“I bike where bikes are banned,” writes Perry. He and 9 friends illegally rode their bicycles through congested traffic on the Santa Monica Freeway west of I-405. Here’s video of their exploit.

In my area, it appears freeway traffic has dropped substantially over this past week as more people eschew single occupant motor vehicle travel. A side effect of higher gas prices is less traffic congestion.

Bike Month. The San Francisco Bay Area Bicycle Coalition and Metropolitan Transportation Commission announced the 2008 Bike Commuter of the Year awards for each of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties.

San Francisco Fell & Masonic. Motorists turning left from Fell onto Masonic cross the Panhandle Path crosswalk and collisions with bicyclists are almost routine. City attorneys in San Francisco persuaded Judge Peter Busch to make an exception in his injunction against bicycle projects for intersection improvements at Fell and Masonic in the City. Work can now proceed to improve the intersections so the crosswalk will have its own green cycle, and left turners must wait for a green turn arrow. More at SFist and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

Spinning Crank. The May issue of the Spinning Crank [PDF] is available online. The Spinning Crank is the newsletter of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. The May issue covers Bike To Work Day events throughout the South Bay and on the Peninsula and the nearly 80 “Energizer Stations” that will be open on that day. Use the Energizer Station interactive map to find an Energizer Station on Bike To Work Day.

Marin and Sonoma County. Read commentary on the commuter rail proposal from Larkspur to Cloverdale.

Bay Area air quality: It’s bad. Those who are out in it every day already know that.

Bay Area job openings

• Napa County Bicycle Coalition seeks Executive Director. Details.
• Bay Area Bicycle Coalition seeks Bike To Work Day Assistant Coordinator. This is a temporary position that will last from the hire date until June 30, 2008. See here for details.
• SF Bike Coalition is searching for a Membership and Development Assistant. Details. SFBike also has an opening for a part time bookkeeper and various intern positions.

Happy USA Bike Month, all!

Tom Boonen has proved to be too fast on the road, and will now have to get around on just his bike for a while. The QuickStep rider was clocked driving at 120 km/h in a 70 km/h zone in Mol, Belgium last Thursday night, and as a result has lost his driving licence for 14 days. The police confirmed that they caught the former world champion in a radar trap.

120 km = 75 miles, 70 km = ~45 miles. Read more at Bike Radar.