In case you missed it last night, Long Beach police were quick to blame the victim after a 76-year old Long Beach woman died when she was apparently knocked off a tandem bike by a hit-and-run driver.
Although they certainly didn’t see it that way.
Gaylin Reese was riding with her husband when police say they sideswiped a stopped car while riding in the bike lane on 2nd Street near Marina Drive.
A more likely explanation, however, is that an impatient driver tried to cut into the bike lane to go around stopped traffic, and hit the pair’s bicycle — something we’ve all seen drivers do before.
LBPD investigators also handed the driver’s lawyer a perfect excuse, assuming they ever find them, by saying the driver may not have even known about the impact.
Which seems pretty damned unlikely.
Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.
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Metro invites you to come to the LA River Fest this Sunday to learn more about the planned eight-mile shared use path extension from Elysian Valley, through downtown Los Angeles to Vernon and Maywood.
The free arts, film and community resource festival celebrating the LA River, hosted by the Friends of the L.A. River, aka FoLAR, takes place from 5 pm to 9 pm at LA State Historic Park in downtown Los Angeles.
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Speaking of Metro, Numble reports the county transportation agency has apparently chosen what’s behind Option Number Two.
The plan for the bridge over US-101 would connect bicyclists from Union Station to LA River Bike Path, using a switchback and long span connecting the bike path to the southwest walkway at Patsaouras Plaza.
Click through to go to Twitter to examine the slides, but you may need a Twitter account to actually see them.
April 2023 presentation on LA Metro’s US-101 Bike Bridge project (bridge over US-101 to connect cyclists from Union Station to LA River Bike Path). Looks like 3 options were narrowed down to 1 option (Option 2). Option 2 would have connection at Union Station’s Patsaouras Plaza. https://t.co/ZlIhCtAWkh pic.twitter.com/8mA0KLklkE
— numble (@numble) July 19, 2023
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Join Bike Long Beach for Bikes and Coffee this Saturday.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No surprise here, as police in New York disproportionately ticketed Black and other nonwhite bicyclists last year, joining other cities across the US, including Los Angeles, in targeting bike-riding people of color.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Police in San Antonio, Texas are looking for the brutal, bike-riding executioner who rode up and put six bullets in the head of a homeless man sleeping outside the backdoor of a Little Caesar’s Pizza shop.
An English man says he’s lucky to be alive after he was struck by an ebike rider while walking, and had to be resuscitated at the hospital.
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Local
Streetsblog visits the new, bike-friendly roundabout popup on Maine Avenue in Baldwin Park.
Glendale leaders joined with California Assembly Transportation Chair and Congressional candidate Laura Friedman to rally support for a proposed sped cam pilot program in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale, as well as three NorCal cities.
State
The X Games are coming to the Ventura County Fairgrounds this Friday through Sunday.
Two men were rushed to the hospital after a crash between an e-scooter rider and a bike rider on San Francisco’s Market Street.
A Stockton man in his 60s was killed by a heartless hit-and-run driver while riding his bike Tuesday night.
National
The journal of the American Bar Association talks with bike lawyer Bob Mionske about the long journey from two-time Olympic cyclist to a leading authority on bike law.
Ten college-age women are riding 1,700 miles down the Left Coast from Seattle to San Diego for the annual Pedal the Pacific ride to end human trafficking.
An op-ed from the president of a nonprofit, nonpartisan Utah public policy research organization says he’s gone from a fearless bike rider to merely confident since he was struck by a driver, and that better infrastructure could keep everyone safer.
A Minneapolis op-ed says a rolling stop law, aka Stop As Yield or Idaho Stop Law, can smooth relations between bicyclists and drivers, while helping everyone get where they’re going more quickly. Never mind that California bike riders will go at least another year without one, after the bill was pulled by its author on the verge of passing out of committee.
A 20-year old Tennessee man faces an attempted murder charge after stabbing a bike rider with a box cutter, allegedly telling police that he was “just done with people.”
Friends and customers remember longtime Lansing, Michigan bike shop owner Denny Vandecar, who died of a ruptured brain aneurysm at age 82, after more than six decades in the bike industry.
Boston’s bike-friendly mayor announced a new bike training program for children ages four to 13 at sites around the city.
A 67-year old former Johnston PA hockey player and coach was rushed to the hospital following a collision while riding his bike; Steve Carlson was on the team that inspired the Paul Newman movie Slap Shot, and played one of the bespectacled Hanson brothers in the film.
Baltimore Magazine talks with the co-founder of Baltimore-based advocacy group Black People Ride Bikes.
Tragic news from North Carolina, where a 17-year-old boy was found dead hours after he was knocked off a bridge and into the river below by a pickup driver while riding his bike; police investigators absolved the driver of blame after he blamed the victim for not wearing reflective gear.
International
Momentum Magazine lists five benefits of living in a bicycle city, including reduced traffic congestion and healthier lifestyles.
This is who we share the road with. A 22-year old British man will spend the next 12 years behind bars for the violent, high-speed crash that killed a 38-year old woman who was 17 weeks pregnant; he filmed himself driving at speeds up to 123 mph before slamming into her disabled car at 93 mph. Three other children in the victim’s car somehow survived the crash.
UK ebike maker Mate Bikes is following VanMoof into bankruptcy, with an asset auction scheduled for next month.
An Indian bike program is credited with having a revolutionary effect on the lives of young girls there and in Zambia, where school attendance went up 45%.
Israeli e-scooter and ebike injuries have jumped a “staggering” 440% since 2018. But despite the panicky headline, that increase likely just reflects an increase in ridership.
Competitive Cycling
Defending champ Jonas Vingegaard virtually sealed a repeat victory in the Tour de France with a dominating performance on the stage-crowning Col de la Loze, resulting in a virtually unassailable 7:35 lead in the general classification; 23-year old Austrian Tour de France rookie Felix Gall won the stage.
Rouleur says Vingegaard displayed an implacable show of dominance, while psychologically crushing Pogačar.
Two-time Tour de France champ Pogačar said yesterday was one of his worst days on a bike as he lost over five minutes to Vingegaard, telling his teammates “I’m gone. I’m dead.”
Road.cc looks at the “weird, wonderful (and just plain wrong)” team kits, bikes and components at the Tour.
Velo writes that Peter Sagan is flaming out at the race he helped reconfigure through years of dominance.
You may have to cross a picket line to attend the UCI World Cycling Championships in Glasgow, Scotland next month, after two unions have voted to strike during the event.
Finally…
Now you, too, can build your very own airless bike tires, without a 3D printer. At least we don’t have to worry about having to flee by bike when a herd of elephants interrupts a wedding party (although in this case, the bikes were probably motor scooters).
And who says bicycling shoes have to look like, well, bicycling shoes?
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
