Here is another one that has been rattling around inside my empty head for a few years. My reccolection is that I came across the term ‘bikelash’ when I was reading an article on Bikesnobnyc about some residents of Coronado Island who were upset abut a bike lane being put in. They called it “Graffiti on the streets” and said it induced “a dizzying type of vertigo.” Silly stuff. The graffiti line stuck with me so I did the logo in red spray paint. Sort of. I could have made it realistic, but it looks better this way.
The video is worth watching. The complainers are hilarious and ridiculous. The thing is, bikelash is real, and these knuckleheads got 12 more miles of bike lanes on Coronado cancelled.
At least this round of bikelash is not nearly as bad as the one in the early 1970’s. During the first bicycle boom, selfish and unimaginative people hated bikes so much many many many silly laws were put on the books, and many are still around. A few years ago, (I must have been batting a bout of insomnia) I looked up and read the full text of all of the bicycle laws for the state of California and for all of the cities in North San Diego County. This is from memory so i may get some of it wrong, but here is what I recall learning:
It is illegal to ride a bicycle on the side walk in the city of Vista, for any reason.
It is illegal to ride a bicycle faster than 15mph in the city of San Marcos. An enterprising officer could really clean up by pulling over the Swami’s ride on Saturday.
It is illegal to ride a bicycle in the city of Carlsbad unless it has been registered with the Carlsbad police. This includes ALL bicycles, not just bicycles owned by residents. So if you are from out of town, and you ride a bicycle within Carlsbad city limits, and your bike is not registered with the Carlsbad police, then you are breaking the law. My recollection is that the police can impound your bike!
If you buy or sell a bicycle and either the buying or selling party lives in the city of Carlsbad, written notification of the sale must be sent to the chief of police within 48 hours. Not the police, the Chief of Police specifically.
To the best of my knowledge, these are all current laws. So there you have it folks. Bikelash.