LA Councilmember calls for action while another “reassesses,” this is LA’s darkest hour, and safe passing laws don’t work

February 10, 2026 / / No comments

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.

After writing about two fallen bike riders in a single night — never mind downing two doses of migraine medication — I was done. 

Maybe it goes back to when I started riding, and there weren’t that many of us.

But I feel like everyone I write about is my brother or sister, and every loss feels like a death in the family. 

My heart just can’t take writing about so many, so often. Let alone asking you to read it. 

And for that, I apologize as well. 

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay. 

………

That’s more like it.

Sort of.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports that CD5 Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky called for immediate safety improvements in the wake of the 99 Ranch Market massacre, where an elderly driver killed three people crashing into the Westwood market after hitting a bike rider.

According to Linton,

At last Friday’s council meeting [video – remarks start minute 1:26], Yaroslavsky adjourned the meeting in remembrance of the Westwood crash victims. Yaroslavsky questioned, “Why does it feel like safety improvements take forever even after we know where the risks are?” She noted the current LADOT process for Westwood, pledging to accelerate, “I am calling on LADOT to return with an accelerated timeline for Westwood Boulevard – including immediate quick-build safety measures while longer term work continues.”

“We shouldn’t be waiting years for basic interventions while Angelenos die.”

Meanwhile, CD11 Councilmember Traci Park offered a typically weak-kneed call for “reassessment” after a seven-month pregnant mother of two was killed while riding a bike in Playa del Rey with her toddler son in the seat behind her.

The Playa del Rey killing also saw some response from its City Councilmember Traci Park. Via her email newsletter, Park stated she had visited the crash site and was working with city departments “to re-assess the area for additional lighting and speed safety improvements.” Park noted that bike improvements there were installed and removed in 2017, and that “it’s time to re-open that conversation.” She listed two bike/safety projects she is working on nearby.

The entire Playa del Rey area needs a lot more than a mere “reassessment” of Pershing Drive, where the crash occurred, as well as Manchester Blvd, which has been a frequent site of traffic violence, and Vista del Mar — aka Deadly del Mar —  the site of eight traffic deaths in just the last ten years.

………

In a must-read from Streets Are For Everyone founder Michael Schneider, he responds to the needless traffic deaths Play del Rey and the 99 Ranch Market, calling it LA’s darkest hour.

All of this is in the context of the city being beyond broke. Part of the reason is a record number of liability payouts due to people getting hurt on city infrastructure that the city knows is dangerous but hasn’t fixed or won’t fix. Additionally, the city continues to slow walk Measure HLA implementation — the exact kind of implementation that would make streets safer.

As a safe streets advocate, it’s hard not to take it personally when someone dies while walking or biking in the city, because I often walk or bike around the city, often with my kids. Living in a city where a pedestrian is injured every 5 hours and killed every 2 days is deeply painful. To have two horrific crashes claim lives on streets that the city was supposed to make safer — but hasn’t yet, or even worse, backtracked after installing safety improvements — is beyond the pale.

Meanwhile, LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who is running for re-election this year, puts the deaths in their proper context.

………

No surprise here.

A new Aussie study shows that safe passing laws don’t really work, because — wait for it — drivers don’t follow them.

The country requires a minimum of roughly three feet, and roughly four and a half feet on roads with speed limits over 44 mph. Which might actually keep bicyclists safe if drivers didn’t keep violating it.

Instead, researchers recommended infrastructure improvements like protected bike lanes, traffic calming and more road space, which would do a lot more to improve safety for people on two wheels.

………

If you need a good laugh, the Desert Sun says a driver and an 18-year old on a bicycle “collided into each other in Cathedral City,” but only the kid on the the bicycle got hurt.

Never mind that the kid got right hooked. Or that it’s almost always the person on two wheels who gets injured, rather than the person surrounded with a couple tons of steel and glass, seat belts and air bags.

Or on second thought, maybe it’s really not that funny at all.

………

Okay, so why is Caltrans refusing to make a lousy three blocks in Santa Monica safer for bike riders?

………

They get it.

………

Streets For All is hiring.

………

First, they confiscate the bicycles.

German soldiers with rifles confiscate bicycles in front of the Royal Palace on Dam Square, Amsterdam, early April 1945(see ALT-text for more info)📷Ad Windig

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2026-02-07T20:16:02.353Z

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Advocates in Iowa call a proposed bill that would ban bikes on most public roadways “the most anti-biking bill in history;” the good news is that backlash from bicyclists helped drive a stake through its heart.

No bias here. The head of London’s Licensed Taxi Drivers Association launched into a tirade blaming the “white, middle-class cycling lobby” for a proposal that actually came from a representative for Lime to time traffic lights so they create a “green wave” for bicyclists.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Although you could make the case that the kids were just “liberating” the 101 Freeway, dangerous and illegal though it may be.

Speaking of bad behavior, Strava has deleted millions of KOMs because people cheated by using ebikes and cars.

………

Local 

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole an adaptive bike from a nine-year old Los Feliz kid with Down syndrome and autism; a crowdfunding campaign to replace it has surpassed the modest $7,000 goal by over $2,000.

The LA Bureau of Engineering will host a virtual meeting this evening to consider the Glendale Hyperion Bridge Improvement Project, intended to improve earthquake resilience, restore the bridge’s historical appearance, and improve circulation and safety for people driving, biking, walking and rolling.

Advocacy group Santa Monica Spoke and SaMo city staff will host a guided bike ride highlighting recent First/Last Mile safety improvements in the Bergamot Area this Sunday.

 

State

A coalition of San Diego transit and bicycling advocates is asking the city to improve access for people who don’t drive, rather than fighting with drivers who don’t want to pay for parking.

Palm Springs secured nearly $900,000 in increasingly rare federal funding to build a safe pathway to get people to the new CV Link bike and walking path.

Bicyclists fought to save San Mateo’s Humbolt Street bike lanes at last week’s city council meeting — which were threatened by drivers who wanted more free curbside parking — and won.

Sad news from Marin County, where a bike rider was killed when they were struck by a driver in a massive SUV. But at least the driver stuck around and tried to do CPR.

 

National

CyclingSavvy offers advice on how to avoid predawn crashes.

Good advice. If you find yourself in Seattle and are planning to go to the Seahawks victory parade, ride your bike. And if you’re in New England, feel free to ride your bike anyway.

A Phoenix man says he hit and killed a woman riding a bike because he fell asleep behind the wheel, then apparently fled the scene and drove home without waking up — but swears he’d trade his life for hers. The problem with that it’s always too late once someone feels that way. 

A bike thief in Las Cruces, New Mexico was shot and killed after engaging in a gunfight with an off-duty cop who tried to stop him.

Hats off to the crew of Albuquerque Fire Engine 11, who not only took a bike rider who fell off his bike to the hospital, but also gave his bike a safe ride home.

My bike-friendly Colorado hometown will join cities across the country in celebrating Winter Bike to Work Day this Friday. Although a certain bike-unfriendly SoCal megalopolis we could name won’t be participating, despite having some of the country’s best winter weather. 

Chicago is hosting the city’s 28th annual Bike Winter Art Show, with bicycle-themed art that that doesn’t ignore local and national issues.

A Chicago chef is back to cooking, two and a half years after a collision while riding his bike left him on the brink of death.

A Massachusetts woman has figured out a way to get drivers attention that works a hell of a lot better than hi-viz, riding her bike topless, albeit with pasties, to make the case that women should be allowed to shed their tops just like guys do. All titillation aside — pun intended — there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to. Period.

A kindhearted North Carolina cop gave a seven-year old boy a new bicycle after he had two bikes stolen in just months. And perhaps more importantly, gave him a lock, too.

A Florida man faces charges for hit-and-run after injuring someone on a bicycle, then abandoning his truck in a creek; he was already on probation vehicle theft, drug possession and failing to appear, and had an active warrant for skipping out on his sentencing for a DUI case. Sounds like a prince.

 

International

Travel + Leisure calls Mexico’s 1,700-mile Baja Divide Trail one of biking’s best kept secrets.

A British Columbia writer says his wife was seriously hurt in a collision with a driver while riding her bike, but she was one of the lucky ones.

A writer for The Independent goes bikepacking on Scotland’s “stunning” National Bike Network. And encounters a massive bicycle sculpture, complete with bike rack and U-lock.

London’s Cycling Mikey may be the city’s most hated and controversial bicyclist for using his helmet cam to keep drivers honest, and turning them into the cops when they’re not. Although video evidence generally isn’t accepted for traffic violations and misdemeanors in this country.

Bike Radar says there are still three performance bike brands being made in the UK.

Dublin will test out letting bike riders make the equivalent of right on red, in a country where drivers can’t. But only when it’s safe.

An Irish man rode over 1,860 miles from Ireland to Australia, traveling across three continents and 28 countries.

Australian bicyclists say a crucial Sydney bicycling route has become a nightmare since the city’s new Fish Market opened, forcing bike riders to compete for space with crowds spilling over from the market.

 

Competitive Cycling…

Meta talks with Olympian and pro cyclist Kate Courtney.

The Athletic profiles Sepp Kuss, calling him the “best American cyclist of his generation.” Although that one may be hidden behind a paywall. 

Elvis star Austin Butler will play America’s favorite seven-time ex-Tour de France champ in a new biopic. ‘Cause he ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog. Lance, that is. 

Three-time Tour de France champ Chris Froome was lucky to escape unharmed when an impatient hit-and-run driver totaled his bike.

Jonas Vingegaard “lost the man who mentored him to grand tour superstardom,” after his longtime cycling coach Tim Heemskerk left the Visma-Lease a Bike team “with immediate effect.”

Colombian track cyclist Martha Bayona Pineda has been banned for 18 months for failing to report her whereabouts, but hasn’t failed any actual drug tests.

A Zimbabwean mountain biker says who needs toes, anyway?

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can get coaching from an actual knight. Now your kid can make the Costco run with their very own cargo balance bike.

And when you’re drunk as a skunk, maybe don’t yell at a cop ticketing a driver as you ride by on your bike. Or run over a bike cop’s bicycle with your car, for that matter.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

27-year old bike rider killed early Friday in Colton hit-and-run; 13th SoCal bike death in last 30 days

February 9, 2026 / / No comments

It’s happened yet again.

For the 13th time in 30 days, someone riding a bicycle has been killed in Southern California. And once again, the victim was murdered by a hit-and-run driver.

This time in Colton.

According to KTLA-5, which has the most detailed report, the victim was struck while riding at Riverside Ave and Key Street around 4 am Friday.

The victim, identified as 27-year old Colton resident Sinahi Moises Garcia, was pronounced dead at the scene. It’s not clear if Garcia was a man or a woman, though Sinahi is usually a feminine name.

There’s no word on how the crash occurred, or whether Garcia had lights on their bike in the predawn hour. Then again, we have no way of knowing if the driver was using their lights, either.

There’s also no information on where Garcia and the driver were positioned on the three-way intersection, which is controlled only by a stop sign on Key. There appears to be a bike lane on Riverside, which has the kind of wide, straight traffic lanes that encourage speeding, particularly at that hour.

Police do not appear to have a description of the suspect or their vehicle, or which way they fled.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Colton Police Officer A. Jacobson at 909/370-5000, or ajacobson@coltonca.gov. Anonymous tips can be submitted to We-Tip at 1-800/782-7463, or via wetip.com.

This the 13th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and it appears to be the first in San Bernardino County,

Four of the SoCal deaths involved hit-and-run drivers..

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Sinahi Moises Garcia and their loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Man dies mountain biking near La Tuna Foot Trail in remote section of Shadow Hills; 12th SoCal bike death in 30 days

February 8, 2026 / / No comments

Make that 12.

Just hours after learning about the 11th bicycling death in Southern California in just the last 30 days, we learned that yet another person has lost his life riding a bicycle.

This time in Los Angeles County. Although it’s not exactly clear how or why.

Multiple sources are reporting that a man was found next to his mountain bike in severe medical distress, in a remote section of Shadow Hills above Burbank Sunday morning.

Aeromedics were dispatched at 10:44 am, and lowered by helicopter after locating the man near the La Tuna Foot Trail, and immediately began lifesaving efforts. Additional personnel from the Los Angeles and Burbank Fire Departments hiked in and travelled by Jeep to reach the scene.

However, despite their efforts, the victim was declared dead at 11:38.

There’s no word at this time whether victim’s medical condition was caused by a fall or natural causes, or due to some other factor. It’s also possible his death could have been due to natural causes brought on by mountain biking.

He was publicly identified only as a man around 50.

The scene was turned over to law enforcement for further investigation.

This the 12th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and remarkably, already the seventh in Los Angeles County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and her loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Woman riding bicycle killed by speeding hit-and-run driver in Long Beach; 11th SoCal bike rider killed in last 4 weeks

February 8, 2026 / / No comments

This is getting really old.

For the 11th time in the past 30 days — okay, 28 — someone has been killed riding a bicycle on the mean streets of Southern California.

And once again, the victim was murdered by a hit-and-run driver.

According to the Long Beach Police Department, a woman riding a bicycle was mowed down by a motorist who ran a stop sign in broad daylight, then just kept running.

The crash occurred at 4:48 pm Saturday — about 45 minutes before sunset — at Redondo Avenue and East 2nd Street.

Police report the victim was riding south on Redondo when the driver blew through the stop sign on westbound 2nd at a high rate of speed, striking her, then continuing west on 2nd without stopping.

When police arrived, they found the woman, who has not been publicly identified, being tended to by a bystander who had stopped to help. She was taken to a local hospital, where she died.

Authorities are looking for the driver of a 2025 gray Hyundai Sonata; there’s no description of the driver at this time.

Long Beach Watchdog reports she was the fifth person killed as a result of traffic violence in the city already this year, two of the dead were on bikes.

According to the Long Beach Post,

Fatal traffic collisions have been a growing problem in Long Beach despite the city promising it would try to eliminate them completely by 2026. Last year, there were 53 deadly crashes in the city. Most people killed were outside a car: walking, biking or riding an e-scooter.

Long Beach’s strategy is to force drivers to slow down, but the city has faced criticism for moving too slowly on some tactics, such as installing automated speed cameras.

Anyone with information is urged to call LBPD Collision Investigation Detail Detective Edwin Paredes at 562/570-7110, or anonymously through LA Crime Stoppers at 1-800/222-TIPS (8477).

This the 11th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the sixth in Los Angeles County; three of those SoCal deaths were caused by hit-and-run drivers.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and her loved ones. 

Thanks to Chris and Danny for the heads-up. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Elderly woman kills 3, injures 4 crashing into Westwood market; study shows ebikes boost mental health in elderly

February 6, 2026 / / 4 comments

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m just glad this damn week is over. 

I mean, it is over, right? Tell me it’s over. 

It’s just been one damn thing after another. And as soon as you think you’ve caught your breath, something even worse happens. 

But on the plus side, Sunday offers one of the best days to ride a bicycle, with virtually traffic-free streets until the game is over. Or gets out of hand, anyway. 

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

This is who we share the road with.

An elderly woman — the media was all over the place reporting her age, throwing out seemingly random numbers from 70 to 87, before apparently settling on 92 — crashed into the 99 Ranch Market on Westwood Blvd early Thursday afternoon.

Three people were killed on the spot — two men, ages 30 and 55, while the other was a 42-year old woman.

She also critically injured two 35-year old men, and two other men suffered minor injuries, one 37 and the other 38.

The horrific incident started when the woman struck a bike rider at Wellworth Ave and Westwood Blvd, then reportedly continued down the sidewalk before crashing through the glass windows into the store’s bakery department.

At least the guy on the bike walked away, as did the woman behind the wheel.

So far, police have termed it a tragic accident.

You know, just another oopsie.

Just a kindly old lady who just got confused, lost control of her car, and didn’t mean to cause any harm.

Not one word, at least to this point, discussing whether someone that old should have even been behind to begin with. Never mind that for most people, cognitive abilities decline with age, eyesight weakens, and reaction times slow.

No one is saying she’s not a nice person, and no one can say whether she was at fault for the initial crash with the bicyclist. Or that she doesn’t need a car in this damnably car-centric city.

But it’s hard to believe that a younger driver wouldn’t have been able to come to a stop before plowing into a building a full block away.

We continue to allow elderly people to continue driving, even as their abilities to do so safely decline. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?

Four dead people and an unborn baby, the victims of two drivers well over 80 in less than a week.

Just the normal cost of getting from here to there, I guess.

Thanks to Andy for the heads-up. 

………

No surprise here.

A new study on the effect of cycling in older adults published in the PLOS One medical journal shows that bicycling improved cognitive function and mental health in the test subjects, whether they rode regular bicycles or ebikes.

According to the abstract,

For executive function, namely inhibition (the Stroop task) and updating (Letter Updating Task), both cycling groups improved in accuracy after the intervention compared to non-cycling control participants. E-bike participants also improved in processing speed (reaction times in go trials of the Stop-It task) after the intervention compared to non-cycling control participants. Finally, e-bike participants improved in their mental health score after the intervention compared to non-cycling controls as measured by the SF-36. This suggests that there may be an impact of exercising in the environment on executive function and mental health.

In fact, the ebike riders actually showed more improvement than the regular bike riders.

Perhaps because ebikes are easier on older bodies, encouraging people to ride both more, and more often.

Just a guess.

………

They get it.

In a surprisingly commonsense editorial, the conservative Orange County Register urges Irvine, and by extension other OC cities, to go slow when it comes to regulating ebikes.

We don’t have a problem with cities enforcing some sensible rules and reminding e-bike riders that they have a responsibility to be respectful of pedestrians and those who use traditional bicycles. Still, we worry that in their zeal to regulate, cities are tamping down on the core benefit of these e-bikes: providing people with that wonderful freedom of travel.

Which, at its core, is exactly what ebikes offer. Whether you’re young or old, healthy or otherwise.

It’s not that ebikes are better than regular bikes. They just meet different needs for different people.

And that shouldn’t be taken away just to rein in a relative few out-of-control kids.

………

In better news, Gravel Bike California takes in the gravel and wine experience riding around Temecula.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Confusion reigns over Ireland’s proposal to require helmets and hi-viz for bike riders, even as a deputy prime minister insists they didn’t mean to include regular bicycles, just ebikes and the ilk.

………

Local 

The Los Angeles Daily News profiles the owners of Spoke N’ Wheel, the oldest bike shop in the San Fernando Valley, as it nears the half-century mark. Which is only four years older than my ’81 Trek. 

 

State

The California Transportation Commission continues to flush the overwhelming majority of a newly released $1 billion transportation fund down the highway-expanding induced-demand toilet, while giving a small boost to transit and active transportation.

Volunteers maintaining the La Jolla Bike Path are calling on the city to post more signs to discourage people from building their own unauthorized bike trails, after discovering a number of such trails carved into the hillside. Because as we all know, posting a sign is almost as effective as a sternly worded letter to the editor in deterring scofflaw behavior. 

The annual Tour of Palm Springs rolls this weekend, resulting in a number of street closures in the area. Or openings, actually, since they’re only closed to cars.

Hats off to Alameda, which was elevated to a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community.

There’s a special place in hell for the man who attacked a ten-year old boy in Valley Springs and stole his bicycle, as the kid was riding with friends. Or for anyone else who’d attack or rob a little kid to steal their bike.

 

National

Like Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, Trek goes electric with a 28 mph “car-replacing” ebike. And yes, I’m going to keep trotting out that reference until I find someone else old enough to remember it.

An opinion columnist for the Seattle Times relates how he took his stolen ebike back from someone who claimed he bought it for 400 bucks, recognizing it as the man rode by and confronting him at a red light.

Well, no shit. The annual Minneapolis Frostbike trade show was cancelled due to ‘current law enforcement activities.’ Apparently, they didn’t want to risk anyone getting inadvertently deported or shot by ICE agents. 

No surprise here. Immigrant advocates and older adults decry New Jersey’s draconian new ebike law as discriminatory; the law requires licensing and registration for every ebike, without distinguishing electric motorbikes and dirt bikes from ped-assist commuter bikes.

The Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition complains about snow removal from bike lanes, saying the city’s winters are comparable to Copenhagen, which does a much better job. Although that’s not a problem Los Angeles riders usually have to deal with. 

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 73-year old Georgia man is planning to ride 950 miles to Washington DC to honor fallen service members and support the families they left behind. As we’ve noted before, however, there’s a big difference between planning to do something and actually doing it. So wake me when it’s over.

A Florida design website profiles local artist JC Franchevich, who paints images of Fort Meyers when he’s not off on long distance bicycle rides, including Bolivia’s famed Death Road.

 

International

Welcome to 1890. A 25-year old London man faces charges of “wanton and furious driving” for killing an ebike rider while driving a horse and cart. Yes, the original one-horsepower vehicle. 

Bicycle production in Spain was off 8.1% last year, while ebike production plummeted by 21.4%, even as the bicycle market in the country booms.

Sun’s out, buns out. An Aussie writer says now that the sun is out Down Under, it’s time to consider how to not feel the burn and stay comfortable while you ride. Which seems to be good winter advice here in sunny California, too.

 

Competitive Cycling…

Hi-viz and a flashing light didn’t seem to help Italian WorldTour cyclist Gianmarco Garofoli, who was run down from behind by a hit-and-run driver doing around 60 mph while on a training ride; fortunately, he wasn’t badly injured, and spotted the car as he returned to his hotel and alerted authorities.

Jens Voigt says we live in a golden era of cycling, adding “Every now and then you have Pogacar or Einstein being born.” Although I’d take Pog over Einstein on a hilly descent any day. 

USA Cycling announced the return of the Collegiate All-Star Program, mentoring colleges stars as they take the step up to elite cycling, and compete as a team in this year’s Redlands Bicycle Classic.

 

Finally…

Who really needs actual, factual bike news, anyway? Now you, too, can visit the world’s first hotel catering strictly to mountain bikers, though you may want to start boning up on your conversational Norwegian.

And you gotta eat sometime.

Let alone catch up on the day’s — hopefully factual — news.

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7vpdxcialxa6j5s7yh5g5jhf/post/3me2gommmjc2t?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Froad.cc%252Fcycling-live-blog-5-february-2026

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Thanks to Jordan for an unexpected donation to help support this site, and keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

And thanks especially for the nice comment that accompanied it.

If you’d like to join him in supporting this site, just click here. Kind words optional.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

New study shows drivers just don’t get us, and the short trip from WorldTour cyclist to doper to OnlyFans and funny money

February 5, 2026 / / No comments

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.

After writing about Sunday’s fallen bicyclist in Hemet, my internet service went down at precisely 12:07 am as I was in the middle of writing what would have been yesterday’s post.

At which point, I wisely gave up and went to bed, after Spectrum finally stopped insisting there was no outage in my area, and admitted  they wouldn’t be back online until 5 am, at best.

On the other hand, I am pleased to announce that our spokescorgi will be competing in the 2026 Winter Corgi Nationals at Santa Anita racetrack on February 15th.

She is easily the fastest corgi I know. But whether that energy can be directed towards running in a straight line remains to be seen.

And yes, I’m told the betting windows will be open. Although where they’ll find a jockey that small, I have no idea.

Feel free to open a crowdfunding page to fund matching team uniforms, along with a limo to deliver her to Arcadia in the style to which she’d like to become accustomed.

Or a decent bucket bike, anyway. 

This is from last year’s Summer Corgi Nationals.

Now, we’ve got a lot to catch up on, so let’s get to it.

………

A new study from Rice University says drivers just don’t understand us.

No, literally.

According to the research, drivers get hand signals when you point directly left or right in the direction you’re turning. But bending your left arm up to signify a right turn, or holding it down to indicate braking, not so much.

They’re also clueless when it comes to road positioning or body language to indicate your intentions on the road.

However, while the study doesn’t mention it, my personal research indicates drivers still understand the gesture most commonly used by bicyclists to signify displeasure.

Yes, that one.

………

Um, okay.

Twenty-four-year old Italian Andrea Piccolo demonstrates his unusual career path from WorldTour cyclist, to banned bike doper, to OnlyFans model, to getting busted by the cops for counterfeiting.

Although it beats the career path of 64-year old Colombian Luis “Lucho” Herrera, who went from Vuelta winner to hiring death squads to kill his neighbors.

………

Maybe it’s just me, but didn’t we see this same video last year?

………

Now you, too, can replace your chain with a set of 3D-printed gears that look like they came out of a Lego set.

………

A former member of the British Parliament inadvertently made the case for a protected bike lane with her “bonkers” video opposing it, as the video shows a taxi drifting into the existing painted bike lane.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Portland’s Unity Ride protest went from a “joyful” vibe when riders met up, to a full frontal assault on innocent people who were teargassed by federal officers outside the ICE headquarters.

No bias here. A Utah legislator is calling for Salt Lake City to “mitigate” the impacts of any traffic calming work, including “mitigating” lane removals by removing bus and bike lanes and restoring lanes for motor vehicles. Without digging out my old dust-covered Funk & Wagnalls, I’m not sure that’s what “mitigate” means, exactly.

Iowa bicyclists are decrying a so-called bicycle safety bill in the state legislature, which would ban bikes or any other personal conveyance from streets with speed limits above 25 mph, as well as all sidewalks; advocates call it the most anti-bicycling bill in the state’s history.

Horrible news from India, where a 40-year old man was chased down by two men and beaten to death in a petty road rage dispute, which started when the victim’s bicycle brushed a motorcycle owned by one of his attackers; police arrested men the next day, who claimed they were just drunk and the victim owed them money. Oh, well okay, then.

But sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

No bias here, either. Singapore commenters criticize a pair of bicyclists for sprinting and passing one another in the traffic lane, rather than riding in the bike lane, where they would have been mixing it up with kids and pedestrians at over 30 mph.

Aussies were suitably shocked and appalled by images of a bicyclist skitching by holding onto the back of a pickup traveling at high speed — if you consider the equivalent of 31 mph high speed. Although you’d think they would have been mollified by his helmet and hi-viz adjacent pink jersey.

………

Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers a roundup of bike lane news, including approval of the Better Overland protected bike lane project, as well as protected bike lanes coming to Glendale’s La Crescenta Ave and Colorado Ave in Santa Monica.

Tres shock! Los Angeles has installed a new slightly buffered north-south bike lane on a half-mile stretch of Hobart Blvd in East Hollywood/Thai Town/Little Armenia.

LADOT has another survey about the Los Angeles River path, this time looking for connections to a new segment of the LARiverWay in the east San Fernando Valley. Here’s a thought. If they’re trying to build one continuous bikeway along the entire LA River, how about just picking one name for the whole damn thing and sticking with it?

Not everyone loves the shade of “Hollywood” green used to make the West Hollywood bike lanes more visible to drivers, while remaining sufficiently inoffensive to filmmakers. Personally, I’d say it’s more of a puke green, but I appreciate the effort. 

Hats off to the Culver City Unified School District, which is redesigning the parking lot between Farragut Elementary and the Culver City Middle School and Culver City High School campus complex to improve bike parking, and build protected bike lanes leading to it.

 

State

Fullerton is the latest OC city to crack down on reckless ebike riders, including an extra-low 5 mph speed limit on city sidewalks. I’m not sure I could ride that slow on my road bike without falling over, let alone on an ebike.

Around a hundred people turned out for a memorial and ghost bike installation for six-year old Hudson O’Loughlin, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding with his family in Pacific Beach last month.

San Marcos is cracking down on ebikes by fining the parents of kids under 12.

Sad news from Milpitas, where a 69-year old man was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike in a pre-dawn collision. Although for one site, the most important thing seemed to be the traffic problems it caused.

San Mateo voted down a proposal to rip out the four-year old Humboldt Street bike lanes, at least for now, anyway, as they try to figure out a way to keep the bike lanes while restoring the 200 parking places removed to build them.

 

National

A writer for Bike Rumor says just because he rides an ebike — or lots of them — don’t assume he’s lazy.

While everyone else is cracking down on ebikes, Oregon goes the other way, lowering the minimum age to ride an ebike to 14.

A 35-year old Utah woman faces charges for being the ostensible getaway driver for a man who was fatally shot while trying to steal a bicycle.

A Massachusetts man returned home after a three and a half year, 46,000 mile bikepacking tour around the world, hitting six of the seven continents, leaving out only Antarctica.

If you want to ride New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare, watch out for ICE. No, not the immigration service, the stuff encasing the city’s bikeshare docks.

People For Bikes offers a delayed recap of how DC bike riders turned tragedy into action on November’s World Day of Remembrance, before segueing into a call to help pass the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act (HR2011/S944) to ensure more funding for bikeways.

Florida is taking a surprisingly rational approach to regulating ebikes, as a proposal to create a task force to prevent ebike injuries moves forward in the legislature.

A Florida bike club is in mourning after a 67-year old club member was killed when he was struck by a truck driver towing a trailer; others in the club said that no one was safer on a bike, or followed the rules more than he did. Which is a tragic reminder that you can do everything right, but your safety still depends on the people you share the road with.

 

International

Momentum asks if it’s ever too cold to bike to work. If you ask most Angelenos, that’s any time the temperature drops into the 60s. Or 70s if it’s overcast. 

Road.cc recommends the best road bikes for under the equivalent of $2,700.

A writer for Canadian Cycling Magazine gets on his soapbox, and makes the case for why shouting “on your left!” is the worst thing a bike rider can do, aside from buzzing someone’s shoulder afterward, arguing that we should all just use our bells. Because evidently, every road and racing bike comes fully equipped with a bike bell, as any rider in the pro peloton could undoubtedly tell you.

A bikeshare system in the Scottish Highlands proves ebikes can boom outside of big cities, as users rode enough miles last year to go around the world three times.

He gets it. Lime Bikes UK policy director called for retiming the city’s traffic lights to create a Green Wave, enabling bike riders to get a wave of green lights so they don’t have to keep stopping.

A new report from Shimano shows the UK and Ireland have the lowest rate of bicycle ownership in Europe, calling it a wakeup call, as fewer than half of all homes have a bike.

If the Irish government approves a call to require bike helmets and hi-viz, it would apply to everyone on any type of bicycle, not just people on ebikes.

In a bizarre story, Polish adventurer Adam Boreiko was found dead in his Russian hotel room while attempting to ride the 570 miles from Yakutsk to Oymyakon in Siberia — the coldest spot outside Antarctica, at the coldest time of year; he’d already covered 250 miles, and appeared to be in perfect health when he stopped for the night, but was found dead the next morning. Has anyone checked him for polonium? Just asking. 

China’s newest literary star can claim bike shop worker and bike courier on his extensive resume.

 

Competitive Cycling…

The founders of Formula Fixed discuss the hows and whys of their track Brakeless Cycling League.

American startup Modern Adventure Pro Cycling had a podium finish in the inaugural race, nearly winning the recent AlUla Tour, nee the Tour of Saudi Arabia.

Twenty-five year old Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay claimed his first stage win since 2024, winning the first stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in his first race for his new NSN Cycling team.

That feeling when some fool on an ebike ends up leading the breakaway at the Grand Prix La Marseillaise.

 

Finally…

Your next Ducati may not use gas — or even have an engine, for that matter. Your next gravel bike may have been born a mountain bike.

And no one ever said riding a tandem was supposed to be easy.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

40-year old man killed by truck driver while crossing Hemet street on his bicycle Sunday evening

February 3, 2026 / / 3 comments

This week just keeps getting worse.

As if the death of a ebike-riding woman and her unborn baby in Playa del Rey wasn’t bad enough, now we’re learning that a man was killed by a delivery truck driver while riding his bike in Hemet on Sunday.

According to Valley News, the victim was hit with the truck while attempting to cross Florida Ave and Hamilton Ave at 6:49 pm.

He was reportedly attempting to cross Florida on Hamilton when he allegedly rode out in front of the westbound truck.

A Hemet cop on patrol witnessed the immediate aftermath of the crash, and attempted to perform life-saving measures on the victim, who was identified later as 40-year old Hemet resident Ricardo Olvera Hernandez.

He died at the scene.

The driver remained after the crash and cooperated with investigators, who do not believe he was under the influence.

A street view shows the intersection is controlled only by a two-way stop sign on Hamilton, with no bike infrastructure on either street.

The story doesn’t say which direction Hernandez was riding, but it’s possible he just didn’t make it across the five lane street before the truck caught up with him.

Anyone with information is urged to call Hemet Police Corporal Coley at 951/765-2400, file #2026-00837.

This the tenth bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the second in Riverside County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ricardo Olvera Hernandez and his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Move along, nothing to see here — heartbroken rage edition

February 3, 2026 / / No comments

My apologies.

I’ve spent the last hour trying to write today’s post, and all I’ve done is type and delete, type and delete, with no idea what to say or how to say it.

To be honest, I’m just numb tonight, torn between the gut wrenching heartbreak of a pregnant mother and her unborn baby losing their lives for the crime of riding a bicycle with their family on the mean streets of Los Angeles. And white hot rage knowing it happened on the same street where bike lanes were installed, then unceremoniously ripped out, because a couple of rightwing radio jerks jocks didn’t like not being able to go zoom, zoom on the street anymore.

Jon and Ken, this blood is on you.

Assholes.

As you can see, I’m just not in control right now. And it’s taking all my self control not to throw this damn laptop across the room.

So we’ll be back tomorrow to catch up on what I couldn’t bring myself to write about tonight.

Until then, stay safe.

Please.

Category: General /

Update: 36-year old woman and unborn baby killed riding ebike on Pershing Drive in Playa del Rey, where bike lanes removed in 2017

February 2, 2026 / / 10 comments

Apparently, last month isn’t done with us yet. And it ends with perhaps the worst news of all.

After a month that had already seen seven people lose their lives riding a bicycle in Southern California, you can add two more to the tragic toll.

And one wasn’t even born yet.

According to a crowdfunding campaign, 36-year old Regan Cole-Graham died after being struck by a driver while riding a bicycle with her husband and two kids this past Saturday.

She was seven months pregnant.

Her unborn daughter survived another day before dying in the NICU at UCLA Children’s Hospital on Sunday.

What appears to be an AI generated site offers information that appears to come from the police report, placing the crash around 6 pm on Pershing Drive in Playa del Rey. A mobile app places it around the corner at 451 E. Manchester Ave at 6:02 pm.

Meanwhile a witness on Reddit says the crash occurred directly in front of the Hacienda Playa restaurant on Pershing.

According to the AI site above, Cole-Graham was pronounced dead on arrival after being taken to a hospital.

There’s no details on how the crash occurred, though the same site says she was riding an ebike. The driver remained at the scene.

Sadly, that’s exactly where bike lanes were installed in 2017 after a years-long community process, only to be removed following complaints from drivers used to zooming along the street.

It’s impossible to know whether this tragedy could have been prevented if the bike lanes were still there. But their removal will almost certainly mean Los Angeles will be liable for her death.

The GoFundMe describes Cole-Graham as “…a loving & devoted wife, a fierce & joyful mother, a hilarious & loyal sister, and a beautiful, fiery daughter.”

As of this writing, the site has raised more than $134,000 to pay for funeral expenses and help her husband and kids with their future, while the goal has been raised to $210,000.

These are the eighth and ninth bicycling fatalities that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, the fourth and fifth in Los Angeles County, and the second and third reported in the City of Los Angeles.

Update: At least now we know what happened.

According to Fox-11, Regan Cole-Graham and her husband were both riding ebikes, with their two sons strapped into the child seats on their bikes. And yes, they were all wearing helmets.

Not that it would have helped under the circumstances.

An 87-year old driver ran down Cole-Graham from behind, knocking her into the street, where he ran over her with his sedan. Her three-year old son remained strapped into his seat as the car pushed her bike down the street, suffering minor injuries.

The driver remained at the scene; police do not think he was under the influence.

According to CBS News,

Yuda Zweda witnessed the incident and says that she briefly spoke with the man afterwards.

“The only thing he really said, ‘Please pray that she survives,'” Zweda said.

People who live in the area say that the intersection is dimly lit and dangerous for pedestrians.

“They put in some speed bumps down there and flashing lights, but I still just don’t think people seem to notice,” said one resident.

Ashley Saglie, described as a friend of the victim, expounded on that.

“I think a lot needs to change. I think there needs to be better lighting, I think there needs to be an expanded bike path,” Saglie said.

Never mind that there was a briefly bike lane on Pershing Drive, right where the crash happened, less than nine years earlier.

According to the California Post, the new West Coast edition of Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, Cole-Graham was an executive with Google’s LA office.

Cole-Graham had worked for Google in Los Angeles since 2019, where she served as Consumer Marketing Lead and later Brand Partnerships Lead and orchestrated a multi-million dollar partnership with Live Nation among other deals, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Before that, she worked as a Senior Product Marketing Manager for AT&T and marketing manager at DirecTV, where her father also worked as an executive and helped her get her first job after she graduated from San Diego State University, her family’s lawyer said.

According to the Post, her husband described her as an “amazing wife” and “the world’s best mother.”

Brian Breiter, the attorney for the family, commented on the tragedy, as well as questioning why the man who hit her was still driving.

This is the hardest time anyone could imagine, and I just want them to be together. Imagine a three year old little boy and an 18 month old child witnessing that?” Breiter continued.

“And then, of course, their unborn sister, who survived in the NICU but unfortunately didn’t make it.”

Breiter said he’s reviewed horrific footage showing the crash, which remains under investigation by authorities.

He noted the driver’s age at that “at some point it times to take the keys away” from some people.

Which is exactly why I keep bringing it up.

Meanwhile, the crowdfunding page for her husband and sons has raised nearly $200,000 of the $210,000 goal.

Update 2: Cole-Graham’s husband has been identified as Matthew Graham, a writer for Sports Illustrated, who was also one of the founders of USA Today’s For The Win. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Regan Cole-Graham, her unborn baby, and all their family and loves ones. 

Thanks to Joe, Richard, Oren and Madeline for their help in piecing this together. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , ,

Tens of thousands turnout for Unity Rides to honor ICE victim Alex Pretti, and LBPD accused of withholding info on killer driver

February 2, 2026 / / No comments

Bicyclists in Los Angeles joined people at hundreds of rides around the US, Europe and Australia in honoring VA nurse Alex Pretti over the weekend.

Pretti, described as an avid mountain biker and lover of the outdoors, was killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis a week earlier when he tried to help a woman who had been gassed by agents for no apparent reason.

CBS LA offered a brief report one of the Los Angeles rides, taking with Finish the Ride founder Damian Kevitt across from the VA grounds about how Alex Pretti was one of us, as Pretti’s parents said he would have loved the rides.

The LA Times also covered the same ride, one of several held in the Los Angeles area, listing the turnout at several hundred. And like CBS LA, also quoted Kevitt.

Damian Kevitt spent Saturday afternoon on a 10-mile bike ride with hundreds of other cyclists, a sticker displaying Alex Pretti’s photo stuck to his jersey

“These are just cyclists, clubs, bike shops and individuals who have come together and said, ‘Hey, Alex was one of us,’ ” said Kevitt, while riding on Broadway in Santa Monica. “He was an ICU nurse, he loved the outdoors, he loved cyclists and he loved cycling.”

However, the paper included their brief coverage of the peaceful Unity Rides in the same story with on a rally to protest ICE in DTLA that was peaceful until it wasn’t, after police declared an unlawful assembly when a relative few protesters refused to leave at the end of the day.

Unsurprisingly, a crowd estimated in the thousands turned out for the Minneapolis ride, riding past memorials for Pretti and Renee Macklin Good, and the VA hospital where Pretti worked, with may participants wearing yellow vests that read “Peaceful observer, don’t shoot.”

Several other rides also made the news, with turnouts ranging from a few dozen riders in small Iowa and Wisconsin towns, to over a thousand in my Colorado hometown.

I can’t remember any other event that united so many riders here in Los Angeles, let alone tens of thousands of bicyclists throughout the US.

Let’s hope that our leaders get the message, and that this is the last memorial ride like this we ever need.

But I fear it’s just the beginning.

………

The Long Beach Police Department is accused of illegally withholding information from relatives of 35-year old Raul Agustin Galloppa, who died two weeks after he was run down by a driver while riding his bike back home.

Galloppa was allegedly struck by 24-year old Ahkeyajahnique Owens as she was driving at an extreme rate of speed on city streets. She’s also accused of running a red light while driving around 100 mph just three months later, killing two more people.

Galloppa’s kin, who live 5,000 miles from Long Beach, allege they were denied all but the most basic information about the two crashes.

They’re asking a judge to order the police to release the information.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Democrats in the Washington State legislature are proposing a one-time $25 fee on the sale of all bicycles worth more than $500. Because apparently, paying the sales tax just isn’t good enough anymore.

No only are Ontario provincial officials threatening to rip out Toronto bike lanes, now bicyclists are demanding to know who is going to clean the snow out of the bike lanes, after it was dumped there by snow plows clearing the immaculately snow-free traffic lanes.

But sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Police in Carlsbad arrested a 22-year old Oceanside man for slapping women on the ass while riding his ebike on a hiking trail.

No bias here. After a 39-year old British man was arrested on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault, The Sun somehow insisted on identifying him only by his manner of transportation. Even though they’d be unlikely do the same for a driver, walker or transit user.

Britain’s Jeremy Vine is confronted by the country’s “rudest” bike rider, offering proof that we aren’t all that different from all the f*****g road-raging drivers out there.

………

Local 

Today is the last day to comment on plan to close the gap on the LA River Bike Path through DTLA, Vernon and Maywood.

Wednesday is Transit Equity Day, in honor of civil rights icon Rosa Park’s birthday, which means free transit on Pasadena Transit, Dial-A-Ride, Metrolink, LA Metro, LADOT and Foothill Transit, as well as Metro Bike bikeshare.

Police in the South Bay are looking for the burglary crew behind a rash of ebike thefts.

 

State

Witnesses provided the evidence that led police in Fallbrook to a hit-and-run driver who ran down an ebike rider Sunday afternoon.

San Francisco bicyclists plan to rally at City Hall today, as the city threatens to end the popular Sunday Streets open streets festival after 17 years due to budget cuts.

 

National

Reporters from Le Monde rode their bikes across Cuba, witnessing the resourcefulness of residents as the country bounces from one crisis to another, all while under the watchful eye of state security. But you’ll have to subscribe or find a way around their paywall if you want to read the damn thing. 

Sad news from Indiana, where a 13-year old boy died after suffering multiple blunt force injuries falling at a BMX bike park; he had raced BMX alongside his younger brother for the past eight years.

A Cleveland writer offers a guide to the kind of cold weather riding most LA bicyclists will never see without moving.

A 65-year old New York man was killed when an ambulance driver hit his ebike head-on, while he was riding against traffic on a one-way street with a two-way bike lane.

Horrible story from New Jersey, where a 40-year old father was stabbed to death in front of his three sons as he was teaching them how to ride a bicycle, after getting into an altercation with their mother’s boyfriend.

That’s more like it. A 19-year old New Orleans man was sentenced to nine years behind bars for the drunken, coke-fueled hit-and-run that killed a 36-year old Bourbon Street bartender as he rode his bike home; he was just below the legal alcohol limit a full 12 hours after the crash.

Not every memorial ride honored Alex Pretti. Florida riders turned out to honor a ten-year old Palm Bay boy who was killed in a house fire.

 

International

A British Columbia bicyclist and expert in road design begs the local government not to build anymore bike lanes — because he doesn’t want any more substandard ones.

A pair of British writers make the case for why bike tours and booze just naturally go together.

Shimano was just the latest bike industry brand to pull the plug on this year’s Eurobike trade show, though talks continue on saving it for next year.

A data breach risked exposing the personal information for all 4.5 million users of the Seoul, Korea bikeshare system.

More bad BMX news, this time from Australia, where a 27-year old man died two days after he crashed at a bike park, on his first time riding a BMX; he bled out from internal injuries after refusing to go the the hospital. A tragic reminder to always get yourself checked out after a crash; if the paramedics hadn’t ignored my refusal to go to the ER after the infamous beachfront bee encounter, I might not still be here to write this. 

 

Competitive Cycling…

Three-time world champ Remco Evenepoel is already in mid-season form, winning three races in three days to start the new season.

While Evenepoel was ruling the road, Mathieu van der Poel was busy setting a new world record by winning his eighth world ‘cross title.

Three cyclists suffered injuries more common with bull riders after hitting the deck during Saudi Arabia’s AlUla Tour at a ridiculous 65 mph, including a broken spine, ripped glutes and a torn anus. Yes, you read that right. 

Former Polish cyclist Stanisław Szozda died following a serious illness; he retired at 28 after winning two Olympic silver medals and two World golds, as well as multiple stage wins. The 62-year old Szozda was described as one of the greatest Polish cyclists of all time.

Nineteen-year old Azerbaijani junior cyclist Artyom Proskuryakov was banned for three years for testing positive for meth, following “intelligence-led testing” during September’s UCI junior road world championships in Rwanda. Because any meth head could tell you it does wonders for their performance, right?

 

Finally…

That feeling when your hand-me-down bike belonged to a racing legend. Or when your local bike lane is in the Epstein files.

And no, your bike doesn’t need an oil change.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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