Don’t hold your breath if you’re waiting for completion of the Trousdale Gap in the Expo bike path through Cheviot Hills; Metro reports construction isn’t due to be finished until 2021.
A lengthy gap was left in the path due to threatened lawsuits from wealthy homeowners in the area, who were convinced bike riding thieves would use the pathway to ride off with their silverware and flatscreen TVs. Metro concluded it was easier to avoid dealing with them and the engineering issues, and just skip that section.
Now it will take much longer to close the gap, and at a significantly higher cost.
Thanks to Henry Fung for the link.
Correction: I mistakenly wrote the path would be finished in 2017, rather that the actual 2021. My apologies for the mistake.
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The heirs to the Griffith in Griffith Park say not so fast to the city’s closure of the closest hiking trail to the Hollywood sign, joining in a lawsuit to keep the trail open.
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California’s proposed Idaho Stop Law is currently awaiting a vote in the Assembly Transportation Committee, where it faces opposition from law enforcement and automobile groups.
The bill’s author says the current widespread civil disobedience demonstrated by riders blowing stop signs is an indication the law either needs to be changed or enforcement needs to be stepped up.
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The LA Weekly chimed in about Joe Bray-Ali Monday, describing what they termed his campaign’s strange downfall, and saying his Facebook mea culpa was more of a public meltdown.
Meanwhile, a blogger reports overhearing Cedillo campaign staffers at the next table discussing campaign tactics awhile back, and concluding they needed to attack Bray-Ali, since Cedillo was too unlikeable and had too many negatives. Which they have clearly done.
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The Dana Point Times provides photos from Sunday’s Dana Point Grand Prix, along with a complete list of winners.
The Redlands Daily Facts offers a preview of this week’s 33rd annual Redlands Bicycle Classic.
Chad Young, the 21-year old cyclist killed during a descent in New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila was studying mechanical engineering at a Colorado college.
A new competition for the best descender in the Giro d’Italia is met with criticism from the pro ranks for needlessly increasing risk in the race that starts on Friday, particularly in light of Young’s death.
The Amgen Tour of California will bring world class athletes to Southern California; a writer for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune calls it a big money maker for the region.
A rider for Team Sky gets a six week ban for racist language directed at a French cyclist during a race last week.
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Local
The LACBC urges the city to save lives by investing in Vision Zero, calling traffic violence the greatest health problem facing children in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the city will host a Vision Zero open house in Southeast LA tonight.
Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman looks at USC’s plans to boot a popular bike mechanic from campus, after offering to move him to an isolated spot with no street access.
A Reddit user reports having a pair of bicycles stolen from a Burbank balcony. Another reminder that your bike isn’t safe just because it’s above ground or in a garage; they need to be securely locked to something solid, even if they’re out of view.
A member of the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition calls on the city to adopt a more ambitious Pedestrian and Bicycle Mobility Plan. And actually implement it this time.
Santa Monica’s GoSaMo campaign is reportedly a success as it moves into a second year of encouraging residents to travel by bus, train, bike or on foot.
The SCV News digs into their bag of clichés to say safety is a two-way street for bicyclists and motorists during Bicycle Safety Month. Then illustrates the story with a motorcycle, of course.
State
Proposed new rules for California’s medical marijuana industry bizarrely ban bicycle deliveries, requiring all transportation or marijuana to be done by motor vehicles with a human driver.
Five bicycles worth a total of $30,000 were stolen from a Costa Mesa bike shop during a burglary.
Laguna Beach hosts Orange County’s largest Bike Rodeo and Safety Expo to help keep bike riders safe; the city credits their safety efforts for the lack of bicycle fatalities last year.
Two dozen riders left Santa Barbara on Sunday for the four-day Ride On for Red Nose Day ride to Las Vegas; as of this writing, it had raised over $79,000 to help end child poverty.
A kindhearted San Luis Obispo physician bought 82 bikes from the annual Cal Poly bicycle auction, and donates them to the sheriff’s department to refurbish and give to local kids for the holidays.
The San Francisco Weekly says the city’s Vision Zero failed this weekend, as two pedestrians and a man on a bicycle were killed in collisions.
Despite the weekend’s setback, San Francisco is moving forward with Vision Zero, voting on plans to install a two-block protected bike lane on Market Street tomorrow. Meanwhile, bike safety advocates form a human chain next to one bike lane to call attention to the need for protected lanes.
National
People for Bikes issued their annual report.
Surprisingly, the new stop gap budget agreement reached in Congress retains funding for the popular TIGER grants, as well as increasing funding for the National Park Service.
A Las Vegas bike shop owner is planning a 1,400-mile ride around the state to kickoff his run — or maybe ride — for the GOP nomination for governor.
Ohio bike riders can go through red lights that don’t function; drivers, not so fast.
A Buffalo NY writer tackles his first double century.
A group of Pennsylvania kids go viral after riding their bikes near Trump’s big weekend rally with a handwritten sign reading “Fuck Trump.”
International
A Canadian bike group says mandating bicycle helmets would do more harm then good.
A British bike rider suffered a broken nose and two black eyes when he was pushed off his bike by the passenger of a passing car.
I want to be like him when I grow up. An 81-year old man teamed with a ten-year old boy for a 110-mile ride through Wales to raise funds for a hospice.
A British study confirms what we already knew, saying the courts fail bicyclists when it comes to prosecuting dangerous drivers, who are likely to be allowed to stay on the roads to do it again to someone else.
A renowned Swiss climber was killed in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest; in 2015, he ascended all 82 peaks over 13,100 feet in 62 days, travelling by foot, bike and paraglider.
A man from Nepal stopped in Qatar on his around the world bike tour, the 55th country he’s visited despite losing a leg to polio as a child.
Finally…
Apparently, dangerous drivers don’t respect cops on bikes, either. Nothing like a hopefully gentle push from behind when you get tired.
And don’t piss off your girlfriend, or she might give away your bike.
