News and other links from San Diego

Here are a few stories from around the county that caught my attention.

• San Diego’s mayoral candidate, Nathan Fletcher, wrote this commentary in the U-T on the San Diego he envisions for future generations. This morning he released his environmental plan that he will implement as mayor.
• Pacific Beach’s bike patrol team has some new fancy gadgets to help them patrol better.
• Local leaders kicked off bike month by nervously riding around Civic Center Plaza.
• Although predictions stated that about 6,000 riders would be hitting the streets on Bike to Work Day, I just learned that over 8,500 San Diegans rode to work.
• The city’s first bike corral still brings smiles to everyone who wants a decent place to lock their bike securely.
• Good news on the bike theft front as three thieves arrested in Rancho Cucamonga will pay for having made some of you bicycle-less and miserable.
• The U-T’s owner, Doug Manchester, will do something good for the riders wishing to traverse Mission Valley along the river: he will be paying for the bike path’s extension through his property.
• Were you mystified by all the happy chatter surrounding Bike to Work Day? You’re in luck as two San Diegan women have demystified the commute.
• A new crossing along the Escondido Creek beneath Ash Street opens allowing safer crossing for anyone walking or bicycling.
• Encinitas City Council, scared off by eight vocal residents, reject plants to make Manchester Avenue safe for all its users.
• While some people were discovering or re-discovering the joy of biking to work last Friday, one company in Carlsbad raised the bar and offered their employees the option to bike or work.
• District 9 candidates who want a more bike friendly district now have the luxury in deciding which of the two candidates they’d like to represent them in City Council. Who would you like in office and why?
• The Port of San Diego is about to get a lot more friendlier and much more aesthetically pleasing for anyone riding along Harbor Drive.
• The annual (not quite naked) naked bike ride will soon be here. For more about the organizer (whose name is a delightful aptonym), Sarah Bush, read this story from VOSD.
• The City of Vista having solved all its other problems has decided to go after its most vulnerable road users who are terrified of using Vista’s dangerous roads: the skateboarders, roller bladers and bicycle riders. Maybe Vista wants to chase these individuals away to Carlsbad who is doing everything it can to be more welcoming to everyone.
• Good news to all Lakeside drivers who habitually speed, the law enforcement will be more accommodating in catering to your need for speed. Everyone else, head for Carlsbad.
• While Carlsbad works on making its transportation network truly efficient they have another benefit to look forward to, a fit and healthy populace.
• Local marines have identified the biggest threat in San Diego: mountain bikers who ride local trails and often serve as the trail’s stewards. These marines have ensured that San Diegans have one less protected space to ride in, in San Diego. Perhaps Carlsbad has some options for you to ride in, if not I’m sure Bryan Jones is working on it.
• On a more somber note: Grant Fisher who was struck by a driver from behind while he was riding in the bike lane is now paralyzed from the waist down. If you’d like to help him financially, here is some more information at the bottom of the story.
•  It’s been a month since Charles Gilbreth died, and the ghost bike placed on Montezuma to commemorate Gilbreth’s life has not been confiscated by the local police, this time.