Tag Archive for the war on bikes

Morning Links: Bike the Vote endorses Ryu’s 2020 opponent, biking the 101 Freeway, and building bikes behind bars

June 6, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike the Vote endorses Ryu’s 2020 opponent, biking the 101 Freeway, and building bikes behind bars

We’re back. 

I hope you’ll excuse the unexcused absences for the past few days. 

To be honest, it’s a struggle just to get by these days. Between rehabbing my new knee, going to PT, managing my pain and diabetes, and still doing all the things daily life requires — on top of researching and writing each day’s post for this site — there’s just no way to fit it all in a single day.

It doesn’t take much, like this week’s bout of low blood sugar or an extended internet outage, to throw a wrench in the whole damn thing. 

But hopefully, that’s all behind us. 

And it’s all led to today’s epic post, as we catch up on not one, not two, but three days of bike news, from around the corner and around the world. 

Be sure to come back tomorrow, too. Because there was way too much news to squeeze into a single post, and there’s still more to catch up on.

Including more tips from readers, and job openings with SCAG and CicLAvia. 

Photo by Pexels from Pixabay.

………

Let’s start off with an election that’s still nine months away.

Sometimes one candidate is so far ahead of the others, you know how you’re going to vote right off the bat.

Which is exactly what happened with Bike the Vote LA, who got an early jump on next year’s city council election in CD4. And have already picked, not just a challenger to incumbent David Ryu, but his future replacement.

Bike The Vote L.A. sent questionnaires to announced CD4 candidates, asking them to outline their vision for a safer, more equitable, and more sustainable transportation system. Challenger Sarah Kate Levy’s response was so outstanding that Bike The Vote L.A.’s CD4 Election Committee has taken the rare step of making an early endorsement in next year’s primary election, set for March 3rd, 2020.

Levy has a long track record as a political activist working with Democrats for Neighborhood Action, Planned Parenthood Advocacy, and serving as the current president of the L.A. Metro National Women’s Caucus. Levy has placed housing, transportation, sustainability, and quality of life at the center of her campaign platform, and clearly done the homework necessary to be an informed leader on each of these important topics.

The group goes on to get more specific about her support of safe streets for all of us, regardless of how we get around.

Levy’s impressive response to Bike The Vote L.A. outlines her determination to achieve Vision Zero by reducing deadly speeding, reorienting streets towards the safety of all road users, and creating a network of protected bike lanes. Levy makes it clear that her vision of L.A.’s transportation system is one where everyone has access to quality transit, one that isn’t designed around travel by cars, and one where children are able to walk and bike safely to school without the threat of death or serious injury…

We asked the candidates for their positions on implementation of projects that reduce deadly vehicle speeds on L.A.’s High Injury Network and safe bike infrastructure connecting to the L.A. River Path. Where Councilmember Ryu’s responses left his stance unclear, Levy expressed unwavering support for these critical projects. Levy also went a step further, outlining a number of additional projects she plans to implement in each of CD4’s neighborhoods. In her words, “Safer streets save lives, period.”

Then again, that last line is all you really need to know.

As Bike the Vote LA notes, after opposing bike and street safety projects for most of his first term, Ryu appears to have had a change of heart in recent months.

But we’re long past the point for halfhearted support.

Unless, like former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Ryu has had a real Road to Damascus transformation into a genuine advocate for Vision Zero and Complete Streets, it’s time to start looking for his replacement.

And from the sound of his response, he’s still got a long way to go.

Meanwhile, Loraine Lundquist, another candidate endorsed by Bike the Vote LA, has qualified for the August runoff in CD12 against front runner John Lee.

………

No, seriously.

If you’re going to take the lane on the 101 Freeway through the heart of Hollywood, at least stick to the right one.

Maybe he just wanted to know how it feels to experience the nation’s worst traffic.

Note to KCBS-2 — Riding a bicycle on an LA Freeway is against the law; doing it without a bike helmet isn’t.

Thanks to Jeff Vaughn, David Huntsman and Disorder Bureau for the heads-up.

………

How about a success story from behind bars?

Former bike racer and current Folsom Prison inmate Mauricio Argueta has spent the past five years expertly refurbishing hundred of bicycles every year, which are then given to kids, fire victims and the homeless.

Now he finds himself days from release, with a job already lined up at a SoCal bike shop once he finishes his parole.

The best part is, he’s already trained his replacement.

So the program will go on changing lives on both sides of the bars long after he’s a free man.

………

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

Members of an English bike club were the victims of a jackass in a BMW who threw hundreds of thumbtacks out of his car into their path — then came back later to video the results of his violent assault.

A Kiwi bike rider pens a very polite note to SUV drivers who insist on demanding that bicyclists get off the road.

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

New Jersey’s highest court confirmed a sentence that amounts to more of a gentle caress on the wrist — or maybe a pat on the back — by allowing a drunken, hit-and-run driver with a long list of criminal convictions to walk without a single day in jail for killing a teenage bike rider.

………

Local

The LA Times reminds you to enjoy the LACBC’s 19th Annual LA River Ride this Sunday. Oh, and there’s donuts on Saturday.

LA Galaxy soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of us, celebrating his stunning bicycle kick goal with a cruiser bike ride the next day.

No bias here. Pasadena Now says that scofflaw bicyclists and pedestrians were “brought to heel” during the city’s bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement program last Friday — even though well over half of the 172 tickets went to the people on four wheels, and only 19 went to the people on two.

CiclaValley returns to Pacifico Mountain, calling it the best LA area ride you don’t know about. Unless maybe you do, of course.

 

State

No, you aren’t required to wear a helmet to ride bikeshare bikes or e-scooters, unless you’re under 18.

San Diego bike riders are losing their patience over overgrown bushes blocking bike lanes. Especially after the app they used to report it says it’s been fixed. Thanks to Todd Munson for the link.

Ouch. A Chico letter writer complains about the treatment his wife got from paramedics after a nail punctured her bike tire and got jammed in her brakes.

Over 2,300 bike riders rode along the Central Coast from Paso Robles to Santa Maria yesterday, as the annual AIDS/LifeCycle ride makes its way south to West Hollywood. Meanwhile, the Advocate offers photos from the ride.

Streetsblog says the Bay Area bikeshare battle could have implications all across the US.

San Francisco speeds up the process for approving new bike lanes and other road improvements. Maybe LA could take the hint, and do something to shorten their own interminable and easily derailed process.

Bike advocates are demanding the number of bike spaces they were promised on Caltrain’s new electric fleet, with seats in view of their bikes.

 

National

She gets it. A writer for a driving website says the reason so many drivers flee the scene of a crash is basically because they’re selfish scumbags.

A writer for Bicycling says the day you sell your bike is the day you see its soul.

The Washington Post says the bike industry is worried because fewer kids are riding bicycles — or buying them. Probably because fewer parents are willing to risk sacrificing their kids to America’s speeding, aggressive and/or distracted drivers.

Seattle responds to e-scooters and other emerging technologies by debating who or what has the right-of-way on city streets, bike lanes and sidewalks. Meanwhile, the city has one of the highest bicycle gender gaps in the US.

Washington state is becoming significantly more dangerous for people riding or on foot.

Anchorage, Alaska defies the state’s conservative governor by committing to cut carbon emissions by 80% over the next three decades.

A Missoula MT bike count confirms the obvious — people ride their bikes more when the weather is better. And the bike gender gap is pretty much the same everywhere.

Des Moines, Iowa has paid out over $1.7 million and counting to settle claims from injured bike riders because they tried to build an ADA-compliant curb for pedestrians — but placed it directly across a popular bike trail with no warning.

A Madison WI city committee has decided to fight traffic violence with yard signs.

Former Chicago mayor, congressman and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is easing into retirement with a 900-mile bike ride around Lake Michigan.

One more reason to register your bike, already. A Chicago doctor got his bicycle back twelve years after it was stolen, thanks to Bike Index.

Evidently, the dove of peace rides a bicycle. Or maybe drives a cab, as Brooklyn bike riders and taxi drivers take a bike ride together to see the road from the other’s perspective, and possibly build a little detente.

Apparently, the NYPD has finally figured out who poses the real risk on New York streets, and has started cracking down on people in the big dangerous machines. That comes after years of responding to bicycling deaths with crackdowns on bike riders.

Proving once again that New York is light years ahead of Los Angeles when it comes to street safety, the NY city council voted to require adhering to Vision Zero design standards when redesigning any arterial streets, including building protected bike lanes.

A New York Streetsblog op-ed considers how to break down barriers to disabled bicycling, noting that two-thirds of bike riders with disabilities find it easier than walking.

Evidently, bicycles aren’t even safe when no one is on them, as a New Orleans driver seems happy to demonstrate. And the police don’t seem too concerned about it, either.

It’s happened again. A visibly drunk Florida pickup driver hit a man riding his bike on the side of the road, then drove half a mile home with the victim still trapped under his truck.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A Florida couple learned the hard way that bike riders aren’t even safe on the sidewalk when a driver jumped the curb and ran them both down on their bikes — critically injuring the husband and killing their 18-month old son, who was being pulled behind in a bike trailer.

 

International

Is there any better use for an old shipping container than turning it into a bike hub? Unless maybe it’s turning them into housing for the homeless.

We could all use an angel on our shoulder when we ride. But a Canadian man is happy to settle for a kitty.

Caught on video: In a very scary example of the dangers of a head injury, a bicyclist from the UK hits his head falling off his bike, then stumbles head-first into the path of a bus. The good news is, the victim is okay. As always, be sure it’s something you really want to see before you click on the link.

A former British paratrooper explains how he helped liberate France in WWII with a foldie and a misfiring gun.

An Edinburgh bike shop is attempting to set a record for simultaneously fixing the most flats today.

Sorry moped riders. Amsterdam has given you the boot from bike lanes.

Swedish carmaker Volvo and helmet manufacturer POC have teamed to conduct the world’s first test of how bike helmets perform in a car crash. And needless to say, the results aren’t pretty. Then again, Volvo is the company that wants you to spray yourself with reflective paint so their drivers won’t kill you. No surprise, since bike helmets are designed to protect the wearer from falling off a bicycle, not a crash with a speeding driver.

I like him already. India’s new minister for Health and Family Welfare arrived on a bicycle for his first day on the job.

An 80-year old Japanese driver backed into several pedestrians in a grocery store parking lot after mistaking the gas pedal for the brakes, injuring four people, including two little kids and their mother. And riderless bikes didn’t fare any better than they did in New Orleans.

 

Competitive Cycling

After colliding with another cyclist in a Connecticut bike race, a Cat 3/4 racer posts gruesome photos of a front wheel thru axle lever impaled in his knee.

US road champ Justin Williams says it’s time to move away from the “boys club” that dominates cycling for greater inclusion and representation, saying it’s hard not to feel alone in a sport that’s almost exclusively white.

SoCal Cycling offers highlights from last weekend’s La Grange Grand Prix in Carson.

 

Finally…

Your next Bird scooter could have seating for two. If you don’t want to get deported, maybe don’t throw a bicycle in the path of a bike race.

And who wouldn’t be happy with 300 miles of bikeways?

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A belated Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim friends. 

And thanks to Mike Wilkinson for his ongoing and generous support of this site. Any donation, of any size, is always appreciated. 

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

Morning Links: Inclusivity on the streets, the phantom threat of teenage ride-outs, and the war on bikes keeps going on

May 29, 2019 / / 3 comments

Today’s common theme is inclusivity on our streets.

Like the Harvard researcher who says cities should build “networks of wide, stenciled, red-painted, surface-lighted, barrier-protected, bicycle-exclusive cycle tracks” on main streets in “lower-income ethnic-minority neighborhoods” to help residents get to work quickly, safely and affordably, rather than focusing on wealthy, white residents.

Meanwhile, a Pittsburgh paper writes about the need to make the city’s streets “anything from an empowering outlet to a necessary refuge” for women, as well as those who “identify as women, queer, transgender, non-binary or anything outside of our typical notions of gender and sexuality.”

And no bias here. The NYPD kicked a group of 11 bike riders enjoying a Memorial Day picnic out of a park for not having a permit — even though the parks department doesn’t issue permits for holidays, and they’re only needed for groups of 20 or more. Never mind that it was the same group that was racially profiled…uh, targeted for not having bells on their bikes last month.

………

Eben Weiss, aka Bike Snob, writes that the phantom threat of teenage-led bike outs doesn’t exist, except in the world of panicked, ratings motivated news reports.

It’s no surprise that rideouts rankle the tight-of-sphincter; Homo sapiens probably started feeling contempt for anybody younger than them as soon as our life expectancy hit 30. And yes, being teenagers, rideout participants also do things a mature adult might consider “stupid.” In fact, I’m willing to bet some of them are even listening to that rap music and smoking the pot.

Even so, there’s not a shred of evidence that what has become an international phenomenon has resulted in an alarming rate of injury to either the public or to the riders themselves, and the likelihood that one of them might knock you down unintentionally—let alone target you for an attack—is so tiny as to be laughable.

Although he might want to decide whether to call them bike-outs, ride-outs or rideouts.

I stumbled on the first of what I assume will be many LA ride-outs on Memorial Day, as well walked past a group of young bike riders gathered in a park near The Grove.

Around 45 minutes later, they came rolling through the upscale mall, whooping  and popping wheelies, 30 or so teenage boys, mostly on fixies, as shoppers jumped out of their way.

As much as I admired their spirit, and the sheer rebellion in their affront to an icon of LA commercialism, putting that many pedestrians at risk was questionable, at the very least.

Although in my imagination, I like to assume it was done out of righteous indignation after one of the riders was kicked out of the Grove with his bike.

But next time, maybe keep the ride-outs to the street outside, where the only people they’ll annoy are safely wrapped in a few tons of steel and glass.

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

And on.

A Welsh man was lucky to escape serious injury when he crashed into a wire someone had strung across a bike path at chest level, knocking him off his bike and cracking his helmet.

An Australian grandfather describes how he survived by playing dead after a man standing behind a car shot him twice in the head while he was riding his bike on a dirt trail two years ago, for no apparent reason; his would-be killer still hasn’t been found.

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Local

LAist checks in with LA’s great e-scooter experiment after the first official six weeks, noting that the Los Angeles Fire Department has responded to just 74 scooter-related incidents so far this year, although sadly, there’s been one death.

Yes, your bicycle is currency on LA’s Skid Row.

Pasadena police celebrated Bike Month with a bicycle and pedestrian enforcement detail last Fridays, ticketing 85 drivers for violations that endanger people on foot or two wheels; just five people on bikes were busted, along with 17 pedestrians. Which refutes all those people who insist that people on bikes always break the law.

The Venice Electric Light Parade is still going strong after three years, with hundreds of lighted bikes rolling on the bike path every Sunday at sunset to promote bike safety.

Santa Monica police impounded 32 Wheels e-scooters being used on the beachfront bike path; the scooters are allowed in neighboring Venice, but not in Santa Monica. And warned users of over 150 other e-scooters that they’re not allowed on the bike path.

A Santa Monica letter writer says the leading pedestrian intervals and bike traffic lights at Colorado and Ocean Avenues are going to get someone killed. Never mind that they were installed to improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians.

 

State

California’s League of Cities expresses concern over a proposed law to establish state standards for e-scooters, saying it could mark the end of affordable bikeshare and scooter programs.

The Orange County Transportation Authority, aka OCTA, marked Bike Month with a three-mile bike rally in Orange on Thursday, making up for a rainout the previous week.

A nine-year old San Diego boy will have to walk to school now, after a thief was caught on video stealing his BMX bike.

A Berkeley bike rider says the city’s bike boulevards are nothing more than fiction, while complaining that drivers hit us, yell at us, even kill some of us. And then want to talk about their feelings.

San Francisco Uber drivers are told it’s up to them whether to endanger bike riders by illegally picking up and dropping off passengers in bike lanes.

 

National

It’s the 35th anniversary of the Remember the Removal bike ride, which follows the route of the shameful Trail of Tears.

Bicycling offers up an entirely subjective list of the greatest bikes ever made — if you can get past the nausea-inducing rapid fire photo montage at the top of the page. And if you can get past the fact that it doesn’t include a single bike from the last century, which I can’t.

Bike Portland asks where your kids should ride in relation to you for the greatest comfort and safety.

This is who we share the roads with. A Spokane WA man was driving with a suspended license, and didn’t have the interlock system installed on his car required for a previous DUI, when he fled the scene after running a stop sign and seriously injured a bike-riding boy.

Talk about getting it wrong. A deputy director with Utah’s Department of Transportation, who has apparently never heard of induced demand, says they need wider roads to avoid gridlock like California — which enjoys wide roads along with hellish traffic congestion.

A California artist is riding her bike across Nebraska as part of a “performative work” to follow defunct railroad tracks across the US and explore the gaps in existing rail trails.

Inc. examines how Wisconsin-based Trek grew to $1 billion in sales with a renewed focus on quality and service.

Speaking of Bicycling, they say New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare has gotten more butts on saddles than any other bike. Including a ride-by shooter.

A successful pilot project means bike riders could be allowed to use leading pedestrian intervals at nearly 3,500 additional New York City intersections.

 

International

A Calgary columnist says the Idaho Stop Law doesn’t have to be a hot potato, and the more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense.

The Irish hitman who allegedly killed a reputed mob leader in a bike-by shooting died on his front lawn in a hail of gunfire. Although his killers arrived in a car.

Bike riding continues to surge in Copenhagen, climbing to a 49% mode share, as the city considers further restrictions on car use.

No surprise here. That video we linked to yesterday showing an Australian driver brake check a group of bicyclists has sparked outrage among bike riders, while online commentators continue to blame the people on two wheels.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former race leader Primoz Roglic cracks on a rainy stage of the Giro, raising questions of whether the Slovenian cyclist can make the podium, let alone win.

An artistically inclined former Grand Tour stage winner thinks the modern domestique is undervalued.

 

Finally…

Maybe you can’t walk on water, but you can ride an ebike on it. Of course you want to see video of Phil Gaimon’s Cookie Corner on the Mt. Baldy stage of the AToC.

And even a tornado knows better than to mess with the Wright Brothers bike shop.

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

Morning Links: Taking traffic safety deniers seriously, walking bikes on the Troutdale bridge, and Bruce Lee was one of us

May 28, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Taking traffic safety deniers seriously, walking bikes on the Troutdale bridge, and Bruce Lee was one of us

Good to see you back after the long holiday weekend. 

Now grab your coffee and buckle in. We’ve got a lot of territory to cover, and a lot to catch up on.

Today’s photo captures an e-bakfiets used as an expensive marketing gimmick for a perfume pop-up at the Grove, photobombed by a hot and tired corgi.

………

Call it a major misfire on this one.

A Sacramento-based reporter for the LA Times appears to take traffic safety deniers at face value, giving them a platform to complain about gas tax funds being used for active transportation.

Two years after state lawmakers boosted the gas tax with a promise to improve California streets, some cities have raised the ire of drivers by spending millions of the new dollars on “road diet” projects that reduce the number and size of lanes for motor vehicles.

Projects have touched off a debate as taxpayer advocates and motorists complain that the higher gas taxes they are paying for smoother trips will actually fund projects that increase traffic congestion.

Especially if those funds go towards reducing excess road capacity for motor vehicles, which increasing overall capacity by installing bike lanes.

Also known as the dreaded — to them — road diet.

Not to mention knee-jerk opposition from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn, which never met a tax they liked.

Gas tax money can legally go to such projects, but that does not mean it should, said David Wolfe, legislative director for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which opposed the original gas tax increase and supported an unsuccessful statewide ballot measure last year to repeal it.It has since continued to watch and criticize how state and local governments are spending the money.

“When Proposition 6 was on the ballot, all voters heard was money would go to road repair and maintenance,” Wolfe said. “They want roads to be repaired. They don’t want roads to be taken away with their taxpayer dollars.”

Never mind that road diets have been shown to reduce overall crashes by 19% in the Golden State, and as much as 47% elsewhere.

So they’re complaining about using gas tax funds to save their own lives and repair bills.

Smart. Real smart.

Never mind also that $2.27 billion of the gas tax increase went to repair and maintain roads, while $750 million a year was set aside for transit projects.

And a paltry $100 million went to bike and pedestrian projects. Most of which benefit drivers, as well.

But try telling that to angry motorists and traffic safety deniers while they light their torches and sharpen their pitchforks.

“It’s creating gridlock on Venice Boulevard, which is then causing cut-through traffic into our neighborhoods,” said Selena Inouye, board president of the Westside Los Angeles Neighbors Network, a group formed in response to the project…

Inouye, a retired social worker, said having motorists pay higher gas taxes so the money can be used to reduce the capacity of roads is contradictory.

She and her husband are paying more than $4 a gallon for gas at her local service station, she said, a price that has been increased by the state gas tax.

“The money should be used to help with congestion overall, and I don’t think that road diets help congestion. I think they cause congestion,” Inouye said.

Even though no one else seems to be able to find that gridlock they keep complaining about. Or that only 12 cents of that $4-plus for a gallon of gas is due to the gas tax increase.

But those are just facts.

And facts just get in the way when you’re insisting on having yours.

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Malibu Hills resident Chris Willig forwards his observations on the absurd, and possibly illegal, attempts by LA County to force bike riders to walk over the newly reopened Troutdale bridge.

Mulholland Highway had been closed in Cornell for about 6-months since the Woolsey Fire which caused the Troutdale Bridge to melt. The catastrophe has vexed cyclists. They’ve been forced to use a detour of about 6 miles on Kanan Road to go around the closure.  And that route is plagued by increased traffic particularly 1,000’s of heavy debris laden trucks hauling the remains of burned out houses.

A temporary one-lane bridge opened Wednesday afternoon, but the celebration from the cycling community has been short lived. Cyclists have been banned from the main road bed with LA County officials trying to force people to walk their bikes on a pedestrian sidepath. This strange traffic configuration can been seen in the photo (viewing north from the south bank of Triunfo Creek) with all of the signage required to direct traffic. It seems ridiculous since the crossing is now controlled by a traffic light system to allow only oneway passage at a posted 10 MPH. As cyclists using this route are normally in road shoes, walking the 230 feet required seems dangerous. More importantly, if many cyclists take the detour trudging across the bridge as instructed, it is clear traffic will be interrupted by all the dismounting and remounting in the street, especially at the south terminus (pictured).

The safest and most convenient routing for road cyclists would be using exactly the same rules for auto traffic. Ironically, the only change from pre-fire norm would be we’d have to cut our speed in half to accommodate the cars slowed by the new speed limit.

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A ghost bike will be installed for fallen Valencia bicyclist Kori Sue Powers tonight.

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Bruce Lee was one of us.

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

And this time, the other side is armed.

A Boyle Heights bike rider was shot in the arm in an apparent gang shooting Friday night.

San Diego’s boardwalk turned into a shooting gallery when an emotionally troubled man pulled out a rifle after getting into an argument with a bike rider, shooting at him several times — and missing, thankfully. Then tried to order an Uber to make his escape.

After someone in a passing Mercedes shot an Oakland woman in the ass with a pellet gun as she was riding her bike, she waited on the side of the road for the police to show up. Then gave up and went home, and waited another 12 hours before they finally bothered to stop by to take a report.

An Iowa bike rider was lucky to remain upright when a driver internationally swerved onto the shoulder of the roadway to sideswipe him, as a passenger leaned out the window to scream insults. And he’s got the video and a hole in his glove to prove it.

After someone shot an Arkansas bike rider in the leg, he refused to go to the hospital because he was afraid someone would take his antique bike.

A road raging Florida driver is under arrest for shooting a man riding a bicycle — for the crime of riding in the traffic lane, just like he’s supposed to.

A road raging Aussie man was busted for apparently following a bike rider home after a collision, pulling out a rifle and shooting at the rider’s home. Then leaving and coming back to do it again. And again.

Then again, not all the drivers used guns.

Some used weapons weighing a couple tons or more.

A Winnipeg bike rider watched as a semi driver flattened his bike, running over it in a road rage incident; fortunately, the victim had already gotten off to confront the angry driver.

A road raging Australian driver got mad after following a group of bicyclists, then cut in front and brake-checked them before turning into a driveway.

………

Then again, it’s not like people on bikes are automatic candidates for sainthood.

A Massachusetts man rode up to a convenience store on his bike, robbed it with a meat clever, and rode away again.

New York police are on the lookout for a bike-riding Bronx thief snatching smartphones from women.

You know we’re making progress when even an Irish mob hitman makes his getaway by bike.

And French authorities are searching for a bike-riding man who planted a nail-filled parcel bomb in Lyon, injuring 13 people.

………

Local

No surprise here, as The Eastsider says bridge construction has turned the LA River bike path into an obstacle course.

The LA Times looks at the latest gear and bikes for bikepacking, and examines the utter bliss of bikepacking in the backcountry.

CiclaValley concludes his Best Bike Weekend Ever trilogy with a look back at the recent 626 Golden Streets open streets event.

A Bakersfield man visits LA for the recent Culver City to Venice CicLAvia, and discovers the best part of traveling is the people and animals you meet, while learning that his pug really likes riding a bike.

The LAPD is introducing sand-riding fat tire ebikes and ATVs to Venice Beach in an attempt to stop running over any more people sunbathing on the beach.

Chris Pratt’s six-year old son is one of us, as the actor and fiancé Katherine Schwarzenegger bought him a fat tire bike in Santa Monica.

If you’re a fan of riding a bike without actually going anywhere, head to the Santa Monica pier on Sunday for the annual Pedal on the Pier fundraiser.

Fans of the long-running British soap East Enders will be happy to learn that Patsy Palmer is one of us, as the actress went for a bike ride with her husband in the ‘Bu.

 

State

Three cities in North San Diego County — Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar — will team together for a 500-bike docked e-bikeshare system.

Sad news from Santa Cruz, where a 66-year old man was killed when he was struck by three separate cars while riding his bike on the coast highway.

Great op-ed in the New York Times from a Berkeley man, who considers the “inconvenience” posed by a lifetime of riding bikes as a one-armed black man.

A San Francisco man live-streamed his confrontation with a bike thief who was using a loud power tool to cut a lock and snatch a bike in broad daylight; the thief gave up and walked away after being challenged.

 

National

People for Bikes says inclusiveness is the way to grow the bicycling community.

Your next MIPS helmet could be full of fluid. Or you could wear one that looks like a baseball cap and folds to the size of a water bottle. Meanwhile, Forbes points out the obvious, noting that bike helmets don’t do a lot to protect your face.

Your next fat tire ebike could have three wheels — with two tandem tires in front.

A former Seattle cop and bike rider gets it almost entirely wrong, arguing that motorists automatically have the right-of-way on sharrows. And insisting that road diets and efforts to get more people on bikes are just a leftist plot. Never mind that there’s a pretty good conservative argument for bikes, too.

Great idea. A Seattle program gives bicyclists discounts at over 150 businesses in the city after buying a $5 sticker to put on their helmets.

It takes a major schmuck to steal an adaptive adult tricycle a Phoenix man used as his only form of transportation following a pair of strokes.

The architect behind the proposed Tucson AZ bike ranch across from the entrance to Saguaro National Park explains his plan in the face of local opposition. 

Police have issued an arrest warrant for an Austin TX woman who left the scene after running down a bike rider earlier this year after the victim picked her out of a lineup; apparently thinking she was getting hit on in a singles bar, she gave the victim a fake phone number before driving off. Thanks to Stephen Katz for the heads-up.

Kansas will install a beautiful permanent memorial to honor a fallen bicyclist who was killed in a collision while participating in the annual Trans-Am cross-country bike race last year.

A Kansas teen jumped into swollen flood waters to save the life of a 12-year old boy who was swept away while riding his bicycle.

Five hundred Detroit second graders got new bicycles, thanks to Chevrolet and the NHL’s Red Wings.

A new community garden will honor the victims of the Mardi Gras parade crash in New Orleans, where a drunk driver killed two bike riders and injured seven other people.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole 10-year old autistic Florida boy’s $5,500 adaptive tricycle — and just the opposite for the Good Samaritans who replaced it.

 

International

Mark your calendar for Monday’s World Bicycle Day.

How to be a good citizen of the bike lane.

Bicycling looks back on how bicycles helped defeat the Kaiser and win the war to end all wars. Which sadly didn’t.

A new Canadian study suggests your best protection could be a high-vis vest with a left-pointing arrow to tell drivers to move over to pass. Although that doesn’t replace the need for safe infrastructure.

Canadian advice for anyone thinking about dating a hardcore cyclist. Or maybe it’s a warning.

A Canadian man got his hot bike back after someone bought it for $60, not realizing it was stolen; the original owner used it to traverse the length and breadth of Canada. No, literally.

They get it. A Vancouver paper says “no civic bureaucrat or politician should approve a bike lane they wouldn’t feel safe taking their kids for a ride on themselves.”

A Montreal op-ed explains how bike lanes benefit everyone.

While we were busy observing Memorial Day yesterday, Londoners celebrated their first-ever Bike to Work Day.

London is moving to protect bike riders and pedestrians by dropping the speed limit in the central financial district known as the Square Mile to just 15 mph. Your move, LA Mayor Garcetti.

Participants in an organized English ride complain about routing the ride onto a roadway with speed bumps on a steep descent and no warning signs — with predictable results.

Uber wants Brits to Jump.

After a Glasgow woman is killed riding her bike, a man does some soul searching, wondering whether bicycling is worth the risk. And concluding he may keep riding, but can’t recommend it to a friend.

A couple hundred people turned out for an interfaith bike ride to remember the victims of the Christchurch, New Zealand terrorist attacks, led at the start by one of the victims, who also lost his wife, in his new wheelchair.

I sort of want to be like him when I grow up. A Michigan man gave up his comfy retirement to ride his bike across the US, and in countries around the world. And spent New Years Day riding a fat tire bike on the ice and snow of Antarctica. No offense to our southernmost continent, but I’d prefer a more temperate climate. Which Antartica will probably be in a few years, if we all keep burning fossil fuels.

 

Competitive Cycling

Slovenian cyclist Primoz Roglic considers himself lucky to have lost just 40 seconds to Giro race leader Richard Carapaz, despite Sunday’s debacle when he crashed on a too-small bike borrowed from a teammate, because he just happened to have a mechanical when the team race director was relieving himself.

You, too, can be a hard man or woman, and ride the routes of the cobbled spring classics.

Big mistake. The largest promoter in bike racing is slowly backing away from supporting women’s cycling.

Lance says he did what he had to do to win, and he wouldn’t change a thing. Except, you know, maybe like getting caught and all that.

Cycling Tips talks with the inimitable Peter Sagan.

Cycling Weekly remembers the legendary Fausto Coppi, calling him a cycling icon like no other.

And seriously, don’t try to snatch a pro cyclist’s water bottle out of his face, no matter how much you want a souvenir.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to ride a stolen bike to the courthouse to be sentenced for stealing another bike. The next driver to run you off the road might do it from above.

And we may have to worry about LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about bears.

Or, uh…Bigfoot.

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

Morning Links: Doris Day was one of us, the war on bikes goes on, and this is who we share the roads with

May 14, 2019 / / One comment

Just a quick reminder that Doris Day was one of us, too.

The popular actress and singer who passed away over the weekend was a lifelong bike rider.

And the inspiration for one of the best quotes to ever come out of Hollywood.

………

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

Sometimes literally.

An Oregon bike rider was run down by the driver of a Mercedes convertible after he stopped on the side of a road to check his map. And the driver — who witnesses said had been swerving recklessly all over the road — kept going, giving the victim the finger as he drove away.

Police are looking for a man in his 60s with a baseball cap and a Tom Selleck mustache.

………

Speaking of the war on bikes, KCRW’s Press Play talks with the president of Burbank-based Pure Cycles about the effect Trump’s China trade war will have on his business.

Thanks to the increase in tariffs, the duties for Pure’s most recent shipment of bikes jumped from $30,000 to $50,000.

………

This is who we share the roads with.

A Chicago driver speeding in reverse ran down a woman who was walking her dog in a crosswalk. And unbelievably, got off with just a pair of traffic tickets.

………

Local

Streetsblog talks with John Yi, the new executive director of Los Angeles Walks.

UCLA is considering changes to its bikeshare program, after confronting the same competition from dockless scooters challenging bikeshares throughout the US.

Culver City Walk & Rollers will host a bike themed student art exhibit this Saturday, addressing the question of “Why drive when you can…?”

Pasadena announces road closures for Saturday’s final stage of the Amgen Tour of California. Fortunately, the early announcement gives Rose City NIMBYs a full week to fume.

A Pasadena website looks forward to Sunday’s 626 Golden Streets: Mission to Mission. Which, of course, gives gives Rose City NIMBYs another full week to fume. Or make the same week, depending on how you want to look at it. 

A bike-riding JPL climate scientist hasn’t flown in seven years to reduce his carbon footprint.

The Pomona Valley Bicycle Coalition will host a pit stop at Claremont Depot on Bike to Work Day, along with a Pomona Color Wheels Ride on Saturday.

 

State

An advocacy group passed out free bike lights at an Encinitas farmers market in advance of Bike Week.

San Diego celebrated the completion of a $16 million road reconstruction project to give San Ysidro students a safer route to school, with bike lanes and sidewalks replacing a dirt path.

Robert Leone forwards news on a series of San Diego area bike projects, including the completion of a rail-adjacent coastal bikeway in Encinitas, and updates on additional projects.

Fresno bike lanes get fresh Kermit., while to local police celebrate Bike Week by cracking down on bicyclists and pedestrians.

San Francisco vows to fix its deadly intersections after 13 bike riders and pedestrians have been killed in the city so far this year. Something tells me LA’s total would be a hell of a lot higher; we’ve already seen six bicyclists alone killed on Los Angeles streets.

That’s more like it. Oakland has added adaptive bicycles for people with disabilities to its bikeshare system.

 

National

The Sierra Club offers tips to keep your bike from being stolen, saying it may be Bike to Work Week, but it’s steal a bike week for thieves.

USA Today asks if ebikes are the answer to health, traffic and environmental issues. Short answer, yes. But not without safer places to ride them.

A healthy living website gives us five reasons why bicycling is better than driving, while Consumer Reports says bicycling to work can transform your body and your well being.

An Arizona public radio site looks at the controversy over plans to build a bike ranch — think dude ranch, but with bicycles instead of horses — across the street from Saguaro National Park.

Des Moines, Iowa, rips out a parking protected bike lane after drivers couldn’t figure it out and local businesses didn’t back it.

Dallas police bust the hit-and-run driver who ran down a bike cop over the weekend; the Lyft driver turned himself in after seeing the news coverage.

Arkansas continues to make itself a center for mountain biking with new trails at a number of state parks. Meanwhile, tiny Silverton CO vows to get some of that action, as well.

Heartbreaking story from Michigan, where the brother of a fallen bike rider took his own bicycle to the exact spot where his brother was run down, and finished the ride his brother couldn’t.

Ohio bike couriers are still in business, despite the rise of e-filing for court documents.

Columbus, Ohio dockless ebike startup will offer a bizarre looking green fat-tired bike-scooter hybrid.

Evidently, if you want to grind a little gravel, go to Vermont.

Boston considers cutting speed limits to 20 mph to improve safety, while an advocate called for doing something about the city’s stroads — multi-lane thoroughfares that represent a cross between a road and a street.

This is the cost of traffic violence. The victim of a fatal Brooklyn bicycling collision was just biking home to watch Game of Thrones with his dad.

New York’s mayor continues his bizarre opposition to ebikes, while other officials go about the business of legalizing them.

A Gotham letter-writer calls on the city to crack down on bicyclists who ride like many people drive, but cause far less harm.

Half the bicycling deaths in New York this year have occurred in Southern Brooklyn, which lacks the bicycling infrastructure installed in other parts of the city.

A New York bike racing tradition could be over, after a private company jacked up the use fee for a former naval station a whopping 22566%. And no, that’s not a typo.

This is who we share the roads with too. A Florida man was busted for crashing into a police car while drunk as a skunk and high on coke — and driving a riding mower.

 

International

An Edmonton, Canada city councilor says bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists are all responsible for road safety. Even though statistics show the people in the big, dangerous machines are responsible for almost all crashes in the city.

Canadian police continue to turn to 529 Garage for bicycle registration to help stolen bikes find their way back home, this time in Ottawa.

A British teenager is called a hero after jumping into the ocean to save the life of a friend who lost control of his bicycle and fell 15 feet into the water.

Add this one to your bike bucket list, mais non? How about a scenic 560 miles bike route through France’s picturesque Loire Valley to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the original Renaissance Faire?

 

Competitive Cycling

Forty-one-year old former Olympic road cycling champ Samuel Sanchez has received a two-year ban for doping, even though authorities accepted his excuse that it was the inadvertent result of a bad supplement. And backdated the ban to cover the two years he’s already been out of cycling since testing positive in 2017.

VeloNews says America’s wide roads will have an impact on the outcome of this week’s Amgen Tour of California. And catches up with Belgian cycling legend Roger De Vlaeminck, who’s still racing today at 71.

It was a good day for a Danish rider at the Tour of California, and a better one for an American.

Upon further consideration, the winner of Monday’s third stage of the Giro didn’t.

 

Finally…

Apparently, fixies serve no purpose and only appeal to rich people, which probably goes double for e-fixies. Los Angeles is bike friendly, or maybe it isn’t.

And ask not for whom the bugle blows.

It blows for thee, if you’re competing in the AToC.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: DC takes Vision Zero seriously, WeHo talks Sunset bulb-outs, and LA zero-emission mobility fund

May 9, 2019 / / 2 comments

This is what happens when you take Vision Zero seriously.

A DC councilmember has introduced a 25-point bill to achieve to curb rising traffic deaths.

The Vision Zero bill ranges from mandating protects bike lanes in any new developments, to banning right turns on red lights throughout the city, as well as cutting speed limits to 25 mph on minor arterial streets.

The proposal would also require the addition of protected bike lanes when streets are repaired, impound vehicles blocking bike lanes or sidewalks, and allow bike rider to report bike lane parking violations by taking photos of the offending vehicles, with police ticketing the owners of the vehicles as a result.

A pair of companion bills would require curb extensions in all new road improvement projects, and make bike-related rules part of the district’s driving test.

Maybe someday Los Angeles will follow DC’s lead, and finally get serious about Vision Zero.

Because it sure as hell hasn’t happened yet.

Photo shows LA Mayor Eric Garcetti proudly signing the city’s Vision Zero proclamation at his prop desk; too bad that Vision Zero was just a prop, too.

………

West Hollywood will discuss success, or otherwise, of the bulb-out pilot program on the Sunset Strip in three upcoming meetings.

………

Somehow we missed this one last week.

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti followed-up on his proposed LA Green New Deal by announcing a $300,000 zero-emissions mobility pilot fund directed towards disadvantaged communities.

Three hundred grand could buy a lot of ebikes.

And lanes to ride them in.

………

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

Police in Melbourne, Australia are offering a $50,000 reward for whoever has been throwing tacks on bike paths and roads, resulting in serious injuries to a number of bike riders. Nice to see them taking the crime seriously.

………

Local

A writer for UCLA’s Daily Bruin complains that the Westwood Village Improvement Association applied for a Great Streets grant to improve Westwood Blvd, while ignoring the crumbling, dangerous streets students must use to get there.

A Glendale office building is home to the first commercial property ebike-based bikeshare, available to tenants at no charge.

Pasadena introduces Metro’s Laura Cornejo as the city’s new Transportation Director.

An affordable — whatever that means — Santa Monica apartment development walking distance from the Expo Line will offer 89 underground bicycle parking spaces. And not one space for cars.

Long Beach celebrates jumping over 100 spots into the top 50 bike cities in the US, which seems right since no one could understand why it ranked so low last year.

The 10th Annual Tour of Long Beach will roll this weekend, raising funds to fight pediatric cancer.

Cap off next week’s Bike Week with the return of the 626 Golden Streets, an open streets event running five miles from Mission Street in South Pasadena to the San Gabriel Mission. Evidently, CiclaValley is already in the mood.

 

State

An Orange County real estate agent says California’s future demands higher and denser housing and fewer cars.

A bike-riding man fled from police and barricaded himself in a Costa Mesa hotel room for five hours, eventually emerging with self-inflicted injuries.

Business owners in San Diego’s North Park say a little used parking garage could make up for the loss of 420 parking spaces to make room for protected bike lanes. Meanwhile, a San Diego weekly says the city’s removal of parking spaces isn’t fair to homeless people who live in their cars.

Mountain biking the historic Anza Trail through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Happy Bike to Work Day to all you NorCal bike riders; Los Angeles will celebrate next Thursday on National Bike to Work Day. Pro tip: You don’t have to be riding to work to join in on the fun; riding to school or errands, or just for the hell of it works too.

A San Francisco woman relates the lessons she learned from biking to work for three weeks, calling the experience “life changing.” As long as you can avoid the spaghetti vomit in the bike lane.

Nice move. United Airlines is offering free airfare to anyone flying to California for next month’s AIDS/LifeCycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

 

National

Popular Mechanics considers the best road bikes for every kind of rider. For twelve grand, the Roubaix SRAM Red eTap AXS damn well better be.

They get it. A Yakima WA paper says the city needs to get it in gear and be more bike friendly.

A man calling himself The Bicycle Friar paused in New Mexico after spending 20 months and 15,000 mile bicycling across the US; the former Catholic monk is collecting prayers written on pieces of cloth to carry with him to San Luis Obispo.

This is the cost of traffic violence. An 83-year old Iowa minister was killed in a collision while riding his bicycle in Iowa City; he had served the community since his appointment as an associate Methodist minister in 1965, officiating at over 700 weddings over the years.

Texas bike riders go gravel grinding with the pros.

San Antonio TX bicyclists respond to a pair of recent deaths by forming a new bike safety advocacy group to educate both bike riders and drivers, while demanding more bikeways in the city.

I want to be like her when I grow up. A 77-year old Chicago woman recently finished a 3,000-mile cross-country bike ride from St. Augustine FL to San Diego — while riding into the prevailing winds most of the way.

This is who we share the roads with. A Cleveland woman attempted to use her car as a weapon, jumping the curb and slamming into a house in an attempt to ram a pair of women standing on the porch, but hit a kid riding his bike instead.

They get it, too. A Louisville KY TV station looks into suggestions that the city cut funding for bike lanes to make up for a $35 million budget deficit, concluding that after zeroing out bike funding, the city would still need to find another $34.6 million to cut.

MIT mourns a recumbent-riding thermodynamics professor who was an expert in gas turbines, jet engines and human-powered transportation.

In yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the streets until it’s too late, the road raging motorcyclist who severely injured a Florida bike rider by allegedly swerving into a group of riders was still riding, despite having his driver’s license permanently revoked following four DUI convictions; he was also accused by his stepson of murdering his wife, though he was never charged with the killing.

A Tampa FL bike rider was shot in the ass after refusing to stop when two men tried to get him to.

 

International

Red Bull offers tips for your international mountain biking expedition.

How to take much better photos of your bike.

A London woman says the city could be a bicycling town, if the reckless macho bicyclists would just tone it down. She’s got a point. The highest law of bicycling should be to always ride in a way that doesn’t pose needless risk to yourself or others. 

When a Welsh bike rider couldn’t find a mountain bike he wanted, he built it himself.

Not only will Welsh doctors be able to prescribe bikeshare use to their patients, as we noted yesterday, but it will be fully covered by Britain’s National Health Service for up to six months.

This is who we share the roads with, too. An English driver pretended she was piloting a race car, right up to the point she crashed through a house and killed the 90-year old woman inside.

Two UK men were sentenced to life in prison, while a third got 13 years, for the stabbing death of a teenaged boy in what police termed a minor dispute over a bicycle. Although it’s hard to call any argument that results in murder “minor.”

British cycling great Chris Boardman says ending the hostility towards bicyclists is more important than wearing helmets or hi-viz. Meanwhile, the Guardian’s Laura Laker says UK bicyclists need enforcement, not calls for respect.

Australian advocates call for better bike infrastructure, saying bicycling in the country should be safer; bicycling crashes make up nearly 20% of all transportation-related injuries Down Under.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist looks forward to the three-week Giro d’Italia, which starts on Saturday. And no, you can’t see it in the US, unless you want to spring to stream it online.

Rigoberto Uran will make his comeback from a broken collarbone at the Amgen Tour of California, which starts on Sunday.

American pro Kiel Reijnen found solace riding the cobbles on the Tour of Flanders, weeks after his brother was killed in a workplace accident.

 

Finally…

The only bias here is against Americans — and Californians in particular. They may be the latest fashion craze, but if you’re high on meth and only wearing bike shorts and a single shoe, try to have a bicycle with you.

And a better use for those indoor cycling bikes.

https://twitter.com/Animals_Humor/status/1125772097437958144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1125772097437958144&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsputniknews.com%2Fvideoclub%2F201905081074815278-cat-trainer-bike%2F

 

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

Morning Links: CHP almost gets left turns right, war on bikes Culver City edition, and possible $1000 CA rebate on ebike

May 6, 2019 / / One comment

After criticizing the CHP last week, it’s only fair to give them credit when it’s due.

An Orange County CHP officer got it right when he was asked whether bike riders could use left turn lanes.

Almost, anyway.

He said that bicyclists have a right to turn left just like drivers do, and even noted that they are allowed to take the full lane when traveling at the speed of traffic — an exception to the ride to the right rule most cops seem to miss.

But the CHP officer incorrectly notes that bicyclists must hug the curb in other instances. Even though the law says people on bicycles are free to take the lane anytime it’s too narrow to safely share with a bike and car side-by-side, which is the case with most righthand lanes in Southern California.

And he suggests that anyone who’s uncomfortable turning from the left turn lane should get off their bike and walk in the crosswalk.

Never mind that bicyclists have the right to ride in a crosswalk under California law.

Or that box turns work better, anyway. With or without painted turn boxes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO0_q6x5FPA

Photo from CHP website. 

………

The war on bikes may have raised its ugly head right here in Southern California, after a handful of razor blades were found in a Culver City bike lane.

https://twitter.com/d_mcneary/status/1124364013721145345

………

Keep your fingers crossed.

If a Calbike proposal is adopted, you could be eligible for a rebate up to $1,000 on the purchase of an ebike.

Or better yet, sign the petition.

………

An ad featuring a boy walking his bike up a steep hill to deliver bread in post-war England has been named Britain’s most iconic classic ad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=w4-EjJt52ZQ

………

Local

The LA Times wants to know if Bird can finally build a better scooter before it runs out of cash.

Displaying more cuteness than allowed by law, Strider Bikes hosted a series of toddler races at LA Live this past weekend.

CicLAvia shares their favorite moments from the recent Wilmington event.

There will be a meeting to support the Rowena road diet and help keep the street safe at 6 pm this Wednesday at the Friendship Auditorium.

One more reason to ride a bike. The founder of the Golden Road Brewery in Atwater Village changed her career trajectory after meeting the owner of the famed Oskar Blues Brewery while riding her bike in Colorado. Seriously, you’re not likely to meeting anyone while speeding down the same roads in your car — unless you hit them.

Roughly 75 people turned out for last week’s meeting on a proposed two-way protected bike lane on Pasadena’s Union Street.

Santa Clarita’s mayor invites you to celebrate all things cycling in the city as they mark bike month, and a visit by the Amgen Tour of California.

A bike-riding man is the chief suspect in a series of alleyway arson fires in the Cal Heights neighborhood of Long Beach.

 

State

A legendary backcountry OC mountain bike ride raises a whopping $1.25 million to aid people in Rwanda.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss proves he’s not that snobby after all, riding this Cambria’s Eroica California on the cheapest bikes he can buy.

Authorities stopped an Amtrak train for over an hour to search for a man who was apparently struck by the train while he was walking his bike along the tracks in Pismo Beach; he turned up later in an ER with hand and arm injuries, after all searchers found was a mangled bicycle.

An East Sacramento hit-and-run driver left a bike rider lying in the street with serious injuries. Meanwhile, a mother asks the hit-and-run driver who left her bike-riding son with a serious brain injury to turns themselves in.

 

National

An Irish man rode and ran across the United States in just 36 days to raise funds in an effort to raise over a quarter million euros — $279,670 — to fight Spina Bifida.

Ai Wei Wei’s sculpture may be titled Forever Bicycles, but it won’t be displayed in Austin TX that long. Or much longer, for that matter. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

An Arkansas newspaper breaks the shocking news that you can get hurt riding a mountain bike.

Minneapolis has pulled the plug on Minnesota’s North Star Grand Prix once again after a last-ditch crowdfunding effort raised just $12,000 of the $200,000 they needed to put on a UCI women’s race

Proving once again that we all face the same problems, Boston bike riders complain about the glacial pace of implementing the city’s bike plan, arguing that the mayor’s plan is falling short.

New York held their annual Blessing of the Bicycles over the weekend; LA’s version will take place at Good Samaritan Hospital on May 14th as part of Bike Week.

A 50-year bike commuter says New York bicyclists have to do better, and calls on riders to welcome stricter enforcement by police. Sure. That’ll happen.

Today weatherman Al Roker is one of us, joining thousands of other riders for New York’s Five Boro Bike Tour.

A West Virginia bike rider urges people to control their dogs after suffering a concussion and separating his shoulder when his bike broadsided a dog that ran out in front of him. No word on how the dog fared.

Police in Charleston SC respond to rising rates of bicyclists and pedestrians by insisting that pedestrians would be safe if they just used crosswalks, rather that concluding that maybe there aren’t enough crosswalks or they’re in the wrong places. And never mind all those people in the big, dangerous machines.

Two kindhearted South Carolina cops pitched in to buy a kid a new bike after he was run down by a hit-and-run driver. Although someone should tell the TV station that the car probably had a driver.

New Orleans’ mayor sees better bus service and more dockless bikeshares — not more traffic lanes — as the solution to the city’s transportation problems.

A Key West parade celebrates human powered sculpture.

 

International

A Vancouver writer describes how she learned to love commuting by bicycle.

A Toronto business owner complains about plans for a road diet to make room for protected bike lanes, insisting that he only sees a single bike rider every few days. Which is like saying we don’t need a new bridge because you only see a few cars driving into the river.

London bicyclists donned their best Harris and Donegal woolens and mounted classic bikes for this year’s Tweed Ride.

You have exactly one month to get to the UK to ride your bike naked on the Queen’s official birthday.

An Indian man who spent five decades riding across the country has given his Trek Madone to a 15 year old cycling prodigy, after he had to quit riding due to medical problems.

An Indian paper looks back on seven Parsi men who travelled the world on their bicycles over 100 years ago.

India’s Economic Times says bicycling in Bengaluru is a cruel joke on bicyclists.

A Sydney, Australia writer says check your biases next time you hear the word cyclist or get stuck behind one in traffic, after a Facebook post about the death of a bike-riding woman got 464 comments — only four of which expressed any sympathy for the victim or her family.

An Aussie bike rider caused considerable, and reasonable, consternation after he was photographed wearing a Nazi armband.

 

Competitive Cycling

Don’t plan on seeing Colombian pro Egan Bernal in next week’s Giro d’Italia, after breaking his collarbone on a training ride.

The New York Daily News considers the meteoric rise and fall of Major Taylor, the one-time world’s fastest man, who broke cycling’s color barrier more than a century ago. Now we just need someone to do it again.

 

Finally…

Maybe next time, he’ll listen when a cop tells him to get his golf cart out of the bike lane. Apparently, a bicycle only makes you invisible if you don’t don a hideous blond wig to bike through a police dragnet.

And no, that’s not a bicycle riding in a new bike lane.

 

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

Morning Links: Red Solo Cup protected bike lanes Friday, CiclaValley leaves LACBC, and more on Sunnyvale attack

April 25, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Red Solo Cup protected bike lanes Friday, CiclaValley leaves LACBC, and more on Sunnyvale attack

Oh the joys of diabetes. 

I’ve been on a blood sugar roller coaster for the last 12 hours, spiking, then crashing, then spiking and crashing again.

I’ve done my best to fight through it and finish today’s post, despite the swimming head and uncontrollable full body shakes that come with it. 

But I finally have to throw in the towel. 

I’m about two-thirds through what promised to be another epic post. So instead of holding off posting anything until tomorrow, I’m publishing what I’ve got so far. 

I’ll catch up on the rest after I’ve managed to sleep off this awful feeling.

Which could take awhile. 

………

Get your red plastic Solo Cups out on Friday. And make your very own protected bike lane.

All week we’ve been keeping up with stories about the tragic death of DC bike advocate Dave Salovesh, who was killed in a collision by the driver of a stolen van.

One thing Salovesh was famous for was making his own DIY protected bike lanes using the iconic red cups.

So this Friday, bicyclists around the country will honor him while making the case for improving bicycle safety by with their own red Solo Cup protected bike lanes.

Just head down to your local store, buy a bag or two, and place them on any bike lane you want turned into a protected lane.

Maybe if enough of us do it, in enough locations around the city, our civic leaders might actually get the point and do something about it.*

We can dream, can’t we?

Meanwhile, a DC paper looks at the long journey the ghost bike for Salovesh took to get to the street, including the city’s long-time failure to improve safety that led to his death. 

*I’m using us here, when I really mean you. Unfortunately, there are no bike lanes in Hollywood close enough for me to hobble to with my cane. So go out and mark one for me. And let’s hope someone finally gets around to striping a few around here before I regain my mobility, grab some spray paint and make ’em myself. 

………

It looks like the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition is going to be even more short handed for awhile.

After the departure of three staff members due to a budget shortfall caused by the bike coalition’s previous, short-lived executive director, now comes word that Zachary Rynew, aka CiclaValley, is leaving after four years.

Rynew announced his decision on Facebook late Wednesday after struggling with it for several days.

When pressed for the reasons behind his departure, he said he was making himself available for today’s NFL draft, in hopes of being the oldest and most seriously out of football playing shape player taken in the first round.

If he said he was declaring for the NHL draft, I might believe him.

His departure leaves the LACBC seriously understaffed, and with a loss of experience and knowledge that will take some time to replace. Which is compounded by the board’s decision to implement four-year term limits, leading to a significant loss of institutional knowledge.

It’s not unusual to have staff turnover when a new ED comes in, as various people decide they don’t fit with the new leadership. Or have that decision made for them.

Let’s hope the new leadership can keep the coalition on track and active in the streets while they deal with all these staff changes.

Because frankly, we need them if we’re ever going to improve safety on the mean streets of Los Angeles.

………

The FBI has joined the investigation into a speeding driver who intentionally slammed into eight people waiting at a Sunnyvale intersection, including bike riders and pedestrians, seriously injuring four of the victims.

The driver, Isaiah Joel Peoples, now faces eight counts of attempted murder.

………

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

After attempting to run a pair of bike riders off the road for no apparent reason — even though they were in a bike lane — a Utah driver pulled in front and brake checked them, then sped off with one victim still caught on the car’s spoiler.

A London driver yelled at a man on a bike to get to the side of the road, even though he was waiting legally at an advanced stop, then intentionally rammed his bicycle before driving off. Which other kindhearted and concerned drivers immediately responded to by honking at the bike rider to get up off the road and out of their damn way.

………

Local

The accused bike-riding South LA Slasher was finally arraigned on Wednesday and entered a not guilty plea.

LADOT somehow concludes that a speeding hit-and-run driver and the wet roadway caused the crash that took the life of a woman on Hyperion Ave this past January, rather than the unsafe conditions on the street itself. But decide to make some fixes to it anyway.

Fox 11 looks at LA’s new plan to provide permanent memorials for fallen bicyclists.

The Press-Telegram reports you can’t drive on Long Beach’s Pacific Ave on Saturday due to this weekend’s Beach Streets open streets festival, but says that’s a good thing.

 

State

San Diego approves a permitting process for dockless bikeshare and e-scooters, as angry residents get out their torches and pitchforks. Meanwhile, a San Diego planning board calls for a protected bike lane on Point Loma Blvd.

You can still sign up for Saturday’s Joshua Tree 55 Bike Ride in Twentynine Palms.

San news from San Francisco, where a dump truck driver killed professional skateboarder Pablo Ramirez Tuesday afternoon; in a tragic irony, the San Francisco Chronicle says his stunts were death defying.

More sad news, this time from Sacramento, where a man was killed in a collision while riding his bike Tuesday night.

Zombie cars strike again. A Loleta news site writes that a woman was struck by an SUV while riding her bike, without ever mentioning that the vehicle had a driver.

 

National

Bicycling looks at the most beautiful custom and handmade bikes from this year’s North American Handmade Bike Show.

No bias here. An Arizona newspaper writes about the problem of “rampant cyclists” on the town’s streets, as one woman calls for rumble strips or speed bumps to slow the riders down — even though that could result in countless crashes and serious injuries. But hey, that would slow them down, right?

Forget Bike to Work Day. The next town over from my hometown is challenging businesses to encourage their employees to bike to work for the next two months.

An Iowa paper encourages drivers to share the road, after record flooding forces bike riders off popular trails and onto the streets. Whether they want to be there or not.

My favorite story of the day. A bighearted Ohio motorcycle cop stopped to help a couple of kids learn how to ride a bike without training wheels.

Buffalo NY college students reinvent the laufmaschine, aka dandy horse, in response to the current climate challenge.

Advocates call the NYPD’s heavy-handed crackdown on bell-less bicyclists racist and wrong, while some of the harassment victims tell their own stories.

No bias here. After a Virginia cop hit a bike rider, police somehow conclude he had no responsibility to look to the right to ensure the sidewalk was clear before making a right turn on a red light; here’s video of the same crash from another angle. Thanks to Janet Lafluer for the second link.

A North Carolina writer worries authorities will be coming after his bikes, after a Republican legislator introduces a bill requiring licenses for bicycles.

Kindhearted St. Petersburg police officers pitched in to buy a new bicycle for a man who biked to work every day after his was stolen.

 

International

You’ve got to be kidding. After a Canadian bike rider was seriously injured when she was sideswiped by a truck driver, the case against the driver who hit her was dismissed because prosecutors didn’t establish that she was riding a bicycle.

Once again, businesses are shooting themselves in the foot, this time in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where they’re opposing bike lanes on a downtown street — despite multiple studies showing bike lanes are good for business.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bike Snob says bike racing, I wish I knew how to quit you.

An Illinois attorney set two age-group world records for women over 50 at a Mexico City track cycling event earlier this month.

 

Finally…

When you somehow think riding a Penny Farthing will get you a Brexit job. If you just stole a bike, try not to sell it back to the bike shop that originally sold it.

And it may be rented out by a bike shop, but this is definitely not an ebike.

 

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

Morning Links: US cycling legend Rebecca Twigg homeless in Seattle, hero bike rider, and the war on bikes

April 18, 2019 / / 2 comments

Back in ’80s, I was in love with Rebecca Twigg.

Then again, so was just about other every straight male who knew a derailleur from domestique.

She won my heart, and so many others, when she claimed the ’83 Coors Classic stage race, followed by a silver medal in the road race at the ’84 Olympics, finishing second to her American teammate Connie Carpenter.

And followed that with a pursuit bronze medal in ’92.

Along with six world track titles and 16 US championships before, after and in between.

She was brilliant, charming and beautiful. And could drop you like freshman English without breaking a sweat.

So it broke my heart to learn that Rebecca Twigg has spent nearly five years living on the streets of Seattle.

According to the Seattle Times,

Twigg, 56, agreed to share her story to convince the public that not all homeless people are addicted to drugs or alcohol; that there are many like her, who have struggled with employment and are “confused,” as she said she is, about what to do next with their lives. She did not want to discuss mental health but feels it should be treated more seriously in Washington.

“Some of the hard days are really painful when you’re training for racing,” Twigg said, “but being homeless, when you have little hope or knowledge of where the finish line is going to be, is just as hard.”

She ended up homeless after two failed marriages, and struggling to fit into a workplace where she felt she just didn’t belong.

It was a familiar position, after her mother had kicked her out at 14, and she settled into the nomadic life of a bike racer.

Sadly, it’s not unusual for athletes to struggle after retiring, having spent a lifetime training and competing in a highly structured world.

And the article hints at another possible reason, mentioning a Texas crash that resulted in 13 stitches to her head — and probably a concussion.

Likely not the first one either. Or the last, in those pre-helmet, leather hairnet days.

But the saddest part of all is that Rebecca Twigg been forgotten by the cycling world she sacrificed her youth for.

And allowed to fall through the cracks, and onto the streets.

Let’s hope this news wakes up women’s cycling and bike racing’s governing bodies. So that someone, somewhere gives her the hand up she needs to get her life back together, and off the streets, once and for all.

And gives her the job she deserves in the sport she used to love, and knows so well.

Photo from Wikipedia.

………

Once again, a bike rider was the hero.

An Anaheim man went on a wild crime rampage in Lake Forest on Wednesday, breaking into a home, stabbing a woman multiple times, jacking her car, crashing it into another woman walking on the sidewalk, threatening some Good Samaritans, and trying to jack a couple more cars.

All in just nine minutes.

It all came to a burning end when 56-year old bike rider Eric Young pepper sprayed the man after nearly getting run down by him and witnessing the crime spree.

After four or five doses of pepper spray, the one-man crime wave sat down on the curb and waited for police to take him into custody.

………

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

A British bike rider was bloodied and suffered a badly broken nose after he was knocked off his bike by a speeding driver, then punched repeatedly by a passenger in her car.

Then again, people on bikes aren’t always the good guys. A New York woman was punched in the face by a man on a bike, who shouted “This is my bock, bitch!” before riding off. Shockingly, the NYPD didn’t seem to care, despite their usual policy of siding with anyone against people on bicycles.

And Boston police are looking for a bike-riding man who shattered a bus window with his fist in an attempt to get the driver to open the door. Because terrorizing bus drivers and their passengers is always the best way to get them to let you in.

………

A word for the wise, as demonstrated by a dirt biker.

Always make sure there’s solid ground directly in front of you. Because bikes, motorized or otherwise, still can’t fly.

……….

Local

No shit. County officials consider removing mobile shooting ranges from the sheriff’s station in Marina del Rey, after a suggestion that having a shooting range in close proximity to one of the county’s most popular bike paths may not be the best idea.

State

No, Outside, it’s not the perfect Highway 1 road trip along the California coast unless you do it on two wheels.

Caltrain goes the wrong way on accommodating bike riders.

The man who stole a $5,000 bicycle from Costa Mesa’s Cyclist bike shop returned it because his face had been plastered everywhere, and he was hoping to get the $1,000 reward.

In a bizarre ruling, a California appeals court barred the unacknowledged daughter of fallen OC cyclist Amine Britel from suing the woman who killed him, ruling she didn’t have standing because she wasn’t a legal heir since she didn’t establish paternity until after he died. And didn’t suffer a loss because she never knew him anyway. Thanks to Jeffrey Fylling for the heads-up.

Bakersfield wants your input on how to improve bicycling and the city’s streets. I’ll go out on a limb here, and guess that removing cars from them is probably a nonstarter.

San Francisco is installing a protected bike lane on one of the city’s most dangerous streets. But only in some sections.

A San Francisco man suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike Wednesday morning.

A new study from a UC Davis researcher shows that ped-assist ebikes really do get people out of their cars; up to half of all ebike trips in the study would have otherwise been made by motor vehicle.

National

NACTO says e-scooters have overtaken docked bikeshare as the nation’s third most popular form of shared transportation, behind cars and transit. Although most cars are hardly ever shared.

Lyft can undoubtedly relate to Boeing these days, as their rapid expansion into e-bikeshare has come to a screeching halt due to brake problems. Then again, Lyft hasn’t killed anyone yet, and dealt with the problem once they became aware of it.

No shit part two. A new poll shows Americans think distracted driving is the greatest threat on the roads. Which doesn’t appear to actually stop anyone from doing it.

A teenage boy is a key witness in the case against a Minneapolis cop accused of shooting a woman who had called police to report a possible sexual assault behind her home, although his credibility was questioned after admitting he had smoked weed and downed several shots of whiskey before getting on his bike.

A Rhode Island public radio station says the state’s potholed streets pose a danger to bike riders. Kind of like the streets of Los Angeles, and much of Southern California.

Vision Zero appears to be working in Boston, where the crash rate has gone up, while fatalities were cut in half. People often misunderstand the purpose of Vision Zero, which isn’t to prevent crashes, but to redesign roadways so those crashes don’t kill anyone.

Speaking of Boston, Bicycling looks at that city’s version of LA’s Marathon Crash Ride.

A Delaware man with a rare heart condition embarked on a 5,000-mile bike ride to Alaska in the name of science, even though doctors warned it could kill him.

After a DC resident witnesses a large Critical Mass-type ride roll through her neighborhood, she naturally concludes that all bike riders are a bunch of law-breaking scofflaws who won’t follow the rules, and don’t deserve protected bike lanes.

A New Orleans bike thief is caught on video entering an unlocked gate to steal an unlocked bicycle, then ghost riding the new bike away with his own in tow. But at least he had the courtesy to shut the gate after him.

Taking a page from ghost bikes, a Georgia bike advocate placed a ghost wheelchair at the site where a handicapped man was killed earlier this month.

International

A Vancouver letter writer strains to make the argument that installing bike lanes will lower homeowners’ property values, even though countless studies show the exact opposite.

Life is cheap in Ottawa, Canada, where a driver walked on charges of fleeing the scene after killing a man riding a bike, and covering up the crime by fixing his truck and hiding out at a motel. The judge bought his explanations that he 1) fell asleep while driving, 2) hadn’t been drinking, and 3) fled the scene, hid out from police and destroyed the evidence because he was afraid of racist cops. And no, the judge’s name wasn’t Gullible. But maybe it should be.

An Irish man returned home from an internship in the US to face charges for killing a bike rider in a collision.

Competitive Cycling

About time. A bill under consideration in the California legislature would require bike races and other sporting events to provide equal prize money to men and women.

Bicycling examines the time trial bike Victor Campenaerts used to set a new hour record in Mexico this week.

The apparent leader in a women’s race is nearly taken down by a race moto. And appears to respond the same way anyone else would.

Finally…

How to not smash your bike to bits when you use a rooftop rack. When you’re afraid to ride the local bike path because of all the drivers using it.

And if an ebike can stabilize itself to prevent falls, does it really need you at all?

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

Morning Links: Bike the Vote LA endorses in CD12, Watch for Me in NC, and the war on bikes keeps going on

April 16, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike the Vote LA endorses in CD12, Watch for Me in NC, and the war on bikes keeps going on

It’s a light news day, after today’s bike news apparently got crowded out by the tragic burning of Notre Dame Cathedral.

The good news is, however, until John Snow learns to ride a bicycle, or Cersei starts driving, this will continue to remain a Game of Thrones spoiler-free zone.

And before we move on, I hope you’ll join me in thanking Josh Cohen and Cohen Law Partners for renewing their sponsorship of this site for a sixth consecutive year.

………

Bike the Vote LA has released their endorsements for the special council election in LA’s 12th Council District.

………

A new public service campaign tells North Carolina drivers to “Watch for Me” to reduce bike and pedestrian crashes.

Doesn’t do it for me. But what do you think?

………

Repeat after me. The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.

A Milwaukee man was severely beaten after flipping off the driver who nearly hit him while he was riding in a bike lane.

My own hard-won advice — never flip off the driver behind you.

For reasons that should be obvious, but for some reason, wasn’t at the time.

………

Local

The Long Beach Post wants to know why the city isn’t improving safety on the bridges over the 710, despite the deaths of two people since the first of the year, including a 64-year old woman riding her bicycle.

626 Golden Streets looks forward to nine upcoming open streets events in the LA area. Unfortunately, I’ll have to miss this spring’s events, including the Wilmington CicLAvia at the end of this month, but should be back on my bike in time for the Hollywood/West Hollywood CicLAvia in my own backyard later this year.

State

A Bakersfield letter writer gets as proprietary as any privileged motorist, saying bike trails are for people on bicycles, not people walking or their dogs. Except under California law, any separated pathway without a parallel walkway is considered a multi-use path, regardless of what it’s called.

Bike Magazine looks at some of the new products introduced at last weekend’s Sea Otter Classic in Monterey.

Berkeley police have issued an arrest warrant for a 45-year old driver accused of fleeing the scene after seriously injuring a bike rider in a crash.

Now you can pedal your way across the Oakland Bay. Okay, so it’s an estuary. That doesn’t rhyme.

Stanislaus County bike riders will gather to remember a man who was killed while riding his bike earlier this month; his daughter says the popular rider shouldn’t have been out on his bike that day, after being told to take it easy following a heart procedure.

National

A new survey from the National Safety Council shows that most Americans support lowering speed limits slightly, installing speed and red light cameras, and conducting more sobriety checkpoints. All of which would save lives. And all of which entitled drivers will undoubtedly fight.

Performing intervals twice a week could help you live longer.

A Missouri man got his bike back after spotting it for sale on Craigslist. Except after arranging a sting, the cops got diverted to a domestic disturbance on the way — which just happened to be at the thief’s home, finding the man’s bike inside after the suspect ran away.

Another case of keeping a drunk driver on the streets until its nearly too late, as an alleged drunk driver lost control and just missed a Wisconsin bike rider before slamming into a light pole and running away on foot.

University of Dayton students designed a voice-controlled shifting mechanism for the recumbent belonging to a military vet who lost three limbs in Afghanistan.

After a Louisiana man’s bicycle was stolen while he was working at a restaurant, his kindhearted coworkers raised $300 in just 30 minutes to replace it.

International

CityMetric contributes ten things you should know about ebikes, including that they’re not cheating — and they’re the future.

A local paper says it’s hard to predict the impact of bike lanes versus parking on property values in a Vancouver neighborhood. Even though studies show quality bikeways tend to increase home values.

A British serial bike thief is back behind bars for the next six months after confessing to stealing a bike while already on probation — and while legally prohibited from even touching one.

Speaking of bike theft, an Irish man was lucky to get his bicycle back after spotting it for sale online and contacting the police to set up a sting.

A US Air Force appeals court re-affirmed the conviction of a senior airman sentenced to four years for negligent homicide in the death of a bike rider at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base.

Finally…

Using bikes to paint a portrait of Elvis on the streets of Nashville. Your next bike could have four wheels — but only use two at a time.

And if you’re riding a bike while under the influence and carrying a concealed weapon, put a damn light on it, already.

The bike, not the gun.

And don’t jump into a river trying to get away from the cops.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: DUI, murder in H’wood scooter crash; Costa Mesa bike thief busted; and building bike lanes pays

April 15, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: DUI, murder in H’wood scooter crash; Costa Mesa bike thief busted; and building bike lanes pays

Go ahead and call it murder.

The police are.

According to KTLA-5, a suspected drunk driver is being held on $2 million bail on suspicion of murder and DUI after police watched him hit a e-scooter rider in a Hollywood crosswalk.

The victim was crossing Sunset Blvd at Vine Street at 3:30 Saturday morning when he was struck by a pickup driven by 26-year old Utah resident Jared Walter Anderson.

Anderson then allegedly backed the truck up, and drove over the victim, who was described only as a man in his 30s.

He fled the scene, but was chased down by an LAPD sergeant who had witnessed the crime.

Anderson was previously convicted of DUI in Utah, which makes him eligible for a murder charge under California law.

Then again, murder could be warranted even without the previous conviction, considering that he drove over his victim after hitting him the first time.

Which raises the question of whether the crash may have been intentional.

………

Good news on the bike theft front.

The schmuck who stole a $5,000 bicycle from Costa Mesa’s Cyclist bike shop has been arrested after returning the bike at the urging of relatives.

Paul Verdugo Jr, a 42-year old transient, pled not guilty to charges of grand theft, identity theft and receiving stolen property, the latter two for the false ID he handed a shop worker before riding off with the bike while on a test ride.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes keeps picking up speed.

A Maryland woman was charged with first degree assault for making a U-turn after passing a bike rider, then intentionally attempting to run him down, forcing the man to jump off his bike before she crashed into it.

They always tell you to make eye contact with drivers. But fail to mention that the sidewalk-blocking Florida driver you’re trying to get past may get out of his car and punch you repeatedly.

………

It pays to build bike lanes.

No, literally.

A new study shows that if Kansas City fully built out its bike plan, local businesses would benefit to the tune of $500 million in increased sales over the next 20 years.

And more importantly, over 700 lives would be saved.

Which makes you wonder just how many lives, and how much money, Los Angeles is needlessly throwing away by leaving its bike plan gathering dust on the shelf.

Like every other LA bike plan that’s come before it.

………

Local

Streetsblog says the push for safety improvements is picking up speed in Silver Lake. And not just on Rowena.

Uber and Lyft are holding off on finalizing their permits to put dockless e-scooters and bikeshare on the streets of Los Angeles over concerns about how their usage data will be used.

The Rose Bowl will open its roads for a 3.1-mile mini-ciclovia after next month’s final stage of the Amgen Tour of California, though you may have to register first.

This is who we share the roads with. A man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for a street racing crash that killed three people in two other vehicles three years ago. Now if we could just see that kind of justice for people on bicycles for a change.

Great news! The fundraiser for the infant son of fallen bicyclist Frederick “Woon” Frazier now sits at nearly $8,000 — just $2,000 short of the $10,000 goal.

State

They get it. San Diego is installing 330 on-street parking corrals for dockless bicycles and e-scooters in the downtown area. Unlike Los Angeles, which prefers to use precious sidewalk space instead of putting them in the street where they belong.

The San Diego Union-Tribune picks up the story of state wildlife officials blocking access to illegal trails in the Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve, and telling miscreant trespassing bike riders to stay the hell out.

Life is cheap in El Cajon, where a red light-running hit-and-run driver is expected to be sentenced to just four years behind bars for a crash that left a nine-year old boy with permanent injuries — despite driving without a license, and with drug paraphernalia in her car.

Sunnyvale is re-evaluating its commitment to bikeshare after Lime left them in the lurch.

Specialized teams up with a Stanford researcher to figure out how bicycling affects your brain. Aside from making you unusually happy, that is.

A Santa Rosa man was busted for DUI after crashing into two bicyclists while allegedly driving stoned —  at 7:30 in the morning, no less; the victims suffered moderate to major injuries.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a bike rider was killed in a crash after allegedly riding through a red light.

National

A writer for the Conversation says crowdfunding money for bicycle infrastructure helps reduce the risk of bikelash. Something tells me Los Angeles bike riders could fully fund the cost of every bike lane and road diet in the mobility plan, and it still wouldn’t satisfy the city’s angry drivers.

Bike Snob writer and self-described avid driver Eben Weiss says sometimes just driving a car is an act of violence, and wonders why drivers can’t see that they’re the worst. I wouldn’t go that far; a lot of good people drive cars. But it does seem to bring out the worst in people.

Uber says riding a bicycle without a helmet is dangerous. But hopes to have us all riding in jet packs in the near future.

Lyft has pulled its ebikes from San Francisco, DC and New York after reports of brake problems on their dockless bikeshare systems, replacing them with regular bikes for the time being.

Bicycling says your next custom-made frame could come out of an Airstream trailer.

She kinda gets it. A Tucson columnist says let’s keep each other alive on the streets, but admits to being distracted behind the wheel.

A San Antonio TX nonprofit paper — not that many papers make a profit these days — calls for a bike advocacy group in the city.

Six years after bicyclists were first allowed on Colorado’s Pikes Peak, the guy who runs the roadway says it’s been a pleasant surprise, and even the drivers have been courteous. Although I’d like to hear that last part from the guys on bikes, thank you.

The Boston Globe says ten years from now, bicyclists in Cambridge MA may take the city’s protected bike lane network for granted, after the city passed a first-in-the-nation ordinance requiring protected lanes in any new roadwork in the bike plan.

An upstate New York letter writer complains about the county tearing up his lawn to widen the roadway and install a “bike path to nowhere,” telling riders they can just use the rail trails; a commenter calls it the “worst anti-bicycle twaddle” he’s seen in some time.

A Virginia woman learns the hard way you can’t tow your kids in a bike trailer behind your 40 mph moped.

As promised, Atlanta bike riders bring traffic to a crawl by slow rolling during the morning commute. But how many of those drivers actually got to work or school after crawling in traffic, and decided that the people on bikes had a point? Probably somewhere south of zero.

Tiger Woods says his big comeback at the Masters golf tournament was like riding a new bicycle. But without all the angry drivers and bike lane-fighting NIMBYs and traffic safety deniers.

International

Road.cc offers a guide to tandems.

Apparently, the Royal Canadian Mounties have invented bicycle registration.

Country singer Keith Urban is one of us, using a two-hour bike ride around London to clear his head and discover Irish singer Foy Vance.

More proof that bicyclists face the same problems everywhere, as a Glasgow bike rider angrily accuses cops of being lazy and risking his safety by parking in a bike lane near the police headquarters.

Benedict Cumberbatch learned the hard way not to mess with an angry bicyclist, getting slapped in the face by a man Cumberbatch knocked off his bike with his Lamborghini SUV on the Isle of Wight last year — and just a year after he rescued a bike rider from a London mugging.

Surprisingly, after what may be our first-ever news report from the Isle of Wight, we have another, as a bike-riding letter writer suffering from a severe case of windshield bias says bike riders should be forced to use cycle tracks, both for their own safety and so they don’t interrupt the flow of vehicle traffic. And inconvenience people like him.

The Irish Times says rampant bike theft in Dublin is putting people off bicycling. Same could be said of any major city, including Los Angeles; people who have their bikes stolen often decide it’s just not worth it. Which is why fighting bike theft has to be a priority in getting drivers out of their cars.

A Dutch woman explains how she biked her way around the world for 18 months on the equivalent of just $6,500.

Horrible story from India, where a young woman on a motor scooter was killed when she passed too close to a shepherd who was riding his bicycle with a scythe on his shoulder, slicing her throat as she rode by.

An Aussie stockbroker talks bicycling — including the admonition to just have fun, on the good days and the bad.

A Canberra, Australia paper wants to know why bike riders keep dying on the area’s country roads; a driver recounts barely missing endurance cyclist Mike Hall just 12 miles and a few hours before he was killed by another motorist.

A determined Vietnamese boy hopped on a rusted bicycle with no brakes and rode 62 miles of a 200 mile journey to Hanoi to see his sick baby brother, using the soles of his sandals to brake the bike down going downhill; a kind stranger drove him to the next town and arranged transportation the rest of the way.

Road rage doesn’t pay in Singapore, as a bike rider who tangled with a truck driver is fined the equivalent of around $2,000.

Competitive Cycling

Belgian pro Philippe Gilbert won his fourth monument on the cobbles of Sunday’s Paris Roubaix, topping Germany’s Nils Politt in a cat-and-mouse battle at the end.

Belgium’s Wout Van Aert, one of the pre-race favorites, struggled to make it to the finish line after a crash and multiple mechanical problems.

Road.cc considers eleven ways the pros prepare for the rough roads of Paris Roubaix. Apparently, repeatedly smashing their testicles with a wooden mallet to get used to the cobbles isn’t one of them.

Dozens of mountain bikers are racing 400 miles from San Diego to Idyllwild to benefit the San Diego Mountain Bike Association.

Finally…

If you’re a convicted felon illegally carrying a gun and burglary tools on your bike, don’t leer into cars while wearing latex gloves. When you’re carrying meth and a hidden handgun while walking a freshly spray-painted bike, try to not to let the paint rub off on your hands.

And if someone punches you in the face, steals your speakers and rides off on your bike, he’s probably not really your friend.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,
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