Tag Archive for ‘Tis the season

Morning Links: A light local news day, a busy weekend for bike giveaways, and stupid bike burglar tricks

December 19, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: A light local news day, a busy weekend for bike giveaways, and stupid bike burglar tricks

It’s the last week of the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. Give today to keep Southern CAlifornia’s leading source for bike news coming your way every day!

The holiday season made for a light news weekend in the bike world.

With the exception of over a dozen bike giveaways totaling over 7,400 bicycles, that is. Including two from a generous cop, and a bighearted boy giving away his own bike to someone who needs it more.

Oddly though, not a single non-giveaway story made the radar on the local front.

But that’s good, right?

And if you missed it, you’ll find a lot more news, local and otherwise, on Saturday’s Weekend Links.

………

‘Tis the season.

The charity foundation started by Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner donated 2,000 bicycles, which were given away through an LA church.

Santa Barbara County inmates refurbished 25 bicycles collected by the sheriff’s department to distribute through local charities.

Forty-eight Adelanto elementary school students get new bikes, along with an adult bike for the mother of two of the children, whose husband died earlier this year.

A program founded by a Redding man 13 years ago gave away 275 bicycles last year; this year they have 125 bikes to donate, but are hoping for more.

Two Oregon boys will have bicycles this Christmas thanks to a bighearted cop who bought them new bikes after theirs were stolen.

Over 300 people pitched in to build 1,400 bicycles, which will be given as surprise gifts to residents of an unsuspecting Michigan neighborhood.

A New Jersey bike shop has repaired over 250 bicycles and donated them to local organizations.

Fayetteville NC’s Bicycle Man gave 1,500 bikes and helmets to local children, along with clothes and school supplies; the charity program has continued under his wife’s leadership after Bicycle Man Moses Mathis passed away in 2013.

The Charleston SC transportation authority gives away 16 unclaimed bikes that had been left on buses.

More than 1,000 Columbus GA children got new bicycles thanks to a program started by a local man.

A Georgia church gives away 26 bikes and 40 coats to struggling families.

Florida’s Jack the Bike Man gave away over 900 refurbished bikes on Sunday.

A bighearted Aussie six-year old boy offers to give his own bike to another child who needs it.

………

Former pro Marijn de Vries has raised allegations of sexual abuse and harassment in the Dutch cycling program.

A Bloomington IL ultra-distance cyclist is preparing to compete in next year’s 5,700 mile Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race across Russia.

A 12-time Kiwi triathlon champ ignores Lance Armstrong’s past, and screaming headlines about drug cheating, to go for bike ride with the ex-Tour de France champ who’s in the country to film a commercial. Meanwhile, one writer calls him a sociopath and says no one should care if he’s in the country.

………

Local

No news is good news. Right?

 

State

A Santa Ana bike rider was the victim of a suspected gang shooting; he was hospitalized in critical condition.

Golden State Warriors Guard Shaun Livingston is a fan of Oakland’s Original Scraper Bike Team.

A Marin County town is putting bike lanes on a nearby connector road to ease congestion on a multi-use pathway, which has been the scene of a number of collisions between bicyclists and pedestrians.

 

National

After an Everett WA cyclist is hit by a car, several Good Samaritans help a police officer lift the car off him; thanks in part to their swift action, he’s expected to survive.

A Seattle bike columnist points out the need to be seen at night.

A Colorado man donates 40 acres of his own property to the public through a conservation easement that will protect the singletrack bike and hiking park he built.

The Omaha NE bikeshare program is set to double in size by 2019.

The Charleston SC newspaper says it’s time to stop stalling and build a bike lane on a key bridge over the Ashley River.

 

International

A 22-year old Irish man completes a 3,000 mile journey across the southern US from California to Florida.

British truckers fight for their right to continue cutting off bike riders.

In search of adventure, a British cyclist rides the entire 6,000 mile Iron Curtain Trail on a vintage East German shopping bike, deliberately unprepared to trace the route marking the former border between capitalist west and communist east.

Two advocacy groups merge to avoid working at cross purposes and holding back progress in a Pakistani state.

Twenty-three Indian bicyclists are riding over 900 miles from Delhi to Mumbai to call attention to human trafficking and child labor.

China’s app-based bikeshare systems are facing a problem with theft and sabotage.

The 82-year old founder of the world’s largest bike maker is stepping down after 44 years, passing the reigns of Taiwan’s Giant Manufacturing to his son and niece.

 

Finally…

It’s not a bike, it’s a born again billboard hogging the bike rack.

And if you’re going to break into a bike shop, don’t get run over by your own getaway van. And don’t drive on the damn bike path.

………

Special thanks to Mark Ganzer, Tai Wan Kim, and Michael Young for their generous donations to support this site and help bring the area’s best bike news your way every morning.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: SaMo bicyclist injured in hit-and-run, more holiday bike giveaways, and stupid criminal tricks

December 16, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: SaMo bicyclist injured in hit-and-run, more holiday bike giveaways, and stupid criminal tricks

Support the best site for bike news from around the corner, and around the world. Give to the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today!

Santa Monica Spoke’s Cynthia Rose forwards a report that a bike rider was injured in a hit-and-run at 20th and California around 6:30 pm Wednesday evening.

The 30-something victim was taken to UCLA with head injuries and bleeding, but was reportedly conscious following the crash.

No word yet on a description of the suspect vehicle.

Anyone with information should contact the Santa Monica Police Department.

………

‘Tis the season.

The Pasadena Rotary bought and donated 200 bicycles for underprivileged kids.

Dozens of children of service members at Edwards Air Force Base will receive bicycles after it was determined their families could use a little extra help for the holidays.

The San Luis Obispo sheriff’s department gave 600 bikes to underprivileged kids after they were refurbished by inmates at the SLO Honor Farm.

Tennessee’s Bike Elf is working to provide bicycles for 109 children who asked for them on a Wishing Tree.

………

Local

The LA Times reviews a documentary about a man suffering from Friedreich’s ataxia, who put a team together to compete in the Race Across America on a tricycle along with another sufferer of the neuromuscular disease.

A man slashed another Expo Line passenger on the neck and face with a knife following an argument yesterday afternoon, then made his escape on a dark-colored cruiser bike.

CiclaValley offers tips for riding in the rain. Oddly, given the weather as I write this, build an ark does not seem to be one of them.

The wife of fallen cyclist and teacher Rod Bennett has established a college scholarship in his name for Santa Clarita students who want to study music or music education. It takes a big heart to try to find some good in a tragedy like this by helping others.

 

State

San Clemente is ready to open a half-mile extension of Camino del Rio, including buffered bike lanes. Then again, given the usual high OC speed limits, a retaining wall might be more appropriate.

San Diego residents call for a kids’ bicycle park in discussions over a largely undeveloped park in the Tijuana River Valley.

Santa Barbara receives a $7.1 million grant to create two bike lanes that will provide a continuous east-west route across the city. Meanwhile, Los Angeles can’t even manage to create a continuous route from Downtown to the coast.

Police in Morgan Hill are looking for the public’s help identifying a suspect in a burglary at the headquarters of Specialized.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition expressed concern about driverless cars sharing the road with bicycles after witnessing Uber’s autonomous cars make unsafe right turns that could have right hooked a rider. Then again, bikes could be self-driving soon, too.

 

National

NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth is one of us, as he talks cycling with Bicycle Magazine.

A Seattle jury awards a bike rider a whopping $38 million after he was severely injured by a driver for a valet company taking an illegal short cut across two lanes of traffic.

The Tacoma Wheelmen bike club decides it’s time to change their historic, but outdated, name.

Smart move. Colorado’s economic development office is inviting prospective business leaders and venture capitalists to come out for a bike ride to promote the state’s business interests.

A Gulfport MS man will spent his life behind bars after shooting his uncle over an argument about a kid riding a bicycle in the street.

Fort Lauderdale FL officials are concerned about how to protect bike riders when a new streetcar line opens in 2021.

Once again, the most important detail is buried in the last sentence, as Chicago DOT officials agree to review a DePaul University study calling for adoption of the Idaho Stop Law.

Fed up with seeing his friends hit by cars, a Philadelphia bike rider used traffic cones to build his own DIY protected bike lane, which has remained in place for two years.

A Florida bicyclist is suing for multiple broken bones after he was attacked, but not bitten, by a vicious dog. Although the real story is, before he was attacked, the 83-year old rider was training to be a competitive cyclist.

 

International

Vancouver reveals how the city intends to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2040 under its Vision Zero plan.

What do you call an unprotected protected bike lane in Halifax, Canada?

London approves a plan to ban cars and trucks from an intersection near the Bank of England during daylight hours.

A $4,100 ebike stolen from a DJ outside the BBC’s studios turns up nine months later in Lithuania.

Caught on video: Britain’s Transportation Secretary doors a bike rider, but leaves without providing the contact info required by law — then turns around and criticizes cyclists a few weeks later. Thanks to Danny Gamboa for the heads-up.

A Brit driver screams in fright as a multiple GoPro-equipped bicycle vigilante catches her taking a selfie behind the wheel. Then again, if I saw that outfit coming my way, I might scream, too.

A new study on how to achieve Vision Zero has won a prestigious international road safety award in the UK; the study concludes the goal of zero deaths is demonstrably realistic, rather than utopian.

October’s world championships in Qatar is credited with boosting interest in bicycling in the Middle East.

Ambitious plans to double the number of bike riders in an Australian state by 2020 are going the wrong way, as the total drops by 20,000 over the last five years.

Bangkok’s metropolitan government makes plans to scrap some of the city’s bike lanes to make life easier for all those poor, put-upon people in cars.

 

Finally…

No, seriously. If you finally manage to escape after getting locked in the building you’re trying to burglarize, don’t come back to get your bike. If you’re going to conduct a bird-themed graffiti spree, don’t ride your bike with can of freshly used spray paint in your hand.

And LA riders may have to deal with bored drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about wild boars.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Still more bike giving to celebrate the season, and PVE cyclists die in protest so others won’t

December 15, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Still more bike giving to celebrate the season, and PVE cyclists die in protest so others won’t

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‘Tis the season.

CicLAvia is giving back to the community, donating 15 scooters, 50 sneakers and 53 bikes so far.

San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System surprises 160 elementary school kids with new bicycles.

The Tulare County sheriff’s department gives 20 new bikes to kids who have excelled in school.

One hundred twenty Madera CA third grade students are surprised with free bicycles after thinking they were just getting a lesson in bike safety from the CHP.

A Colorado Whole Foods teams with a craft brewery’s charitable foundation to give 113 new bikes to disadvantaged elementary school kids at the opening of the new store.

A Chicago-area housing authority gave away 50 bicycles to children whose families might be having financial difficulties.

………

World road champ Peter Sagan says clean cyclists could bring back sponsors to pro cycling, comparing the current testing regimen to being in jail with no chance to cheat without getting caught.

A Belorussian pro turns to the power of Twitter to save his cycling career after he was dropped by the Lampre-Merida team. After all, it worked for a certain president elect we could name.

American cyclist Joe Dombrowski wants to create an uphill hour record.

The Big Bear paper offers results of last Saturday’s California State Fat Bike Championships.

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports on the Palos Verdes Estates die-in on Tuesday to call for better bike safety in the exclusive community. Note the half-dozen cops standing watch in the background of the accompanying photos.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson observes that the die-in seemed to get a lot of support from passing motorists and pedestrians, but not so much with the city council. But as he points out, they’ll get the message the next time someone is killed, injured or harassed and decides to hold the city accountable.

CiclaValley is trying to scrape together parts to build and donate a Frankenbike to help get a young rider into road racing.

 

State

Three hundred chefs will ride 300 miles in three days next May, starting in Santa Rosa, to raise $2 million for the No Kid Hungry campaign.

Castroville gets a new bike and pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks. And no, the town isn’t named after the Cuban revolutionary.

Uber’s driverless cars briefly take to the road in San Francisco before state regulators run them off. Although video of one of the cars running a red light proves they really do drive as well as humans.

Talk about burying the lead (or lede, if you prefer). A San Francisco website reports on Sunday’s distracted-driving hit-and-run death of a bike rider in Watsonville. But fails to mention the driver was booked for being the influence until the very last sentence, never mind that her license was already suspended for DUI.

 

National

Elly Blue writes there may be more common ground between sport and transportation bicyclists than it would seem. In my case, they’re one and the same, depending on where I’m going and why.

Trek could be recalling your Bontrager lights.

A Portland website takes a look at the new UPS ebike delivery trikes.

Dirt Rag strives to understand Floyd Landis, who briefly held the Tour de France title before it was stripped away for doping, and who now markets marijuana-infused products under the Colorado-based Floyds of Leadville banner.

An Idaho bike mechanic warns you get what you pay for when you buy a bicycle online. And not in a good way.

A Louisville KY bike rider describes what it’s like to be a victim of a hit-and-run after being left for dead by a heartless driver; he has no memory of the wreck or anything that happened before being found three hours later.

Chicagoist says tip your bicycle delivery person more when the weather sucks. Which should be tonight in LA if the forecast holds.

Pittsburgh business owners warn that a planned bike lane would ruin street parking and crush their businesses. Never mind that businesses usually thrive after bikeways are installed, despite any loss of parking spaces.

A Pennsylvania hit-and-run driver gets probation after his big-hearted, bike-riding victim forgives him.

A Vermont man faces charges after using a stun gun on a 14-year old boy to recover a bicycle he thought had been stolen from his friend a few weeks earlier; however, the boy had a good alibi, since he’d purchased the bike three months ago.

Cambridge, Mass gets two new separated bike lanes, the first of what will hopefully become a citywide network.

Someone has posted fliers urging drivers to call the city to complain about the loss of five parking spaces for a New York City bike lane. Even though it was only four. And even though people are parking in it anyway.

A Florida paper asks if the shade of some new green bike lanes is too jarring. Only if Hollywood producers get a look at it.

 

International

Toronto is lowering speed limits on 14 streets in an effort to save lives.

An English woman was left with multiple wounds after an apparently random attack by someone who rode his bike up behind her and hit her over the head with an unknown object.

An Edinburg website asks if a new line of high-end bikewear designed by cyclists could be the next Rapha.

A Northern Ireland website offers 16 gift ideas for the cyclist in your life. Or yourself.

A UK man saves himself from depression by taking up bicycling following a bankruptcy and divorce.

Madrid gives itself a pre-holiday gift by banning cars from the city center for nine days. The restrictions will end this Sunday, so hurry up and grab your passport.

Australian police are looking for a road raging cyclist who smacked a car, striking the hand of a 74-year old woman passenger, after the driver honked at him for being in the way. Once again, there’s never any excuse for violence, no matter how justified your anger may seem at the time.

A New Zealand cop won’t face charges for knocking a teenage boy off his bike when the boy swore at him, but will have to offer an apology to the boy and his family.

A blind Australian woman falls in love with bicycling after taking to the back of a tandem bike, finding it easier than she expected.

 

Finally…

Road rage is one thing; a driver armed with a machete is another. Even back then, Barack Obama was one of us.

And there are worse ways to spend three and a half minutes than watching some of the most bizarre bike ads ever.

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

Morning Links: Dying for safety in PVE, ‘tis the season for bike giveaways, and construction starts on MyFigueroa

December 13, 2016 / / 3 comments

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Don’t miss yesterday’s guest post by Delia Park and Kristie Fox about the die-in planned for today in Palos Verdes Estates, calling for Bikes May Use Full Lane signs to be installed in the exclusive, and extremely insular, city.

Meanwhile, Cycling in the South Bay points out there’s another vital item on the PVE council agenda to improve safety for kids walking to school. And offers a graphic example of what bikers really want.

………

‘Tis the season.

San Gabriel Valley Rotary Clubs buy 200 bicycles to distribute to children ranging from toddlers to ten year olds.

Ninety Tustin 3rd grade kids are surprised with new bicycles courtesy of a San Diego bike non-profit; if watching video of the event doesn’t put a smile on your face, something is seriously wrong. Thanks to Melissa Pamer for the heads-up.

Members of a Del Mar high school water polo team refurbished 21 bicycles for needy kids with the help of a local cycling club.

A Palm Springs charity gives over 400 bicycles to deserving 4th graders nominated by their teachers.

One hundred volunteers with the Simi Valley Rotary assemble 250 bicycles to give to low-income families.

Trusties at a Louisiana sheriff’s department spend all year refurbishing bicycles for the department’s Christmas giveaway; in 23 years, they’ve donated over 3,800 bikes to area children.

Kindhearted Tampa Bay cops help an eight-year old boy finish a seven-mile fundraising ride just three months after learning to ride a bike; the ride raised money to purchase of bicycles for at-risk and foster kids, to go along with 750 bikes donated by the local NHL team.

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Bicycling’s Bill Strickland comes up empty handed in life-long search for the legendary Eddy Merckx Alphabet, only to learn it doesn’t exist. So he sits down with Merckx and Peter Flax to write one.

A new movie follows an Alaskan woman as she competes against her own father and other cyclists on the Anchorage winter bike racing circuit.

A report says a new indoor velodrome could make Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley the epicenter of cycling in the United States.

The California state cyclocross championship will be held in Bakersfield this coming weekend.

CiclaValley proves you can hit the dirt riding ‘cross and still make the podium.

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Local

The driver wanted for causing the crash that killed a five-year old boy as he was sleeping in his own apartment has turned himself into police; investigators found the boy’s letter to Santa asking for a new bicycle in the debris after the crash.

Construction has officially started on the long-delayed MyFigueroa Complete Streets project.

Adopting a Vision Zero plan to end traffic deaths in Pasadena by 2027 would require a significant shift in funding priorities.

The LACBC talks with Walk Bike Glendale’s Steven Nancarrow about riding in Glendale and this Sunday’s Holiday Bike Ride.

 

State

A 30-year old Vista bike rider suffered severe head injuries in a collision with a motorist Monday morning; police report the victim was not wearing a helmet. However, there’s no word on how fast the driver was going or whether it might have made a difference.

More bad news from Central California, as a 34-year old man was killed when his bike was rear-ended by a suspected drunk and admittedly distracted driver who fled the scene; she was stopped nearby, and faces multiple felony counts including hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Once again, the failure to maintain surface streets proves costly in more ways than one, as Morgan Hill settles with a bike rider who was seriously injured after hitting a pothole.

Bay Area bike riders gather for a holiday lights tour in Alameda.

 

National

The Department of DIY strikes again, as Portland bicyclists use bales of hay to conduct their own road diet to show it would not significantly impact traffic.

A Portland man with special needs will get his stolen bike back after a six-year old spots it and leads police to the suspect.

A study from DePaul University shows that bicycles are usually the fastest way to travel between two points, and recommends adopting the Idaho Stop Law, including allowing cyclists to proceed through red lights after stopping when there’s no cross traffic.

A new 240-foot bike bridge connects two disparate parts of an Ohio town.

After getting a slap on the wrist for killing a Michigan bike rider, a convicted drunk driver is back in court asking for his license back so he get a job. Evidently, it’s not possible to walk or ride a bicycle to work in the Great Lake State, so everyone should just trust that he won’t do it again. Right?

New Jersey proposes adding questions about bike and pedestrian safety to the state’s driver’s license exam.

One of the runners-up for CNN’s hero of the year was Craig Dodson, a former professional cyclist who founded the Richmond Cycling Corps in Richmond VA, which uses bikes as a platform to help at-risk children.

An Orlando FL TV station highlights the risks of buying a bicycle in a box from Walmart or Target.

 

International

Cycling Weekly discusses 14 things that bicyclists can never seem to agree on.

In light of the rapidly oncoming holidays, Bike Biz offers a reminder of their remarkably in-depth, 20-part report on counterfeit bikes and parts, to help avoid finding some under your tree or menorah.

Toronto bike advocates are fighting a proposal to allow drivers with accessibility permits to temporarily stop in protected bike lanes if they’re loading or unloading someone with mobility issues.

A former member of Great Britain’s cycling team says bicycling appeals to obsessive-compulsive high achievers. Of course, it also appeals to people who just enjoy riding a bike, as well.

The Dutch Transport Minister proposes prohibiting bicyclists from using their smartphones while riding.

The Netherlands improves safety for cyclists by devoting road space to bicycles, while shifting motor vehicles to highways.

One in three bike riders in one Australian state admit to distracted riding and bicycling under the influence.

An Aussie writer gets it, saying if the sight of a bike rider makes you mad enough to affect your driving, you don’t belong on the road.

Another day, another drunk driving on a bike path, this time in Australia’s New South Wales.

A Malaysian bicyclist gets more than he bargained for when he stopped to take a selfie and discovered a body.

 

Finally…

Nothing like taking a flipping flip into the dip. Your next full-suspension mountain bike could have three front forks. Yes, three.

And if you’re going to break into a home to steal a gun and a bicycle, don’t leave tracks in the snow leading directly to you when you ride off.

Writing and maintaining this site is a full-time job. Your support, and that of our sponsors, enables us to keep bringing the freshest bike news to you every day, from LA and around the world.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Court rules police can’t search your belongings on traffic stops, ‘tis the season, and sex before racing

December 7, 2016 / / 2 comments
Welcome to Day 7 of the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today, and help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way every day. Give to the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today!

The California Supreme Court has just affirmed your right not to be searched by police in a simple traffic stop.

In a case involving a man on a bicycle, Torrance police stopped the man after he rolled through a stop sign, and found evidence of child pornography after searching his phone.

But the court ruled that police can’t conduct a search following a traffic stop unless there’s probable cause that an actual crime had been committed.

In other words, unless there’s reason to believe you just robbed a liquor store or whacked a road raging driver with your water bottle, police don’t have the right to search you, your bike or your belongings without your permission. And especially not to rifle through all the personal data stored on your phone.

Even if it means letting a bike-riding scumbag off the hook.

………

‘Tis the season.

The San Diego Chargers pick up the tab for 150 new bicycles for elementary school kids.

And a Florida TV station collects 863 bicycles for children as part of its annual Bikes or Bust event.

………

Eighty cyclists competed in Peru’s most extreme bike race, the three day, poetically named Challenge of the Condor through the country’s desert.

Thirteen men’s and four women’s teams competed in a ten day stage race to celebrate Ethiopia’s Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Day.

Then there’s the breathtaking world of artistic cycling, described as a cross between gymnastics and fixies.

And new studies conclude that there’s no evidence having sex the night before a race will negatively impact performance, and may actually help by relieving pain, especially for women cyclists. No, they aren’t looking for volunteers.

………

Local

Metro appears to have abandoned the Westside and South LA when it comes to new bikeshare locations.

Twenty bicyclists took part in the first Elysian Valley Slow Roll on the LA River bike path over the weekend to call for better safety and consideration for pedestrians on the shared use path.

Richard Risemberg calls on everyone fighting for better safety on North Figueroa to attend Thursday’s meeting with the LACBC’s Tamika Butler to discuss bicycling issues in Northeast LA. Although he seems to have forgotten that quite a few people have been working to keep North Fig from being forgotten.

A bike rider was uninjured when a suspected DUI driver struck the back wheel of his bicycle while fleeing from police in Van Nuys Tuesday night.

Bike SGV is hosting a free City Cycling Class this Saturday to help you learn the rules of the road and get more comfortable riding on city streets.

Hawthorne police will step up bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement on Thursday. You know the drill; for one day at least, ride to the letter of the law within the city limits to ensure you’re not the one ticketed.

A 41-year old transient pled guilty to riding his bicycle up to a AAA mechanic as he changed a car battery in Pico Rivera, stabbing him for no apparent reason, then calmly riding away.

Kylie Jenner may or may not actually be one of us, but that lowrider bike is seriously cool.

 

State

The San Diego Union-Tribune looks at the start of construction on a new segment of what will eventually be the city’s 24-mile Bayshore Bikeway.

Residents of San Diego’s City Heights complain that a planned bikeway is just a conduit to funnel riders through their neighborhood, and that parking spaces must be kept because no one would actually ride a bike to the market. Unlike the experience in, say, virtually every other city.

San Diego’s 2nd annual Recovery Ride will roll next month to benefit drug and alcohol recovery and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs.

A San Francisco writer asks if he was in the wrong to walk facing traffic on a Berkeley bike path. Short answer, yes; both cyclists and pedestrians should stay to the right in the direction they’re going, except to pass.

 

National

Your new winter bike gloves could have built-in turn signals.

Now that’s more like it. An Oregon man faces charges including felony assault, DUI and reckless endangerment for severely injuring a passing bike rider when he crashed into a power pole, knocking the lines down onto the woman.

A Portland university receives a five-year, $15 million grant to find ways cities can redesign their streets to make bicycle transportation more accessible and integrate bicycle transportation into a smart city framework.

After doubling in size last year, the Des Moines, Iowa bikeshare system is looking to double again.

The Chicago Reader says it’s time to stop blaming pedestrians and cyclists, and hold drivers accountable when they kill someone.

The New Orleans paper talks with the founder of the city’s bike co-op, whose goal is to make it possible for anyone who needs a bike to have one.

 

International

Bike Radar offers tips on winter riding. All of which actually apply here in LA, for a change.

A writer in the UK describes what it’s like to not remember who he is after suffering a traumatic brain injury when someone backed a van into his bicycle without looking.

British police stop 50 bicyclists riding without lights on one road in a single night.

Brit TV presenter Guy Martin will attempt to ride 4,802 miles around the British coast in just 20 days, an average of 240 miles a day.

A Welsh track cycling champ had her $7,600 Cervelo P3 stolen from her car after she left it there overnight.

Amsterdam is trying, so far without success, to ban beer bikes in the city center.

Bicycling Magazine talks with Shannon Galpin, who tells you how to fight the good fight based on her experience working for women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Sydney, Australia bicyclists will get a new ramp leading up to the Harbour Bridge in four years, replacing the 55 steps they currently have to trudge up with their bikes.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can enjoy all the fun of the hour record on your ride to work. No, they’re not actually cycling across the sea unless the pedals somehow power the boat.

And no, valet parking a bicycle is not the most LA thing ever.

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A special thanks to Mike Wilkinson for his generous contribution to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. Your contributions will help fund this site for the next year.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: LA bike path meeting Saturday, bike licensing is a bad idea, and ‘tis the season for giving bikes

December 5, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: LA bike path meeting Saturday, bike licensing is a bad idea, and ‘tis the season for giving bikes

If you ride the LA River bike path, make plans to be at a meeting to discuss safety on the popular shared-use pathway this Saturday.

la-river-meeting

There have been calls ban bikes or force riders to dismount from the pathway in Elysian Valley after a woman was critically injured in a collision with a bicyclist. Although it should be noted that the rider did remain at the scene and try to help.

The people opposed to bicycles will undoubtedly be out in force, so it’s vital that the other side be heard, as well.

Meanwhile, there will be meetings tomorrow and the following Tuesday to discuss extending the pathway into the San Fernando Valley.

Welcome to Day 7 of the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today, and help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

It’s Week Two of the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today, and keep Southern California’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

………

Returning to the bike licensing discussion we had last week, a Canadian website says licensing bikes is just a bad idea.

The article correctly points out that the purpose of licensing, whether it’s drivers or businesses, is to regulate them, not raise revenue — despite licensing proponents claims that bike riders need to pay for the lanes we use.

It also makes the point that the cost of licensing bikes, and/or riders, would outweigh any revenue it might raise.

And that it takes 810,000 people riding bicycles to do as much damage to the streets as one person driving an SUV.

So maybe it’s not the bicycles that should be regulated off the roads.

………

That image of Shaq and Amanda Sykes on a tandem bike that circulated last week came from an American Express small business ad, filmed in part at a Berkeley bike shop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMqP16nJTj4

……….

‘Tis the season of giving.

Dublin CA high school students partner with the local Rotary Club to build bicycles for needy children.

The Lodi Rotary Club donates 100 bicycles for underprivileged children.

A Chattanooga church is hosting a 36-hour holiday bike drive to get bikes for economically disadvantaged children.

Volunteers in Tampa FL build nearly 800 bicycles to donate to underprivileged kids.

………

Pro cycling’s top level WorldTour is headed back to China, courtesy of the world’s richest man. Although some people are complaining that it’s not clear what the WorldTour is anymore.

And yes, even para-cyclists dope.

But no, really, the doping era is over, right?

………

Local

A community meeting will be held this Thursday to discuss the proposed Rail-to-River shared pathway, as a route through Huntington Park and Bell emerges as the favorite.

LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler will host a meeting to discuss bike advocacy in Northeast LA on Thursday, including the status of the long-delayed road diet and bike lanes on North Figueroa.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton calls out NIMBYs for opposing reduced parking requirements for granny flats, including replacing car parking with bike parking.

A bicyclist in his 20s was critically injured in a collision with a motorcyclist near the entrance to Granada Park in Alhambra Saturday afternoon.

The Canyon News looks at this past weekend’s Electric Bike Expo in Santa Monica.

 

State

The keyboardist for the band Faith No More has written a new opera about the annual San Francisco to Los Angeles AIDS ride.

San Diego begins work on a 2.25-mile stretch of what will eventually be a 24-mile loop around the San Diego Bay.

Sad news from Cayucos, as a 47-year old San Luis Obispo man was killed when a driver crossed double yellow lines to pass another vehicle, and hit his bicycle head-on; oddly, no arrest has been made despite the illegal pass.

San Franciscans are divided on plan to remove a traffic lane on two streets in the city’s panhandle to install protected bike lanes.

Police are looking for the driver who ran down a San Francisco cyclist and left her lying in the street last week; fortunately, she’s recovering from her injuries.

 

National

A long read from the former science editor for National Geographic says mountain bikers are saving the world by mapping it.

The Bureau of Land Management is looking for whoever dismantled a Colorado mountain bike trail less than two hours after it was repaired.

A New Mexico man calls his own actions reckless and irresponsible as he’s sentenced to four and a half years for killing a cyclist while driving at three times the legal alcohol limit.

The rich get richer. Missouri officials open a new 47.5-mile link in the 238-mile Katy Trail crossing the state; meanwhile, a 74-year old woman rides the full length of the trail on her $89 Walmart bike.

Famed law professor Alan Dershowitz calls on New York bike riders to stop at red lights after ten close calls while crossing the street. Meanwhile, the invariably hysterical New York Post posits a citywide conspiracy to jam up traffic and force people to leave their cars at home and take bikes or transit.

It takes a world class jerk to pretend to call the police after hitting a teenage North Carolina bike rider.

Retired boxing champ Floyd Mayweather is one of us, riding his fat bike around Miami with his friends.

After a Florida bicyclist breaks his leg in a collision with a car, he asks the driver to take him to the hospital to avoid paying for an ambulance ride.

A Florida woman gets seven years in the DUI death of a teenage bike rider.

 

International

A Calgary columnist complains that a network of downtown cycle tracks is about to be approved by the city council even though only a small majority of drivers like them. And makes it very clear that the opinion of anyone who doesn’t drive doesn’t matter.

A London bike advocacy group is crowdfunding a campaign to fight the damage done by taxi drivers, anti-bike groups and NIMBYs.

London’s Telegraph blames bike riders and people on cell phones for turning the country’s canal towpaths into crowded collision zones.

In a dramatic move to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, London plans to ban vehicular traffic from a dangerous junction during daylight hours.

Bike theft isn’t just an American problem; nearly 82,000 bicycles were stolen in England and Wales over a 12-month period.

Great Britain is getting tough on traffic crimes; dangerous drivers who kill could now face up to life in prison.

This is why people continue to die on the streets. A Brit man has been convicted of drunk driving ten times, along with 61 — yes, you read that right — convictions for driving with a suspended license. And keeps driving anyway, despite being jailed four times this year alone.

Evidently, some bike thieves actually have a heart. Thieves returned a mountain bike they’d stolen from a Northern Irish boy just before the anniversary of his father’s death, following an appeal from the boy’s mother; the bike was his father’s last gift to him before his sudden death.

A Dutch study shows it’s five times more efficient to evacuate a city by bicycle than by motor vehicle. Something that will be worth remembering when it’s time to flee Los Angeles. And it will be, sooner or later.

A new Spanish study says even a five-foot passing distance is not enough, depending on the vehicle type and speed.

A “speeding” Aussie cyclist gets all the blame for running over and killing a small dog, even though the owner admits letting her dog stray onto the wrong side of a pathway next to a blind curve. You should always ride carefully around any living thing, especially kids and animals, who can be impulsive and unpredictable. But the people responsible for those kids and dogs need to be exactly that, as well.

The parable of the Good Samaritan comes to life when a Singaporean bike rider falls hard after his chain breaks; the locals leave him lying injured in the street, while it takes a group of migrant construction workers come to his aid.

 

Finally…

Yes, you may be a big important government official, but you can’t ride your bike anymore. Organizing a bike race is more fun when you don’t end up in jail.

And yes, you can carry a refrigerator on your bicycle.

………

BikinginLA exists because of the generosity of people like you. So if you haven’t already, please take a moment to contribute to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive to help keep it coming your way every day.

And a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has given to help support this site.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bike Access, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Still more new bikes for good girls and boys, and real Long Beach UPS workers deliver by bike

December 23, 2015 / / 2 comments

‘Tis the season.

Forty-five Clovis CA kids get bikes refurbished by local prison inmates.

Middletown CA’s Bike Angel has given 980 bikes to victims of September’s Valley fire, with another 600 to go.

A former pro football player teams with his brother to give bikes to deserving children in the Houston neighborhood where he grew up.

Texas police team up with Santa Clause to deliver 20 bikes to children in foster care.

PA law enforcement personnel pitch in to buy an adaptive bike for a disabled child.

Meanwhile, cycling Brit Santas ride to demand funding for safe bikeways.

………

Local

No, those weren’t fake UPS workers stealing packages in Long Beach, they were actually making their deliveries by bicycle. But despite what the story says, it’s not only in Long Beach.

A Glendale letter writer says there’s a safer alternative route for bicyclists to bypass the Mariposa bridge, where riders are now required to walk their bikes across. Although walking across a dirt horse and pedestrian bridge seems pretty damn safe to me.

Santa Monica police bust a one-man crime wave in the process of stealing some bikes.

 

State

This is why you let the police handle it. A pair of San Diego men were stabbed in the back when they tried to recover a bicycle after it was stolen from the brother of one of the men.

Bizarrely, that wasn’t the only bike stabbing in San Diego, as a 45-year old rider was stabbed several times after colliding with a pedestrian.

The threat of bicycle theft is one of the biggest deterrents to bike riding, in Salinas or anywhere else; a new study from a Canadian university shows half of all riders have had a bike stolen, while one in five have lost at least three. One solution may be micro tagging. A better solution is increasing the penalty for bike theft to make it worth prosecuting.

A Brazilian tourist hit by an out-of-control San Francisco tour bus is making a full recovery, though he’s going to have a nasty scar on his head.

Sacramento is planning a 4.5 mile rail-to-trail conversion on an unused railroad corridor.

 

National

A transportation researcher says bicycles can be a huge part of fighting climate change. But it will only work if more people feel safe riding them.

Honolulu businesses blame a parking protected bike lane for a drop in business.

For once, the punishment fits the crime. A homeless Portland man who bragged of being the king of bike thieves has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison, and will need permission and a receipt to possess a bicycle after his release.

A Montana town is planning to develop a bike camp to host bike tourists.

A Savannah GA writer says a proposal to ban bikes in a park will force riders onto dangerous streets, and waste already scarce police resources enforcing it.

A Florida man faces charges a year and a half after a fatal, drunken hit-and-run, after his ex-girlfriend recants a claim that she was behind the wheel.

 

International

London’s Boris Bikes will be fitted with a Blaze laser light that projects the image of a bicycle on the roadway 16 feet ahead of the rider.

A UK site offers 10 questions every cyclist must answer. Which actually apply only to the subset of roadies who want to go really fast, like I used to.

The 2017 Tour de France will kick off in Dusseldorf.

New graphene-infused tires from Italy’s Vittoria will harden while riding straight, and soften when accelerating, braking or turning for better traction and control. No wonder the inventors won the Nobel Prize.

The Guardian says the new one-meter passing law in an Aussie state will be met with anger even while it saves lives. Meanwhile, one group says the state’s new requirement to carry ID while riding will make it an international laughing stock.

A New Zealand paper says it’s too early to criticize a new cycletrack when the lanes haven’t even been painted yet.

Singapore gets its first on-road bike lanes, but only on a resort island.

 

Finally…

No retirement plan? Try operating a London pedicab, where one rider tried to charge $894 for a half-hour ride. If you really want to lose weight, get off your bike and start dancing.

And is it really that impressive when Harrison Ford mounts a mountain bike atop his Mercedes?

………

It’s the last two days of the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. Thanks to George Wolfberg, Ralph Durham, Vanessa Gray, and Lois Rubin for their generous support.

Who could turn down a face like that?

Evidently, Santa’s reindeer are getting shorter this year. But seriously, who could turn down a face like that?

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Weekend Links: LA Times gives LADOT a data-driven push, ‘Tis the season and a fat bike for the zombie apocalypse

December 19, 2015 / / 2 comments

Maybe what LA needs is a good push.

Which is exactly what the LA Times gave it Friday, with a deep dive into the world of bicycle collisions using the CHP’s SWITRS data to identify the ten most dangerous streets for bicycling.

Not surprisingly, Figueroa, which has been in the news far too much lately, makes the list, coming in third, behind only Venice and Vermont, which led the way with 230 bicycling collisions over the past five years.

Others included Western and Sunset, along with the parallel east/west boulevards of Pico and Olympic.

Surprising, Van Nuys is the only street in the San Fernando Valley to make the list, followed by Downtown’s Main Street and Wilshire Blvd.

Going back to Vermont, the paper found that when drivers were found at fault, it was mostly for failing to yield, speeding and improper turns, while riding salmon was the main reason cyclists were blamed for collisions.

And they suggest that separating bikes from cars with protected bike lanes, or at the very least, painted lanes, is a good start if the city’s Vision Zero is going to succeed.

Let’s hope LADOT is listening.

Not to mention the mayor and the city council.

………

‘Tis the season.

A Redding group teams with Coke to give 60 bikes to foster kids, as well as recently adopted kids.

An Ohio group donates 246 bicycles through the Toys for Tots program.

When a Pittsburgh PA man wanted to give away a few bikes in honor of his daughter and grandchildren, he went on Facebook asking people to nominate six deserving kids. Instead, contributions poured in to buy more bikes; he’ll now be donating at least 35 bikes to needy kids.

Rhode Island police dip into their own pockets to buy a bike for a young girl after hers is stolen.

A North Carolina group donates three truckloads of bikes to less fortunate kids. Although the local TV station seems to think it was news from the future.

………

Don't make her beg. Support the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

Don’t make her beg. You only have six more days to support the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

………

Local

Voting on where Metro’s new bikeshare stations should be located in DTLA ends at the end of the month.

A UCLA public health website says the new Wilshire Blvd bus-only lanes should be called a bus, bike and a**hole lane due to a lack of enforcement against aggressive drivers who use it illegally.

A new video discusses what the future of LA streets could be, including drone footage of the recent CicLAvia in Downtown LA.

A Santa Monica letter writer suggests making Arizona Avenue a greenway like the new Michigan Ave greenway.

As we mentioned yesterday, Redondo Beach’s Harbor Drive separated bikeway made People for Bike’s list of the nation’s top 10 new bike lanes.

A bystander’s video suggests sheriff’s deputies may have killed a Long Beach bike rider after one of them accidently shot his own partner.

 

State

The Voice of San Diego looks at what stands in the way of a proposed international bike lane across the border with Mexico. Besides Donald Trump, that is.

The San Jose paper examines at what went wrong with a planned bike & pedestrian bridge in Palo Alto.

 

National

Honolulu attempts to finance a bikeshare program by asking donors to adopt a bike for $1,000.

Nebraska’s Supreme Court bizarrely rules that a railroad may have been at fault for a boy’s death after he rode his bike around the crossing guards; his mother’s lawyer argued that the first train was too loud for him to hear the second train that killed him, while blocking it from view.

Cincinnati considers a 42-mile bikeway circling the city, though a business writer questions whether supporters will actually see it built in their lifetimes.

Streetsblog remembers the man who saved New York cycling by fighting a 1980s Midtown bike ban.

Bikes really do mean business. September’s world championships in Richmond VA brought in $89 million in direct spending, with a total economic reach of $170 million.

Raleigh NC installs bike lanes and sharrows around the town; naturally, drivers are confused and say cars should come first because there’s more of them. By that argument, people should always come before cars.

A Florida man is shot in the legs when he refused to let go of his bike when four men tried to jack it. Rule number one: Never forget your life is worth more than your bike.

 

International

A Canadian bike shop is refurbishing donated bikes to give to Syrian refugees when they arrive.

Police are looking for a road raging Brit cyclist who reached into a car and rode off with the driver’s keys. Something I have been tempted to do many times, wrong though it may be.

The owners of the Tour de France reject proposed reforms for pro cycling, and have pulled the race from UCI’s new WorldTour calendar for 2017.

Muslim cyclists in Australia will ride for peace on the one year anniversary of Sidney’s Lindt Café attack.

 

Finally…

Who needs GPS when your bike seat can tell you where to go. Charlie Brown had a kite eating tree, but at least it didn’t eat bicycles. Or anchors.

And just what every Angeleno needs for LA traffic or the zombie apocalypse — a camo fat bike with a gun rack in the back.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: New VR bike lets you pretend to pedal a pony; SoCal group named America’s Best New Bike Club

December 17, 2015 / / One comment

It’s said that nothing kills a bad product like good advertising.

But the question is, what effect does excruciatingly bad advertising have on a new product? Like this virtual reality stationary bike that lets you pretend you’re pedaling a race car. Or a pony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KpE5O6Q6ss

Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up; my apologies to Mike for misspelling his name earlier.

………

Congratulations to SoCal juniors and adult bike club GS Andiamo, which was named the country’s Best New Bike Club of the Year by USA Cycling. Thanks to David Huntsman for the news.

………

‘Tis the season.

San Diego school police give bikes, helmets and locks to 29 elementary students, while 143 needy kids get bikes at a National City school.

San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies will give bikes refurbished by honor farm inmates to kids in need for the 26th year; last year they donated 175 bikes and helmets.

Four Oklahoma and Missouri area businesses band together to donate 200 bikes to kids in need.

A Tampa bike giveaway goes on despite the death of the program’s founder; 515 kids will get new bikes this year.

………

Help keep LA's best source for bike news and advocacy coming to you every morning.

Support BikinginLA. Because the next step is performing as a spandex-clad bicycling superhero on Hollywood Blvd. And no one wants to see that.

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says the death of a 17-year old pedestrian on Wednesday shows the need for safety improvements on North Figueroa.

Work is underway to widen Agoura Road in Agoura Hills, including sidewalks and bike lanes.

 

State

San Francisco’s take on an Idaho Stop law barely passes, but without the votes to overcome the mayor’s threatened veto.

Sad news from Sacramento, as a lightless bike rider was killed shortly after dark on Tuesday. Always carry lights with you this time of year, even if you don’t expect to be out after dark; even a slight delay or a flat can mean riding home later than planned.

The Sacramento Bee takes a look at bikepacking in the backcountry.

Davis cyclists will present new bikes to two teenage racers who were deliberately run down by a crazed driver in a stolen car last summer.

A Davis bike thief is busted with meth, two loaded guns and a large quantity of stolen mail, along with five high-end stolen bikes. There’s got to be a punchline in there somewhere.

 

National

A new medical study offers advice for parents of children with ADHD, who are more likely to have collisions and close calls when riding their bikes across the street.

Apparently, there’s a reason bicyclists don’t seem to get sick as often as other people.

Bicycling offers advice on how to stay safer on every ride, and honors a woman who broke sex and racial barriers by taking to two wheels in the 1890s.

Evidently, if you want to stop bike theft in Portland, it takes an intern.

After tackling the man who just stole his bike, a Texas rider talks it out and lets him go with a fist bump instead of calling police.

The Missouri mayor charged with deliberately ramming a cyclist before fleeing the scene insists the rider blew a stop and swore at him before grabbing the car and falling down on his own.

DC vows to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.

 

International

A London man faces charges for stabbing three people in the back as he rode by them in a series of separate incidents.

Bad enough we have to deal with drunk drivers. A Welsh cyclist was seriously injured when a drunk woman kicked his bike as he rode past her.

A UK website asks if your bike could be a fake.

A British man is about to complete a 12,000 mile ride from Australia to the UK to raise money for a children’s hospice.

A Facebook post tells the story of an Indian man who spent four months riding through eight countries to be reunited with his Swedish wife in the 1970s, only to learn he had married into the royal family. True or not, it’s a nice enough story to wish it is.

The seven best places to ride a bike the next time you’re in the United Arab Emirates.

Australia tries out a glow-in-the-dark bike path, which is expected to replace electric lights with over eight hours of illumination.

Representatives of a Thai airline ride through the country in matching yellow jerseys. “We all ride in a yellow peloton, a yellow peloton, a yellow peloton…”

 

Finally…

A cherubic-looking bicycle-riding car thief is busted for the 20th time, which is an impressive rap sheet for a 12-year old. When you’re running away from home, making your escape by riding your bike on a busy freeway probably isn’t the best choice.

And caught on video: Sometimes the debris in the road is just trash, sometimes it’s an alligator.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Still more big hearts for the holiday season, and driverless cars won’t solve LA’s traffic problems

December 14, 2015 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Still more big hearts for the holiday season, and driverless cars won’t solve LA’s traffic problems

Don’t forget to tell us what it’s like to ride your bike, wherever you ride, for our new Describe Your Ride feature — good, bad, or anything in between.

It can be anything from a few sentences to a detailed description, a rant, a rave, a bike cam view or your latest bike-related music video, here in LA or anywhere else. Just send it to the email address on the About BikinginLA page.

………

‘Tis the season.

A Yucaipa teen with Cerebral Palsy will receive a special adaptive bike to give him more independence.

Over two dozen bike riders take part in a combination scavenger hunt and alley cat race to gather contributions to a Santa Barbara food bank.

A group of Sacramento businesses and charities give 4,000 bikes, along with 4,000 toys and helmets to needy children.

An Ohio bike shop owner is still collecting donations to give bikes to kids despite being burglarized twice this year; last year he gave away nearly 900 bicycles.

UK community members pitch in to buy a specialized bike for a four-year old girl who can’t walk or speak, raising the equivalent of over $15,000.

………

Help keep the Corgi in kibble this holiday season.

Every time you give to BikinginLA, an angel gets its wings.

………

Local

An Aljazeera OpEd says driverless cars won’t save Los Angeles, and they’re no substitute for bikeable, walkable streets.

Richard Risemberg says Santa Monica is batting a thousand when it comes to bikes and mobility.

Any Redondo Beach bike rental shop that has a Corgi — not Corgy, thank you — can’t be all bad.

 

State

Civic leaders are working to improve safety for bike riders in Orange County, where an average of four riders were injured or killed every day in 2012.

San Diego service members remember an Army vet who was killed in Texas last month, while on a cross country ride to call attention to the plight of homeless veterans.

Coronado holds Safe Routes to School workshops to make biking and walking safer. Maybe it wouldn’t be the state’s deadliest city of its size for cyclists if the residents weren’t so hysterical about banning bike lanes.

San Franciscans are in a heated debate over the proposed Idaho stop law, with the city council still two votes short of a veto-proof majority.

 

National

The first legally blind musher to compete in the Iditarod gives up her dream of competing as a tandem cyclist in next years Paralympics to become a mom.

In a truly bizarre tragedy, a Minnesota bike rider is killed in a collision with a train, at the same station where he had survived a similar collision just four months earlier.

Columbus, Ohio drivers and cyclists are confused by the city’s first protected bike lane. Actually, the description does actually sound pretty confusing.

Former Victoria’s Secret and current L’Oreal Paris model Karlie Kloss is one of us, as she rides a Citi Bike through the streets of New York.

A Baltimore to DC train finally gets bike cars, but only on weekends.

 

International

Advice for riding at night this winter.

Business are being asked to support the expansion of a London cycle track in the face of heavy opposition from taxi drivers.

Malta is accused of having an institutional bias against bicyclists.

Controversial Russian cycling team owner Oleg Tinkoff vows to leave the sport after next year’s racing season; a Canadian site says the man who compared Obama to a monkey won’t be missed at all.

Bangladeshi women are turning to bicycles and motorbikes to escape harassment on public transit.

Dubai continues to get safer for cyclists, adding the equivalent of 35 miles of residential-area cycle tracks to the city’s existing 110 miles of bike lanes.

A 14-year old Australian girl is planning to ride over 600 miles on a tandem to raise funds for a charity camp.

A New Zealand cyclist sets a new record for riding around the world in just 125 days, although he’s disappointed it only raised the equivalent of just over $2500 for charity.

Kiwi mountain bikers vow to ignore attempts to close illegal bike trails.

Five hundred Filipinos ride for cleaner air and call more action to help sustain the environment.

Caught on video: Twenty passers-by save the life of a Beijing bicyclist by teaming up to lift a car off her. Warning: Even knowing the positive outcome, the first part of this video is very hard to watch.

 

Finally…

Why bother checking the statutes when you can just ask Twitter whether sidewalk cyclists should be fined. An e-car driver wants permission to politely honk to tell bike riders to get the hell out of his way.

And chances are, you’ll never win the Nobel Peace Prize, but your bike might.

Maybe we can all spit the $1.5 million award.

………

Thanks to Wesley Reutimann for contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive on behalf of BikeSGV.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,
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