Tag Archive for trucks

Multiple drivers accused of intentionally running down bike riders; Congress looks at why bigass vehicles are killing us

Just 196 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025..

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Happy Juneteenth! 

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence. Even though the situation is getting better, I’m still ending my days exhausted after caring for my wife and the corgi, while still dealing with my own injuries.

And Tuesday night it just got the better of me. 

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Apparently, they really are out to get us.

Video captured a truck driver appearing to intentionally run down pair of Texas bicyclists from behind, before fleeing the scene, running over one of the bikes — and possibly one of the victims — in the process. Thankfully, a still photo shows the driver being led away in handcuffs by police.

Thanks to TacoTheCat for the heads-up.

Meanwhile, a bike rider in Hamilton, Ontario is urging police to charge a road-raging driver who appeared to intentionally crash into him, breaking his pelvis; the driver conducted a punishment pass with his pickup and trailer, after approaching from behind honking and swearing — then swerved his trailer into the victim, knocking him off his bike. He later found video the driver allegedly posted online showing him following and swearing at other riders.

And police in the UK are looking for a driver who filmed himself deliberately running down an ebike rider before fleeing the scene, leaving the victim with serious, but not life threatening injuries.

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About damn time.

Streetsblog is reporting that the Government Accountability Office, aka the investigative arm of Congress, has launched exactly that into the question of why today’s massive motor vehicles kill so many bicyclists and pedestrians.

Hey, it’s Congress. Nothing is obvious to them these days.

The ever-growing stain our national reputation is partially attributable to our ever-growing cars, trucks and SUVs, some experts argue. Between 1993 and 2023, the average vehicle on U.S. roads swelled by 1,000 pounds, while simultaneously getting four inches wider, 10 inches longer and eight inches taller — bloat that’s driven by the increasing sales of pick-up trucks and SUVs.

That’s enough to bring the hoods of America’s best-selling cars, like the Ford F-series pick-ups, up to chest level for many adults, all but guaranteeing crashes that cause to vital organs rather than the legs, which are more survivable. The swelling size of the U.S. fleet has also increased the size of blind zones so much that drivers often can’t even see long lines of children right in front of them, and made it far more likely for pedestrians to be pulled under the wheels rather than pushed up onto the hood, where they’re less likely to be killed.

Let’s hope they get to the bottom of it, and discover what’s behind this perplexing — to government officials, anyway — jump in traffic deaths.

And actually do something about it for a change.

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The great bike helmet debate goes on, fueled by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s call to wear one following his bicycling crash, which somehow angered a lot of people.

However, it didn’t anger a bike-riding UK writer who insisted Ramsay was right, while expressing her astonishment at “reckless cyclists without helmets,” who she argues can be more threatening that people in cars.

No, really.

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Streets For All says they’ll be at Sunday’s South LA CicLAvia, with a booth at the Exposition Blvd Hub. Which just happens to be located right next to the Expo/Western Metro Station on the E (nee Expo) Line.

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It’s now 180 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And three full years since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, a whistleblower has filed complaints with the San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG and the California Air Resources Board, aka CARB, alleging that the CEO of San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead faked data for the ebike distribution program and mixed the program with his private businesses.

Pedal Ahead is the organization that has been selected by CARB to operate California’s moribund ebike voucher program — which is now likely to be dead in the water until the state can claw back its funding, and find someone else to run the damn thing.

And a Mastodon user writes that demand is high for Atlanta’s ebike voucher program, with 1% of city residents applying. But says infrastructure has to catch up. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

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

This is what people who call for licensing bicyclists are really asking for. And why.

Residents of a wealthy Sydney, Australia suburb have filed a civil right complaint alleging that a proposed new bike lane somehow infringes on theirs.

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

Ventura police arrested a 13-year old boy accused of being just one of a number of “disruptive” teens on ebikes, who allegedly stomped a homeless woman, threw rocks at another woman, and spit on people they passed; however, the rest managed to get away.

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Local 

Work has finally begun on the long-discussed and much needed makeover of Hollywood Blvd, with the first phase being implemented Gower Street and Lyman Place.

City, county and state leaders unveiled plans to improve LA’s massive Sepulveda Basin, including connecting already existing segments of the LA River bike path on either side of the park.

West Hollywood is cracking down on e-bikeshare and e-scooter users who violate the city’s rules.

The documentary about LA’s killer highway, 21 Miles in Malibu — which just happens to be the exact length of PCH through the coastal city — won three Silver Telly Awards at the prestigious 45th Annual Telly Awards; the film was produced by Michel Shane, whose 13-year old daughter was killed by a motorist on the highway in 2010.

Santa Monica police are conducting yet another bike and pedestrian safety operation, this time lasting this entire week, ticketing any traffic violations that could endanger either group, regardless of who commits them. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit for the rest of this week, so you’re not the one who gets written up.

 

State

Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry updates the progress of traffic safety bills in the state legislature, including a much-needed speed cam pilot program on PCH in Malibu (SB 1297), the ever-shrinking requirement for a warning device to notify drivers when they exceed the speed limit (SB 961) — which started out mandating speed limitation devices to keep drivers from going more than 10 mph over the speed limit — and a bill to redefine ebikes and require only EU or UL certified batteries (SB 1271). Although the latter bill would be a lot stronger if it simply reclassified all throttle-controlled ebikes as electric motorcycles. 

Palo Alto approved plans for protected bike lanes along El Camino Real, along with narrower traffic lanes and restrictions on right turns, overcoming months of opposition.

 

National

Once again, bike riders are heroes, after people participating in an ebike tour in Yavapai County, Arizona rescued a woman who had driven her car off a 20-foot embankment.

A Phoenix, Arizona man has been charged with 2nd degree murder for killing a bicyclist in a hit-and-run as he fled a domestic violence situation.

A boy in New Mexico got his custom lowrider bicycle back just in time for his 12th birthday, after it was stolen from a museum lowrider exhibit.

Convicted murderer Kaitlin Armstrong has been ordered to pay the family of her victim, gravel champ Moriah “Mo” Wilson, $15 million as judgment in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by her parents seeking a more modest $1 million; Armstrong murdered Wilson in Austin, Texas two years ago over a perceived love triangle with pro cyclist Colin Strickland. But good luck seeing any of the money while Armstrong serves her 90-year sentence — and won’t even be eligible for parole until she’s 67.

Chicago bike riders rejoiced as news broke that a driver had been towed for parking in a bike lane.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A retired Minnesota police chief was killed when he was run down by a semi driver while riding his bicycle; the truck driver doesn’t appear to have been charged.

Mauritanian refugees are fixing bicycles in an Ohio city while they wait to learn whether they will be allowed to stay in the US.

Tragic news from Pennsylvania, where a man was found dead after riding his bicycle into downed power lines on a trail.

Leaders of a Black church in DC are demanding changes to a new protected bike lane, alleging the bike lane barriers block access for older parishioners and members with disabilities.

 

International

An editor for Cyclist says stop complaining about the high cost of bicycles, even as the price for high-end ebikes continues to climb.

Momentum lists the world’s top ten bicycling destinations. None of which are Los Angeles. Or in the US, even. 

That’s more like it. Toronto has a page on the city website explaining why licensing bicyclists doesn’t work.

That’s more like it, part two. The city council in Colchester, England has ordered traffic officers to stop ticketing people riding bikes through the city center, after they were accused of running amok by threatening to fine people who were actually riding legally.

A BBC presenter settled a defamation case filed by broadcaster and cycling advocate Jeremy Vine for the equivalent of over $95,000 for calling Vine a “big bike nonce” and a “paedo defender.”

The New York Times goes for a bike ride along France’s three-century old The Canal du Midi through the scenic Occitanie region.

 

Competitive Cycling

Outside examines how Durango, Colorado’s Sepp Kuss became cycling’s “chillest champion.”

 

Finally…

Los Angeles can take pride in being America’s 5th best city to bike in the nude. And the next time someone complains that no one is using the new bike lanes, show them this.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Joining the war on Megacars, LA Times likes new LeMond doc, and naked biking in LA apparently not news

Let’s start with a nascent movement to drive massive trucks and SUVs off the roads.

Or at least rein them in a little.

New York advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has just released a report they call the Megacar Crisis.

Death. Congestion. Costly road repairs.

So what’s the upside of SUVs?

Injuries from crashes involving supersized cars increased in New York City by 91 percent and fatalities are up 75 percent between 2016 and 2019, according to a new report that highlights not only the rising road violence, but also the damage to roadways caused by America’s ongoing obsession with exceptionally large cars and trucks.

They go on to report that, even before electrification added hundred of pounds of vehicle weight, the average weight of passenger vehicles has shot up a half ton in the last 40 years, while the average weight of pickups has increased 24%.

Something you can see with your own eyes, just by looking at the changes in a Ford F150 pickup over the past 20 years. Never mind the ever-increasing Ford F250 and F350 pickups, with their high, flat grills virtually designed to kill.

Then there’s this.

Studies show that for every 1,000-pound increase in vehicle weight, there is a 46-percent increase in motorist fatalities. That gruesome statistic is borne out by the latest report on roadway fatalities: In 2022, as Streetsblog reported, more pedestrians were killed than in any year in more than four decades. And since 2010, there has been a stunning 77-percent increase in pedestrian deaths, rising at a rate more than three times faster than the rest of the traveling public, for whom fatalities increased 25 percent over the same period.

It’s worth taking the time to read the full report.

Because these days, whether you survive a crash — walking, biking or driving — could depend more than ever on just what vehicle hits you.

Which is why America Walks wants you to tell the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, that dangerous vehicles shouldn’t receive top safety ratings, whether that danger stems from excessive vehicle size, poor visibility or unrestrained speed capability.

Meanwhile, California Assembly Bill 251 would require the California Transportation Commission to establish a task force to examine the relationship between vehicle weight and injuries to vulnerable road users like bike riders and pedestrians, as well as the damage they do to the roadways.

The bill would also require the task force to study the costs and benefits of charging a weight fee for passenger vehicles. Let’s hope they include pickups that aren’t actively used as work trucks, too.

The State of New York is considering a similar bill.

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The Los Angeles Times reviews The Last Rider, which chronicles the career of America’s only remaining Tour de France winner, while focusing on his dramatic come-from-behind win in the ’89 Tour.

Cycling Weekly calls it a timeless tale of perseverance, love and America’s true Tour de France hero.

And frequent contributor David Drexler says it’s inspirational, after seeing it over the weekend.

He adds ore than just a bicycle movie, it’s a real motivational movie for everyone, showing how someone can rise back up from adversity and serious medical problems to become a world champion with focus, discipline and determination.

And an incredibly supportive spouse.

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The World Naked Bike Ride rolled through several US city’s over the weekend.

A Milwaukee paper rode along with that city’s naked bike, and reports on what they, um, uncovered.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles hosted two separate versions of the World Naked Bike Ride, and no one seems to have noticed, with both rides going off without a peep in the local media.

And if they were mentioned on social media, I must have missed it.

Which says a lot about the shock value, or lack thereof, of seeing naked people on bicycles in this city.

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Congratulations to the team at Streetsblog on another well-deserved LA Press Club Award.

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Call it effective marketing.

And while I appreciate the artwork, I don’t think I’d actually want this one on my wall.

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

The Wall Street Journal offers what should be a really helpful article on how to keep your bike from getting stolen. Or at least it would be, if they didn’t hide everything but the first sentence behind the paper’s draconian paywall.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole six adaptive bikes specially made for people with disabilities from a Manchester, England park; police recovered four of the bikes, with values up to $16,000, but each had “irreparable damage.”

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

Police in San Diego are looking for the bike-riding man who shot another man in the neck after an argument; fortunately, the victim survived in wounds.

It takes a major schmuck to run down a New York mom pushing her toddler son in a stroller, then just ride away on their ebike as if nothing happened. Which serves as yet another reminder that hit-and-run laws are the same for people on bicycles as they are for people in cars. Even though the people in cars have a bad habit of ignoring them.

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Local 

The Los Angeles Times says mark your calendar for October’s ArroyoFest, which will close down six miles of the 110 Freeway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena for the first time in 20 years, and open it up for 7 hours to anyone who wants to walk, bike, skate, scoot, roll or run.

Velo’s Urbanist Update examines how Santa Monica’s Ocean Ave got a curb-protected bike lane in a single day, thanks to the city’s new concrete extrusion machine.

 

State

San Mateo is moving forward with plans to become more bike friendly, including plans for a new bike boulevard and bike lanes.

San Francisco hosts a Women and Nonbinary Bike Ride every other Friday.

The San Francisco Chronicle asks if a popular East Bay bike trail is becoming a hot spot for bike-jackers. Apparently not noticing that it’s been going on for well over a year now. 

 

National

The price you pay for a kid’s BMX bike at Walmart depends on whether you want purple or black.

A lifelong bike rider and former car critic says he’s sitting out the ebike craze, suggesting it’s just a passing fad. Even though modern ped-assist ebikes have been around for three decades now.

Authorities in Oahu would like you to stay the hell out of the bike lanes if you’re not on two wheels.

Life is cheap in Seattle, where a hit-and-run driver got just 21 months for killing a man riding a bicycle, despite evading capture for a year and a half.

Sad news from Texas, where an 89-year old man was killed in a collision just trying to ride his ebike across the street. Anyone still riding any kind of bike at that age deserves a hell of a lot better. 

Ten Cherokee women returned to Oklahoma after completing the 950-mile Remember the Removal Bike Ride; the ride retraced the northern route of the infamous Trail of Tears.

New York City is receiving $25 million in federal emergency funds to build a series of ebike charging stations throughout the city, in an effort to reduce the risk of ebike battery fires. Meanwhile, the New York Daily News says lithium-titanate batteries are better and safer and never explode.

This is who we share the road with. The FBI has arrested a North Carolina man for his one man, year-long racist reign of terror, including running a Black couple’s car off the road with a pickup decked out in Confederate and Trump flags.

Taking a page from the Blues Brothers, a North Carolina pastor is riding his bike across the US on a mission from God.

Why, indeed. A New Orleans TV station asks why bike riders are being killed there at a higher rate than other cities.

 

International

A British man is planning to ride the first three stages of this year’s Tour de France to raise money to buy bikes for victims of modern slavery.

A man in the UK probably won’t win father of the year, after abandoning his family on vacation to get a new limited edition version of the iconic Raleigh Chopper bike.

That’s more like it. A British man got seven and a half years behind bars, along with a 10-year ban on driving, for killing a man riding a bike, while he was drunk and high on coke.

Despite recent reports that Italy will force people on bicycles to register and license their bikes, a European website says it ain’t necessarily so.

An Indian man still rides the “priceless” 100-year old British-made Hercules bike he inherited from his father, after his granduncle bought it secondhand.

Discussions of plans to downgrade a pandemic-era protected bike lane in the Philippines to sharrows have ground to a halt, leading to fears of further reductions in bicycling infrastructure.

 

Competitive Cycling

Chloe Dygert enjoyed her victory in the time trial at the US National Championships so much, she followed it up by edging Coryn Labecki for the women’s road title; meanwhile, 22-year old Quinn Simmons won a shortened men’s race by 37 seconds over second place Tyler Williams. FloBikes offers full standings from both national championship road races.

SoCal’s own Coryn Labecki won the US women’s crit title over Kendall Ryan, while Luke Lamperti took the men’s race in a threepeat.

The Guardian says the death of Swiss cyclist Gino Mäder’s at the Tour de Suisse highlights the dangers of elite level cycling in advance of the Tour de France, which starts on Saturday; Cycling News offers a comprehensive team-by-team preview.

Thirty-eight-year old Chris Froome won’t compete for a record-tying fifth Tour de France title after he was left off the Israel-Premier Tech team for the race.

Bicycling asks if pro cycling is too dangerous. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, hell yes. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you. 

Velo talks with former Irish national road race champ Imogen Cotter about coming back from a near-death experience after she was hit head-on by a van driver while training last year.

Seven-time ex-Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong, who knows a thing or two about cheating, wonders whether it’s possible to be supportive of the transgender community while questioning the fairness of trans athletes competing in women’s sports, without being labeled a transphobe or a bigot, insisting he’s not afraid to be cancelled. On the other hand, I just want to know if it’s possible to not cancel Lance, while still wishing he’d just go away. 

 

Finally…

Who needs a bike trailer when you can pull an Airstream with your ebike? Your next bike helmet could be full of hot air — or cold, for that matter.

And when you’re riding a stolen ebike, don’t ride salmon.

And maybe don’t threaten to kill the cops with pinky shears, either.

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Thanks to David E for his generous and unexpected donation to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Donations are always welcome and truly appreciated, whatever your reason to give. 

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

Oh, and Yevgeny Prigozhin says fuck Putin, too.

Pedestrian deaths reach 4 decade high, USDOT caves on cutting truck side deaths, and Buena Park needs your input

If you think things are bad out there, you’re right.

While estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggest that total US traffic deaths dropped a modest 3% in the first quarter of this year, the news for pedestrians is every bit as bad as you might think.

In fact, Streetsblog reports pedestrian deaths reached a 41-year high last year, topping the previous year’s 40-year high, while erasing decades of progress in reducing fatalities for people outside of motor vehicles.

And horrifyingly, that is with only 49 states checking in.

According to new estimates from the Governors Highway Safety Association, “at least” 7,508 people on foot were killed by drivers on U.S. roads last year — an estimate, that notably, excludes the entire state of Oklahoma, which failed to deliver its preliminary totals this year due to technical difficulties but has averaged 92 pedestrian deaths in recent years.

If that estimate sticks, U.S. walkers will have experienced a stunning 77-percent increase in deaths since 2010, rising at a rate more than three times faster than the rest of the traveling public, for whom fatalities increased 25 percent over the same period.

While the total doesn’t include bicycling fatalities, a rise in one usually corresponds with rise in the other.

The GHSA report suggested that common factors in pedestrians deaths include large arterials designed to prioritize vehicle speed, the ever-increasing size of motor vehicles, and dark road conditions.

You can add to that a lack of safe sidewalks and crosswalks, and all the multiple and varied forms of driver distraction — including distracting video and touchscreen systems installed directly into the dashboard.

The GHSA reports that “in the absence of urgent action to address those systemic factors, safety officials are begging drivers themselves to be more careful.”

Sure, that’ll happen.

Notably, pedestrian deaths are estimated to have dropped 20% in California, tied by South Carolina, and exceeded only by New Jersey’s 27% decrease.

So we may be doing something right.

Photo by Kaique Rocha from Pexels

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Meanwhile, according to a report from Pro Publica, the US Department of Transportation allowed trucking lobbyists to review an unpublished report recommending sideguards on all large trucks.

The goal of the report was to save lives by preventing bike riders and pedestrians from getting trapped underneath turning trucks, or from overly close passes.

Needless to say, trucking firms rejected the modest cost of sideguards, which are already required in the European Union, apparently preferring to pay higher insurance fees and the occasional legal settlement when they actually kill someone.

And making it clear that the USDOT exists to maintain corporate profits, rather than save human lives.

Here’s what the Bike League had to say on the subject.

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Orange County bike advocate Mike Wilkinson sends word of an important active transportation survey in Buena Park.

THIS IS IMPORTANT! Buena Park is developing its first Active Transportation Plan. This is a rare opportunity for people who bike or walk to tell the city what they need.

There are two surveys. One is near the top of the page linked here, and it asks for basic information about biking and walking in the city. Scroll down further, and there is an interactive map that allows you to click on streets or intersections that need to be improved. It’s a little complicated, but please take your time to figure out how to use it, and then let the city know what needs to be done!

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Wealthy NIMBYs in San Diego’s Pacific Beach used their cars to protest permanent safety installations on Diamond Street, claiming they will somehow cause more traffic emissions.

And missing the irony entirely.

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Rhodes scholar, country singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson is one of us, or at least he was in his college days at Oxford.

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

A Colorado letter writer somehow surmises that an ebike rider’s torn pants leg means he’s already crashed his bike, because there couldn’t be any other possible explanation for fashionably torn jeans. And questions whether the state’s ebike rebate program pays for the bike helmet he apparently lacks, too.

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Local 

People Powered Media says the new bike lanes on Venice Blvd are far from ideal, in part because they encroach on the gutter, and were laid over the existing broken roadway.

Claremont is ending its micromobility pilot program, and making the city’s shared mobility ordinance a permanent part of the city’s municipal code.

Meanwhile, West Hollywood will decide at Monday’s city council meeting whether to permanently approve the city’s micromobility program, or reinstate the city’s previous ban on rental ebikes and e-scooters.

Police in Santa Monica busted a bike-riding homeless man for robbing a Wells Fargo Bank of $1,100, after stopping the man while he was still in possession of the money.

 

State

Bike-riding Encinitas Assemblymember Tasha Boerner is making her third consecutive attempt to pass a California Safety Stop, aka Stop as Yield, aka Idaho Stop law, after Governor Newsom vetoed the bill two years ago; last year she pulled the legislation after it passed both houses of the legislature to avoid another threatened veto.

Police in San Bernardino busted a bike thief who preyed on an autistic man as he made his twice daily coffee run.

Ventura will ban bikes and e-scooters from the city’s pedestrianized Main Street in the downtown area.

 

National

If you’re going to tour Roswell, New Mexico, do it from the seat of a bike. That way, there will be some evidence left behind after the aliens grab you. 

Milwaukee concludes that sharrows may work in some limited contexts, but are pretty much useless in most cases.

Kindhearted Illinois sheriff’s deputies bought a new bike for an 11-year old boy after his was stolen.

A Duluth, Minnesota columnist says if you hate potholes, trying riding a bike more often to do less damage to the roadways. Or none, even.

A writer for The Guardian says the four people killed recently in a New York ebike battery fire won’t be the last if nothing changes.

 

International

Velo says your next fully 3D-printed titanium roadie could retail for a mere $18,600.

Soccer great Lionel Messi is one of us, enjoying a bike ride with his family in Venezuela before reporting to his new team in Miami.

Glasgow, Scotland is empowering women refugees from Afghanistan and Iran by teaching them how to ride bicycles.

London’s annual Parliamentary Bike Ride draws Members of Parliament, local officials and bike advocates to promote bicycling in the city, putting active transportation over party politics.

Germany’s Schwalbe is bringing its rubber-free Aerothan thermoplastic polyurethane material to bike tires, saving 5 grams per tire — or a whole 0.17 ounces.

Inside EVs says Yamaha’s new ebike motor is a weight weenie’s dream come true at just 5.7 pounds — over five ounces lighter than the previous version.

Life is cheap in Australia, where a 20-year old woman walked without a single day behind bars for killing a 75-year old bike-riding grandfather, because the judge concluded “her remorse is self-punishing.”

He gets it. The Aussie academic behind the recent study showing drivers see bike riders wearing helmets and hi-vis as less than human says “If you have a safe and normal cycling culture, how could you see people as anything but human?

 

Competitive Cycling

Your new 2023 US national time trial champs are former national and world time trial champion Chloé Dygert, and Giro stage-winner Brandon McNulty.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the US can’t even manage to crack the list of the world’s most livable cities. Or when a $10,000 stolen bike isn’t a typo.

And if anyone has me on their Secret Santa list this year, this will do nicely.

 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.