noted the “disturbing trend” of Indian citizens getting killed in the US, after an Indian student at SUNY university was killed in a collision while riding a bike on Wednesday; needless to say, the driver wasn’t charged.

 

International

Momentum offers ten must-try North American summer bike touring routes. The magazine also offers a guide to the World Naked Bike Ride, spreading its cheeks in over 70 cities across 20 countries this year; Los Angeles is set to bare it all on June 24th. Or most of it, anyway.

Road.cc offers tips on how to diagnose and deal with saddle pain, and why your bike seat may not be the problem.

A Cuban radio station recounts the many benefits of bicycling, in advance of next month’s UN World Bicycle Day.

Parents in the London borough of Ealing won’t let their kids ride bikes on the street, despite millions spent on new bicycling infrastructure, because illegal parking, congested roads and a lack of traffic enforcement have made many bike lanes virtually useless.

Londoners will get a new bike and pedestrian bridge connecting the boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham over the River Lea.

This is who we share the road with, part two. After finishing a 40 month sentence for killing a 15-year old bike rider in a 2021 hit-and-run, a British man led the cops on a chase at speeds up to 100 mph, despite a three year driving ban that began the day he got out.

Cycling Weekly considers why speed limits don’t apply to Brits on bicycles, and whether that really means you can ride as fast as you want in the UK.

A new Danish study shows people who bike for transportation seldom choose the shortest route, but rather one that feels the shortest, with fewer interruptions.

The Global Times examines the historic “cycling craze” that’s sweeping Chinese cities — and inspiring demand for luxury bikewear.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former pro cyclist Lizzy Banks describes how a false positive on a drug test derailed her racing career, and took a toll on her “mental health, finances, future earnings as a pro, and her love and faith in the sport,” despite being cleared of any wrong doing. Read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you.

Bicycling Australia says if there’s anyone who can win the rare Giro – Tour de France double in the same year, it’s Tadej Pogačar, who has the first part pretty much wrapped up.

Former Unbound gravel race champ Ivar Slik suffered a severe concussion, broken nose and cuts and bruises when he somehow crashed into a car while on an Arkansas training ride with a group of his fellow Dutch cyclists.

Several cyclists collided on the 4th stage of the Tour of Albania; no word on any possible injuries. Bonus points if you even knew there is a Tour of Albania, now in its 81st year. 

 

Finally…

Busted for looking like a wanted man’s doppelgänger. Why go to court, when you can battle it out with the cops on Facebook?

And when you’re carrying meth and fentanyl on your bike, stop for the damn stop signs, already — and put a taillight on it.

The bike, that is. Not the drugs.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

El Segundo paints sharrows to thin the herd, and Kaitlin Armstrong guilty in shooting death of Moriah “Mo” Wilson

November 17, 2023 / / 3 comments

El Segundo is starting work on new street resurfacing and bikeway projects.

The small town nestled below LAX announced plans for a cycle track on a portion of El Segundo Blvd, as well as Class II and Class III bike lane on El Segundo, Nash Street and Douglas Street, and Class III bike lanes on Continental Blvd.

For anyone unfamiliar on the terminology, a cycle track is a fully separated or protected bike lane, while Class II bike lanes are the usual painted door zone bike lanes we all know and love.

Class III bike lanes, on the other hand, aren’t really bike lanes at all.

They’re sharrows.

Those funny arrow-shaped chevrons that are supposed to indicate that bicyclists are allowed to share the lane, just like we can on most streets without them, and which have been shown to be worse than nothing.

And nothing is already pretty bad.

The city is placing them on streets with 35 mph speed limits, which drivers typically exceed by 10 or 15 mph. Which means anyone riding on those streets is likely to have someone running up their ass in a motor vehicle at 50 mph.

And making it clear that the arrow symbols are just there to help drivers improve their aim in an attempt to thin the bicycle herd.

Thanks to Dr. Grace Peng for the heads-up.

www.nicetryflaxy.com

………

Guilty.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, an Austin, Texas jury found Kaitlin Armstrong guilty of murder for the death of gavel cycling champ Moriah “Mo” Wilson.

Armstrong evidently became convinced Wilson was her rival for the affections of former boyfriend and pro cyclist Colin Strickland, who had spent the afternoon with Wilson.

Testimony showed she used Strava to track down where Wilson was staying, and shot her repeatedly.

Armstrong then fled the country after she was interviewed by Austin police. She was found living in Costa Rica under an assumed name following an international manhunt, and reportedly having plastic surgery to change her appearance.

She now faces up to 99 years behind bars under Texas law.

Meanwhile, People offers a timeline of the “shocking love triangle murder case,” which doesn’t sensationalize it at all.

………

Californians will mark Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance for the victims of traffic violence, with Southern California events scheduled for Los Angeles, Malibu and San Diego.

Meanwhile, Seattle volunteers marked Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance by posting over 200 yellow silhouettes at the sites where someone was killed in a traffic collision after the city adopted Vision Zero in 2015.

………

Attend the webinar, and get an advance discount on tickets to next year’s Calbike Bike Summit in San Diego.

………

Somehow we missed this one last week.

Gravel Bike California takes an urban adventure across LA’s Eastside, featuring #ArroyoFest, Elysian Park and Eldred Street, the steepest road in the city. 

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Professional skier and filmmaker Dylan Sigger goes for a little mountain bike ride outside his British Colombia home.

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GCN examines six things that terrify people on bicycles, from black ice and swinging car doors to running out of coffee.

………

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

No bias here. A Denver-area newspaper insists that the city’s transportation department has been “captured by the bicyclist lobby and is busily screwing up streets across the city with ridiculous and ugly plastic bollards, roundabouts, and striping all in the name of ‘bicycle safety.'” God forbid anyone should use “ugly” street treatments in an effort to save lives, or that people who ride bicycles should have the right to successfully petition city officials, just like anyone else.

Police in New York are looking for four men who got out of a pair of high-end cars at a red light and brutally beat a 25-year old ebike rider with a baseball bat and trash can before getting back in their cars and driving off, leaving the victim with a broken arm and facial injuries.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

After a 6th grade girl in Bend, Oregon suffered a broken elbow and collarbone when she was struck by a 17-year old ebike rider who “came out of nowhere,” her parents were shocked to learn the cops said there’s nothing they can do under current laws.

………

Local 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass finally treated the closure of the Santa Monica Freeway following a massive fire like an actual emergency, introducing a motion at the Metro board meeting to make Metro Bike free for the duration of the closure. Which as it turns out, will only be until Tuesday.

Santa Monica responded to the recent death of fallen bicyclist Tania Mooser, as well as another bicyclist injured at the same intersection two weeks later, by moving to change intersections that currently have two-way stop signs to all way stops, and post signs at two-way stops indicating that cross traffic doesn’t stop.

 

State

San Diego ebike maker FLX Bike is changing its name to Superhuman Bikes, for no apparent reason.

 

National

Streetsblog says cities across the US are beginning to use AI-equipped automated cameras to enforce laws against parking in bike lanes, a version of which was recently legalized in California.

A legendary Colorado skier was the victim of a bike theft when someone broke into his home and stole several items, including his one-of-a-kind, $20,000 autographed LeMond bike, which was actually one of 100 of a kind.

A Wisconsin legislative committee approved a pair of bills that make it against the law to “intentionally” expose someone’s genitals or bring a child to any event where adults will expose themselves, in response to allegations that a ten-year old girl participated in the Minneapolis World Naked Bike Ride. Because apparently we need to shield kids from seeing dicks on bikes, rather than being run down by dicks in cars. 

An ebike rider in New Haven, Connecticut complained he fell after apparently being right hooked by the driver of a police patrol car; the cop insisted they didn’t hit the victim, which isn’t really the point.

CityLab argues that New York’s congestion pricing plan is the “most important American transportation experiment in decades,” and could usher in a revolution in how we get around.

Police in Philadelphia appear to question whether Philadelphia 76ers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was actually the victim of a hit-and-run, and whether he was walking or riding his BMX when he was allegedly struck by a driver. Reading between the lines, they appear suggest that Oubre suffered a broken rib falling off his bike, rather than being struck by a motorist. Thanks to Christian for the link. 

You know your little North Carolina town sucks when the local police commission won’t even let you install bike racks for future residents of a redevelopment project.

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers five foul weather tips to protect yourself and your bike this winter.

Upway, a French online marketplace for buying and selling ebikes, has raised $30 million in venture capital funding to enter the US market.

German bike bag brand Ortlieb wants you to fix what you already have, rather than buy new stuff this Black Friday. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

An Indian man was beaten to death for failing to return a bicycle he had borrowed from a friend. Although friends don’t normally beat their friends to death, bicycle or not. 

Road.cc tests ten ultra low-price bike accessories from Chinese online marketplace Temu, and surprisingly finds more hits than misses. I tried ordering a couple pairs of non-biking shoes from the site, one of which was about three sizes too big, and the other appeared made to fit a duck’s foot. 

A pair of Aussie university scholars make the case that the 280 million ebikes and mopeds currently in use around the world do more to cut the demand for oil than all the world’s electric cars.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bad news from Spain, where 23-year-old pro cyclist Josu Etxeberria is in intensive care after he was run over by a driver while on a training ride.

Pro cyclist and former ski jumper Primož Roglič auctioned off some of his memorabilia on live TV, raising the equivalent of over $217,000 to fund scholarship for young athletes in need of financial support. And demonstrated his ski jumping technique in a move proving no one puts Primož in the corner. Once again, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

 

Finally…

Bicycling is a good habit, even if you wear one. Your next bike could be a woodie, or maybe sweep the road while you ride.

And that feeling when your bike won’t fit in the back of your new 50 grand electric cybertruck.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

243 miles of South Bay bullshit, WeHo considers banning non-protected bike lanes, and LA rips out existing bike lanes

November 3, 2023 / / One comment

Don’t forget tonight’s memorial and ghost bike ceremony for fallen Santa Monica bicyclist Tania Mooser.

Meanwhile, I’m told Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is working with the widow of fallen Hollywood producer Bob George to arrange a ghost bike ceremony, after he was fatally doored in a Fountain Blvd bike lane, and will invite everyone to show up to demand safer infrastructure when details are in place.

……..

The South Bay Cities are punting on safer streets and installing a 243-mile network of sharrows, which have been shown to actually increase the risk for people on bicycles.

In fact, recent studies have demonstrated that sharrows are worse than nothing in terms of bicycle safety, while their arrow motif appears to exist solely to help drivers improve their aim in an effort to thin the herd.

Which is why bike writer Peter Flax has said “sharrows are bullshit,” in a Medium column as well as on a popular t-shirt.

So, in other words, the South Bay intends to install 243 miles of total BS.

And frankly, that stinks.

www.nicetryflaxy.com

………

Yes, please.

In marked contrast to the South Bay, the West Hollywood City Council will consider a proposal at their meeting on Monday to plan and implement nothing but protected bike lanes — Class I or Class IV — anywhere in the city.

Better yet, the proposal would be implemented without removing any proposed bike lanes from the city’s General Plan, and could include upgrading existing facilities.

Like the bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd, which currently provide convenient space for double-parking while waiting for a curbside space to open up in Boys Town.

……..

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton calls out the City of Los Angeles for putting bike riders at risk by removing bike lanes on six streets, in favor of installing still more parking.

Because as we all know, the convenience of drivers matters more than human lives in the City of Angels.

………

For those keeping score at home, The Washington Post offers all the facts you need to know regarding the trial of Kaitlin Armstrong for the murder of gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson on Austin, Texas last year.

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

No bias here. Toronto NIMBYs, including the provincial premier, trot out the usual anti-bike lane tropes in calling for the removal of a newly extended bike lane, insisting that no one ever uses it even though it’s the busiest bike lane in the city.

A British bike rider shares harrowing footage of getting deliberately rammed off his bike after he had the temerity to object to a punishment pass; naturally, the woman behind the wheel walked without a single day behind bars.

………

Local 

Pasadena’s intentionally irreverent Doo Dah Parade returns in two weeks to gleefully mock the city’s Rose Parade. But ride a bike to avoid the city’s infamous traffic and parking problems. 

 

State

The raisin capital of the world hosted an international transportation innovations summit last week, as Fresno celebrates a lifestyle of fun and livability.

Bay Area bicyclists have filed suit against US Bank, after it allegedly installed a gate blocking a longstanding bike path easement used as a shortcut to access Mt. Diablo, forcing bike riders — including a high school and middle school mountain biking team — to ride a busy, steep and narrow highway instead.

Sacramento is converting a busy one-way street to two ways to make room for bike lanes, although not everyone is onboard.

 

National

Writing for Road Bike Rider, a cycling coach lists 12 common off-season mistakes to avoid.

Bicycling suggests the best forms of cross training to help reach your bicycling goals. Although I originally read that last word as “goats,” which would have made for a much more intriguing article. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

A modern Penny Farthing rider takes pleasure in bringing a little silliness and joy to the streets of Kansas City, even if some people mistake him for a hipster. Because everyone knows Penny Farthings are the hipster transportation of choice.

Cincinnati Bengals safety Nick Scott is one of us, riding his ebike to work at the city’s stadium. Even if he thought the terrain in Los Angeles wasn’t conducive to riding in his four years with the Rams.

A Streetsblog op-ed argues that it’s long past time for protected bike lanes in Jamaica, Queens, which has thus far been ignored by city officials.

A North Carolina website considers cheap and easy changes to improve safety for the state’s bicyclists.

The Orlando, Florida man accused of murdering a couple riding their bicycles home from last year’s Bike Week festivities — the motorized kind — is back for another mental competency hearing, after he was diagnosed schizophrenia and hospitalized earlier this year.

 

International

Momentum examines that makes a great bicycling city. Los Angeles at least has the topography and climate parts covered; the rest, not so much.

Makes sense. A British Columbia driver saw someone on a gas-powered bicycle coming up fast behind her, so she naturally slammed on the brakes, with predictable results.

Kate Middleton, Britain’s Princess of Wales, ran to the rescue in full mom mode when a young boy fell off his bicycle, after she and Prince William rode a bike course at a Scottish school.

Letter writers in the UK take issue with the assertion that bike lanes are only for “champaign socialists.” Everyone knows we’re more into a good craft beer, anyway. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The last place finisher in this year’s 2,500-mile Transcontinental Race from Belgium to Greece discusses her experience on a Road.cc podcast, including crashing into a fence after falling asleep as she was riding her bike.

Carson’s Velo Sports Center will host next years US Elite & Para-cycling Track National Championships, as well as the 2024 Pan American Track Championships.

 

Finally…

If James Bond rode a bike, this would be it. When life gives you mistakenly installed bike lanes, don’t enforce the parking restrictions.

And the proper response to getting a parking ticket is to just ride your bike instead.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Disappointing new LA bike lane totals, Angelenos suffer from car blindness, and Long Beach needs bike count volunteers

October 18, 2023 / / Comments Off on Disappointing new LA bike lane totals, Angelenos suffer from car blindness, and Long Beach needs bike count volunteers

It just keeps getting worse. 

I’m told someone was killed riding a bike yesterday on Fountain Ave in East Hollywood.

If it’s confirmed — and it comes from an unimpeachable source — this will be the ninth SoCal bike rider killed in just 12 days.

Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon. 

Today’s photo, in contrast with too much of the day’s news, is a very happy corgi enjoying a pedicab ride over the new 6th Street Bridge during Sunday’s CicLAvia. 

……..

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton takes his semi-annual deep dive into bike lane building, or the lack thereof, in the City of Angels.

And finds the current results underwhelming, with far too many disappointments including truncated mileage, downgraded facilities, long delayed timelines and false claims, just to name a few.

Or as we call that here in Los Angeles, Wednesday.

As noted in past posts (FY21-22, FY20-21, FY19-20), not all bikeway miles are equal. Quality protected bike lanes and bike paths serve riders aged 8 to 80, while sharrows serve almost nobody. New bikeway mileage expands the network; upgrades to existing bikeways do not. Among upgrades, some are significant (protecting unprotected lanes) and others are nearly meaningless (adding a buffer stripe to an existing lane).

In recent years, around a quarter of the city’s output consists of these less than newsworthy facilities. Among the city’s FY23 totals are about 6 miles of new sharrows and 5 miles of buffer stripes added to existing bike lanes.

The city’s FY22-23 total of 45.2 miles breaks down into 27.7 miles of newbikeways and 17.5 miles of upgrades to existing bikeways. This represents a slight improvement over last year, which saw 26.6 new bikeway miles and 12.5 upgraded miles.

That’s a far cry from the city’s commitment to build 50 miles of bike lanes a year when the current bike plan was approved. Which was quickly cut in half when the city switched to measuring by lane miles, which counts bike lanes on each side of the road separately.

Then reduced further, when they decided sharrows count, too.

Adding disappointment, on disappointment, on disappointment.

……..

Streets For All founder Michael Schneider writes that we suffer from car blindness in Los Angeles.

We are car blind in Los Angeles; as a City, we seem to have accepted cars as essential for society to function, and we overlook their downsides and harms they cause on our society.

Cars are the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, and car crashes are a leading cause of death for children in Los Angeles. Our streets are so dangerous that a pedestrian is killed about once every three days — a rate that is four times the national average.

I’ve often said this city’s problem is we can’t see the cars for the traffic.

So it’s worth taking a few minutes to read the whole thing, because he’s absolutely right.

……..

Long Beach is still looking for volunteers for this week’s bike and pedestrian count.

https://twitter.com/GoActiveLB/status/1714350821574656418

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Metro is hosting a series of meetings beginning in Westwood next Tuesday to discuss the Traffic Reduction Study, Sepulveda Transit Corridor, and I-405 Sepulveda Pass ExpressLanes projects

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ActiveSGV will host a discussion with Strong Towns founder Chuck Marohn and current Pasadena Planning Commissioner Rick Cole at Throop Church in Pasadena tonight.

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Sounds like fun.

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SAFE offers a reminder that bike riders aren’t the only vulnerable victims of traffic violence.

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Nailed it.

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

No bias here. A San Francisco restaurant owner says the Valencia Street business corridor will die if the controversial center-line bike lane on the street isn’t removed.

A Flushing, New York letter writer with a bad case of windshield bias says riding a bicycle in traffic is a horrible idea, whether or not it’s in a bike lane, and everyone but drivers deserve tickets for breaking the law.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A San Mateo bike rider was arrested for brandishing a weapon after a woman tried to pass a large group of bicyclists in the downtown area; he raised his shirt to show the weapon in his waistband when a group of riders surrounded her car and started beating on it.

………

Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos from Sunday’s Heart of LA CicLAvia.

A South Pasadena site looks forward to the first Arroyo Fest in 20 years, as the 110 Freeway prepares to close to motor vehicle traffic for a few hours on October 29th to welcome thousand of people walking, biking, running, scooting and rolling.

Garden Grove has received a $441,000 Caltrans grant to improve the city’s Medal of Honor Bike Trail.

 

State

The LA Times says the recent legislative session was mixed bag when it comes to fighting climate change, noting that Governor Newsom signed bills supporting electric cars and hydrogen fuels, but vetoed bills to improve bicycle safety.

A UC San Diego student asks if roads around the campus will ever be safe, years after a protected bike lane was approved for Gilman Drive, but never built.

San Bernardino’s Skypark Bike Park announced the opening of a new Black Diamond mountain bike trail.

A 34-year-old Victorville man faces narcotics and gun charges after a bike theft victim tracked his stolen bike to a city bus, where the man had taken it.

A series of new traffic diverters and islands on Santa Barbara’s Sola Street are aimed at creating a safe bicycling link between the Westside and downtown.

The San Francisco Standard examines why the city so rarely enforces illegal parking in bike lanes. You could ask the same question in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, too. 

Tragic news from Napa County, where a pair of bicyclists were killed when the load shifted on a passing lumber truck, striking the victims as they rode on the side of the roadway; the victims were identified only as a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s.

 

National

The Guardian considers whether it’s time to ban right turns on red lights, as pedestrian deaths soar. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, oh hell yes.

Good question. Adventure Rider asks why mountain bikes cost as much as motorcycles these days.

Sports Illustrated recommends the best bike shorts for women who actually ride bikes. As opposed to the trendy bike short-style shorts for women who don’t. 

The new Portland Bicycle School is offering riders the bicycle equivalent of Driver’s Ed.

A Las Vegas high school student says he was forced to withdraw from school after he was threatened by the sister of one of the two teens charged in the vehicular murder of former Bell, California police chief Andy Probst, after she apparently suspected he was the source who turned video of the crash over to police; meanwhile, the 72-year old bike rider who was injured in the hit-and-run crime spree describe the crash that left him with road rash and knee pain.

Heartbreaking news from the Denver area, where residents of Littleton demanded safety improvements after a boy was killed in a collision while riding his bike to middle school.

Accused killer Kaitlin Armstrong’s recent failed escape attempt was apparently premeditated, as a Texas site notes that she exercised vigorously for months and wore civilian clothes in advance of a doctor’s appointment; Armstrong is accused of fatally shooting gravel cycling star Moriah “Mo” Wilson over an imagined love triangle.

A new Brooklyn book bike is fighting book bans by serving the gay and nonbinary community, bringing free LGBTQIA+ books for all ages and languages directly to them.

New York officials blamed the increase in bicycling deaths on ebikes, with 62.2% of bicyclists killed in the city this year riding one, compared to 57.9% two years ago and 47.4% last year — but failed to provide any stats putting it in context, such as the proportion of ebike riders, or who was at fault in the crashes; meanwhile, 94% of this year’s deaths occurred on streets without protected bike lanes, calling into question the mayor’s failure to fulfill his campaign promise to build more.

New York bike riders say they’re fighting over inches on the city’s crowded bridges, where narrow bikeways contribute to bike-on-bike crashes.

A New Jersey man faces a manslaughter charge for allegedly pushing a 70-year old man off his bike, for no apparent reason; the victim died after hitting his head on the pavement and initially refusing treatment. A tragic reminder to always get checked out after hitting your head, because life-threatening injuries may not show up until hours later. 

The Washington Post says forget buying another car, and get an ebike instead.

 

International

Streetsblog admires the quick build bike lanes of Lima, Peru, which enabled residents to keep active during the pandemic, and to keep riding now.

Bicycling tells the tale of a Canadian man who set off on a bikepacking tour around the world with his six-year old border collie, who was just three months old when they set off. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Another Canadian man is riding his bike around the world to share lessons in physics with teachers and students.

Oxford, England will install speed cams at a dangerous roundabout where a bike-riding university researcher was killed by a coked-up dump truck driver last year, although a city counselor says a license plate reader will be required to catch scofflaw drivers, too.

A woman in the UK says she and her husband tried swapping their car for an e-cargo bike, but unwelcoming drivers forced them off the road and onto smaller hybrid bikes.

A British man will spend the next four years behind bars for killing another man with a single punch, after an argument over the sale of a bike, as he claimed the victim’s friend still owed him money for it. Yet another reminder than no bicycle is worth a human life. 

Hyderabad, India is installing solar panels over 13 miles of bike paths, fighting climate change through solar power, while providing riders with shade to combat the city’s frequent heat waves.

An Arab Israeli bike shop owner has received the equivalent of almost $168,000 in donations after his shop was torched because he donated 50 bicycles to Jewish kids forced to evacuate following the recent Hamas attack.

A new e-cargo bike premiering at the Taipei Cycle Show claims to be the first designed by women for women, with a smaller frame designed to accommodate shorter riders.

More heartbreaking news, this time from Down Under, where a 72-year old man was killed by a driver while participating in a club ride, seven years after he survived a crash that killed one man, and injured both him and another rider.

 

Competitive Cycling

Another WorldTour cyclist is walking away due to a health conditions, as Dutch pro Wesley Kreder retired at age 32 after suffering a heart attack.

Velo considers 32-year old Ethiopian pro cyclist Tsgabu Grmay and his efforts to help more of his countrymen and women enter the sport.

 

Finally…

Never trust a sat-nav device that doesn’t know you’re not a car. Maybe flipping a modern day Penny Farthing isn’t the best idea.

And how not to promote a gravel race.

………

My most humble apologies for neglecting to thank Megan L for her generous donation to support this site when my eyes were out of commission last month. As always, donations are welcome and very appreciated anytime, for any reason, even if I’m too blind to properly show my gratitude.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

NY Times misses the mark on ebike critique, witness refuses to report hit-and-run driver, and sharrows ain’t bike lanes

July 31, 2023 / / 3 comments

Before we start, I’ve received a secondhand report that someone riding a bicycle may have been killed in Mentone on Saturday.

It’s possible the report could have been referring to a fatal crash in nearby Highland on Friday, which the police were quick to blame on the bike-riding victim crossing the street outside of a crosswalk.

Even though there is no requirement or expectation that bike riders use one, and many police agencies mistakenly interpret state law as banning bikes from crosswalks.

But whether it refers to the same crash, or a second crash a dozen or so mile way, it’s yet another tragic reminder to always ride defensively, and stay safe out there.

Because you can watch out for dangerous drivers, but there’s no guarantee they’re watching for you.

Thanks to Jeffrey Rusk for the heads-up.

………

No bias here.

The New York Times, which should really know better, published an exceptionally one-sided screed on the dangers of ebikes for teenaged users.

But somehow forgot to mention that the real danger didn’t come from the bikes the victim’s were riding, but from the drivers and motor vehicles that killed and maimed them.

The e-bike industry is booming, but the summer of 2023 has brought sharp questions about how safe e-bikes are, especially for teenagers. Many e-bikes can exceed the 20-mile-per-hour speed limit that is legal for teenagers in most states; some can exceed 55 miles per hour. But even when ridden at legal speeds, there are risks, especially for young, inexperienced riders merging into complex traffic with fast-moving cars and sometimes distracted drivers.

“The speed they are going is too fast for sidewalks, but it’s too slow to be in traffic,” said Jeremy Collis, a sergeant at the North Coastal Station of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating Brodee’s accident. The investigation is ongoing pending a medical examiner’s finding.

The Brodee in that reference was 15-year old Brodee Braxton Champlain-Kingman, who was killed when he was rear-ended by a driver while changing lanes on his ebike.

Something that could have just as easily happened if he’d been riding a regular bike, and may have had nothing to do with the ebike he was riding. And never mind that he’d still be here if not for the driver who ran him down, regardless of his judgment, or the lack thereof, in changing lanes.

Even though it resulted in nearly universal knee-jerk condemnation of teenagers on ebikes, if not ebikes in general — including a proposed law to ban younger ebike riders and possibly require a license to ride one, regardless of age.

The Times follows it up with a second article discussing just what an ebike is, while considering how safe they are.

Or in their eyes, aren’t.

Here’s how Electrek responded to the stories.

The article even explicitly lists the biggest danger that played a role in that crash, explaining that the boy’s bike “had a top speed of 20 miles per hour, but his route took him on a busy road with a 55-mile-per-hour limit.” And yet the article seems to imply that the e-bike’s presence was the compounding issue, instead of reading into the author’s very own sentence to realize that the true problem was that the road didn’t have anywhere safe for cyclists to ride. There was no protected bike lane.

By all accounts, the e-bike rider was correctly and legally using the roadway in the only way he could. In fact, according to eye-witnesses of the car crash that killed the e-bike rider, he “did everything right,” including signaling his turn…

As Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School David Zipper pointed out, every single e-bike crash listed in the article was a collision between a car and e-bike. None were simply e-bike crashes without the added of a car. “All could’ve been avoided if e-bike riders were protected from cars (or if there were no cars)”, Zipper explained on Twitter.“Fight the real enemy.”

The Electrek article goes on to add this about the second Times story.

Amazingly, the article uses a statistic pointing out how dangerous cars are, but flips it around to imply that because studies have proven that faster moving cars are dangerous, that means e-bikes shouldn’t travel too fast, presumably to also reduce the danger of these small and lightweight machines.

It’s right there. The answer is literally in the body of the NYT article. Unprotected road users (pedestrians and cyclists) are much more likely to be severely injured by cars as the car speed increases. And yet this statistic is used to imply that e-bikes shouldn’t be used at speeds of over 20 mph.

Thanks to Yves Dawtur for the heads-up. 

………

Marcello Calicchio forwards news of a (insert negative descriptor here) Nextdoor user who claims to have witnessed a hit-and-run by an aged driver, but refuses to contact the police, somehow thinking a Nextdoor post is good enough.

Um, sure.

And somehow thinks she’s a victim, because commenters piled on telling her to fulfill her legal and moral duty to report what she saw to the police.

So if you were the victim of a hit-and-run on San Diego’s Highway 76 on Saturday, you know who to contact.

Or better yet, who to have your lawyer contact.

………

Speaking of those new bike lanes/sharrows on Doheny in Beverly Hills, as we were last week —

………

Make it safe and convenient to ride a bike, and people will.

In droves.

………

More than once I’ve found myself singing “The harder they come, the harder they fall,” as I scraped myself off the pavement.

Those times I’ve still been able to sing, that is.

………

That feeling when a mountain biking god, and one of your lifelong biking heroes, is having dinner with his family just walking distance from your Hollywood apartment.

And yes, I would have dropped everything if he’d said to c’mon over.

………

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

No bias here, either. A Minneapolis cop used his loud speaker to order a group of bicyclists to ride in single file — in a public park.

Once again, someone has tried to sabotage a bikeway, this time dumping screws and nails on a controversial new bike lane in Victoria, British Columbia. This should be treated as terrorism, since it’s a deliberate attempt to kill or injure innocent people for political ends. But won’t be. 

………

Local 

LADOT wants your opinion on bikeshare, and is willing to give you a shot at a $100 gift card to get it. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the tip.

 

State

A Fullerton writer asks if the city’s bike plan is in danger of being nibbled to death. Although that may be better than simply ignoring it, like a certain megalopolis to the the north.

The Newport Beach Police Department is using mounted cops to crack down on illegal ebikes.

Some residents of San Diego’s Serra Mesa neighborhood are upset about new lane reductions and buffered bike lanes, accusing them of causing traffic congestion and frustrated drivers, even as the traffic in the background continues to move smoothly.

Sad news from the Bay Area, where a 51-year old Santa Rosa man was killed when a pickup driver crashed into his bicycle leaving a parking lot in Rohnert Park.

 

National

Bicycling reports that a new survey shows the Congressional E-BIKE Act, which would cover 30 percent of the cost of a new ebike, is supported by 70% of Americans living in major cities, and nearly half would be extremely likely to buy one if the bill passes. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Even bikes that don’t move can cause dangerous falls, as Peloton recalls more than two million of their popular exercise bikes.

Auto Evolution says the new European-style ebike from America’s last remaining Tour de France winner fits perfectly with the Barbenheimer zeitgeist.

Life is cheap in Arizona, where the “driver” who was behind the wheel watching videos on her phone when a self-driving Uber test car ran down Elaine Herzberg as she crossed a Tempe road with her bike walked without a day behind bars, after copping a plea to just three lousy years of supervised probation. Which is three years more than Uber got, while Herzberg got the death penalty just for crossing the damn street.

Tragic news from Colorado, where a motorcyclist was killed, and a couple riding a tandem bike were seriously injured — the man severely — when the motorcyclist crossed the centerline in a winding canyon, and slammed into their bike before sliding off the roadway; a Boulder paper suggests the motorcyclist was attempting to flee the scene when he crashed a second time.

The Associated Press says the massive RAGBRAI bike ride across Iowa puts small town America into focus.

An op-ed from the advocacy director of a Chicago active transportation group says the city may be near the bottom of PeopleForBikes ratings for bikeability, but public support could help make it the nation’s best city for bicycling. Then again, we could say the same about Los Angeles. 

Gothamist says last week’s bloody scooter crash on the Manhattan Bridge bike path has left four people injured and the cycling community shaken, as riders of traditional bicycles compete for space with motor-scooter riders illegally using it.

A Virginia man’s dream European cycling vacation was saved when his stolen bike was recovered by using an AirTag, as well as bugging the hell out of the airline. Thanks to David Drexler for the link.

 

International

Momentum offers a beginner’s guide to learning to ride a bicycle later in life.

A 48-year old Welsh driver has been charged in the death of triathlete Rebecca Comins as she was taking part in a bicycle time trial last year.

London’s Daily Mail describes how a deaf and endearingly daft bike-riding cat became an instant Instagram star.

A retired French school teacher has created his own job, riding his recumbent bike across the country personally delivering handwritten letters “to friends of friends and soon-to-be new ones.”

NPR reports that Berlin bike riders are standing up to the city’s new conservative mayor, forcing him to backpedal on a campaign pledge to standup for the city’s poor, downtrodden drivers.

Life is cheap in India, where an Army doctor got a single year behind bars, seven years after the speeding crash that killed the father of a young child while he was riding his bike.

A nine-year old Guyana junior cycling “prodigy” made waves in her bike racing debut, following in the footsteps of her late father, three years after the former national cycling team member was killed by a drunk driver on a training ride.

This is who we share the road with. After a Singaporean school bus full of kids nearly ran over a bicyclist before smashing into three cars, the bike rider realized there was no one driving the bus, because the driver had apparently fallen out.

 

Competitive Cycling

Gut-wrenching news from Boulder, Colorado, where 17-year old rising cyclist Magnus White, a member of the US Junior Men’s National Team and the 2021 Junior 17-18 Cyclocross National Champ, was killed when he was struck by a driver while training for the world junior championships in Scotland next week; a crowdfunding campaign in his memory has raised nearly $60,000 of the $70,000 goal. We’ve got to stop murdering our children. Let alone so many of our best and brightest.

Dutch cyclist Demi Vollering won the second edition of the revived women’s Tour de France on Sunday, after demolishing her competitors on Saturday’s Tourmalet climb.

Rising American cyclist Veronica Ewers was sent home with a broken collarbone after crashing hard and flying into a ditch on Friday’s stage of the Tour.

The Los Angeles-based Bahati foundation is sponsoring the Ghana Cycling Federation to help groom young cyclists to compete in major international events.

 

Finally…

Forget carb loading and chug a bicarb, instead. Bicycles get blamed for crashes, even when no one is riding them.

And who needs a moving van when you’ve got a bicycle?

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

LBPD ignores Yellow Alert after deliberate fatal hit-and-run, and bike lanes — and sharrows — coming to Doheny Drive

July 28, 2023 / / 2 comments

Let’s start with the frightening news that a Long Beach bike rider was deliberately murdered by a hit-and-run driver earlier this month.

According to the Long Beach Police Department, 29-year old Long Beach resident Leobardo Cervantes died this past Saturday, after he was intentionally run down by a driver on Sunday, July 9th.

Unfortunately, there’s no description of the driver, and the suspect vehicle is described only as a dark-colored sedan that fled east on Harding Street, after the crash near Harding and California Ave.

Shockingly, Cervantes is the third bike rider killed in a Long Beach hit-and-run this year, and the second just this month.

In fact, over a third of the year’s fatal bike crashes in Southern California have been hit-and-runs, and a full third of those have taken place in Long Beach.

Long Beach police could have alerted the public within minutes of the crash using California’s Yellow Alert hit-and-run notification system, rather than waiting two weeks until the victim died and the trail went cold.

You’d think prompt public notification would be helpful in solving any crime, but apparently, they would disagree.

Even though a similar Colorado program has been successful in bringing a number of fleeing drivers to justice.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

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Beverly Hills is installing bike lanes on a sizable portion of Doheny Drive south of Burton Way — although part of that will be sharrows, instead of a painted lane.

And as we all should know by now, sharrows have been shown to be literally worse than nothing.

It’s also just a tad concerning that they have to explain to Beverly Hills drivers what the hell a bike lane is in the first place.

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Mark your calendar for November’s World Day of Remembrance for the victims of traffic violence.

Click through for the thread, but you may need a Twitter account to read it.

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

No bias here. Police in Ontario — no, the one in Canada — added a jet engine sound effect to video of a bike rider going through a stop sign, and gave the rider a $180 ticket even though there was no conflicting traffic. The ticket might have been justified; the sound effects, not so much. 

Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

An NYPD traffic agent was hospitalized with minor injuries after being attacked by a bike rider, who repeatedly punched the victim for refusing to get the hell out of their way.

A woman walking on a Newmarket, Ontario pathway was seriously injured when she was struck by someone riding a bicycle; people quoted in the story complained about bicyclists speeding along the trail, even though there was no suggestion the bike rider was going too fast in this case.

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Local 

Work began two weeks ago to convert a a 10-foot-wide, 450-foot stretch of alley in Redondo Beach into a bike path, after Torrance pulled out of the project.

 

State

Uber is headed to court after a San Francisco bike rider refused a $1 million settlement to keep quiet about getting doored by a passenger leaving one of their drivers’ vehicles. You could buy a lot of my silence for a million bucks.

Bay Area bike riders were urged to use caution after a yet another East Bay bikejacking, when a pair of men boxed in a teenaged bike rider with their car, before jumping out and stealing his bike.

A Sacramento bike advocacy group is using a massive citywide bike valet program to fund its operations while getting people out of their cars; they hope to park more than 10,000 bikes this year.

 

National

There’s a special place in hell for the thief who stole over a dozen adaptive bikes worth more than $100,000 from an Anchorage, Alaska disability nonprofit on Saturday; police charged a man with the theft after spotting a wanted woman on outstanding warrants, who was in possession of some of the bikes. Seriously, what kind of schmuck steals bikes from people who need them for disabilities?

The 50,000 or more bike riders participating in this year’s RAGBRAI are finding small-town economies driven by local microbreweries.

A columnist for the New York Times looks back on the case of the alleged Citi Bike Karen, who says her life has been turned upside down after a recorded conflict with a young Black man over who had rightfully checked out a bikeshare bike. Never mind that both appeared to have a claim to the bike. Meanwhile, a website says the column is “like ‘Inception’ but for unmitigated white woman entitlement.”

Several people were injured on New York’s Manhattan Bridge bike path when four or five moped riders and bicyclists collided on the span, at least some of them were delivery riders illegally using ebikes or mopeds on the bridge; one victim was reportedly at risk of bleeding out from severe leg cuts before another rider used a sweatshirt to put pressure on his wounds.

Some New York delivery riders are turning back to gas-powered mopeds because of a lack of ebike charging stations.

New York’s fire commissioner testified before the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday, calling for new safety standards for lithium-ion ebike batteries.

A Georgia man was convicted in the controversial hit-and-run that killed a bike rider four years ago, after he called his buddy the local state representative following the crash instead of dialing 911, and the politician called the local police chief; the victim clung to life in a ditch for over an hour after the crash, and might have survived if he’d gotten help sooner. The driver faces a maximum of five years for hit-and-run. Even though it should be life for 2nd degree murder.

 

International

English bike riders complain about a “dreadful” new contraflow bike lane, calling it “an accident waiting to happen,” but the local government insists the green paint will magically protect them.

Britain’s Daily Mail once again played the game of who’s at fault, after a bike rider was sideswiped by a motorist when they both made a left turn at the same time. Okay, the driver should have checked his mirror before turning, but the bike rider was a damn fool for not holding back until the driver had finished his turn. So there.

The Turkish Cycling Federation is calling for stronger deterrent penalties after three people were killed riding bicycles in the country over the last two weeks.

 

Competitive Cycling

German cyclist Ricarda Bauernfeind soloed to victory in Thursday’s stage five of the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift, aka women’s Tour de France, after opening up a 90 second lead over the peloton.

Dutch cyclist Demi Vollering received a 20-second penalty for briefly drafting behind a team vehicle following a puncture, dropping her to 7th in the general classification standings, 12 seconds behind primary rival Annemiek van Vleuten.

Nine cyclists barely made the cut after they were delayed by a train with just one and a quarter miles to go during Thursday’s stage, clearing the stage by just 17 seconds.

Cycling News says Britain’s Hope x Lotus track bike for the 2024 Paris Olympics is even wilder than ever.

 

Finally…

Always tow a small catamaran behind your bike in case of climate change-induced flash floods or thousand-year rain events. That feeling when you illustrate a story about ebike licenses with an antique single speed bike, because your editors apparently have no idea what an ebike looks like.

And probably not the best idea to buy a bike using counterfeit money.

Unless maybe it’s a really good counterfeit.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

People For Bikes says sharrows suck, former CM Jose Huizar pleads to racketeering, and City Hall die-in tomorrow

January 20, 2023 / / One comment

If you’ve been reading this site for awhile, you probably know I’m not a fan of sharrows.

I’ve described them in the past as an attempt by city officials to thin the bicyclist herd, with the arrows there simply to help drivers improve their aim.

The only benefits I can ascribe to the damn things are a) they show bike riders where to position themselves to control the lane — if they’re positioned correctly — and b) as a wayfinding device to help guide people on bicycles to a given location.

But in terms of safety and protecting bicyclists’ right to the road, they’re less than worthless.

But don’t take my word for it. A 2016 study showed that sharrows are more dangerous than no bike infrastructure at all.

Now it looks like national advocacy group People For Bikes agrees.

Dave Snyder, PeopleForBikes’ senior director for infrastructure — and the former executive director of both Calbike and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition — writes that, like many of us, he fought for sharrows when they first came out.

But he became disillusioned when he saw how they worked — or rather, didn’t work — in practice.

I was wrong.

It turns out that motorists really don’t like to wait behind someone on a bike, regardless of the paint on the street. Even Oakland’s experiment with the so-called “super sharrow,” where the bicycle path of travel is painted solid green, isn’t enough to get people on bikes to comfortably “take the lane.” Sharrow or no sharrow, most people on bikes dangerously hug the edge of the roadway, squeezing themselves into the door zone to avoid blocking car traffic.

Simply put, sharrows don’t do what we hoped they would. Studies back up that claim.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the while thing.

Because maybe now we can finally drive a stake through the bike infrastructure from hell.

………

After more than four years of loudly protesting his innocence, former CD14 Councilmember Jose Huizar has agreed to plead guilty to racketeering and tax evasion.

The LA Times reports Huizar is admitting to extorting at least $1.5 million in bribes from developers. He has agreed to a sentence of between nine and 13 years behind bars.

Huizar was a driving force behind many of the bike and safety improvements in Downtown Los Angeles, and was a favorite of the bicycling community before his downfall after his offices were raided by FBI agents in 2018.

The raid also caused his wife Richelle to drop out of the race to replace him once he was termed out of office in 2020.

In a sad irony, Huizar was replaced by Kevin de León, who is facing his own calls to resign after being caught participating in a racist and otherwise offensive recording.

But at least de León hasn’t been indicted.

Not yet, anyway.

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Don’t forget tomorrow’s die-in at City Hall! We need as many people as possible to make an impact and fight for an end to traffic violence.

And maybe protest the city’s penchant for corrupt and racist leaders while we’re at it.

No promises, but I’m going to do my best to be there.

………

Nice to see the new CD13 councilmember taking traffic violence in the City of Angels seriously.

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A lousy parking permit is a small price to pay for the freedom of bike commuting.

………

Norwalk Unides and the Happy City Coalition are hosting their first community bike ride tomorrow.

And the 11 am start means you can still get there after the die-in at LA City Hall.

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Italian filmmaking great Federico Fellini was one of us.

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

A Michigan website reports that a man riding a bicycle was killed in a collision with a motor home, which apparently didn’t have a driver since they don’t bother to mention one.

Life is cheap in New Zealand, where an off-duty cop who killed a man riding a bike in a drunken crash was sentenced to a nine-month vacation at home home detention. Although the website seems to think her real punishment will be a lifetime of shame and humiliation. Uh, sure. Let’s go with that.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Hermosa Beach plans barricades to force bike riders to walk near the pier, as speed data shows that people ignore the ridiculously low 8 mph speed limit on The Strand, riding at an average speed of 11 mph. I can attest that it’s difficult to ride that slowly through there on a road bike. And how do they expect people to obey the law if they don’t have speedometers on their bikes?

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Local 

More on West Hollywood’s proposal to extend the bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd and make at least a portion of them protected. Which would be a huge improvement over the painted car-double parking lanes we have now.

 

State

Streetsblog offers more details from Calbike on the status of California’s long-delayed ebike rebate program. Eligibility will be limited to 300% of the federal poverty level, which is based on taxable income; however, the ebike rebates appear to be based on gross income, instead.

Your new Ti touring bike from California’s District Vision could set you back a cool 30 grand. Yes, that’s $30,000.

Road Bike Action Magazine looks at the tragedy behind the 15-year old Mike Nosco Memorial Ride through the Santa Monica Mountains.

 

National

Ebike maker Velotric used WalkScore data to identify bikeable neighborhoods in not-so-bikeable US cities, including San Diego’s Gaslight District.

Bicycling asks if certified pre-owned bikes are worth the extra cost. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. Which it probably will unless you’re a subscriber.

Cycling News offers tips to make traveling with your bike cheaper and easier. Although the cheapest and easiest way to travel with a bike is still just to ride it.

Great idea. Chicago’s RideReel encourages bicyclists to submit video of close calls and hostile infrastructure, in hopes that weekly reports to city officials will bring about real change.

Inspired by motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel, a then 13-year Indianapolis boy managed to set a new record by jumping ten trash cans on his balloon-tired bicycle in 1976; he’d be a 60-year old man now.

New York is also hosting a die-in this morning at the site where a young woman was killed by a truck driver while riding her bike last week, on a street that should have been fixed by now.

 

International

Road.cc takes a look at the iconic yet bizarre Flying Gate bike frame, with its upright stay post and severed seat post; the British-made steel frame has been in continuous production for nearly 90 years.

A new study from the UK shows the rising popularity of e-mountain bikes; nine out of ten people said cost was the primary barrier to participation.

Who needs pedals? A British bikemaker is introducing a road bike that you row, instead of pedal, even though the country’s Shark Tank equivalent passed on it.

An Irish website tests how long it takes for a locked-up midrange ebike to be stolen on the streets of Dublin. Short answer, about an hour.

Parisians are taking advantage of the city’s new bicycling network to bypass crippling transit strikes. Hopefully a sizable percentage will discover they like bike commuting and stick with it.

 

Competitive Cycling

Australian Michael Matthews and American Magnus Sheffield cleared the air following a “finish-line flareup” at the end of Thursday’s second stage, after jostling in the peloton caused the Aussie to drop his chain.

Australian Rohan Dennis’ brief stay as overall leader came to a quick end when his derailleur stopped working 21 miles from the end of Friday’s third stage, which ended before you got up this morning.

Australian ultracycling pro Jack Thompson set a record for riding the elevation of Mt. Everest once a week for 52 straight weeks, topping the old record of 42 successful efforts in a calendar year.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can turn an old bicycle into a 75 mph e-motorbike. When you’re riding with a semiautomatic handgun, large quantities of meth and fentanyl, and ten grand in cash on your bike in broad daylight, maybe try obeying the damn vehicle code, already.

And oddly, this is still just as true 83 years later.

………

Happy Lunar New Year, whatever language you celebrate in!

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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