Tag Archive for West Hollywood

Local news better than national for active transportation; and $1 billion LA River gap could be closed in our lifetimes, maybe

November 7, 2024 / / Comments Off on Local news better than national for active transportation; and $1 billion LA River gap could be closed in our lifetimes, maybe
Just 54 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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I hope you’ll forgive yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

After writing about the man killed riding his bicycle in Victorville, I just wasn’t in a good space, mentally or emotionally.

And I’m still not. 

To be honest, this week’s election feels like a repudiation of everything I have believed and work for my entire life. While I understand you may think differently, that’s just where I am right now, until I get a chance to work through it. 

Which could take a little time. 

Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels.

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One reason for my disappointment is that the election of Donald Trump and a GOP majority in the Senate does not bode well for active transportation, which has frequently been targeted for cuts by Republicans.

But as bad as the national news is for some of us, Streets For All founder Michael Schneider says the news locally was much better.

I’m also pleased to report that former Assembly Transportation Chair Laura Friedman will be my new representative in Congress, replacing newly elected California Senator Adam Schiff.

Although Schiff was named as one of those “enemies within” that Trump has promised to go after, so things could get rocky going forward.

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Don’t plan on riding the full LA River bike path anytime soon.

Closing the eight-mile long gap through DTLA is now expected to cost a hefty $1 billion, with an anticipated completion date of sometime in your lifetime.

Or maybe the next.

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The Partnership For Active Travel and Health released an open letter calling on governments around the world to include walking and biking in their next round of climate commitments.

And they invite you to sign on.

The Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH) calls on national governments to commit to walking and cycling in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reach climate goals and improve people’s health and lives.

Enabling more people to walk and cycle safely and to access public transport by foot and by bicycle can help cut transport emissions in half by 2030 and is a fast-track way to achieve progress on urgent climate goals and the Paris Agreement. Yet PATH’s groundbreaking research shows that walking and cycling are significantly undervalued in countries’ NDCs. Despite two-thirds of nations having active travel policies in place, there remains a pressing need for increased ambition, action, and investment in their climate commitments to fully unlock the benefits of walking and cycling.

PATH has launched a new set of knowledge tools and guidance to support national policymakers to compare and benchmark existing policies, build capacity, and adopt walking and cycling as part of their country’s climate commitments.

  • The PATH’s Active Travel NDC Template offers a step-by-step guide with 20 actions to create effective policies, including interventions to create safe and accessible places to walk and cycle, public campaigns to shift mobility habits and embed walking and cycling into policy processes.
  • The PATH Dashboard visualises data from PATH’s 2023 report National Policies for Walking and Cycling in all 197 UNFCCC countries. It offers an overview of the progress made by countries in integrating walking and cycling strategies into their policy frameworks and NDCs. It also facilitates direct comparisons between countries and pinpoints areas requiring additional investment and ambition.
  • The PATH Walking and Cycling Regional Fact Sheets feature a comprehensive set of infographics analysing NDCs and walking and cycling policies across the six WHO- defined regions, detailing their objectives, actions, investments, and evaluations.

We urge countries to take full advantage of these tools to build walking and cycling into their climate commitments through the next round of NDCs submissions between November 2024 to February 2025, ahead of COP30 in Brazil.

PATH and its over 400 supporters stand ready to support national governments in this process.

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Apparently, ‘cross ain’t as new as we thought.

 

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It’s now 322 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

An English writer says he set a personal best on a recent gravel ride — despite getting punched by a motorbike rider — but says the real lesson is why aggression shouldn’t be countered.

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

A Washington woman has filed a $10 million lawsuit against a bike rider who collided with her while doing the trail’s 15 mph speed limit.

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Local  

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Calbike explains how to fight the ebike bikelash, while Kendra Ramsey explains why she’s a bike advocate. I could have answered that question last week; now I’m not so sure. 

Santa Barbara reached an agreement to build a 4,000-foot bike lane to complete a missing link in the city’s bike network; the plan will trade land for an easement, while sparing over half the trees originally planned for removal.

Santa Cruz shares the county’s best bike trails, for your next trip up at that way.

Seriously, who hasn’t gone bike surfing down a steep San Francisco street? Besides me, I mean. 

 

National

Bicycling says the jury is still out on whether biking will affect your sperm count. But they apparently don’t want you to know about it, since this one’s not available elsewhere if the magazine blocks you.

Momentum explains what makes a great bicycling city, while an unrelated slideshow rates the country’s best bike cities, with Portland predictably #1, followed by Washington DC and Philadelphia; San Diego rates 12th, while Los Angeles comes in at a very respectable 17th. Which is how you know it’s bs.

Next City says new research shows bike lanes save lives by slowing drivers at intersections.

An ambulance took an injured 71-year old Oregon man to the hospital — after the driver right-hooked him — then stuck him with an $1,862 bill for the ride; now he’s suing them for a cool million bucks.

More proof Americans want safer streets, as Seattle is on the verge of approving a transportation levy to provide nearly a half-billion dollars for Vision Zero, bike lanes and pedestrian improvements, by the same two-thirds margin that LA’s Measure HLA passed with.

I want to be like her when I grow up. An 80-year old Massachusetts woman says she’s not ready to give up bicycling 80 miles a week, despite her doctor’s advice following a fall.

Influencer Matt Choi has been banned for life from the New York Marathon, after finishing the course in under three hours while flanked by two riders on ebikes recording his run; they were accused of blocking other people competing in the race.

 

International

Bike Magazine lists the top ten North American cities for mountain biking.

A London writer goes from budding bike theft reporter to tracking down his own stolen bike, thanks to an Air Tag.

An editor for Cycling Weekly says banning bicycles from city centers, like Birmingham, England is doing, won’t stop illegal ebike use, but it will make it harder for everyone else.

Finally a reasonable sentence from the UK, where a stoned hit-and-run driver who killed a 59-year old man riding a bicycle was sentenced to a well-deserved six years and eight months behind bars.

Britain’s National Health Service will review its guidelines for prostate cancer testing, after Olympic cycling champ Sir Chris Hoy said younger men should be tested to prevent cases like his terminal cancer diagnosis.

A couple reporters for NPR visit Beijing from a seat of their bicycles.

Australia’s National Territory wants to tell you about five great bike rides in Canberra, for your next visit Down Under.

 

Competitive Cycling

Forty-year old four-time Tour de France champ Chris Froome says he’s coming back next year to give it one more try.

 

Finally…

If you’re carrying meth and drug paraphernalia on your bike, put a damn light on it — the bike, not the meth. Now you, too, can build your own pointlessly long mountain bike requiring rope reins to ride.

And nothing like a bridge designed to “enable sustainable transport and reduce car use,” which bans bicycles anyway.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

It’s Election Day, so Bike the Vote, already; Block calls for Fountain Ave bike lane trial; and Metro bus lane parking enforcement

November 5, 2024 / / Comments Off on It’s Election Day, so Bike the Vote, already; Block calls for Fountain Ave bike lane trial; and Metro bus lane parking enforcement
Just 56 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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If you haven’t already, get out and vote today; Streetsblog offers a list of election resources to help out.

And regardless of what some random guy on the internet told you, if your ballot isn’t at least postmarked by today, it won’t count. At least here in California; in other states, your mileage may vary.

Then get out on your bike, or take a walk, or bury yourself in your work until the polls close to distract yourself and preserve your sanity today.

Don’t forget that LA Metro is free today, including half-hour Metro Bike rides (use code 110524), to help you get to and from the polls, along with most other local bus systems.

Uber and Lyft are also offering half-priced rides to polling places. But only directly to and from the polls.

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West Hollywood city council candidate Larry Block calls for a short-term trial of protected bike lanes on Fountain Ave, to see if removing parking to install permanent protected bike lanes will work.

Which sounds reasonable, but will inevitably fail.

It takes time for drivers to adjust to any road change, let alone a major redesign involving the removal of parking spaces and a traffic lane on each side.

A pilot program of at least six months to a year could offer proof that the change will not result in the traffic and residential chaos opponents fear.

But anything less would just invite drivers to make temporary adjustments until the pilot project gets removed. Or just ignore it and embrace the chaos to force the hand of city planners.

Besides, concerns over similar projects are often overblown.

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Metro has begun using automated bus cams to issue warnings to drivers blocking bus lanes, which should help free up space for people on bicycles, too.

https://twitter.com/metrolosangeles/status/1853467376248820131

Chicago is starting bus lane enforcement this week, too.

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CicLAvia returns to the San Fernando Valley next month, with a route connecting Reseda and Canoga Park clearly designed for people afraid to make any turns on their bikes.

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It’s now 320 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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Local  

Streetsblog visits the roughly 200-foot-long revamped and reconfigured Farragut Ave walkway in Culver City, which is often used as a shortcut by bicyclist, as well as walkers.

 

State

Calbike says California’s Daylighting Law will save lives, as the bill’s author follows up on the law that went into effect at the first of the year.

Worrying news from San Diego, where a 46-year old man suffered life-threatening injuries when he fell off an e-scooter.

San Diego natives might spot themselves riding in this throwback news video circa 1977.

A landmark agreement will finally allow a new ADA-compliant bike and pedestrian trail connecting Goleta and Santa Barbara.

The New York Times examines the great feud over San Francisco’s Great Highway, as residents vote today on whether to permanently close the coastal roadway, and turn it into a linear bike and pedestrian park.

 

National

A writer for Cycling Weekly says yes, flat bar gravel bikes are silly, but he’s into it now.

Leading used-bike retailer The Pro’s Closet is back, after two longtime employees agreed to assume the helm.

More on Denver bicyclists expressing their furor over the cancelling of a promised protected bike lane, as city leaders choose the convenience of curbside parking over protecting human lives.

A former Florida lawmaker is recovering from neck surgery after crashing her bicycle during a triathlon.

 

International

Cyclist reviews the best shoes for roadies.

Momentum highlights “hidden gem” bicycling routes for your adventure travel needs, including the United State’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route; another two are US adjacent.

More proof life is cheap in the UK, as a cabbie walks without a single day behind bars for killing a 61-year old headteacher as he rode his bike to school, after the driver played the universal Get Out of Jail Free card by insisting the sun was in his eyes.

Vogue wants you to spend the fall at France’s bicycle-filled Île de Ré, offering over 60 miles of well-tended bike paths.

A New Zealand website says yes, you can travel without harming the environment, including on your bicycle. Just don’t leave your old tubes, CO2 cartridges or spent gel packs on the side of the road. 

Kiwi news site Stuff busts the top four myths about bicycling vacays.

ABC — no, the Australian TV network — says the bikelash is back, but this time it’s all about banning e-scooters.

 

Finally…

Apparently, Penny Farthings need parking, too. Now you, too, can build your own “dodgy” ebike made entirely of littered vape cartridges.

And not many people are aware that the ancient forebears of the modern bicycle lived in what is now Los Angeles during the Ice Age, as memorialized by these sculptures at the La Brea Tar Pits.

What.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Tinkering at edges of PCH safety, fighting WeHo bike lanes that could benefit all, and more on Parisian road rage murder

October 21, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 70 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It’s now been a full year since a driver killed four members of a Pepperdine sorority while allegedly speeding at over 100 mph in a 45 mph zone, at the appropriately named Dead Man’s Curve in Malibu. 

It took the deaths of Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams to call attention to the dangers bike riders have been aware of for years. Or at least since Scott Bleifer and Stanislav Ionov were killed by a food truck driver almost 20 years ago.

And probably a lot longer, and far too many since. Including people on foot, and on bicycles.

In the year since, Malibu residents have gone from too frequently opposing safety improvement on the killer highway, to actually demanding them.

It’s about damn time.

The city and state have made a number of improvements over the past year, from increasing traffic enforcement to getting state approval for a limited number of speed cams.

Not to mention adjusting traffic lanes, widening shoulders and introducing a public safety campaign.

None of it seems to have made a significant difference, at least not yet. Despite everything, there has been just one less crash on the highway this year than this time last year, with most speed related.

And it probably won’t. At least unless and until the highway is re-imagined from the current pass-through speedway, to the beachfront roadway and Malibu Main Street it always should have been.

Tinkering at the edges didn’t prevent the deaths of those four students, and more tinkering probably won’t prevent the next tragedy.

Or the ones after that.

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No bias here.

According to WeHo Online, over half of people responding to West Hollywood’s 2024 Strategic Plan Baseline Survey are concerned or very concerned about traffic congestion, while 43% thought lack of safe bike lanes was “not too serious” a problem.

Even though safe and convenient bike lanes could help reduce congestion by providing an alternative to driving.

But that apparently never occurred to them.

Meanwhile, West Hollywood residents conducted dueling rallies for and against the lane reduction and protected bike lanes proposed for Fountain Avenue.

The West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition hosted the Rally for Safer Streets and Vigil for Victims of Traffic Violence calling for improvements to the deadly street, which has seen 93 traffic crashes in just the last five years.

At the same time, a smaller group sponsored by the WeHo Chamber of Commerce called for keeping the street just as dangerous as it is now so they won’t have to slow down, and can keep their parking spaces.

Maybe they should read this Momentum piece, which offers eight ways bike lanes benefit communities.

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Bicyclists gathered by the hundreds in Paris and around France to demand an end to road rage, after a driver intentionally ran down a 27-year old man as he rode his bicycle on a physically separated bike lane last week.

The driver faces charges of culpable homicide, which is a significant step down from the original murder charge, and appears to be comparable to our involuntary homicide.

Unfortunately, others responded by vandalizing dozens of SUVs in an overnight revenge attack, puncturing the tires of 65 oversized vehicles.

Le Monde calls the crash a “tragic illustration of the difficulties of coexisting in a society marked by increasing individualism and incivility.”

Or it could just be that motor vehicles just bring out the worst in people who are safely ensconced in a mobile weapon of mass destruction.

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Hats off to Specialized, which will offer free basic repairs on Saturday in an effort to get one million bikes back on the road.

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One of the most common arguments against installing bike lanes is that they could inconvenience handicapped people, who need to get around, too.

Never mind that bicycles can make effective mobility devices for people who might otherwise struggle to get around.

But don’t take my word for it.

Our German correspondent, Ralph Durham, took a break from Octoberfest to forward photos of a bike he regularly encounters, which has been specially customized to accommodate a man who needs crutches to get around.

Photos by Ralph Durham

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Megan Lynch forwards a reminder that we got to lay a little rubber on San Diego’s I-805 before all those drivers ruined it for us.

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It’s now 306 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 40 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, Thousand Oaks will introduce its own ebike incentive program for income-qualified residents in January. Which will probably be long before we ever see the statewide program launch, if it ever does. Thanks again 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.

Toronto’s mayor says she does not support an anti-bike plan from the Ontario premier and transport minister to put the province in charge of when and where bike lanes are built; Toronto letter writers say the transport minister’s anti-bike lane arguments are easily refuted, then proceed to do it. Of course, “not supporting” is not the same as actively opposing it.

Ireland’s Social Democrats are accused of engaging in anti bike-lane “culture war nonsense.” Which is a pretty good way to describe most anti-bike lane campaigns. 

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

Police in Des Plaines, Illinois released photos of an apparent road-raging bike rider who repeatedly stabbed a driver.

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Local  

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Laguna Beach is gearing up for the first ever Laguna Bicycle Festival this coming weekend.

 

National

Proving once again that there are still good people in the world, a TikToker calling himself the Neighborhood Bike Repair Dude keeps snacks and drinks on hand for hungry kids, responding “that’s the point” when someone said the kids would keep coming if he kept feeding them.

If you know Justin Timberlake, these Portland kids want him to join their weekly bike bus.

Now you, too, can bike all 33 miles around the rim of Oregon’s Crater Lake.

Not surprisingly, New York bicyclists aren’t happy about being unable to crash the New York Marathon route before the race starts. Just like Los Angeles bike riders used to be able to do, but can’t anymore. 

Only in New Orleans can you bike the vote to a second line beat.

 

International

Tragic news from the UK, where two best friends, both fathers, were killed when one fell off his ebike after a daylong pub crawl, and the other stepped into the roadway to stop traffic; both men were struck by the driver of a Mini Cooper, who was exonerated by police after claiming he didn’t have time to stop on the dark roadway.

Britain’s transport minister says he”d feel safe letting his young kids ride bikes on the streets of London. No word, however, on whether he actually does let them.

I want to be like her when I grow up. An 82-year old Dutch woman isn’t just still riding — she’s still riding the same bike she’s had since she was 13.

Japan is cracking down on scofflaw bicyclists; anyone who rides under the influence or uses a cellphone while riding will be subject to heavy fines or possible jail time. Thanks once again to Megan Lynch.

Australian experts are calling for more innovative steps to make city’s cleaner and improve public health, like offering financial incentives to stop driving and take transit or bike to work.

 

Competitive Cycling

Heartbreaking news from the UK, where six-time Olympic cycling champ Sir Chris Hoy announced he has stage four prostate cancer, which has spread to form tumors in his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and ribs; his doctors say he has just two to four years to live. Meanwhile, his wife suffers from multiple sclerosis, an incurable, degenerative autoimmune disease.

 

Finally…

That feeling when bike lanes are, indeed, brat. You can’t judge a book by its cover, but apparently you can judge a potential date by their bike.

And more proof you can carry just aboutanything on a bicycle.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Compromise offer on WeHo streets, Caltrans promises bike lanes in San Pedro, and LA failing us on speed cams

October 18, 2024 / / One comment
Just 73 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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I am now officially a non-driver.

Yesterday morning, I went to the DMV to trade my driver’s license for a non-driving ID.

Between my medical issues and the meds I’m on, I simply don’t belong behind the wheel. And I probably never will.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’ve held onto my license despite not driving for the past several years, just in case I needed it at some point. 

But it’s just not worth the risk I could pose to others. 

I only wish more people would realize that. 

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In a surprisingly reasonable op-ed, West Hollywood city council candidate Larry Block, who has opposed bike projects in the past — especially in front of his Santa Monica Blvd store — offers a compromise on his opposition to removing parking for a lane reduction and protected bike lanes on Fountain Ave in the largely residential Mid-City area.

Or as he puts it, a little argy-bargy, a term that should be familiar to fans of cycling announcer Phil Liggett.

Bike lane supporters need to recognize the daily needs of disabled residents, emergency vehicles, delivery trucks, and basic services. Bike supporters must understand that residents need access to their driveways, and services like city garbage trucks and emergency vehicles need space to do their jobs. We can’t take away that access in favor of a ‘build it, they will come’ mentality’. Residents also need to accept that many people can’t afford a car, and keeping WeHo vibrant means making room for bikes and other ways to get around. Their safety matters, too, and it’s our responsibility to do what we can.

While there’s a lot we could take issue with there — like how ebikes ca serve as mobility devices for handicapped people, and the myth of bike lanes slowing emergency vehicles — Block goes on to call for developing a master plan to improve safety and livability in WeHo’s Mid-City area.

We should focus on creating a Mid-City Master Plan while working on the Fountain Ave. Streetscape and Bike Lane project. Instead of just arguing about bike lanes, we need to shift the conversation to mid-city livability and make Fountain Ave. improvements part of the bigger plan.

There’s a livability and safety problem on Fountain Ave., and we need to look at the big picture. Let’s discuss a Mid-City Master Plan that incorporates the needs of all residents. But for now, after several accidents on Fountain Ave. in recent weeks, our top priority should be making Fountain safe today.

If this is the approach a bike lane opponent — or possibly former opponent — is willing to take, there may be hope for WeHo yet.

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As a followup to Tuesday’s piece about an apparent violation of Measure HLA along Western Avenue and 1st Street in San Pedro, Ken Shima forwards a screenshot from CD15 Councilmember Tim McOsker saying the current striping is just a temporary measure, and bike lanes really are coming.

But from Caltrans, not Los Angeles.

As Joe Linton clarified in a comment to Tuesday’s post, HLA applies to “any paving project or other modification,” other than limited work like “restriping of the road without making other improvements, routine pothole repair, utility cuts, or emergency repairs.”

Which would mean it should apply here.

However, as a state agency, I’m not sure if Caltrans is required to abide by HLA, unlike Metro or the City of LA. But it’s definitely something to keep an eye on, to make sure those promised bike lanes really do go in.

Regardless of who is responsible for them.

Meanwhile, Linton visits the new bike/walk path along San Pedro’s Front Street from the Vincent Thomas Bridge to just west of Pacific Ave.

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San Francisco has selected the vendor for the city’s speed cam pilot program, with 33 cams expected to be fully operational by early 2025.

Compare that with Los Angeles, which hasn’t.

Here’s what a press release from Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, had to say on the subject.

“While Los Angeles continues to ignore the problem, San Francisco takes speeding seriously. I commend San Francisco for taking this significant step towards making its citizens safer. Through their selection process, the city has done the hard work and set the stage for other cities to follow,” said Damian Kevitt, Executive Director of Streets Are For Everyone. “Los Angeles and the other pilot cities have no excuse for bureaucratic feet-dragging that is risking people’s lives.”

At the start of 2024, the Chief of Police and Mayor of Los Angeles announced that there were a staggering 336 traffic fatalities, the highest in almost 50 years and more traffic fatalities in 2023 than homicides. Across the state, 35% of fatalities are speeding-related, with over 1,500 speeding-related fatalities in 2021. Traffic violence in Los Angeles continues to get worse, and there is insufficient effort being put into implementing sensible solutions to save lives.

Yep.

That pretty much sums it up.

It took years of fighting in the state legislature to finally pound out a compromise allowing Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale to try a speed cam pilot program, along with three NorCal cities, including San Francisco. That was later amended to allow speed cams on PCH in Malibu, as well.

But all of that appears to be wasted on the City of Angels, which seems to be moving with all due non-haste at its usual glacial pace.

Mayor Bass has often said that she was elected to solve the city’s homelessness crisis.

Too bad that’s the only crisis she seems to think she was elected to address.

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It’s now 303 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 40 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here. The anti-bike OB-Rag writes that San Diego officials are “quietly picking our pockets” with things like a $155,000 bike counter, which amounts to a rounding error on the city’s $104.6 million streets budget. Let alone the SANDAG’s $1.3 billion — yes, with a B — highway budget.

No bias here, either. A 76-year old Baltimore man died weeks after a driver pulled out of a sidewalk and cut him off while riding on the sidewalk, but the local press somehow blames the victim for crashing into the car. And waits until the penultimate sentence to mention the car even had a driver.

He gets it. An Ottawa, Ontario columnist says Premier Doug Ford’s plan to give the provincial legislature final say over bike lanes is all about politics, not safety or traffic flow, while the mayor of Waterloo says Ford is stepping directly into municipal jurisdiction.

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

A 22-year old Novato man faces a felony hit-and-run charge for fleeing the scene after after crashing his bicycle into an eight-year old boy; fortunately, the kid was hospitalized with minor to moderate injuries. Which raises the question of why a felony charge was filed, which under state law on only applies in cases resulting in serious injuries. 

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Local  

Pepperdine remembered the four sorority sisters killed by an alleged speeding driver on PCH a year ago, as they were walking from their car to a party; their accused killer was reportedly doing 104 mph in a 45 mph zone. But hey, about those speed cams.

 

State

Congrats to the Costa Mesa Police Department for busting a thief who made off with a family’s e-cargo bike; the department has already returned it to the owner.

 

National

CNN considers the best bike lights, settling on a pair from Cygolite.

Annapurna’s scenic bicycling adventure game Ghost Bike is getting a makeover, and will re-emerge next year as Wheel World, with a lighter design to make it more fun to play. Because ghost bikes may be a lot of things, but fun ain’t one of them. 

Parents, classmates and the Littleton, Colorado community came together to call for safer streets, a year after a seventh-grade boy was killed riding his bike to middle school. Yet another reminder that the time to fight for safer streets if before it’s too late, not after. 

A Tulsa, Oklahoma TV station responds to the state’s appalling NHTSA ranking as the nation’s 6th deadliest state for bike riders by examining safety concerns for bicyclists. Meanwhile, in 6th ranked California <crickets>.

A writer for Business Insider takes a 330-mile bikepacking trip from Pittsburgh to Maryland, and says she’d absolutely do it again, despite the challenges.

Prosecutors have added a murder charge to the long list of charges against the alleged drunken and speeding hit-and-run driver who killed a beloved young doctor out for a bike ride; he was allegedly driving over twice the speed limit with a BAC double the legal limit.

Roanoke, Virginia shows how it should be done, installing multiple temporary bike lanes to encourage people to ride their bikes to the city’s largest outdoor fest. Now they just need to make them permanent.

 

International

Momentum rates the six best foldies currently on the market.

A writer for Bike Radar takes a six-day, 400-mile bike tour along South Korea’s “stunning” Four Rivers route from Seoul to Busan.

A cop in New South Wales, Australia faces charges for dangerous driving for a crash that killed a 16-year old boy riding a bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

One of the brightest American cycling prospects, 21-year old Boulder, Colorado resident Jared Scott, walked away from his burgeoning European pro career to become a professional DJ.

A Welsh Continental cycling team learns the hard way the dangers of relying on a bikemaker’s promise that their frames will meet UCI standards.

 

Finally…

How to not pull an endo on your mountain bike. Making a Pashley the star of Swan Lake.

And seriously, who doesn’t need a sidecar for your ebike? Or a corgi car, in my case.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

“Silent majority” claimed to oppose WeHo’s planned Fountain Ave bike lanes, and San Diego makes street safety top priority

September 17, 2024 / / One comment
Just 105 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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No bias here.

WeHo Online’s Steve Martin — no, not the comedian — continues his campaign against the planned safety improvements on Fountain Ave through West Hollywood, insisting there is a “silent majority” rising up in opposition to the plan, despite an informal online survey showing it was supported by two-thirds of respondents.

Then again, he complains that people from outside the city were allowed to respond to it, as if only people who live on Fountain Ave ever use the street.

He also takes issue with a perceive lack of outreach, even though those of us who were paying attention were aware of the plan to remove traffic lanes and street parking to widen sidewalks and add protected bike lanes at least two years ago. As were all those people who took the time to respond to that online survey he disparages.

But they don’t count, evidently.

Then there’s his complaint that Bike LA, formerly the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, will assist with outreach to prepare residents for the changes, calling them “hardly an unbiased party.” And adding that the group will work in conjunction with Streets For All, and “will be able to skewer whatever conversations take place.”

As if merely explaining a project that has already been approved by the city council requires any actual “skewering.”

The city council was scheduled to vote last night to accept a $5 million grant from the California Air Resources Board, aka CARB — and yes, he even gets that name wrong in his sputtering anger — to help pay for the life-saving changes on Fountain.

Let’s hope they had the sense to say yes. And that the approval will finally put an end to this nonsense.

But I wouldn’t count on it.

Graphic for a virtual workshop to discuss plans for Fountain Ave from October, 2022.

 

………

That’s more like it.

The San Diego City Council passed a resolution making street safety the city’s highest transportation priority. Which means it will finally outweigh other considerations, such as street parking and level of service.

Or should, anyway.

Which would no doubt cause apoplexy to the afore-mentioned “silent majority” in West Hollywood. Not to mention in here Los Angeles, where the ability to go “zoom zoom” to your heart’s content is taken as a God-given right, consequences be damned.

Except for all those people who voted for Measure HLA by a similar — wait for it — two-thirds margin, suggesting that maybe, just maybe, that online survey wasn’t so wrong after all.

………

Los Angeles opened a nearly five-mile segment of a bike path paralleling San Fernando Road in the east San Fernando Valley.

The new segment combines with an existing pathway to provide nearly ten miles of continuous off-street riding from the Burbank Airport to Sylmar.

………

It’s now 271 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 39 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

Local  

Streetsblog offers an open thread and photos from Sunday’s Lincoln Heights CicLAmini.

Los Angeles Magazine says Venice’s “Bike Whisperer” is just one of the many Los Angeles street vendors benefitting from the city’s new rules.

 

State

Congratulations to Streetsblog California on their 10th anniversary.

A pilot project will allow bikes on seven miles of trails on Marin’s Mount Tamalpais, regarded as the birthplace of mountain biking, after being banned for four decades.

The steady drumbeat of sad news from Northern California continues, where a 53-year old Ukiah man was killed when he hit something on the trail he was riding and was thrown from his ebike, striking his head; police say he was wearing a helmet, but didn’t have it secured properly.

 

National

Good question. Velo says that good bike parking is inexpensive, easy to implement and encourages more bicycling, so why is it so hard to find?

Rivendell Bicycle Works founder and bicycle designer Grant Petersen celebrates the joys of riding slowly and leaving your spandex at home.

It’s been seven years since someone shot Colorado mountain biker Tim Watkins, leaving his body next to the trail he was riding near the town of Monument, and police still haven’t found his killer or figured out why he was shot.

Safety efforts in Chicago are paying off, as the city has seen just one bicycling death this year — which advocates correctly note is still one too many.

Vermont opened a new 39-mile adaptive trail offering 6,000 feet of vertical gain and loss, the first leg of a planned 485-mile mountain bike trail stretching from Massachusetts to the Canadian border.

New York’s Washington Bridge will get a new bus lane and two-way protected bike lane connecting Upper Manhattan to the Bronx over the Harlem River.

Miami motorcyclist Kadel Piedrahita was found guilty of shooting and killing Alex Palencia in 2019 as Palencia rode in a peloton with several other bicyclists; prosecutors argued that the shooting stemmed from a feud that had developed days earlier.

 

International

British active transportation nonprofit Sustrans called for an end to bicycling inequality, after a recent report found that 38 percent of low income or unemployed UK residents want to ride bikes, but are priced out by high costs and a lack of discount offers. Even though you can buy a decent used bike for around a hundred bucks on ether side of the Atlantic.

The London Evening Standard recommends the best pedal systems for roadies.

British bicyclists raised the equivalent of more than $264,000 with a 390-mile ride from Paris to Suffolk in honor of the 18 members of an English rugby team killed in a plane crash outside Paris 50 years ago.

 

Competitive Cycling

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will conflict with the final week of the Tour de France, forcing the world’s premier stage race to move from its traditional July date, or making the sport’s top riders choose between the two.

 

Finally…

If you were planning to ride London’s biggest annual charity bile ride next year, your 2025 calendar just opened up. When you’re carrying a baggie of coke on your bike, put a damn light on it, already.

And that feeling when you catch bicycle while magnet fishing.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

77-year old Florida driver hits 8 bicyclists head-on, WeHo adopts Vision Zero, and bicyclist injured in Simi Valley hit-and-run

January 5, 2024 / / One comment
If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

Then share the petition — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

It’s happened again.

Once again, a driver has plowed into a group of bicyclists, this time in Gulf Stream, Florida, on the state’s Atlantic coast.

According to multiple sources, a 77-year old woman drove onto the wrong side of the road and plowed into a group of eight bicyclists riding in a paceline, sending seven victims to the hospital — including one 46-year old man with injuries that were described as “incapacitating.”

The victims included the driver, as well as six people on bikes; three of whom were described as “severely injured,” though their injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.

Police said all the bike riders were wearing helmets, none of which are designed to protect against a head-on crash at 35 mph.

A woman who was riding with the group said she was lucky to escape with some bruises and a large cut on her leg, along with an injury to her arm from the car’s side mirror.

The collision occurred on the state’s famed A1A coast highway, leaving a crash scene witnesses described as “horrific”.

Descriptions of the dangers bike riders face there make it sound like an East Coast version of Southern California’s killer Pacific Coast Highway.

I understand there’s a bike cam video of the crashing circulating around. But from what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t recommend watching it.

Some things are hard to unsee.

And never mind the ongoing conversation of how old is too old to drive. Although hitting a group of bike riders head-on while driving on the wrong side of the road might suggest might be.

………

Good news from West Hollywood, where Senior Planner David Fenn forwards news that the City Council unanimously adopted WeHo’s first Vision Zero plan at their last meeting before Christmas

And they didn’t stop there, asking city staff “to investigate additional safety strategies like identifying promising locations for roundabouts, reducing landscaping height at crosswalks to improve pedestrian visibility and the orientation of pedestrian push buttons to drivers.”

So maybe they’re serious about actually doing something to reduce traffic deaths, unlike a certain megalopolis I could name.

West Hollywood staff members will return to Council with an addendum to the plan which includes these suggestions in the next few months.

You can view a YouTube recording of the meeting, with the Vision Zero discussion from 3:20:49 to 3:46:05.

Fenn also forwards news that WeHo is studying first and last mile connections for pedestrians and bicyclists for the future Metro K (Crenshaw) Line Northern Extension. A survey has been posted online to offer your feedback and suggestions.

My best suggestion is to speed up construction, which isn’t scheduled to begin until 2041, with completion set for 2047 to 2049 — too damn long to wait for a line that will finally connect all of Metro’s existing rail lines.

Especially since Metro never seems to meet their completion dates.

………

Someone riding a bicycle suffered major injuries in a Simi Valley hit-and-run yesterday.

According to a notice from the Simi Valley Police Department, the victim, who wasn’t publicly identified, was riding north across Los Angeles Ave west of Stearns Street when they were struck by a vehicle traveling east on Los Angeles around 7:50 pm.

A witness described the suspect vehicle as a late 1990’s to early 2000’s gold Toyota sedan, with probable significant damage to the front or right front side.

I’d say that sounds like my wife’s old car, but it was totaled by a distracted driver just before Christmas.

Anyone with information is urged to call Simi Valley PD Traffic Collision Investigator Martinez at 805/583-6224 or email AMartinez@simivalley.org.

Let’s hope the victim has a fast and full recovery. And they find the heartless coward who did it.

Thanks to Linda Righetti for the heads-up.

………

Ralph Durham forwards photos from a recent trip to Milan, featuring a protected bike lane we can only envy.

Photos by Ralph Durham

……..

I think I found your summer read, due out in June.

………

16 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

A 57-year old Belfast, Ireland grandmother was injured when two young boys pelted her with golf balls as she rode her bike home from work.

Road.cc updates their 2016 article on the 10 most hysterical anti-cycling headlines in the notorious Daily Mail tabloid, this time listing “20 of the most hysterical Daily Mail anti-cycling headlines” — including the classic “Lunacy, blight, and the scourge of lycra louts.”

………

Local 

It seems it’s a small world for tragedies, too. Less than six years after Fredrick “Woon” Frazier was killed in a South LA hit-and-run,  26-year old Miah Ladelle Banks was fatally shot at a New Year’s Eve party at a DTLA warehouse, along with another person; Banks was the sister of Woon’s convicted killer, Mariah Kandise Banks.

Streetsblog recommends getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city by peddling your bike around the San Gabriel Valley’s Santa Fe Dam. Or maybe pedaling a pedal boat.

 

State

A Carlsbad woman escaped with a slap on the wrist for killing 35-year old Christine Embree as she rode an ebike with her 18-month old daughter, who was miraculously unscathed; 43-year old Lindsay Turmelle was sentenced to 90 days in county jail and 90 days home vacation confinement, after pleading guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Then again, she did say she’s really, really sorry, so there’s that.

A 13-year old San Diego girl suffered a critical head injury when she fell off her bike crossing a Pacific Beach intersection; she wasn’t wearing a helmet, despite state law requiring a helmet for anyone under 18 riding a bicycle. The sad thing is that this sort of fall is exactly what bike helmets were designed to protect against. Not crashes with drivers at 50 mph. 

Vallejo cleared out a homeless encampment, at the threat of arresting any holdouts, in order to begin work on a bike path.

 

National

Momentum recommends seven US cities offering “bike-friendly destinations for sunshine and two-wheeled good times” — which we could all use about now — including San Francisco, Santa Monica and San Diego on the Left Coast. Although hoping for sunshine in San Francisco in the middle of the winter may be asking too much.

Velo predicts five ebike trends they expect to see in the coming year, from more electric cargo bikes to tighter regulations.

A new law allows Oregon drivers to pass bicyclists in a no-passing zone, as long as they stay five mph below the posted speed limit and there are no on-coming vehicles. Similar provisions have been vetoed multiple times by California governors, for reasons only they and their CHP Wormtongues understand. 

Chicago has finally completed work on the city’s long-promised Dickens Ave Neighborhood Greenway, including the city’s first bike-friendly traffic diverter, after nearly five years of NIMBY opposition.

After legendary carmaker Lee Iacocca saved Detroit’s Chrysler, he became an early ebike entrepreneur.

A New York Times podcast considers why so many more pedestrians are getting killed on our streets, as other rich nations have surpassed American in protecting pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. Which is the first and last time they even mention bikes, even though our death rates are climbing, too. Thanks to David Wolfberg for the link.

Something funny is going on with a Richmond, Virginia bike shop, where the owner disappeared after the store shut down abruptly, leaving dozens of customers without the bikes they paid for, while giant bikemaker Giant is suing the shop for nearly $150,000 in unpaid bills; a notice on the shop’s Facebook page promises it will reopen later this month, and everyone will get their bikes. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.

 

International

Very few people biked to work when Canberra, Australia opened its first bike path 50 years ago; the city now boasts 370 bike paths covering over 600 miles, and is considered the country’s bicycling capital.

 

Competitive Cycling

LA’s Williams brothers may still be brothers, but they’re no longer teammates, as younger brother Corey left the L39ION of Los Angeles cycling team he co-founded to decamp for the Miami Blazers team started by Williams Racing Development, which he also co-founded along with brother and former US cit champ Justin.

 

Finally…

Maybe you can’t run away with the circus, but you can ride there. Or where it used to be, anyway.

And actor Will Smith gives a new bike to a man who rode his bicycle across Africa to go to college.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

WeHo votes on Vision Zero Monday, not guilty plea in Magnus White death, and popular comic dies in solo ebike crash

December 15, 2023 / / Comments Off on WeHo votes on Vision Zero Monday, not guilty plea in Magnus White death, and popular comic dies in solo ebike crash

Just nine days left in 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

We’re running neck-and-neck with last year’s record-breaking total — which means we could easily set a new record for the ninth time in a row. Or fail for the first time ever. 

Which way it goes is entirely up to you.

Thanks to Nina N for her generous donation to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy, and keep it coming your way every day. 

So don’t wait.

Drop what you’re doing, and give now!

And if you have any money left, toss a few bucks to LA Streetsblog for their fundraising campaign. 

………

Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program as promised this fall: 6

………

If you live, work or ride in West Hollywood, clear your schedule for Monday night.

Because the WeHo City Council is scheduled to consider the city’s first Vision Zero Action Plan at Monday’s council meeting.

The meeting is set to begin at 6 pm in the council chambers at the new West Hollywood City Hall, at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. It’s Item 5C on Monday’s Council agenda.

As we’ve learned the hard way — hello, Los Angeles — a Vision Zero plan is only as good as the political will of city leaders to fund and implement it.

But so far, West Hollywood’s leadership seems committed to carrying out their decisions — including the recent decision to only build protected bike lanes.

So this one is worth showing up and fighting for.

Thanks to David for the heads-up.

………

More on the arrest of the driver who killed 17-year old US Cycling Team member Magnus White in Boulder, Colorado earlier this year.

The 23-year old driver appeared in court Wednesday, and entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of vehicular homicide, a class 4 felony with a maximum of 6 years in prison, along with a potential fine ranging anywhere from two thousand to half a million dollars.

Yeva Smiliansk described herself as a Ukrainian refugee, with no criminal history there or here in the US.

According to Smiliansk, she ran down White as he rode on the side of the roadway because her steering failed, while prosecutors allege she chose to drive while sleep deprived, and fell asleep at the wheel.

White was training for the junior mountain bike world championships in Scotland, where he was scheduled to compete just weeks later.

Meanwhile, his parents discussed their grief over the loss of their son, who would have carried a 4.2 GPA into his senior year of high school, despite competing at an international level.

………

In another followup, we’re learning more about the tragic death of popular standup comic Kenny DeForest, who died surrounded by family and friends in a Brooklyn hospital on Wednesday, nearly a week after crashing his ebike.

Despite initial reports that he was struck by a driver — and the subsequent anger of his fellow comedians — Deadline reports he was injured in a solo crash while riding near Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

However, police were not called to the scene, and there’s no word on what may have caused the crash.

The 37-year old comedian appeared on MTV Decoded, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Late Night With Seth Meyers, the Just For Laughs TV series Straight Up, Stand Up, HBO’s Crashing, and Comedy Central’s Tales From The Trip.

The Springfield, Missouri native had also recently released a standup special on YouTube.

A crowdfunding campaign to help pay his medical expenses has raised more than $178,000, easily topping the $150,000 goal.

I’m told that DeForest’s death hit close to home for LA writers, who got to know him during the recent writer’s strike, when he participated in several of the Bike the Strike rides.

Thanks to Mike Burk and Nina Moskol for the tip.

………

‘Tis the season.

First responders in California’s Alameda County answered a little girl’s letter to Santa, giving her the bicycle she asked for, along with some milk for her baby brother.

Volunteers in Vancouver, Washington built 800 bikes to be handed out to children during the holidays.

The nonprofit Boise Bike Project will give away 500 bicycles to kids in need this year, despite a local driver’s best efforts to kill their building.

Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels will team with the founder of the Raising Cane’s restaurant chain to give away over 1,000 bikes to kids in cities across the US.

………

………

Local 

Santa Monica cops will conduct another bike and pedestrian safety operation today, ticketing anyone who commits a violation that could endanger someone walking or riding a bike. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed. 

REI is closing their very busy Santa Monica location, while a new ebike dealer opens its doors in the city.

Police in Redondo Beach asked parents to control their ebike-riding kids so they don’t have to.

The Acorn has more on the half-million dollar grant to build 11.5 miles of bike lanes in Agoura Hills.

 

State

A Bakersfield bicyclist was collateral damage when a driver ran a red light and slammed into a truck, which was pushed into the crosswalk where the victim was riding; he was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.

A Santa Barbara writer says the city needs to learn from the Netherlands by slowing traffic and building safe bike infrastructure to encourage higher bicycling rates.

 

National

The Biden administration has instructed federal employees to use sustainable transportation and zero-emission vehicles, including bikeshare, whenever possible.

Bike riders from across the US share what keeps them coming back to their favorite local bike shops.

Hawaii has seen a nearly 20% drop in traffic deaths this year, although bicycling fatalities reached their highest level yet, with nine riders killed this year.

Maine could soon follow California’s lead in limiting the number of gas-powered vehicles sold in the state.

Automated speed cams passed the Pennsylvania legislature, with the support of local advocacy groups.

 

International

Road.cc rates the best reflective bikewear and gear for the coming year.

 

Competitive Cycling

A writer for Men’s Journal says he dove into the deep end of ultra-distance bike racing so you don’t have to, encouraging others to learn from his mistakes in the 800-mile Bohemian Border Bash.

 

Finally…

Wear a lighted bike helmet without looking like a geek. And what it’s like to actually live with one of us.

………

………

Chag sameach!

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

WeHo council unanimously commits to protected bike lanes, and Emeryville mayor talks bikes with The War on Cars

November 8, 2023 / / Comments Off on WeHo council unanimously commits to protected bike lanes, and Emeryville mayor talks bikes with The War on Cars

It’s a slow new day, which is a good thing since I spent most of the night sleeping off the effects of riding the blood sugar roller coaster all day yesterday. 

So let’s get right to it.

………

West Hollywood has committed to building only protected bike lanes from here on.

As opposed to Culver City, which seems committed to removing them.

Let’s just hope that doesn’t turn into an excuse not to build any WeHo bike lanes at all.

……..

Popular podcast The War on Cars talks with Emeryville mayor John Bauters, the country’s real bike mayor.

………

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

No surprise here, as Chicago drivers complain about changes to a popular new protected bike lane that makes it harder for them to park illegally.

Good question. London bike riders question what “genius” thought it was a good idea to leave a utility pole standing in the middle of a new bike lane.

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

A Seattle man faces charges after allegedly attempting to stab a man sitting outside a restaurant in the face as he rode past on his bicycle, for no apparent reason; the intended victim escaped injury when he leaned back in time to avoid the blade.

If you’re planning to burglarize a St. Louis apartment, make sure to lock your bike first so someone doesn’t toss it in a dumpster and steal your beer.

………

Local 

This is why you don’t try to stop a bike thief yourself. A 20-year old man is being held on $1 million bail after allegedly stabbing a man who tried to stop him from stealing a kid’s bike in Beverly Hills.

 

State

Calbike considers the long and winding road to Complete Streets in California.

The surf community gets out its torches and pitchforks after someone posts a photo of a sticker calling for no ebikes in California state parks.

The CHP is hosting a bike light giveaway tonight for students at UC Santa Barbara.

The San Jose Mercury News’ Mr. Roadshow recommends wearing light clothing and reflective bands at night so drivers can see you more easily, and reminds bike riders to use the bike lane, while telling drivers it’s a no-no to use one to pass someone. Then again, some drivers wouldn’t see you if you had a rotating lighthouse attached to your bike. 

Sad news from Turlock, where a 33-year old man was killed by a hit-and-run driver in a Hummer while walking his bicycle.

 

National

Forbes lists five great American cities for bicycling, two of which are on the West Coast. And none of which is Los Angeles, to the surprise of no one.

The student newspaper at Marquette University says Milwaukee has long been known as a top city for bicyclists, but must take steps to improve.

The owner of the New York Mets introduced a plan to replace the stadium parking lot with a casino, but he’s willing to toss in a public park and bike paths, too.

A 12-year old North Carolina boy was lucky to survive when he was sucked into a muddy sinkhole up to his chest while riding his bicycle, and screamed for help for nearly three hours before some other kids heard him.

Tragic news from Virginia, where an 80-year old man riding a bicycle was killed when he was rear-ended by a driver, who got a lousy ticket for reckless driving. Anyone still riding a bike at that age deserves a hell of a lot better. 

 

International

Cyclist says we need new classifications for drop-bar bikes. Evidently, all those road-gravel-cargo-touring-racing-hybrid hybrids are getting confusing.

London’s transportation agency has commissioned a report on sexual harassment of women bike riders to determine why women are more reluctant to ride, and what can be done about it. I’d suggest taking a clue from a classic Cheech and Chong routine, and whack their pee-pee. The harassers, I mean.

An Irish man is asking for the public’s help after a pair of bicycles worth nearly $10,000 were “allegedly” stolen from a shed at his home. Which would appear to be a classic misuse of the term “allegedly,” since they were either stolen or they weren’t.

Heartbreaking news from South Africa, where members of a bike club are considering giving up riding entirely after a member of the club was brutally attacked by thieves who stole his bike as he lagged behind the group, and left him for dead; fortunately, he survived after being stabbed in the back, with the blade missing his aorta by a mere 2 mm.

That’s more like it. Indonesia’s Bike2Work community has revoked Jakarta’s two-year old Bicycle Friendly City title effective immediately, saying the city needs to be more consistent in developing facilities for bicycling.

A New Zealand paracyclist plans to join five other riders to become the first blind bicyclist to ride the full 1,000-mile length of the island nation.

 

Competitive Cycling

Hats off to former L39ION of Los Angeles cyclist Freddy Ovett, who “torched” the New York City Marathon course by achieving a personal best of 2:37:18, finishing 123rd out of more than 51,000 runners.

A writer for Bicycling briefly rides shoulder-to-shoulder with two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar, before ending up chasing him through the Alps. Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

Former Portuguese sports director Nuno Ribeiro received a 25-year ban for “trafficking, possession, and supply” of illegal substances including testosterone, cortisone and steroids; he’s a two-time loser, after he was stripped of one of his two Volta a Portugal wins for testing positive for EPO in 2009. But cycling’s doping era is over, right? Right?

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can have a roadie bike seat with a backrest. Or you could own your very own ugly, blocky, uncomfortable bike that turns into a scooter, or maybe the other way around.

And tell me again how you can’t take your groceries home on a bike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

243 miles of South Bay bullshit, WeHo considers banning non-protected bike lanes, and LA rips out existing bike lanes

November 3, 2023 / / One comment

Don’t forget tonight’s memorial and ghost bike ceremony for fallen Santa Monica bicyclist Tania Mooser.

Meanwhile, I’m told Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is working with the widow of fallen Hollywood producer Bob George to arrange a ghost bike ceremony, after he was fatally doored in a Fountain Blvd bike lane, and will invite everyone to show up to demand safer infrastructure when details are in place.

……..

The South Bay Cities are punting on safer streets and installing a 243-mile network of sharrows, which have been shown to actually increase the risk for people on bicycles.

In fact, recent studies have demonstrated that sharrows are worse than nothing in terms of bicycle safety, while their arrow motif appears to exist solely to help drivers improve their aim in an effort to thin the herd.

Which is why bike writer Peter Flax has said “sharrows are bullshit,” in a Medium column as well as on a popular t-shirt.

So, in other words, the South Bay intends to install 243 miles of total BS.

And frankly, that stinks.

www.nicetryflaxy.com

………

Yes, please.

In marked contrast to the South Bay, the West Hollywood City Council will consider a proposal at their meeting on Monday to plan and implement nothing but protected bike lanes — Class I or Class IV — anywhere in the city.

Better yet, the proposal would be implemented without removing any proposed bike lanes from the city’s General Plan, and could include upgrading existing facilities.

Like the bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd, which currently provide convenient space for double-parking while waiting for a curbside space to open up in Boys Town.

……..

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton calls out the City of Los Angeles for putting bike riders at risk by removing bike lanes on six streets, in favor of installing still more parking.

Because as we all know, the convenience of drivers matters more than human lives in the City of Angels.

………

For those keeping score at home, The Washington Post offers all the facts you need to know regarding the trial of Kaitlin Armstrong for the murder of gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson on Austin, Texas last year.

………

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

No bias here. Toronto NIMBYs, including the provincial premier, trot out the usual anti-bike lane tropes in calling for the removal of a newly extended bike lane, insisting that no one ever uses it even though it’s the busiest bike lane in the city.

A British bike rider shares harrowing footage of getting deliberately rammed off his bike after he had the temerity to object to a punishment pass; naturally, the woman behind the wheel walked without a single day behind bars.

………

Local 

Pasadena’s intentionally irreverent Doo Dah Parade returns in two weeks to gleefully mock the city’s Rose Parade. But ride a bike to avoid the city’s infamous traffic and parking problems. 

 

State

The raisin capital of the world hosted an international transportation innovations summit last week, as Fresno celebrates a lifestyle of fun and livability.

Bay Area bicyclists have filed suit against US Bank, after it allegedly installed a gate blocking a longstanding bike path easement used as a shortcut to access Mt. Diablo, forcing bike riders — including a high school and middle school mountain biking team — to ride a busy, steep and narrow highway instead.

Sacramento is converting a busy one-way street to two ways to make room for bike lanes, although not everyone is onboard.

 

National

Writing for Road Bike Rider, a cycling coach lists 12 common off-season mistakes to avoid.

Bicycling suggests the best forms of cross training to help reach your bicycling goals. Although I originally read that last word as “goats,” which would have made for a much more intriguing article. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

A modern Penny Farthing rider takes pleasure in bringing a little silliness and joy to the streets of Kansas City, even if some people mistake him for a hipster. Because everyone knows Penny Farthings are the hipster transportation of choice.

Cincinnati Bengals safety Nick Scott is one of us, riding his ebike to work at the city’s stadium. Even if he thought the terrain in Los Angeles wasn’t conducive to riding in his four years with the Rams.

A Streetsblog op-ed argues that it’s long past time for protected bike lanes in Jamaica, Queens, which has thus far been ignored by city officials.

A North Carolina website considers cheap and easy changes to improve safety for the state’s bicyclists.

The Orlando, Florida man accused of murdering a couple riding their bicycles home from last year’s Bike Week festivities — the motorized kind — is back for another mental competency hearing, after he was diagnosed schizophrenia and hospitalized earlier this year.

 

International

Momentum examines that makes a great bicycling city. Los Angeles at least has the topography and climate parts covered; the rest, not so much.

Makes sense. A British Columbia driver saw someone on a gas-powered bicycle coming up fast behind her, so she naturally slammed on the brakes, with predictable results.

Kate Middleton, Britain’s Princess of Wales, ran to the rescue in full mom mode when a young boy fell off his bicycle, after she and Prince William rode a bike course at a Scottish school.

Letter writers in the UK take issue with the assertion that bike lanes are only for “champaign socialists.” Everyone knows we’re more into a good craft beer, anyway. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The last place finisher in this year’s 2,500-mile Transcontinental Race from Belgium to Greece discusses her experience on a Road.cc podcast, including crashing into a fence after falling asleep as she was riding her bike.

Carson’s Velo Sports Center will host next years US Elite & Para-cycling Track National Championships, as well as the 2024 Pan American Track Championships.

 

Finally…

If James Bond rode a bike, this would be it. When life gives you mistakenly installed bike lanes, don’t enforce the parking restrictions.

And the proper response to getting a parking ticket is to just ride your bike instead.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Las Vegas teen filmed vehicular murder of former Bell police chief, and “car-owning” WeHo bicyclist decries Fountain plans

September 18, 2023 / / One comment

Now we know why it’s murder.

It took about two weeks after the crash for Las Vegas police to determine that the killing of retired Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst in an August hit-and-run was intentional.

The reason became evident this weekend when horrifying video of the collision surfaced and quickly went viral.

In the video, which was AirDropped to students at a local high school at the end of last month, the teenage driver and his passenger(s) can be seen cursing at passing cars, before spotting Probst riding his mountain bike in a bike lane.

This is how TMZ described the lead-up to the crash.

The 17-year-old driver and his passenger were cruising down a street in Las Vegas on August 14, coming up behind Andreas Probst as he rode his cycle in the bike lane. Filming with his cell phone, the passenger was chuckling with the driver as they plotted to run over Probst. You can hear them say, “Ready?” and “Yeah, hit his ass.”

So much for any question of intent.

According to The Daily Mirror,

The vehicle is seen in the footage coming up behind a red-clad man riding a bicycle alongside the road. The motorist pulls into the bike lane behind him, honks his horn, and purposefully strikes the cyclist’s back tire, sending him flying with the encouragement of his buddies.

The passenger records Andreas lying helplessly on the side of the road behind the vehicle. “Damn that n* got knocked out!” the passenger says as the driver can be heard stepping on the gas.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal says, despite attacks from rightwing sources including Elon Musk, James Woods and Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld, not only were they aware of the video within hours of the crash, they were instrumental in getting it to the police.

The Review-Journal’s coverage of the incident was also heavily criticized by readers who posted screenshots of a news obituary that ran in the Review-Journal on Aug. 18 — more than a week before the video surfaced — with a headline describing the incident as a “bike crash” and not an intentional killing.

In fact, a source had contacted the Review-Journal about the existence of the video more than two weeks ago, and a reporter had instructed the caller on how to forward the video to Metropolitan Police Department detectives investigating the case. Nine hours later, police announced that the incident had been deemed a homicide.

The Review-Journal also reports the passenger has not been charged, which seems inexplicable unless they were captured on the video screaming in horror at the deliberate carnage.

Hint: they weren’t.

At the very least, such a heinous crime would seem to call for a felony conspiracy charge, since both the driver and the passenger appear to have been planning the fatal assault.

It also calls into question whether the teenaged driver arrested for last week’s vehicular rampage in Huntington Beach that killed one man riding a bicycle and injured two others was a copycat attack.

It’s possible he may have seen video of the Las Vegas murder, or one of the other similar video circulating online, and attempted to copy them.

Or he may have simply lashed out on his own, for reasons known only to him.

………

No bias here.

Writing for WeHoVille, a “car-owning bicyclist” rides his bike down the sidewalk along Fountain Ave, to demonstrate that few people currently ride bicycles along the deadly thoroughfare, and insist that two years of construction to install a protected bike lane will devastate the businesses along the half block that actually has them.

Never mind that his own decision to ride on the sidewalk, rather than risk riding in the street, makes the case for building the bike lanes.

Let’s be clear: While WeHo talks a big game about “uplifting” marginalized people and “amplifying” their voices, the city’s pedestrians — those blue-collar, minimum-wage earning people the city claims to care so much about — are silently struggling just to get from Point A to Point B every day, as they’ve done for decades.

But fixing sidewalks isn’t glamorous, and that’s why WeHo hasn’t given a fuck thus far.

Even now, the impetus for reconstructing Fountain Avenue wasn’t to benefit pedestrians or disabled people. They were an afterthought.

Installing bike lanes, the cause celebre of every young politician and hip urban planner, was the point of this project.

Never mind that many of the “blue-collar, minimum-wage earning people the city claims to care so much about” are forced to ride their bikes to work along busy, dangerous corridors choked with traffic.

And not many use the sidewalks, because they can’t afford to live there.

………

When is a bike lane not a bike lane?

When it’s a parking lot.

………

Streetsblog celebrates yesterday’s NoHo CicLAmini.

………

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

A St. Louis moonlight bike ride was cancelled at the last minute as people were gathering at the start line, because drivers had moved the barricades blocking roadways along the route, and a third-party company hadn’t secured it.

An English bike rider is left waiting in vain for the police to do something after he catches a punishment pass on his bike cam, as the driver yells at him to “Get off the fucking road.”

No bias here. A Singapore website accuses an ebike rider and a motorist of road rage for engaging in a heated dispute in the middle of the roadway. Never mind that the bike rider was minding his own business until the impatient driver started honking at him for no apparent reason.

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

Tragic news from New York, where police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who killed a 69-year old woman as she was crossing a “chaotic” intersection. Since the bicyclist was on a bikeshare bike, police should be able to access user and GPS data to determine who was using a bike at that time and location. Which raises the question of why they apparently haven’t yet.

An ebike-riding man is recovering from injuries and faces sexual assault charges, after a Virginia woman flagged down a passing car when the man groped her on a bike path, then smiled as he rode away; she was able to catch up with him and apparently kicked his ass, knocking him off his bike and placing him in a chokehold until police arrived.

A Toronto cop was hospitalized, and a bike rider faces charges, after the cop was hit by someone who was allegedly riding his bicycle erratically and weaving between pedestrians in the city’s Entertainment District.

………

Local 

Metro’s new rush hour bus and bike lanes on La Brea Blvd are officially open for business. But that hasn’t stopped anyone from using them — and loving them — already.

Streetsblog says Metro has installed new plastic bollards to protect the First Street bike lanes, which could be the first step in meeting their commitment to on bike/walk connections the promised for Metro’s new subway stations. However, it’s worth noting that the new bollards are spaced too far apart to keep motorists from driving or parking in the bike lanes, and won’t actually protect anyone from anything.

West Hollywood will consider a program to implement a bicycle repair station pilot program at tonight’s city council meeting.

Culver City is moving forward with plans for both painted and protected bike lanes along the southern section of Overland Blvd, at the same time the city is trying to rip out the MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes through downtown.

Santa Monica’s ebike voucher program for low-income residents is set to begin next year; qualified people could receive up to $2,000 to purchase an ebike and accessories.

 

State

Huntington Beach will consider new ebike regulations at tomorrow’s city council meeting; the proposed ordinance would create different classes of electric bikes — which the state has already done — while providing for criminal or civil citations, and adding a section for unsafe riding. However, all of that may be moot and illegal, since regulating ebikes falls under the authority of the state, along will all other traffic regulations. 

A La Jolla father calls for action on traffic safety measures after his 14-year old son suffered broken bones in his hand and foot when he was struck by a driver in a left cross crash, as he rode his ebike in a marked bike lane; the driver was waved through the intersection by another motorist, and failed to see the kid on his bike.

San Diego faces concerns about meeting the city’s climate goals, after a crackdown on e-scooter providers dropped ridership 80%.

The days of having The Snake to yourself could be coming to an end, with plans in place to reopen the curvy, 2.4-mile stretch of steep canyon road in the Santa Monica Mountains to motor vehicles next year.

A San Jose councilmember denies striking a bike-riding man with his car, despite three witnesses who say he gave the man money after running him down; he claims it was a near miss, and he only gave money to help the victim, who appeared to be homeless.

San Francisco Streetsblog says bicyclists are furious that protected bike lanes are no longer on the table for Arguello in the Presidio, when champion cyclist Ethan Boyes was killed earlier this year.

 

National

The Manual says don’t bother buying an e-mountain bike because government regulations limit where you can ride it. However, a travel website disagrees, listing ten of the best trails around the US where ebikes are welcome.

A Park City, Utah columnist says “Bike thieves suck” after her ebike and foldie are stolen from her building’s garage, apparently because she locked them together rather than to a fixed object. Although even that wouldn’t stop a determined thief with enough time. 

The local community came through for a five-year old Texas boy after his bike was stolen; within minutes of his father posting news of the theft online, he had offers for two bikes.

An 80-year old New York man was murdered by a black-clad man on a bicycle who circled the area apparently waiting for the victim to return home from a party, then rode up and shot him two times point blank in front of the victim’s horrified wife, in a killing caught on video; using a bike allowed the killer to approach his victim quickly and silently, without drawing undue attention.

A reminder that Hugh Jackman is one of us, after he’s spotted riding bikeshare bike through New York’s Tribeca neighborhood a day after announcing his separation from his wife of 27 years.

More proof bike riders are tough, as a man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana walked himself to the hospital, despite three stab wounds in his back, after three people stabbed him and stole his bike and wallet, then left him bleeding on the sidewalk.

 

International

Residents of a Toronto neighborhood jeered the borough mayor when he said a new bike path had nothing to do with the traffic death of a woman as she walked along the newly narrowed roadway.

Montreal’s mayor is demonstrating the political courage to close a popular park roadway to motor vehicles, and reclaim Mount Royal Park for bike riders and pedestrians. In other words, the kind of courage we seldom see in Southern California. Let alone Los Angeles.

The murder bug has apparently spread across the pond, as two men face attempted murder charges for deliberately running down a bike rider on the streets of Glasgow.

Nineties pop icon Jason Orange is one of us, as the tabloids say the Take That star is virtually unrecognizable riding a bikeshare bike through the streets of London. Even though all of them seem to have spotted him.

A radio station remembers the day 65 nude women rode bicycles around London’s Wembley Stadium to film the video for Queen’s iconic hit Bicycle Races. 

Wales has become the first country in the UK to drop speed limits from 30 mph to 20 mph. Because 20 is plenty in urban areas.

After courts awarded her the equivalent of over $620,000 for the death of her husband, a British woman decried the “inhuman” response of city leaders, who blamed him 100% for his own death after he was killed by a garbage truck driver as he rode his bike.

A French consortium pans to build a nearly 3,000 foot, 900 kilowatt solar panel bike path along the Rhône River capable of powering over 700 homes. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link. 

A Belgian bicyclist shown on video kneeing a five-year old girl in a viral video from Christmas Day 2020 has now won a defamation suit against the girl’s father, after a court fined the bike rider the equivalent of a dollar, concluding he didn’t intend to hurt her.

Heartbreaking story from India, where a 17-year old girl was killed when someone on a passing motorbike grabbed the traditional stole she was wearing as she biked home from school with a friend, causing her to fall into the path of another motorbike rider; two suspects were shot by police after they attempted to escape following their arrest, stealing a rifle and firing on the cops as they fled.

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, as a Singaporean bicyclist jumped off his bike to save someone who had fallen into a canal, along with members of the country’s civil defense force.

Helmet use has tripled among Japanese bike riders in the wake of a new law requiring them, although the lack of punishment for violating the law means it’s still only up to 13.5%.

An Aussie man warns bike riders to beware of swooping magpies, after he nearly lost an eye when one attacked him two year ago.

 

Competitive Cycling

It’s official. Twentynine-year old Colorado resident Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta on Sunday, days after his own teammates attacked in an apparent attempt to wrest the red leader’s jersey from his shoulders.

Kuss is the first American to win a grand tour since Chris Horner won the Vuelta in 2013, and just the second person to win one grand tour after riding in all three.

Guyana’s junior cycling team was left standing at the airport, instead of flying to the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships, because someone apparently forgot to check the airline’s strict no baggage policy, which includes racing bikes.

 

Finally…

A mountain biker demonstrates why actual wheels usually work best. Yes, you can get a DUI while riding a horse in California.

And there may be bicycle-riding ghosts out there, but this probably ain’t one of ’em.

Especially since that video seems awfully familiar.

………

A special thanks to Steve Fujinaka for a very unexpected and generous donation to help keep all the best bike news coming your way that lifted my spirits over the weekend. 

Donations are always welcome and appreciated, whatever the reason.  

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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