Saints, Hot Dogs and Observatories

Yesterday, Heather and I struggled with a plan of some sort. How should we spend this lovely day in Los Angeles? We finally settled on my long sought after obsession of visiting Saint Vincent's Thrift Store in Lincoln Heights, near Downtown Los Angeles.


Frohawk told us about St Vincent some time ago. He is a regular and showed us around the store. You really have to search out the good stuff, as it is by far the largest thrift store I have ever seen. Afterwards, he took us to the best hot dog stand in Lincoln Heights, around the corner from St. Vincents at San Fernando and Humboldt.

Bacon wrapped, all beef goodness. Later on, we drove up to the Griffith Observatory and enjoyed the sunset and city lights.



A fews years after the renovations were completed, there is still no let up in the crowds who flock to this L.A. landmark. Overall, a great Saturday Staycation.

NYPD rookie body slams cyclist in NY Critical Mass Ride

Courtesy. Professionalism. Respect.



Read the New York Times account of the incident here.

How Safe Is Your Commute?

Have you ever wondered how dangerous the roads are that you travel on each day? Well now you can visit saferoadmaps.org type in your address and see just how many traffic fatalities occur in your neighborhood.

SafeRoadMaps.org "combines information from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System with Google Maps to give you a visual representation of traffic safety across the entire nation."

I found out that a 17 year old girl was struck and killed by a car less than a mile from my house as well as a 51 year old male bicyclist! Bummer...

The site is incredibly thorough and has links to news report videos of many crashes, and detailed police reports of each incident.

If only I had this to ride tonight in Critical Mass

Whoever says American Ingenuity is dead has not yet witnessed the Waffle Bike.

Here's the guy who made it:

Drama on Mandeville

According to prosecutors, on July 4th, a physician driving on Mandeville intentionally slammed on his brakes in front of 2 bicyclists, causing one rider to smash face first into the back window of his Infiniti and the other to launch over the car onto the pavement. He faces two felony counts each of reckless driving causing injury and battery with serious bodily injury. This is a doctor, who took the hippocratic oath to never harm anyone. And this isn't the first time he's been accused of road rage against bicyclists.

I always hear about road rage between bicyclists and cars, but this story shocked me. After riding for over 5 years on L.A.'s streets, I can honestly say I never experienced a driver threatening my physical safety. The most I experienced was getting honked at while hugging the right side of the lane by a person with less than perfect spatial awareness. Drivers in L.A. are woefully uninformed about the laws governing bicycles on the streets. The Outdoor Urbanite has a great post explaining the laws that drivers and bicyclists must abide by. Some lesser known of these laws include:

Bicyclist Rights (CVC 21200)

Bicyclists have all the rights and responsibilities of vehicle drivers.

Yes, bicycles have a right to be in the road! Personally, my riding style is to pretend I am invisible and to ride as if no one sees me. Of course, these riders were intentionally targeted so that would not have helped me much in this instance. I hope the riders have a speedy recovery and that the driver is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

From LACBC:
L.A. City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl (Council District 11) has called a public meeting, to address residents' and cyclists' concerns about Mandeville Canyon Road and Westside cycling issues in general, on Monday July 14th at 6:30pm at the Felicia Mahood Multipurpose Center at 11338 Santa Monica Blvd.

Photoshop Trickery or Jedi Mind Trick?

Iran launched some missiles yesterday, but just how many is up for debate. Too bad they didn't outsource their image editing to Pixar. WALL E!!!

Once again, Mugabe wins & Zimbabwe loses

I was saddened but not surprised to read that after months of seeing his supporters beaten, kidnapped, jailed and murdered, Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the Zimbabwean presidential runoff election. His decision was a shrewd one, that now places great political pressure on the few remaining supporters of Mugabe, as well as all African leaders, to now distance themselves from his regime. Tsvangirai saw no advantange in staying in the race, where it was almost certain that the violence would only intensify. With over 70 of his supporters dead, and tens of thousands of people displaced, the cost was just too high to justify continuing. Tsvangirai is now seeking refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare. It's shocking to see how brutal and oppressive Mugabe's regime is. He's committed countless crimes against his own people, while African leaders praise him. His status as a liberator allowed him to become a tyrant under the noses of his neighbors, while his people now need to be liberated from him. I only hope the story does not end here, and that Tsvangirai lives to fight another day.