Tag Archive for support BikinginLA

Give to the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today!

Donate today via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

It’s the first full week of the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

The one time of year I come right out and ask for your money.

Okay, beg.

Because operating this site is a more than full-time job, for far less than minimum wage. And while I truly appreciate each of the sponsors over there on the right, their support, as valuable as it is, doesn’t cover what I need to keep this site going.

Especially after a year like this, when the money that came in went out just as fast. Or faster, even.

But that’s where you come in.

Your support helps fill in that gaping gap, and allows me to devote all my working hours to bringing you the latest bike news on a daily basis, from around the corner or around the world.

And devote whatever time I have left in this life to helping make this a safer place for people on bicycles, and a more livable world for all of us.

Or call it the 1st Corgi Memorial Fund Drive in memory of our late, great spokesdog

It’s not an easy job. Especially when I have to bring you news that none of us want.

But it matters. Because we can’t fix problems if we don’t know they exist. And our leaders can’t hide the truths we shine a light on.

So give what you can, or give what you want.

But please, give something.

You can contribute with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the using the Zelle feature that came with the banking app that’s probably already on your smartphone; just send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla.com.

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated. And will help keep all the best bike news coming your way every day.

If you can’t afford to give anything, or just prefer not to, that’s cool too. You’re more than welcome to keep coming back, and contributing to our online community.

But please give if you can, and what you can. Because we can really use the help.

This year especially.

Thank you to Felicia G and theMuirs for their generous contributions to this fund drive even before it officially began.

And as always, a special thanks to Todd Rowell, who came up with the idea for this fund drive in the first place.

It’s the 4th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

It’s that time of year again.

No, not the season of incessant holiday music, ugly sweaters or bizarre Christmas flavors leaping out of your coffee cup.

Or even palm trees swaddled in red and green lights lining the sidewalk.

It’s time for the 4th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

The one time of year when, like your favorite public radio station, I ask you to open your wallets and dig deep to help keep Southern California’s leading source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Except unlike your favorite public radio station, we don’t block most of this site to make you pay up.

It started as a joke four years ago — hence that whole 4th Annual thing. But the funny thing was people actually took it seriously, and wanted to give their hard-earned money to support this site.

Which surprised the hell out of me.

Thanks to donations from people like you — along with the generosity of our sponsors, and a very understanding wife — I’ve been able to turn BikinginLA into a more than full-time job. And devote whatever time I have left in this world to doing whatever I can to make the streets safer for people on bicycles.

Which takes us back to that whole dig deep thing.

You can contribute with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that came with the banking app that’s probably already on your smartphone; just send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated. And will help keep the Corgi in kibble while keeping this site up and running.

If you can’t afford to give anything, or just prefer not to, that’s cool too. You’re more than welcome to keep coming back, and contributing to our online community.

Either way, thanks for taking a moment to consider it. And thanks for visiting this site.

Because it doesn’t matter what I write if you’re not here to read it.

Thank you to Nina M, Betsy G, John L, View-Speed Inc. and an anonymous donor for their generous contributions to this fund drive even before it officially began.

And let me offer a special thanks to Todd Rowell, who came up with the idea for a holiday fund drive in the first place.

Morning Links: Unidentified bike rider in Mission Hills hospital; minor changes made to Foothills Blvd bike lanes

Today marks the first day of the third annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. Your support helps keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Or nearly every day, the way this year has gone.

As usual, you can donate with just a few clicks using PayPal.

Or now you can also donate in just seconds using the Zelle app — which is probably already in the banking app on your phone — by sending your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com;* you can download the app for iOS or Android if you don’t already have it.

Any amount is truly and deeply appreciated.

*Remove the spaces and format as a standard email address.

………

Officials at a Mission Hills hospital are attempting to identify a bike rider who was injured in a crash in Van Nuys last Saturday.

The victim is described as a Latino man who appears to be in his early 30s, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and 173 pounds. He has brown eyes and short black hair, a short mustache and beard, with Maritza tattooed on his ring finger and Jade on his right forearm.

Anyone with information is urged to call Providence Holy Cross Medical Center at 818/365-8051 and ask for the nurse supervisors’ office.

Let this be yet another reminder to always have some form of ID with you when you ride.

………

After residents made questionable claims about traffic chaos and emergency vehicles unable to get through on Foothill Blvd during the recent La Tuna fire, the city agreed to make changes.

But unlike Playa del Rey, the bike lanes will remain on the road.

………

Local

KCET profiles a day in the life of carfree, single-speed bike-riding chef Will Marquardt, Chef de Cuisine at Petit Trois, regarded as one of America’s best restaurants. Although someone might want to explain the difference between Hollywood and West Hollywood to them.

LA Weekly looks at a bike-riding guerrilla street artist who turns discarded furniture into sad clown faces.

Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies arrested two bike riders on drug and DUI charges.

 

State

Orange County sheriff’s deputies are looking for the owners of the 1,000 bikes they recovered after clearing out a homeless camp, even though most have been stripped and are considered beyond repair.

A San Luis Obispo columnist says the city is engaged in social engineering in an attempt to force people to ride bicycles. Never mind that every decision made by government at any level is a form of social engineering. Including past policies that have lead us to this auto-centric dystopia.

Next City looks at San Francisco’s Vision Zero rapid response teams. As opposed to Los Angeles, where they usually get around to doing something about dangerous streets eventually. Or not.

Sad news from Stockton, where a bike rider was killed in a hit-and-run as he was riding home with food to make his family’s Thanksgiving meal.

 

National

Maybe driverless cars won’t run over us after all; Apple claims to have made a major breakthrough in detecting bike riders and pedestrians on the road.

Wired says if you want to see the future of cities, you need to keep an eye on the curb.

A young man connects with his Cherokee heritage through the annual Remember the Removal Memorial Bike Ride.

Austin TX has doubled the rate it’s building bikeways by employing three key steps, including finishing designs onsite.

A New Hampshire woman was shot by a hunter aiming for deer as she rode her bike near a park; naturally, no charges were filed.

A Queens deli owner says a new bike lane is murdering his business. Change is inevitable, for any business. You can waste your time trying to fight it, or embrace it and flourish.

It takes a major scumbag to steal a five-year old Florida girl’s bicycle and scooter right in front of her.

 

International

Ontario cyclists vow to return after authorities bulldoze an illegal mountain bike course.

A new Canadian study says bike commuting could be damaging your hearing.

Caught on video: A British bike rider captures the hit-and-run collision that knocked him off his bike on a roundabout.

The UK doesn’t require license plates for bicycles, so a school decided to do it themselves.

A Belfast newspaper says it’s time to invest in moving people through the city, rather than cars. Which is a lesson Los Angeles desperately needs to learn, but clearly hasn’t yet.

A Limerick, Ireland bike rider was busted for riding salmon with no hands; he ended up paying the equivalent of $142 in fines.

Evidently, the US isn’t the only country that doesn’t adequately instruct cops in bike law, as an Irish police chief gets the law wrong on riding abreast.

BMW envisions a world where ebike riders get their own sun-protected double-decker roads. Just not here in the US.

Italy’s Pinarello apologizes for the bike industry’s latest tone deaf ad.

A sports website looks at how bicycling has worked in conjunction with language to shape Italian culture.

A South African letter writer says greater tolerance would stop the cycle of cyclist abuse.

Caught on video too: An Aussie truck driver appears to be trying to see just how close he can pass a bike rider without actually hitting him.

In a bizarre crash, a Chinese boy had to be rescued after the brake handle on his bike somehow ended up jammed up his nose.

 

Competitive Cycling

Starting in January, pro cyclists will be able to use marijuana products, as long as they don’t contain any THC. Which is odd, since no one would say Snoop Dog or Willie Nelson would have an unfair advantage. Except maybe in an eating contest.

The new head of pro cycling’s governing body says maybe it’s time for a salary cap on cycling teams to improve competitiveness.

Nice story from the LA Times about a 16-year old Columbian rider who returned to cycling after his family struggled to buy him the bike he needed to compete.

 

Finally…

Seriously, anyone can do cyclocross on a cross bike. Go ahead and have that extra cup of coffee after your next ride.

And nothing like teaching your kids to steal bikes at an early age.

………

Don’t forget to support your local bike shop today on Black Friday, and especially tomorrow on Small Business Saturday. Just stop in and buy something, anything.

And take a moment to read a pair of guest posts we featured last year from bike shop owners explaining what that matters.  

Morning Links: A shameful plea for money, bike corrals hit contested streets and the worst bike injury ever

Before we start, just a quick reminder that this site is advertising and donation supported.

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming to your screen every day by donating directly through PayPal via bikinginla@hotmail.com; any amount is deeply appreciated. Or make a tax-free donation by check or credit card through LA Streetsblog; email the address above to make arrangements.

And if you market to bike riders, BikinginLA offers one of the area’s most affordable and highly targeted ways to reach cyclists in Southern California, as well as riders throughout the US and around the world. Email advertising@bikinginla.com for more information.

Finally, let me offer my sincere gratitude to our sponsors, and to everyone who has donated help support this site. We couldn’t do this without your help.

Thank you.

Update: Thanks to Jim Lyle and Mark Jones for their generous donations.

……..

More on last week’s waste of two hours Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s vanity session public meeting to discuss the proposed North Figueroa road diet and bike lanes.

Meanwhile, LADOT installs new bike corrals on North Figueroa and Lankershim; hopefully Council Members Cedillo and Tom Labonge, respectively, will stop blocking blocking safety and livability for everyone so the bike lanes promised for both streets can follow soon.

Seriously, even AARP is in favor of road diets.

……..

Sad news, as a Topanga man dies of a heart attack after a bike ride through Topanga Canyon with his new husband, just a month after they were married. Sounds like we lost a great guy. My prayers and condolences to all his loved ones.

……..

The Pasadena Mountain Bike Club is hosting a Bike Swap Meet this Sunday.

swap meet

……..

Local

KCRW traffic maven Kajon Cermak says it’s time to do something about LA’s hit-and-run epidemic and get the creeps off the road. You’re preaching to the choir, sister.

The Hollywood Fringe Festival presents Bike Odessey LA on Saturday, a combination bike tour and multi-location theatrical event.

A new section of the LA River bike path opens up for bikes and pedestrians from Sherman Oaks to Studio City.

Culver City’s Chubby Bikes offers a free Confident City Cycling Clinic, social ride and after party on Saturday; thanks to Walk ‘n Rollers for the tip.

Speaking of Walk ‘n Rollers, they’re sponsoring a series of monthly family rides, starting July 5th in Culver City.

Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies continue to arrest additional suspects in a rash of bike path robberies.

 

State

Three Santa Ana men are under arrest for critically injuring a bike rider in a possible gang-related assault.

The Sacramento cyclist who was intentionally run down by a road raging driver after slashing his tire says he did it in self-defense.

San Francisco cyclists get new left turn bike boxes.

Santa Rosa riders team up to recover their stolen bikes.

Salinas cyclists protest mud and debris from farm trucks blocking a bike lane.

 

National

A new tire and tube repair tool promises to fix any flat in seconds without taking the tire off. Although I don’t know how you can fix a flat if you don’t know where the leak is until you get the tube off, which is usually the case.

New bike lane design offers protected intersections for bike riders.

Life is cheap in Washington state, where a driver gets off with a $175 fine for killing a teenage cyclist riding in a crosswalk.

A Kansas cyclist is deliberately hit and run off the road by a road raging driver.

A New Hampshire boy rides his bike to school for an entire year, regardless of the weather. Sad that something like this is actually news.

Colorado-based Oskar Blues Brewery is opening a combination beer and bike ranch near the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina.

 

International

London’s Mayor Boris gets credit for the city’s bike share program, even if it was his predecessor’s idea.

A writer for London’s Guardian discovers the joys of social cycling.

 

Finally…

Seriously. This has to be the most cringe-inducing bicycling injury ever.

And when you’re riding a bike through Santa Monica with burglary tools and stolen credit cards, just stop for the damn stop sign, already.