Tag Archive for the war on bikes

San Diego destroys bikes in homeless cleanup, Ojai ride honors ‘cross legend, and peacock on two wheels

April 18, 2022 / / Comments Off on San Diego destroys bikes in homeless cleanup, Ojai ride honors ‘cross legend, and peacock on two wheels

This is so wrong in so many ways.

An infuriating video shows San Diego sanitation workers cleaning up a homeless camp — and mindlessly tossing a pair of bicycles in a garbage truck to be crushed. Destroying what was likely someone’s only form of transportation.

Let alone failing to check if the bikes were stolen, or if someone else could have used them.

Or considering that even homeless people have to be somewhere. And should be allowed to keep what meager possessions they have.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

Photo by Mart Production from Pexels.

………

Ride to honor five-time US ‘cross champ and US Bicycling Hall of Fame member Laurence Malone, to mark the first anniversary of his death in an head-on car crash near Lancaster.

………

Who needs fenders when your bike has a tail?

https://twitter.com/AmericanFietser/status/1515484615095595013

………

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

No bias here. Houston-area police refuse to do anything about a road raging driver, despite video proof of a near head-on attack. “He said, she said” my ass.

A Manitoba-based architect and bike podcaster was slapped by a pedestrian for not riding in the bike lane, which she had just moved out of to make a left turn.

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

British radio host Jeremy Vine was metaphorically spanked on social media after he complained about a woman of walking in front of him without looking, and people responded by accusing him of riding too fast. Although he doesn’t look that speedy to me.

………

Local

The author of Very LA is clearly no fan of LA’s Metro Bike app, describing it as a “heaping dumpster fire that requires a lot of consistent human intervention to make right.” Thanks to Keith Johnson for the heads-up.

 

State 

Palm Desert promises to buy and install bike racks on request for up to 20 business.

A 37-year old Burlingame man suffered major injuries when he struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding hear Santa Barbara’s Lake Cuchama on Saturday.

There’s a special place in hell for the armed thieves who carjacked the Berkeley High School mountain bike team, ordering three coaches and two students out of their minivan to steal the bikes inside and on the rear rack.

A 20-year old Marin County man faces murder and hit-and-run charges for jumping the curb with his Jeep, and killing a 33-year old man walking his bike on the sidewalk.

 

National

Sort of good news but not really, as California is only the sixth most dangerous state for bike riders on a per capita basis, following Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, Delaware and South Carolina. Not exactly good company we’re keeping.

A Tucson AZ columnist thanks the Good Samaritans who came to his rescue after he misjudged a path and “kissed the asphalt” falling from his bike.

That’s more like it. A Texas man was sentenced to 18 years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a 68-year old woman as she rode her bike through a park crosswalk with six other people.

A Minneapolis bike rider discovers the risks of ignoring physical symptoms and not seeing a doctor, when his girlfriend talks him into his first medical examination in at least seven years, revealing a rare form if thyroid cancer. As I’ve learned the hard way, bicycling doesn’t keep you from experiencing serious medical problems, and can mask symptoms that could otherwise point to danger.

Kentucky roads aren’t being kind to Afghan refugees, with at least three recent arrivals from the country injured riding bikes in the state; over 200 Afghan refugees are working with a nonprofit resettlement group, which provides them with bikes as their primary form of transportation.

This is who we share the road with. A road raging New Jersey driver faces an attempted murder charge for chasing a woman onto a lawn after she attempted to take pictures of his car following a minor collision, and running over her, then backing up and doing it again.

Ebikes are becoming the new SUV, as parents chauffeur their kids to school and soccer practice on two, or sometimes three, wheels.

A kindhearted Florida teacher bought a new bicycle for the school’s custodian, after learning he was riding 12 miles to work on a rickety old bike.

 

International

A Swedish university professor explains the problems caused by our current automotive hegemony, and lists the 12 best ways to get cars out of cities, including congestion pricing and swapping curbside parking for bike lanes. So why choose? Let’s just try all of them, at the same time.

Contradicting the country’s efforts to promote bicycling, A Spanish government ministry is calling for mandatory liability insurance for ebike riders, a proposal one bike advocacy leader blamed on insurance company lobbying.

Horrible news from India, where a young woman hung herself after her mother refused to buy her a bicycle.

An Australian development company is deservedly catching heat for spending nearly three-quarter of a million dollars to build a bay front bike path, only to rip a large segment out to conduct soil remediation underneath — even though they knew it was necessary before the path was built.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-nine-year old Dutch cyclist Dylan van Baarle captured an unexpected victory in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix classic, finishing the 159-mile Monument in 5 hours, 37 minutes to set a record pace of 28.4 mph. His victory came just six months after finishing outside the time limit in last year’s pandemic-delayed edition of the race.

Wout van Aert was happy with his second place finish at Paris-Roubaix in his first race after a recent Covid-19 infection.

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team manager Patrick Lefever was livid following Paris-Roubaix, after spectators knocked two of his riders out of the race.

Surprise Olympic gold medalist and math Ph.D Anna Kiesenhofer now has part of her doctorate thesis etched into her racing bike frame.

Carson’s Velo Sports Center offers a full calendar of upcoming events. Thanks to LA Velodrome Racing for the tip. 

 

Finally…

Bike cops aren’t safe from drunk drivers either. Evidently, Bambi is out to get us, too.

And this is who we share the road with.

Not to mention a pretty good example of instant karma in action.

Thanks to Ted Faber for the tweet.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Fed ebike credit dies with Build Back Better plan, and Lime CEO says it’s the cars littering out streets, not the scooters

December 21, 2021 / / Comments Off on Fed ebike credit dies with Build Back Better plan, and Lime CEO says it’s the cars littering out streets, not the scooters

Just four days left in the 7th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Richard N and Kent S for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

So don’t wait. Time is running out!

Give now via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated.

………

It looks like there won’t be a federal ebike tax credit in your stocking this year, after opposition from West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin doomed Biden’s Build Back Better bill for this year.

If not permanently.

At least California residents can look forward to a $10 million ebike tax incentive program going into effect sometime this coming year.

………

He gets it.

The CEO of Lime tells Time it’s not ebikes and scooters that are littering our streets, it’s all the cars.

Thanks to Chris Giza for the heads-up.

………

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

A Houston councilmember tries to have it both ways, walking back criticism of bike lanes as being too in tune with the needs of bicyclists, to the detriment of drivers, then saying his complaints about bike lanes still stand.

Welsh dirt and pedal bike riders were warned to be careful, after a man suffered horrific neck injuries when someone sabotaged a bike trail by stringing barbed wire over it at neck level. As we’ve said before, anyone who does something like this should face terrorism charges, because there is a clear intent to injure others to frighten people off their bikes.

………

Local

ActiveSGV celebrated the season with a test ride of the new ebikes coming to the San Gabriel Valley’s bikeshare system next year, along with a ride to observe a 100-year old Christmas light tradition.

 

State

A 57-year old dialysis patient rolled into San Diego to finish the final 1,800 miles of the New Hampshire to California recumbent ride her son was on when he was killed by a Mississippi driver three years ago.

Congratulations to Santa Barbara for their newfound status as a Silver level Bicycle Friendly Community.

San Francisco advocates say they’ve been patient long enough, and want the protected bike lanes and intersections they were promised before Covid shut everything down.

 

National

Nice move from Yuma, Arizona, which has installed a public sculpture honoring a local Special Olympian along a local bike path; the bicycle used by 49-year old Charles E. Cheatham will stand as a memorial to the athlete, who passed away earlier this year.

Police in Glendale, Arizona ask for the public’s to catch a hit-and-run driver who killed a bike rider, just one day after the fatal crash; meanwhile, police in Amarillo, Texas just waited until the weekend was over. Unlike the police in a certain SoCal megalopolis we could name, who prefer to wait until the trail grows cold, for reasons known only to them.

Chicago advocates’ warnings of increased danger for people walking or riding bikes if a new Amazon warehouse was approved have come to pass, after a bike lane was erased to make room for a turn lane for the convenience of their drivers, dumping bike riders into traffic without warning.

New York’s mayor elect has selected the longtime chair of the city council’s transportation committee as the new head of the Department of Transportation. He gets high marks from the city’s bike advocates. 

Gothamist says outgoing New York Mayor De Blasio gets praise for starting Vision Zero, while critics complain he didn’t go far enough. Sort of like another big city mayor and future ambassador to India we could name.

New Orleans plans to focus on improving safety for bike riders and others on the streets next year, after the worst year for traffic deaths in the Crescent City since 2014.

 

International

Bike Hacks considers why bike jerseys are so expensive these days.

British police have made a trio of arrests in the home invasion robbery that terrified pro sprinter Mark Cavendish and his family last month, charging a 30-year old man and two 27-year olds for the break-in; no word on whether any of the items stolen were recovered.

Good news about former Italian F1 driver and Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi, who is finally home from the hospital, 18 months after he suffered severe head injuries when he was hit by a truck driver while training on his handcycle.

Over 200 people in Santa suits turned out for an annual bike ride in the Bosnia-Herzegovina city of Mostar yesterday; the four-mile ride was open to anyone with a bicycle and a Santa hat.

 

Competitive Cycling

The three kings of ‘cross will be going head-to-head-to-head four times in the week between Boxing Day and the day after New Years, which really needs a better moniker.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to whip out a gun while stealing a bike from Walmart, at least steal a better bike. Now you can ride gravel without ever taking your bike off the rollers. Or going outside, for that matter (scroll down).

And that feeling when you get your stolen bike back before you even know someone took it.

Which is another good reminder to register your bike.

………

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

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

CicLAvia and other mass bike rides near and far, ’tis the season for bike giveaways, and rescuing kitties in Azerbaijan

December 6, 2021 / / Comments Off on CicLAvia and other mass bike rides near and far, ’tis the season for bike giveaways, and rescuing kitties in Azerbaijan

It’s the second full week of the 7th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to S H, Samer S, Robert H, John H, Glen S, Scott G and Ezequiel C for their generous donations this weekend! And it was great to hear from some old friends, and new. 

So take a moment to show your support for this site, and to help ensure that all the best bike news and advocacy keeps coming your way every day. Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated — and needed!

Give now via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com. 

………

Apparently, CicLAvia wasn’t the only mass bicycling event in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Even if it’s not just for bike riders.

https://twitter.com/kennethmejiaLA/status/1467672286069096450?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

https://twitter.com/bRuc14/status/1467661708361564160

And even if the other one wasn’t on closed streets. Or even permitted.

Then again, Los Angeles didn’t have mass bike rides to itself this weekend.

Although you can see the same thing in Venice every Sunday, as long as you’re willing to give up the Hemingway vibes.

Thanks to Tim Rutt for the Key West video.

………

‘Tis the season.

It’s that time of year again, when holiday bike giveaways start making the news.

This time, it starts close to home, where Los Angeles Lakers legend and Dodgers co-owner Magic Johnson hosted a holiday event that brought the two teams together with the LA Rams to provide 400 underserved kids with new bikes, as well as helmets and toys.

An Idaho landfill is reclaiming bicycles people toss in the trash to donate to local kids, to ensure every kid can have a bike.

A bighearted Michigan girl collects cans to buy bicycles for a local nonprofit dedicated to providing kids with their first bikes, starting with just two bikes in 2018, and increasing to 217 this year.

A pair of bike clubs in America’s largest retirement community teamed up to donate over 300 bicycles for Florida kids in need.

………

Forget a BB gun. This is the real Christmas story.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.   

Someone has been sabotaging a new protected bike lane in Cambridge, Massachusetts by sprinkling it with tacks and bricks, causing at least one crash.

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

A Redwood City man learns the hard way not to run a stop sign at 3 am with meth and drug paraphernalia on his bike — because they might use a CHP helicopter to track him down.

An Oklahoma man faces hit-and-run and assault with a deadly weapon charges after running down a bike thief with his car and reclaiming his bicycle, leaving his victim bleeding in the roadway.

A Singapore bike rider makes an unintended safety video by crashing into the back of a car while distracted by his phone.

………

Local

It came too late to make our Friday Morning Links, but you can still check out the Militant Angeleno’s guide to yesterday’s South LA CicLAvia to see what you saw.

 

State

Oceanside has approved a route for the final link missing from San Diego County’s 44-mile Coastal Rail Trail, which will eventually connect the city with San Diego.

Business owners and residents along San Diego’s 30th Street continue to aim shots at their own feet, filing an appeal to a recently dismissed lawsuit over the new protected bike lanes along the corridor, apparently unaware that protected bike lanes result in increased retail sales and property values, despite any loss of parking. Or maybe because of it.

An alleged bike thief is on trial for murder in Oakland after shooting the victim as he chased after his stolen bicycle. Allegedly.

Emeryville has a shiny new $21.4 million bike and pedestrian bridge.

No bias here. A Marin newspaper says a 15 mph speed limit for bike riders on the Golden Gate Bridge makes sense, especially in light of ebikes capable of doing up to 28 mph. Except ebikes that fast are already prohibited from using separated cycle tracks like the one on the bridge.

 

National

A Cycling Tips forum debates whether paywalls blocking internet access to bicycling publications will will eventually hurt the bicycling community and bike industry. It’s hard to argue that it won’t hurt them, as well as the magazines themselves, in the long run. But websites and magazines also need to make profit to stay in business. So until someone comes up with a better business model, we may be stuck with them. 

Bloomberg looks at the proposed $900 ebike tax credit contained in the current draft of the Build Back Better bill, which limits it to 30% of the first $3,000 of bicycles costing up to just four grand. Never mind that drivers can claim up to $7,500 on electric cars, no matter how much they cost.

New Mexico residents are battling over whether to close trails in the environmentally fragile badlands in the northern part of the state, where the increasing popularity of mountain biking risks eroding hillsides and destroying plant life. Mountain bikes belong almost everywhere, except where they can do irreparable harm to people, plants, animals or the environment.

A Colorado man will spend the next three years behind bars for killing German pro mountain biker Benjamin Sonntag, after he was convicted of vehicular homicide; sentences on two lesser charges will be served concurrently.

Record-setting Scottish bicyclist Josh Quigley returned to a Texas medical center to thank the trauma team that saved his life two years ago, after he suffered near-fatal injuries when he was run down by a truck driver while attempting to ride around the world.

There has to be a special place in hell for any driver who could leave a 13-year old bike-riding Ohio kid to die alone in the street.

A Grubhub rider in DC doesn’t let the lack of a front wheel delay his food deliveries.

 

International

No surprise that the global ebike market is expected to exceed $120 million by 2030. More surprising is that e-mountain bikes are the fastest growing segment.

Momentum offers a guide to bicycle snow tires. Which we usually don’t get a lot of call for here in sunny Southern California.

A 70-year old Winnipeg, Manitoba woman got her missing bike back 16 years after it was stolen, thanks to registering her serial number with the police before it was taken. Which is a good reminder to register your bike now.

Damned if you do, really damned if you don’t. A London bike rider gets fined the equivalent of $99 for riding in a bike-free zone outside a tube station — which is about $66,202 less than the fine for parking it there.

Scotland’s minister for active travel caught flack for posing with bicycling school kids on his own bicycle without wearing a helmet or hi-viz, even though neither is required for adults.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a truck driver walked without a day behind bars for killing a bike rider in an unsafe pass; the driver pulled in too soon because his wing mirror had been knocked out of place, denying him a view of the side of his truck. Evidently, it was just asking too much to pull over to the side of the road and fix it before he killed someone.

When you actually care about people on bicycles, you build thing like this three-way bike bridge over a highway roundabout in Naaldwijk, Netherlands. Thanks to Rich Flanagan for the tip.

A Dutch taxi passenger will face charges for fatally dooring a little girl riding with her parents, which forced her to swerve and fall in front of a bus.

A poultry farmer in Accra, Ghana won a sprayer and a new bicycle after being named the area’s best farmer.

Your next Chinese ebike could have five shock absorbers and carry two people. And cost just $700.

The World Naked Bike Ride follows the sun to Melbourne, Australia, where spring is just coming to an end.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly ranks the best road cyclists of 2021. And no, my name isn’t in there. And probably not yours, either.

 

Finally…

Your next bike helmet could be made from mushrooms and hay, and keep growing even if your head doesn’t. If your friend kills you and burns your body over a motorcycle, maybe he wasn’t really your friend.

And that feeling when you pick up a hitchhiker while riding across Azerbaijan.

………

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

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

Only bike mechanic in US Congress retires, Beemer-blocking bollards, and Metro reconsiders bikeshare today

December 2, 2021 / / One comment

It’s Day 7 of the 7th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Glenn C and Erick H for their generous donations to help keep SoCal’s best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Don’t wait. Give now via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated. 

So what are you waiting for?

………

Leadership of the US House Transportation Committee will be changing hands, as one of the chamber’s most bike-friendly members retires.

………

This is who we share the road with.

………

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

No bias here. Once again, a bicycle rider has been killed by a seemingly sentient truck, which apparently operated without having anyone behind the wheel. Or maybe a Kentucky TV station just forgot to mention them.

London’s transportation department is forced to pull an ad calling for greater understanding on the streets amid accusations of victim blaming by bike riders, after a driver and a bicyclist metaphorically kiss and make up when the former nearly kills the latter.

………

Local

The Source offers a preview of today’s Metro Board Meeting, focusing on policing contracts for Metro trains and buses; among the “also on the agenda” items is a motion to develop plans to improve the Metro Bike bikeshare program.

Los Angeles awards 14 community grants for beautification projects, including a proposal to landscape the LA River bike path along the river’s headwaters.

 

State

Berkeley ends its 4.2-mile Slow Streets program, apparently concluding people no longer need safe and healthy places to walk and ride.

A Redding man suffered major injuries when he was struck by an SUV, after multiple witnesses reported he was riding recklessly, weaving around vehicles and riding his bike on the wrong side of the road.

 

National

A Las Vegas sports business website says the best way to explore Utah’s Zion National Park is by bicycle.

Forbes profiles the 25-year old founders of Phoenix-based, sub-$1,000 direct-to-consumer brand Lectric eBikes.

Scottish bicyclist Josh Quigley returns to Texas to resume his around-the-world journey, two years after he was nearly killed when a driver ran him down fro behind.

If you’re visiting Milwaukee this weekend, look out for hundreds of bike-riding Santas. And yes, they’re all the real Santa. So get over it, kid.

New York unveils a glossy new transportation plan, with a city commitment to building 250 miles of protected bike lanes over the next five years — and hopes that it can somehow come up with the money to pay for it. On the other hand, how many miles of protected bike lanes has Los Angeles committed to over the same time period — with or without current funding?

LA’s Tamika Butler, Justin Williams and Peter Flax discuss the need for another Major Taylor moment in the final episode of the Chasing History video series, about the founding of the first cycling team at a Historically Black College or University, representing North Carolina’s St. Augustine’s University.

Kindhearted Jacksonville, Florida deputies replaced a young girl’s bicycle after it was mangled when a pursuit suspect came to a stop on top of it on her front lawn.

An arrest has been made in the murder of a 14-year old Palm Beach, Florida boy who disappeared while riding his bike; more information should be available later today.

 

International

Banff, Alberta wants to help residents reduce their carbon footprint with a proposed new ebike rebate program.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 76-year old woman in London, Ontario collided with another driver after allegedly running a red light, and slammed into a group of ten people walking on the sidewalk, eight of them children; one young girl was killed. And all the driver appeared to care about was whether she was going to be arrested. Let’s hope so.

Even a former Welsh rugby star can be the victim of a bike thief.

This is why people keep dying on the streets. A speeding British driver who killed a motorcyclist walked with no jail time after the judge concluded he was already punishing himself. Seriously? Remind me to use that excuse if I ever shoot someone.

The four largest cities in the Netherlands are asking the country’s parliament to improve safety by lowering the speed limit to 30 kph, the equivalent of 18 mph.

A woman in the Ivory Coast is using an exercise bike to produce artisanal chocolate from locally sourced cocoa beans.

The South African mountain kingdom of Lesotho is slowly building a mountain biking culture, following the introduction of the six-day Lesotho Sky mountain bike race a decade ago.

Endgadget says a new Chinese-made ebike is more like a computer on wheels, even if some of the promised feature are still vaporware.

 

Competitive Cycling

An all-female group of cyclists will represent athletes on the board of USA Cycling, with the selection of Cari Higgins, Meredith Miller and Maddie Godby joining current board member Alison Tetrick; VeloNews talks with Godby about her new role.

Another round of track racing at the Velo Sports Center in Carson this weekend. Thanks to David Huntsman for the heads-up.

 

Finally…

Note to DOTs — when you install new bike lanes, take down the signs allowing parking first. Your next ebike could have a corkscrew downtube.

And Mathieu van der Poel and his Alpecin-Fenix teammates demonstrate their lack of acting skills in a sponsor video described as “cringeworthy.”

………

 

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

 

 

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

CicLAvia returns with 3 dates this year, a first-hand view of traffic violence, and bike rider shoots driver in self-defense

July 6, 2021 / / Comments Off on CicLAvia returns with 3 dates this year, a first-hand view of traffic violence, and bike rider shoots driver in self-defense

We all have something to look forward to this year, with the return of America’s largest and most successful open streets festival.

In the best news we’ve had in a pandemic plagued year and a half, CicLAvia will return next month in Wilmington on August 10th.

That’s followed by the traditional Heart of LA route in Downtown Los Angeles on October 10th — the same date as the first CicLAvia, also in DTLA, eleven years earlier.

And last but far from least, a long-awaited return to South Los Angeles on October 5th.

Here’s what our bike-riding friend at KCBS2/KCAL9 have to say on the subject.

https://twitter.com/JeffVaughn/status/1411175401552896004

Photo of an earlier CicLAvia in DTLA by yours truly.

………

Every day as I search through the news, I find heartbreaking stories about fatal and near fatal crashes from across the US.

For every one I link to, there may be a dozen or more I don’t.

Just more collateral damage in our incessant obsession with getting from here to there as quickly and inefficiently as possible

Like this story from the very tip of the Pacific Northwest, a stone’s throw from Canada, about a 76-year-old man struck by a trailer pulled by a pickup driver while riding his bike.

Normally I’d read it, maybe mutter a quick prayer, and move on. Just another every day tragic occurrence.

Except this time, the details dovetailed with an email I received yesterday, in the form of a script, from fellow bike rider and corgi aficionado Mike Burk, who moved from SoCal to the cooler and cloudier clime a few years ago.

Fade in:

Late morning, driver’s POV.

Coming home from town this morning when we’re diverted off the highway to a side road because of a road block. At the intersection, noticed a truck towing a poorly loaded trailer carrying an old backhoe. The truck was stopped, the driver getting a ticket by a couple of sheriff’s deputies.

Finally back on the highway and two or three miles down the road. Flashing lights ahead. As we inched along I noticed a bicycle on its side and no rider around. Whatever happened is over (it had been only 90 minutes since we came that way into town).

Seeing the bike and the emergency vehicles, I got a picture.

Photo by Mike Burk

Dissolve to:

Early afternoon, POV over shoulder, sitting at computer.

Me, during a Zoom meeting with our homeowner’s association Publications Committee. Going over articles for our next month’s Kala Pointer Newsletter. One of the committee members asked, “Did you hear about Stan Cummings this morning? He was riding his bike…”

You can guess the rest. Yes, that was Stan’s bike. He was medivacced (sp) to Harborview Hospital in Seattle (40 miles… if you’re a crow). He’s in their TBI unit, not expected to recover well, if at all.

It didn’t take too long for someone following to dial 911 — and then for the sheriffs, local police, and state police to locate and stop the truck.

Stan is active in the community and on his bike. We’ll see what happens.

Fade to black.

Burk adds this final thought.

I forget that this can happen anywhere. We’re in a REALLY small town. Even after all the miles I’ve put on my bike, the thought of getting out on that highway (WA19 and WA20) up here just terrifies me. I keep to the back roads.

Sadly, that’s exactly the case.

The news stories I see come from everywhere English is spoken, and many places it’s not.

From big cities and tiny towns in every state throughout the US, as well as Canada, Mexico and Central America, the Caribbean, the UK, Europe, India, Africa, New Zealand and Australia. And virtually everywhere else, on every kind of roadway.

Yet somehow, the onus for safety inevitably rests on our narrow, unprotected shoulders, rather than the people in the big, dangerous machines who pose the danger to people on bikes, and everyone else.

It’s like living in a village where monsters roam the streets, dragging people off at random. And instead of doing something about them, we merely tell the villagers to be careful and lock their doors at night.

Like this rabidly auto-centric anti-Vision Zero diatribe, in other words.

Which is kind of like telling gunshot victims to dodge the bullets, rather than suggesting that maybe gun owners shouldn’t shoot them.

Frankly, I don’t have the answers anymore.

I just know I’m so damn tired of reading every day about still more innocent people dragged off by the monsters.

And worrying that one day they’ll grab me, too.

………

Bike Talk talks protected bike lanes, from every angle.

………

Speaking of which, the protected bike lane on Oakland’s Telegraph Ave has been so successful, the city wants to tear it out.

………

Apparently, Minnesota’s annual Freedom From Pants Ride went off without a…well, you get the idea.

Thanks to Tim Rutt for the heads-up.

………

Megan Lynch forwards this piece about a man seven years into a diagnosis of dementia, yet still riding his bike across Nova Scotia to fight the disease.

………

Evidently, the Dutch city of Groningen was been a bicycle city for awhile.

………

British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid explores England’s old Great North Road from London to Newcastle, traveling in style in a classic Morgan sports car, accompanied by a Brompton foldie in the passenger seat.

………

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

In a truly bizarre case, a man on a bike shot a road raging Houston driver in self-defense when the male driver told a bike-riding couple they couldn’t ride in that neighborhood, then deliberately knocked the woman off her bike; her pistol-packing partner was let go, while the driver was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

No bias here. After a driver intentionally knocks a British man off his bike, she claims to be an ex-cop, and the current cops don’t hesitate to blame the victim. And a driving instructor uses the incident for a training video.

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

A man on a bicycle remains at large after shooting an Arleta man following an argument Sunday night.

Seriously? There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for a 23-year old English man who was caught masturbating on his bicycle, riding one-handed as he pursued women and young girls. Yet the bike-riding perv somehow avoided jail despite doing it not once, not twice or even thrice, but four times, apparently because the judge thought he’s a “promising student.”

A Singapore bicyclist was criticized for leaving a painted bike lane to draft behind a trio of dump trucks. Although that would be perfectly legal in the US, though not necessarily smart, where most, if not all, states allow bike riders to take the lane if they’re riding the speed of traffic.

………

Local

The Gateway Cities Council of Governments will discuss the ill-advised plan to widen the 710 Freeway, displacing homeowners and fouling the air to create more induced demand. A much better option would be to spend the same amount on transit, bikeways and pedestrian improvements so people don’t have to drive the damn thing.

Brooklyn Beckham is one of us, as soccer great David Beckham’s grownup son goes for a Beverly Hills bike ride with a friend.

 

State

Just days after a woman was killed riding her bike on North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla near UC San Diego, another bike rider was injured when a suspected drunk driver drifted into the bike lane he was riding in, less than half a mile from where the first woman was run down.

The San Diego Union-Tribune considers how North Park’s new 30th Street protected bike lane will affect the community.

A Santa Barbara librarian says her new ebike was the best thing to come out of 2020.

San Jose police busted an alleged fence who specialized in high-end bicycles and construction equipment, while paying thieves a fraction of their actual value; he was caught with an estimated $100,000 of hot merch at the time of his arrest. If you’re missing an expensive bike anywhere in the Bay Area, give ’em a call, just in case.

Tragic news from South Sacramento, where a 76-year old man riding a bike was killed by a hit-and-run driver who briefly stopped following the collision, then ran over the victim to make her getaway.

For anyone up in the Sacramento area, the Davis Bicycling, Street Safety and Transportation Commission will meet on Thursday to discuss a number of proposals, including a newly funded plan to widen the I-80 corridor (bad), while possibly adding bicycling improvements (good). Thanks again to Megan Lynch.

 

National

Seriously? Women’s Health asks if outdoor bike riding is good for weight loss. Hint: A resounding yes!

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, after a California man raised $13,000 to provide running water to families in the impoverished Navajo Nation by riding his bike from California to New Mexico.

A Santa Fe, New Mexico school is tapping into federal funds to get more kids to bike and walk to school. Which is something every school should be working on.

Boulder CO police say there’s a nationwide bike shortage, so use a damn U-lock, already. Although they may not have said it quite that way.

More proof that collisions with pedestrians are just as dangerous for the person on the bike, as a 28-year old New York woman was left clinging to life after she crashed into a pedestrian walking in a Prospect Park crosswalk while she was riding in the bike lane. Seriously, ride carefully around pedestrians, who are just as unpredictable as people on bikes. And in cars.

An Atlanta bike rider flagged down paramedics after an 18-year old backup quarterback at Kennesaw State University was fatally shot near Pensacola, Florida; his 19-year old passenger suffered multiple gunshot wounds when their attackers fired over 50 rounds at their car.

 

International

TechRadar rates the “super smart” Cowboy 4 as their top ebike, saying it feels like the future of bicycling.

Mashable offers tips on what to think about before entering the ebike world. But they get the first tip wrong, suggesting that ebiking is just a seasonal thing for everyone but the most extreme bicyclists.

Offroad.cc shares their thoughts on what to look for in a used mountain bike.

Um, okay. Pink Bike looks at all the things that didn’t happen in the world of bicycling last month.

Life is cheap in British Columbia, where a hit-and-run driver walked without a single day in jail for killing an 18-year old man riding a bike. But at least he called 911 before driving off.

A young Black man plans to file a complaint against the Montreal cops who roughed him up and handcuffed him for the crime of not having a reflector on his front wheel. Or maybe because he stopped to watch them question another man.

Life is cheap in the UK, too, where a truck driver walked without spending a day behind bars for killing a 73-year old ebike rider, because the judge thought he showed “genuine and enduring” remorse. Which, oddly, won’t do a damn thing to bring his victim back.

A Singapore bike rider unfairly gets the blame for riding in the traffic lane when a driver slams into him from behind, throwing him onto the windshield before landing in the roadway; the victim sat up following the crash, so hopefully he’s okay. Warning: The dashcam video of the crash is absolutely horrifying, so be sure you really want to see it before you click on it.

 

Competitive Cycling

By now, you should have had plenty of time to catch up on the Tour de France. So it shouldn’t come as a spoiler to reveal that last year’s winner Tadej Pogacar not only reclaimed the yellow jersey, but tightened his grip on it before Monday’s rest day.

Breakaway specialist Thomas De Gendt argues the level of competition is much higher at this year’s Tour de France, thanks to a rash of young riders making their presence known.

Cavendish says he may be struggling, but don’t write off four-time Tour champ Chris Froome yet.

Mathieu van der Poel pulled out of the Tour after losing the yellow jersey to focus on winning mountain bike gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Judging by the video below, he might just have a shot.

A sports physicist considers how many calories you’d have to consume to ride like a pro in the Tour de France.

Nicholas Dlamini, the first Black South African to compete in the Tour, received a round of “rapturous” applause when he crossed the finish line on Sunday’s ninth stage of the Tour, despite failing to make the cut following a crash.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get so drunk you can’t remember stealing a $1,000 bike. That feeling when you’re glad the bear only ate your bike seat.

And John and Yoko were both one of us.

Thanks to author Richard Risemburg for the heads-up.

………

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

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

Nevada lawmakers propose banning bikes from high-speed highways, and the war on bikes just keeps on going

March 19, 2021 / / 3 comments

No bias here.

Nevada lawmakers somehow respond to the meth-fueled massacre of five Las Vegas bike riders by trying to punish the victims by banning bikes from 4,400 miles of state highways with a speed limit of 65 mph or higher.

The bill would also ban bicyclists from riding more that two abreast on the shoulder of a highway, even if there’s room for it without encroaching on the roadway.

Although personally, I don’t have a problem with passing a law banning bikes from high speed highways.

As long as they pass another one to lower speed limits to more rational levels that would improve safety for everyone.

………

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

South Carolina bicyclists complain about harassment and attacks from people in cars, ranging from punishment passes and being pelted with bottles to leaving a critically injured bike rider bleeding in the road.

A Florida county sheriff was lucky to escape with minor injuries when he was the victim of a hit-and-run while on a 20-mile bike ride; a witness said the driver appeared to intentionally run him down. Update: The crash wasn’t intentional, just another stupidly distracted driver shopping on her phone instead of watching the road. And naturally, claimed she just hit a mailbox when she was caught.

Someone deliberately tried to injure innocent bike riders by stringing a wire across a popular Edinburgh bike path; at least one man was seriously injured.

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

An English man in his 70s suffered a broken hand, wrist and arm when he was knocked down by a sidewalk-riding, top hat-wearing, hit-and-run bike rider, who swore at him while riding off without stopping.

A Welsh bicyclist was filmed skitching by holding on to a large truck as it pulled him through traffic; the trailing witness naturally gave the story to Farmer’s Weekly.

………

Local

Metro invites you to take a short bikeshare tour through Downtown LA for women’s history month.

A Santa Clarita bike rider made a lucky, if possibly illegal, escape after allegedly getting hit by a Metrolink train, then picking his or herself up and fleeing the scene. Although I’m not sure that qualifies as fleeing if there were no injuries or significant damage to the bike or the train.

 

State

It seems like it would be hard to go belly up during a bike boom, but SoCal direct-to-consumer bikemaker Eminent Cycles proved it can be done by filing Chapter 11, with current assets representing just 10% of its existing debt.

A San Jose man was busted for the hit-and-run death of a 63-year old man riding his bike in Cupertino last August, after sheriff’s deputies finally found the man’s car with damage consistent with the crash.

 

National

Specialized is teaming with a Tesla co-founder to solve the problem of recycling old ebike batteries.

A Bicycle Retailer op-ed questions why we can’t make bicycles in the US, citing advantages ranging from shorter supply chains to pride in craftsmanship.

Um, no. A Utah columnist responds to the collision that left former NBA star Shawn Bradley paralyzed by talking with a bicyclist who offers safety advice. Except all of the advice is for the people on two wheels, and none for the ones in the big dangerous machines — even when it comes to dooring.

Denver wants to give Lyft and Lime the keys to the city, handing them exclusive rights to provide dockless bikes and e-scooters in the city.

A Colorado man’s new book details his “difficult and grueling 1,400-mile ebike ride from Denver to Columbus, Ohio” to raise funds for Meniere’s disease awareness and research — which causes chronic dizziness, nausea, severe ringing in the ears and vertigo — after realizing the automated features of an ebike could hep him overcome his symptoms to get off the couch and onto the road.

An Arkansas woman celebrates the passage of a bill that sailed through the state house without opposition to tighten the penalties for hit-and-run, with up to 20 years behind bars and a $15,000 fine; her husband was killed riding his bike less than two months after they were married.

A New Hampshire woman faces faces up to seven years behind bars for hit-and-run despite playing the “I thought I hit a deer” card, telling police she blacked out after seeing horns and hearing a loud bang; fortunately, the victim wasn’t seriously injured. Surprisingly, very few bike riders actually have horns, even though some drivers apparently think we all do.

Police in Greenwich, Connecticut remind everyone that people on bicycles have to obey the law just like people in cars. Which evidently means no one has to obey the law, since most drivers don’t.

Pennsylvania approves a bill to legalize parking protected bike lanes.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 70-year old man plans to ride 1,000 miles from Miami to Mobile AL to raise funds for an organization that provides comprehensive care to people with special needs.

Miami Dade police killed a man who stole a bicycle from a bus while shooting his gun to frighten off the owner, then fired again during a carjacking at a gas station.

 

International

Ebike prices continue to drop, with the new KBO Breeze checking in at a relatively svelte $1,399.

Canadian advocates call for making temporary popup bike lanes permanent, arguing that they’ve increased accessibility in a number of the country’s cities. A feeling Los Angeles bike riders are unfamiliar with, since the city still hasn’t installed a single popup lane anywhere.

London bike riders say the decision to rip a popular popup bike lane off one of the city’s deadliest streets is depressingly predictable, after officials concluded that the plastic bendy posts marking the lane would somehow prevent emergency vehicles from getting through. Apparently forgetting that the plastic bollards are no match for a bigass firetruck, or even a decent police bike.

Good boy! An eight-year old English boy started his own fundraising bike ride to help dogs rescued from the meat trade; so far he’s raised $400, mostly from family and friends.

A British man and his family converted one of the country’s iconic red phone booths into a self-service bike repair station.

Dutch ebike maker VanMoof plans to expand to 50 cities around the world. Although in the US, it will be limited to the West and Northeast Coasts.

A local tour guide recommends ten iconic Manila landmarks to visit by bicycle.

An Aussie home burned down when an ebike that had been left to charge overnight burst into flames; all seven residents managed to escape safely, though the bike was toast.

 

Competitive Cycling

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 78-year old driver walked with a lousy fine for brake checking an Olympic hopeful just days after she won a bronze medal at the world championships; then-19-year old Lauren Dolan was forced to give up cycling as a result of her extensive injuries.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a Louisville bike shop restores Ray Bradbury’s bicycle, but the story is hidden behind a paywall.

And when you’re already carrying a large bag full of stolen mail — including a $10,652.90 check — maybe it’s not the best idea to stop to steal a bicycle.

Especially not in front of a cop.

………

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

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

Wealthy LA-area man accused of shielding son in deadly crash, cargo bikes and dogs, and ride like a bike messenger

March 9, 2021 / / Comments Off on Wealthy LA-area man accused of shielding son in deadly crash, cargo bikes and dogs, and ride like a bike messenger

Is this who we share the road with?

A Reddit user accused an LA-area millionaire of allegedly using his money and influence to protect his speeding, Lamborghini-driving son from the consequences for killing a woman driving another car on Olympic Blvd in Westwood.

Monique Munoz was killed when a 17 year old, driving a $200,000 Lamborghini at over 100 MPH crashed into her at 5PM. The drivers father, James Khuri, is a millionaire and has been throwing money to get any news coverage of the incident pushed to the back of google and have positive articles of himself populated instead. Meanwhile, following Moniques death Khuri has been posting about his lavish lifestyle on Instagram and deleting and blocking  anything in reference to Monique. It’s been two weeks and no charges have been pressed.#JusticeForMoniqueMunoz

Update: Anyone interested in helping please email DA Gascon to move forward with the case at info@da.lacounty.gov and keep the story alive on socials. #JusticeforMoniqueMunoz

Photo by Sundesh Chaudhary from Pexels.

………

Dogs and bikes. What’s not to like?

………

How to ride like a bike messenger.

………

This is the difference a well-planned bikeway can make.

………

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

A British woman claimed a bike rider somehow threw himself onto the hood of her car, and flashed a salute as he slid off. Although we can probably guess what kind of salute it was, and how many fingers he used.

………

Local

Today is the last day to request a mail-in ballot for the neighborhood council elections in the Hollywood and Mid City areas.

LA street safety PAC Streets For All will host a free virtual happy hour with bike-friendly Westside Councilmember Mike Bonin on Wednesday.

 

State

San Clemente has banned ebikes from the city’s eponymous pier, as well as the city’s beachfront trail.

Sad news from Turlock, where a 44-year old man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike; police are looking for the driver of a gray or charcoal Mercedes sedan with possible front-end or side damage.

The news wasn’t any better in San Jose, where an 81-year old man was killed when he was right hooked while riding his bike; the case will be reviewed by the DA’s office to determine if the driver will face charges.

And still more bad news from the Bay Area, where a woman suffered life-threatening injuries when her bike was hit by a van driver in Golden Gate Park. Which raises the eternal question of what the hell are motor vehicles doing in a public park in the first place?

San Francisco Streetsblog calls for keeping a small street next to the city’s new transit center open to people and closed to cars, instead of converting it to an access ramp for a new parking garage.

 

National

Advice on how to keep your bike from being stolen, including using multiple locks, taking your seat with you, and letingt your bike sleep inside whenever possible when not in use. Or you could just make potential thieves vomit all over your bike.

Bicycling says riding a cargo bike is the perfect way to instantly add joy to any outing. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a Yahoo version this time in case bicycling blocks you.

VeloNews offers a new website for women gravel grinders.

A retired army colonel is riding his bike from San Diego to Florida’s St. Augustine Beach to raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project; so far he’s raised $12,000 of the $100,000 goal.

A Sitka, Alaska driver learns the hard way that it may not be the best idea to flee the scene after killing a bike rider when you live in a town of less than 10,000 people.

Seattle researchers discover racial disparities in traffic stops and tickets are prevalent throughout the city, including enforcement of the city’s mandatory helmet law.

A Bellingham WA driver questions whether a bike rider belongs in the center of a traffic lane with those funny symbols of a bicycle and some arrows; the local newspaper patiently explains that those things are called sharrows.

Chicago suffered the city’s first bicycling fatality of the year when a woman was killed by an unlicensed driver in an apparent right hook.

Gothamist examines where the candidates for mayor of New York stand on the future of bicycling in the city.

 

International

This is who we share the road with, part 2. A Brazilian motorcyclist clung to a large truck for dear life as the apparently unaware driver carried him 19 miles following a crash that took his wife’s life.

A Kenyan TV station marks International Women’s Day by talking with the bike-riding head of the country’s World Wide Fund for Nature, who founded a public awareness and advocacy campaign calling for safety for everyone, including bike riders and pedestrians, without prejudice, on Kenyan roads.

A Aussie driver faces charges for allegedly killing a 57-year old bicyclist while driving stoned, then ditching a large quantity of illegal narcotics following the crash.

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s first Tour de France winner was a woman.

Former Tour de France competitor Peter Stetina continues his post-pro tour winning ways by capturing Alaska’s 100-mile Gravel Hugger Race.

 

Finally…

Coyotes don’t attack people on bicycles — except, apparently, when they do. What good is karate if it can’t protect your dojo from cars?

And no, this probably isn’t the right message for International Women’s Day.

Or any other day, for that matter.

https://twitter.com/AwesomeCycling/status/1368501816363806722

………

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

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

London paper holds ugly mirror to LA bicycling; bike rider brutally attacked with baseball bat; and chef has bike, will cook

February 19, 2021 / / Comments Off on London paper holds ugly mirror to LA bicycling; bike rider brutally attacked with baseball bat; and chef has bike, will cook

London’s Guardian takes a look at bicycling in the City of Angels.

And it ain’t pretty.

With year-round perfect riding weather and a topography that allows both bike commuters to enjoy pedaling without too much strain and experienced riders to explore the nearby mountains and hills, Los Angeles in many ways is a cyclists’ paradise.

But the city’s cycling reputation is tempered by the fact that it is one of the most vexing, difficult and downright dangerous cities in the United States to ride a bike in.

The story goes on to describe LA’s crappy roads, lack of safe bikeways, and drivers who can’t seem to take their foot off the gas or put their phones down — despite city officials nearly dislocating their shoulders patting themselves on the back.

In 2018, Bicycling Magazine gave LA the ignominious title of “worst bike city in America” because of the hazards posed to cyclists by distracted drivers, the terrible shape of most streets, and the seeming willingness of local officials to pay out millions of dollars in lawsuits rather than address the infrastructure needs that could make LA a safer place to bike…

The poor shape of streets in Los Angeles has forced the city to dole out millions of dollars in the last decade to cyclists severely injured by the shoddy road conditions.

In 2017, the city paid $7.5m to a man left quadriplegic after he crashed on a stretch of road where the pavement had buckled because of tree roots. That same year it gave $6.5m to a cyclist who suffered a traumatic brain injury after hitting a massive pothole on his bike, and another $4.5m to the family of a rider killed after he hit a 2in ridge in the pavement.

Phil Gaimon, former pro, author and YouTube star Phil Gaimon sums it all up.

“The weather here is so perfect that you really don’t need a car to shelter like you do in other parts of the country,” said Phil Gaimon, a former professional cyclist turned author and YouTube star. “But LA is also the shittiest city in the most beautiful part of the world.”

It’s not how we want to see ourselves, or how we want others to see us.

But it’s too often true, in far too many ways.

It doesn’t have to be.

But until we can help our elected leaders find the political courage to stand up to LA’s driver industrial complex — or replace them with officials who will — we will continue to put up ghost bikes.

And dream about what might have been.

………

Horrifying attack in New York, where a bike-riding man was beaten senseless by a man with a baseball bat, who struck him repeatedly until the victim fell to the sidewalk unconscious and bleeding, then kept striking him as bystanders attempted to intervene.

Police arrested the 46-year old attacker after witnesses pointed him out standing in the crowd.

At last report, the victim still hadn’t regained consciousness, and no reason was given for the vicious attack.

The video depicts a brutal assault on a helpless victim, so make sure that’s something you really want to see before you click Play.

………

Who needs a food truck when you’ve got your own bicycle kitchen?

………

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

A British delivery rider says he’s been struck by drivers over 20 times during the pandemic, and physically attacked four times.

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

Boise police are looking for a mountain bike-riding bank robbery suspect who rode off with an unspecified amount of cash after telling the teller he had a gun. No word on whether he made an Idaho Stop as he made his getaway.

………

Local

LA bike diversity expert Tamika Butler turns up in an unexpected place, writing for Red Bull about elite mountain bikers Eliot Jackson and Katie Holden and their new Grow Cycling Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to inclusive community building and career development, and tearing down the barriers to entry for marginalized communities.

 

State

San Diego bicyclists can now get turn-by-turn bike directions on your iPhone.

Congratulations to UC Riverside on being designated as a Bicycle Friendly University.

Santa Barbara is offering a free demo of various kinds of ebikes in an effort to encourage more people to get out of their cars.

Bay Area residents now have the option of trading their older, smog belching cars for a new ebike. Last I checked, the ebike option was still unavailable in the LA area.

The rich get richer. UC Davis has completed a new and much improved bike path leading to the bike-friendly campus. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Good idea. The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition is offering weekly in-person bicycling lessons for just $5 a session.

San Mateo police urge drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians to kill ’em with kindness. Instead of just, you know, killing ’em.

 

National

Forbes examines how one of the top low-end bike makers is struggling to keep up with booming demand at Walmart, Target and other mass-market retailers.

Heartbreaking news from Arizona, where a careless driver ran down a couple in their 70s as they rode in a bike lane, killing the woman and injuring her companion. Thanks to Phillip Young for the link.

Kings County, Washington, home to Seattle, will re-examine its mandatory bike helmet law, after reports indicated that the seldom-enforced law was used disproportionately to target homeless people who can’t afford to buy one.

After a year of riding her bike to campus, a Texas nursing student got the free use of a new Nissan for one year. Although that may not necessarily be an improvement.

A Chicago bike advocate was critically injured when she was right hooked by a driver illegally turning from far left lane; the fleeing vehicle was caught on security cam, but turned out to have been carjacked just days before.

A Pennsylvania man faces up to 12 years behind bars after he admitted to running a pair of stop signs before fatally slamming into a bike rider, while driving without a license.

NASCAR champ Bobby LaBonte is one of us, as he moves his annual fundraising ride to North Carolina, with a Roubaix-style finish circling the race track.

The executive director of a New Orleans advocacy group predicts this will be a breakout year for bicycling in the Big Easy, where 80% of residents support quickly building a “completely connected network of safe, dedicated bike lanes and trails throughout the city,” while 73% support protected bike lanes.

 

International

No, the best way to stay safe on a bike isn’t to wear a helmet; it’s to ride safely and defensively so you don’t need one.

We can hope. The chairman of Giant Bicycle’s Spanish and Portuguese subsidiary predicts cars will disappear in the coming years, while bicycles will keep being pedaled around the world.

Punjabi police busted a hit-and-run driver who slammed into a bike rider from behind, then drove over six miles with the man’s body on the roof of his car, only getting out to dump it when the man’s arm fell across the car’s window.

A lack of safe infrastructure could derail Mumbai’s plans to promote bicycling as a commuter option, and become India’s bicycling capital.

Bikes are booming in Nairobi despite a near-total lack of bike infrastructure, where a nine-mile ride to work is described as “harrowing.”

Maybe there’s justice after all. A Malaysian court has overruled a local magistrate, reinstating the case against a 26-year old woman who rammed 30 teenage bike riders with her car, killing eight and injuring eight more; the ruling came four years to the day after the horrific crash.

A New Zealand study concludes that e-scooters aren’t as safe as bicycles, and their users are much more likely to end up in hospital emergency rooms with a high level of alcohol in their blood.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling News reminisces about five late and lamented North American bike races that bit the dust in the last decade, at least temporarily, including our own dearly departed Tour of California.

Bicycling looks forward to eleven “can’t miss” bike races in the coming year, starting with Belgium’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad later this month. And yes, you can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

LA’s pioneering, diversity-based L39ION of Los Angeles cycling team will field a women’s Continental team for the upcoming racing season, in addition to the previously announced men’s squad.

Hats off to British Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart, who took a knee in support of racial equity — and put his money where his heart is by sponsoring an under-23 rider with his former Hagens Berman Axeons team to promote racial diversity in professional cycling.

 

Finally…

Turn your old bike wheel into an otherworldly pan flute. Your next ebike could be a sub-19 pound roadie with the battery hidden in a faux water bottle, for the low, low price of just $14,449.

And the award for best use of a cargo bike goes to…

………

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

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

When is a bike lane not a bike lane, stumbling on the Venice Lights Parade bike ride, and Kevin Hart is one of us

February 16, 2021 / / 2 comments

Happy Fat Tuesday to everyone freezing their ass off down south today.

Not to rub it in, but our weather here in SoCal is sunny and warm, if a tad windy today.

So toss some beads and bunting on your bike, put some Mardi Gras music on your earbuds — okay earbud, since California law only allows one when you ride.

And shout out a few heartfelt “Iko Ikos” for our biking brethren left bereft by the pandemic and Mother Nature.

Photo by Michael Gravois from Pixabay.

………

When is a bike lane not a bike lane?

When it’s completely overgrown and no one wants to do anything about it.

………

Meet the candidates for the Hollywood Hills West neighborhood council tomorrow evening. And make sure we get a council that backs much needed bike and pedestrian improvements in the Hollywood area.

And yes, Mary Yarber is one of us.

………

A bike rider stumbles on the weekly Venice Lights Parade, which is still going on despite the pandemic.

https://twitter.com/transitpassla/status/1361402045761167360

………

Evidently, Kevin Hart is one of us, too.

………

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

No bias here. A Massachusetts TV station calls for motorists to be careful driving in bike lanes, but proceeds to remind bike riders they have to obey traffic laws.

Talk about a close pass. A British bike rider captures a 360° view of a needless punishment pass. As if it’s ever necessary.

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

A British man was busted for carrying up to 50 packs of heroin after his attempt to escape by throwing his bike at the cops failed.

………

Local

Yes, please. Streets For All is calling for the completion of the Ballona Creek bike path, which was originally supposed to end at Cochran Ave and Venice Blvd.

Sad news, as the 12-year old daughter of a lawyer handling the estate of Michael Jackson has died, after suffering what her mother described only as a “terrible accident” while riding her bicycle in Los Angeles; the story of her fight for survival had gone viral, touching hearts around the world.

UCLA’s transportation department marked Valentines Day with a neurologist, a digital humanities specialist and two graduate students explaining why they love riding their bikes.

Pasadena police will conduct another bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement campaign on Friday. The usual protocol applies. Ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

World traveling Long Beach expats The Path Less Pedaled are selling some of their beautiful bicycle watercolors for less than $300 apiece. Any of which would look perfect gracing your walls. Or mine, for that matter.

 

State

Yes, please. A Streetsblog SF op-ed calls for getting rid of the flimsy plastic bendy posts that pass for bike lane protection, and replacing them with steel and plastic barriers to force drivers to obey the law.

Police concluded a San Francisco bike rider suffered a medical emergency after he was found unresponsive in the street near Golden Gate Park on Saturday, despite social media reports that he’d been struck by a hit-and-run driver. Although it’s also important to remember that drivers don’t have to actually hit someone to cause a life-threatening fall.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole the bicycle a mentally disabled Vacaville man used to get to work

 

National

Riding a bicycle improves your health in 12 ways. Kind of like Wonder Bread.

Seattle bike groups are hoping to get the county health department to reconsider the city’s mandatory bike helmet requirement, calling the law arbitrary and troubling, while arguing that it disproportionately affects people of color.

A Nevada nonprofit bought a billboard to remind drivers that state law requires them to change lanes to pass someone on a bicycle. Which beats the hell out of California’s seldom enforced three-foot passing law.

A New Jersey man is planning to bike across the US to raise funds for an animal rescue, after dropping 100 pounds when he started riding a bike last spring.

There’s not a pit deep enough for whoever beat a 12-year old New York boy on the subway and stole his bicycle.

A bighearted bikemaker from Pennsylvania surprised a pair of young sisters suffering from a rare neurodegenerative disease by giving them new motorized tricycles; Jason Kraft gave away ten similar bikes to children suffering from the disease last year, and hopes to donate 20 this year.

 

International

New reflective wheel stickers promise to improve safety by making you visible to drivers up to 500 feet away.

An 80-year old English paperboy decides not to pack it in after all, after a local bike shop gave him a free ebike to ease his 2.5-mile daily route.

A Dublin bike rider puts his money where his mouth is, donating five euros to an anti-bike lane campaign just so he can tell them off.

A kindhearted Irish bike mechanic gave a 81-year old man a refurbished bicycle, after the bike he used to get to the shops broke down.

Lessons from the Netherlands suggest we need better traffic lights, and fewer of them.

Thousands of bike and scooter riders turned out in Malaga, Spain to protest a new law that would ban them from sidewalks and pedestrian plazas.

A new bill in the Philippine legislature would establish a national network of safe bike lanes and pathways connecting to essential destinations like work, school, medical facilities and markets.

 

Competitive Cycling

Chris Froome said goodbye to Los Angeles by posting his final SoCal training ride on Strava; the seven-time Grand Tour winner is joining his new team, Israel Start-Up Nation, after rehabbing here from his gruesome crash two years ago.

Peloton talks with rising American cycling star Sepp Kuss.

 

Finally…

At least no one has to worry about getting cancer from that new bicycle smell. Just what every bike rider needs for the occasional time trial around the block.

And your next bike may not even need you.

………

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

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

Gaimon gamely tries to regain Everest title, riding 1,000 miles across Yukon in 1900, and bike cops in 1904 DTLA

January 25, 2021 / / Comments Off on Gaimon gamely tries to regain Everest title, riding 1,000 miles across Yukon in 1900, and bike cops in 1904 DTLA

Phil gave it his best shot.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough.

After briefly holding the world Everesting record — climbing the equivalent of the height of Mt. Everest in a single ride — former pro Phil Gaimon bided his time making another attempt, before finding the perfect hill in Malibu.

Unfortunately, he was done in by an unexpected heat wave, abandoning the attempt after more than four hours as the heat climbed into the 80s.

Although something tells me he may give it another shot before the pandemic is over.

Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva from Pexels.

………

LA may be wet and cold right now, but it could be worse.

An adventure website tells the tale of a shop owner who sold everything he owned at the turn of the last century, and bought a 45 pound, single speed safety bicycle.

Then gave himself one week to learn how to ride before tackling a nearly 1,000-mile journey across the Yukon to Nome, Alaska, hoping to get there before all the gold was gone.

In the middle of winter, with temperatures down to -45.

………

One more week to get a discount when you sign up for this year’s virtual Bike Summit.

Evidently, bike cops are nothing new in Downtown LA.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

………

Here’s your chance to chuck it all, and live the mountain bike dream.

………

Bicycles seldom fly off highways and burst into flames. Just saying.

Thanks to Erik Griswold for the forward.

………

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

No bias here. A conservative candidate for London mayor pledges to rip out all the Low Traffic Neighborhoods — the equivalent of this country’s Slow Streets — if he’s elected, and get rid of congestion pricing to enter the city center.

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

Modesto streets were swarmed by people on bicycles, as hundreds of riders responded to local bike club’s call by flouting traffic laws, leading to five arrests and police impounding 19 bikes.

Police in England are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who forced a mother riding with her four-year old son on her bike face-first into a wall; she needed 20 stitches to her upper lip and the equivalent of nearly $500 in dental work.

………

Local

About damn time. Nearly 75 advocacy and safety groups, including LADOT and the LACBC, sent a letter to newly inaugurated President Biden calling for a nationwide commitment to Vision Zero to traffic deaths in 29 years.

Burbank is gearing up to open another .75 mile segment of the Burbank Wash Bikeway next month.

The bike boom isn’t just limited to riding outside, as subscriptions for Long Beach’s Zwift have doubled over the past year.

 

State

La Jolla approves plans for protected bike lanes on Gilman Drive as part of San Diego’s Coastal Rail Trail project.

San Diego letter writers epitomize what passes for debate over bike lanes, with one calling for safety, while the other would rather have parking and arguing that some bicyclists don’t want them, anyway.

A 12-year old Bakersfield boy is back on a bike despite losing his vision, riding a tandem with his nine-year old brother up front, thanks to an Idaho man who hit up his friends to raise five grand for a child-sized bike.

A homeopathic medicine company featured Santa Barbara’s famed Gibraltar Road in their series of Great Ride videos.

Sad news from the central coast, where a 57-year old Soquel man was killed when his motorized bike crashed into a roadway median at 30 mph. Although it would be interesting to know how the CHP determined his speed, since it’s almost impossible to calculate the speed of a bicycle following a crash.

A San Mateo man is cleaning up by riding his bike, after starting a group to help clean the roads they ride in the county.

 

National

Streetsblog offers highlights from last week’s confirmation hearing for Transportation Secretary-designate Pete Buttigieg, including a call for Complete Streets and long overdue recognition that it’s time for America to end its auto-centric ways. Yes, he actually used one of my favorite terms.

They get it. Time says ebikes are taking off, but America’s cities aren’t ready for them.

After 136 years, Oregon finally concludes that bicycles are for humans.

Unbelievable. A Seattle bike cop is likely to walk without charges for slowly rolling his police bike over the head of a prone protester, after the victim declines to press charges.

Las Vegas remembered the five bike riders killed by an alleged meth-using truck driver by installing a five-seat ghost bike.

A 12-year old Arizona cancer survivor won a new ebike by winning a national dance competition, despite having just one leg.

Utah’s Arches National Park is seeking public input on a proposal that would allow bike riders to safely access the park by allowing them to use an existing trail that connects to the Moab Canyon Parkway.

Nice piece from Outside, as they profile the mobile bike repair shop working to keep the Navajo Nation on their bikes.

Turning bicycling into recycling, an 82-year old former pension fund manager in Wisconsin is using his retirement to collect and recycle aluminum cans; he recently gathered his two millionth can on his bike, using the profits to benefit environmental groups.

Pittsburgh is calming streets to slow traffic, in a city where ten percent of people still walk to work, and more are riding bikes every year.

No surprise here, as over half of the bicycling deaths in New York were low income or essential workers.

 

International

Singer, reality show judge and former Dancing With the Stars champ Nicole Scherzinger is one of us, taking a maskless ride with her boyfriend while vacationing in Turks and Caicos in the middle of a pandemic.

Toronto bike riders continue to die while the city backpedals on a $100 million commitment to build bikeways.

A Toronto woman rode her bike to get through a rough year. And used the lessons she learned to keep going through marital problems and a lost job.

Road.cc says why settle for riding the length of the UK when you can ride from London to Barcelona, instead.

Britain’s Busby safety app has seen a whopping 870% increase during the pandemic, as the resulting bike boom has encouraged riders worldwide to download the app that detects unusual movement — like a fall — and calls for help if it’s not deactivated in time.

Bike Radar considers why bike prices are spiking in the UK, concluding it’s not all due to Brexit, and takes a look at the best e-roadies.

Traffic deaths are down in Germany. Except for people on bicycles, which are climbing due to a lack of quality infrastructure.

Even in winter, 12% of all trips in Oulu, Finland are made by bicycle. But no one will ride in usually sunny Los Angeles winter weather, right?

 

Competitive Cycling

Former Giro champ Tom Dumoulin is taking a gap year, in a sense; the Dutch rider walked away from his Jumbo-Visma team to reconsider his future, questioning whether he still wants to race bikes.

An aspiring pro describes life in the lower rungs of pro cycling. And it ain’t pretty.

On a related note, Explica examines the impatience of tech-oriented Spanish Gen Z cyclists to turn pro in a world where 23-year old amateurs are over the hill.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the sound of gunshots turns out to be a tree falling on your back while you ride. Who needs ice skates when you’ve got an ice bike?

And seriously, who hasn’t played the bagpipes while shoveling snow on a unicycle dressed as Darth Vader?

………

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

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries  
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee
%d bloggers like this: