More on the suspension of 2019 junior road race world champion Quinn Simmons from the Trek-Segafredo team for posting “antagonistic comments” supporting Donald Trump.
Quinn later apologized for using a dark skinned emoji that many people interpreted as racist coming from a white cyclist, leading to a return of the #Boycotttrek hashtag originally created to protest Trek’s sale of police bikes.
Trek-Segafredo stressed that he was not suspended for his political beliefs, but for “engaging in conversation on Twitter…unbefitting a Trek athlete.”
Fox News called it a “seemingly benign social media tiff.”
As much as I disagree with Simmons politics — and his beard — I have to agree.
Go ahead and criticize him or unfollow him. But don’t cost him his career.
And remember he’s just a 19-year old kid.
Photo from Trek-Segafredo website.
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The police chief in Vallejo CA has fired a cop who shot and killed two Black men within a year, including a man who ultimately died because he didn’t have a light on his bike.
The city settled a civil rights case filed by the victim’s family for $5.7 million.
The fired cop was also one of a group of officers who killed an aspiring rapper who fell asleep in his car in a Taco Bell parking lot with a gun in his lap.
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Red Bull tells the story of Orange County’s Anthony Lopez, who lost over 300 pounds through his love of mountain biking.
Another reminder, if anyone needs it, that bicycling can be literally life changing.
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Apparently, when you’re rich, $2 million bail for killing two kids while — allegedly — drunk and street racing is no big deal.
RELEASED ON BAIL: Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Center, posted $2 million bail and was released just after midnight, following her arrest in a DUI crash that killed 2 young brothers in Westlake Village. https://t.co/DGoW0w8kxJ pic.twitter.com/XB1jLyoVkD
— KCAL News (@kcalnews) October 1, 2020
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You could be breaking your bike and not even know it.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
When a bike-riding woman stopped to take a video of the driver illegally following behind her in a bike lane, the road raging jerk swerved around her and spit a huge phlegm ball at her, striking her and her handlebars. That would incredibly rude and obnoxious behavior anytime. But in the Age of Covid-19, it’s potentially deadly — and should be prosecuted as such.
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Local
Reseda Blvd is getting a three-mile Complete Street makeover, including curb-protected bike lanes, to improve safety on the deadly street. Back in 2009, I helped expose a secret plan to remove the bike lanes on Reseda and replace them with peak hour lanes to funnel even more cars through the street, forcing the city to back down and deny they were planning to do it. And you’re welcome.
Long Beach is giving North Market Street a $10 million Complete Streets makeover.
Former LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler tells 300 members of the bicycle industry that “just shut up and bike” is not the answer to racial inequity; in just a few years, Butler has risen from the LA bike nonprofit to become one of the country’s leading voices on racial justice and transportation.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department has received a $2 million grant to reduce traffic deaths and injuries, including traffic rights eduction for bicyclists and pedestrians.
State
The CHP has received another round of grants to enforce bike and pedestrian safety and conduct eduction campaigns.
This is the cost of traffic violence. It turns out the 77-year old woman killed by a driver while riding her bike north of Davis was a chemistry professor emeritus at UC Davis, who certainly deserved better. Few things piss me off more than the CHP’s knee-jerk reaction to blame the victim in a bike crash, when the only surviving witness is apparently the person who killed her.
Contra Costa County is now offering rebates of $150 on the purchase of an ebike, or $300 for low income residents. Which should be available everywhere, since it’s one of the best ways to get people out of their cars, while staying safe during the coronavirus crisis.
National
If you thought the streets were more dangerous during the coronavirus lockdown, you’re right. Road deaths reached a 16-year high, despite the lighter traffic.
Men’s Journal recommends the best bike packs for your next bikepacking trip.
Still no sign of the Colorado woman who reportedly never returned after a Mother’s Day bike ride; her brother believes she never got on her bike that day at all.
Nice. A donation from a nonprofit profit group has allowed Cincinnati to install 1,000 bike racks and five DIY repair stations to encourage bike riding in the city.
Police in Ohio were able to recover a $3,500 adaptive handcycle stolen from a man suffering from spina bifida, who calls it his lifeline; they arrested a 23-year old man for the theft, saying the “arrest also led to other discoveries,” whatever that means.
An outdoor columnist describes what he calls a life-changing bikepacking trip along New York’s Mohawk River.
A New York op-ed says the post-Covid city needs bike lanes and e-mobility.
International
It takes a real schmuck to stomp a ghost bike installed for a British Columbia handcycle rider who was killed by a semi driver last year; his widow compared the vandalism to grave robbing.
A Calgary transit officer used Bike Index to return an abandoned bike to its owner just 12 hours after it was stolen. Just one more reminder to register your bike for free today now. Before someone takes it.
Police in Manitoba returned a stolen bike to its owner after busting a man for an outstanding warrant and several baggies of meth; a check revealed the bike he was riding had been stolen two years earlier. Hint: See item above.
The BBC examines how the coronavirus crisis sparked a bicycling revolution in Europe, including a 20 million euro investment in Parisian bikeways, and 26 miles of new bike lanes on the busiest roads in Brussels.
Police in Paris are responding to the huge increase in bike riding by cracking down on bicycling violations.
Thirty years after reunification, the formerly militarized border between East and West Germany has become a bikeable green oasis.
Japanese wrestling star Cima is one of us, recovering from serious injuries after he was struck by a driver while riding his bike.
This is why people continue to die on the streets. A New Zealand man was out on bail, despite six previous DUI convictions, when he killed a bike rider while high on meth, and nearly killed the victim’s daughter as they were riding together.
Competitive Cycling
The new Pro Cyclist Foundation has been founded to support riders on the pro tour. As usual, read it on Yahoo if you’re block by Bicycling.
Ten-time world road champ Chloe Dygert is on her way back home to Indiana to rehab a nasty leg wound after being released from the hospital following a horrific crash at this year’s worlds.
Pez Cycling News considers why the pros crash so much.
Finally…
Avid cyclist by day, award-winning wine maker by…uh, the rest of the day. Nothing like a deer in the roadway to teach you how to fly.
And that pretty well sums it up, alright.
NHTSA declares October 'National Pedestrian Safety Month' will continue to do fuck-all about pedestrian safety https://t.co/tduyPxi7fV pic.twitter.com/L9nHLLdykh
— Jalopnik (@Jalopnik) October 1, 2020
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
