From Ciclavia.org
On Sunday, December 3, we’re opening up streets connecting Leimert Park and Historic South Central so you can jog, ride, bike, skate, run, walk, skateboard, spectate, and enjoy the route however you want. Our routes are welcoming to people of all ages and abilities! This CicLAvia is presented by Metro.
Be sure to join our email list and check back here soon so you don’t miss any event news and updates.
The original super bike? Cervélo launched their first aero bike in 2002, which changed the whole bike industry, and led to the Cervélo S3, made famous by the one and only Dan Lloyd! Si looks back at the history of Cervélo and compares Dan’s 2010 Tour de France bike to his modern Canyon Aeroad. How different is this 13 year old aero machine to today’s super bikes?
From LA.Streetsblog.org
By Joe Linton
Six streets where LADOT added motorist parking at the expense of bicyclist safety. And the city wonders why traffic deaths keep increasing?
Los Angeles City has been removing bike lanes. The practice probably is not widespread, but that is difficult to verify as the city does these removals with no notice, no reporting.
Generally the city Transportation Department (LADOT) removes bike lanes to add more on-street parking.
There’s a pro-car double standard at play here. It can take months, sometimes years, of community outreach to add bike or bus lanes. This often means watering down projects. After significant outreach processes, recent worthwhile projects on San Vicente, Venice, and La Brea were whittled down to just 60, 75, and 40 percent of the respective initial plans. (Those projects got built. Often bus/bike/walk projects that would remove some parking are quietly declared “infeasible” and never even vetted by communities.)
But adding parking and removing bike lanes? That can be done with no public process whatsoever.
For many of the projects listed below, there is no public record, no public vetting of proposals, no community outreach, often not even a public announcement of what has been done.
This post focuses on permanent changes to streets, but temporary LADOT bike lane removals are also not uncommon. SBLA reported on a 2020 temporary removal of the Jefferson Boulevard bike lane.
Photo by Dário Gomes on Unsplash
From MomentumMag.com
City cycling is a fantastic way to get around, but urban streets present unique challenges for cyclists and there are few things that weigh more heavily on a commuter’s mind than navigating a door zone. One of the most significant dangers is the so-called door zone, which is an area next to parked cars where a suddenly opened car door can lead to a potentially catastrophic crash. Even a safe protected bike lane can’t keep a cyclist protected from this imminent danger.
Each year, hundreds of cyclists are injured or killed in such crashes. Statistics suggest anywhere from 16 to 31 per cent of all bicycling crashes happen in the door zone making it crucial to avoid this area or learn to navigate it properly.
Here are some key tips to help you navigate the door zone safely while cycling in the city:
The door zone is the three- to five-foot area next to a parked car where doors can open suddenly. Imagine, it’s the length of a standard car door when fully open. To prevent collisions, always ride on the left side of the bike lane, ensuring that you maintain a distance of at least four feet from parked cars. This position significantly reduces the risk of a door being flung open into your path.
While staying clear of the door zone is essential for your safety, there are situations where you may need to take control of the traffic lane, a technique known as “taking the lane.” This maneuver is crucial when maintaining the recommended four-foot buffer from parked cars isn’t possible, or when you want to ensure your safety and assert your rights as a cyclist.
The bike industry has hit a breaking point, with big brands, including Wiggle CRC and Islabikes having to cease production. Could this be the start of the bike-pocalypse and what could it mean for cyclists? Si and Dan discuss the pros, cons and future of bike brands and the cycling industry. In cycling shorts, pro cyclists take up rickshaw racing for off-season training and there’s a new Mous phone case giveaway!
From GCN.com
Looking to save money on early Christmas gifts for the cyclist in your life? Or thinking of treating yourself on payday? We’ve rounded up the best cycling gift ideas that are in our new 3 for 2 Christmas deal.
If you add any 3 items from the Secret Santa Christmas Deals page to your cart in the GCN Shop, you’ll get the cheapest free!
This is the perfect gift for bike lovers. Cyclists of all abilities would welcome a complete bike maintenance bible to keep their bike running smoothly all year round. This is where the Essential Road Bike Maintenance Book comes in! Covering road, gravel, commuter and hybrid bikes, it has everything you need to fix, maintain and get the best from your bike. With over 71 step-by-step walk-throughs and 64 free companion videos, this book will provide all the essential knowledge needed to confidently take on and complete pretty much any bike maintenance task.
A cyclist can never have enough water bottles in their cycling life. Discover the Elite Water Bottles used by our presenters and by WorldTour Teams. They are lighter than standard water bottles and feature a unique racing design, which has been developed for great stability in the bottle cage and easy extraction while cycling. A perfect gift for the cyclist who has everything – but would still love another gift!
From StreetsBlog.org
Curious how much carbon — and cash — you and your neighbors could save if your government went big on electric bikes? Now you can find out.
By Kea Wilson
Advocates and local transportation leaders can now find out exactly how much their community could gain by encouraging residents to swap car trips for e-bike rides — and how much bang for their buck they’re likely to get if they adopt purchase incentives like Denver’s blockbuster rebate program.
With the help of the new “E-Bike Impact Calculator” from the Colorado-based sustainability nonprofit RMI, anyone with an internet connection and a copy of Microsoft Excel can find out exactly how much money, pollution, and electricity their community might save if leaders leveraged good e-bike policy to achieve even modest mode shift goals.
RMI Senior Associate Bryn Grunwald said she created the tool because “people were sleeping on how awesome e-bikes are at the climate level,” and quickly found that the collective benefits were even more significant than she’d realized.
“[E-bikes are] often talked about more at the individualized scale,” she said. “Personally I experienced myself saving money [from riding one]; personally, I experienced myself having a better connection to my city. … But I wanted to give them good numbers, because there’s a lot of people who can’t imagine themselves biking, and really scoff at the idea that it could be good for the climate.”
Do you grind your way up climbs in hard gears? Or are you more of a high-cadence rider? Alex and Ollie are in Mallorca testing out which gearing set-up is faster. Will harder and lower gearing ratios make for a quicker ascent? Or is it as simple as spin to win?
From Road.cc
With the current cost of fuel and the omnipresent risk of wasting time sitting in rush hour traffic, you might be considering commuting to work by bike. We’ll presume you’ve already got the job to commute to, so now you need the bike for the job! That can be a bit of a minefield, so with the help of Trek’s FX range(link is external), here’s a look at some typical steeds that are ideal for the commute, and some top tips to get you on your way.
For many of us, with the right preparation commuting by bike is not only pretty easy, but also a more enjoyable and sustainable way to travel to work. It offers numerous benefits for your health and finances, and may even mean you can stay in bed a little bit longer.
Commuting by bike is a great way to get out in the fresh air and maybe even contribute to maintaining your fitness. Another positive of commuting by bike is that you can generally get closer to the office than in a car. There’s not many people who like sitting in traffic and trying to find parking spaces in tight town centre car parks, not to mention that parking isn’t free for most of us.
The growing network of cycling infrastructure that’s popping up in cities is also making it easier than ever to commute by bike. To help you find the best bike for your commuting duties, we’ve got our hands on Trek’s FX range. This also happens to be the American brand’s best-selling range.
Photo by Mark Stosberg on Unsplash
From PasadenaStarNews.com
The 110 Freeway from Pasadena to Los Angeles was crowded the morning of Sunday, Oct. 29, not with car traffic but rather with a steady flow of everything people-powered.
From folks riding bicycles, scooters, rollerblades, skateboards or just putting one foot in front of the other, more than 50,000 descended on the six-mile closed-off stretch of the Arroyo Seco Parkway just to experience Los Angeles’ oldest freeway without cars from 7 a.m. to a little after 11 a.m.
It marked the second time the same the freeway was closed to vehicles. The first time took place in June 2003, when two professors from Occidental College and several environmental and cycling groups pulled off the inaugural ArroyoFest — drawing about 8,000 people who traversed the lanes of the emptied freeway.
“A new generation will revive the magic,” said Tim Hepburn, mayor of La Verne and president of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments at the starting line of the second ArroyoFest on Mission Street and Orange Grove Avenue in South Pasadena.
Some walked the first Arroyofest with their young children who are now grown and experienced it a second time. Others came from all parts of Southern California to take part in the phenomenon.
“When you are driving it, you’re going like 70 mph. Now it is cool to take it easy and see all the sites. You see the things you don’t see (when driving),” said Heather Rothenay, 39 of Lake Elsinore. She’s taken part in other open streets events in San Diego and Riverside.
Photo by Daniel Lee on Unsplash
