New Bass plan to keep Forest Lawn deadly, Indian girl who carried injured father 700 miles on her bike, and bike-friendly WeHo council candidate

October 12, 2026 / / 2 comments

A quick heads-up before we get started. 

A number of coastal areas remain flooded and/or damaged after the simultaneous effects of a kelvin wave and Hurricane Rachel over the weekend. 

So maybe stay inland for a few days. Or if you ride near the coast, at least check your route for flood conditions and damage before you go, and turn back at the first sign of standing water. You don’t know what may or may not be hidden by the water, and salt water can be very harmful to your bike.

And to you, if a stray wave catches you.

Today’s photo depicts the most recent deadly crash on Forest Lawn, reportedly due to speeding. 

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I’ll try to get into this more tomorrow, but Mayor Karen Bass released her new plan to add protected bike lanes to deadly Forest Lawn by — wait for it — widening the roadway rather than reducing lanes.

Even though her own staff says it won’t do much to reduce speeding and improve safety. But it will keep her backers at Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai cemeteries happy, as they strive to keep the street dangerous and drive up business.

Yay, us.

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Life can be hard. Especially when sudden fame brings promises that no one keeps.

NPR discovered that when they checked in with India’s Jyoti Kumari, who gained international acclaim at the height of the pandemic when she bought a hot pink bicycle for twenty bucks, and rode over 700 miles to carry her injured father back home.

Despite never having ridden a bike before, and only 15 years old, she made the trip in just seven days in the middle of the lockdown, often riding on an empty stomach.

But sadly, her father died of a heart attack just a few months later.

Here’s how she explained the rest of the story to NPR, and what happened after the acclaim died out.

That was in 2020. “Now — life is hard,” Kumari told NPR.

What happened to all the promises made — for financial support, especially to support cycling as a competitive sport?

Many promises were not kept, she says.

“The politicians who made promises, saying they would give money for my sports or education — nobody actually gave anything,” she says. “Whatever reward money we collected back then [from individuals who extended help and a government award that came with a cash prize], we put it all into our house, rebuilding it. We had a brick house before, but it only had bare walls. Now we have completed it, added a toilet, a bathroom, and a running water connection. By doing all that, the house has finally become livable,” she says…

At the moment, her mother works as a cook. Her meager income supports Kumari and her three siblings at home (an older sister has married and moved out).

“There are days when we go to sleep hungry,” she says. “Our brother-in-law used to help us earlier, but now he also has a child, a wife and his father to take care of. He works a small job in the city — how much can he really do? So now he isn’t able to help us much.”

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read or listen to the story.

If nothing else, it’s a remind that as hard as life may seem at times, we’ve got it pretty good over here.

And that heroes and remarkable achievements are too often quickly forgotten.

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Over the weekend, I ran into Stephen Post, a candidate for the West Hollywood City Council, at Plummer Park.

And no, I didn’t hurt him. And yes, I should be more careful.

We didn’t really have time to chat, since my wife was anxious to leave, and the corgi had squirrel treed a few feet away, and was being very aggressive in her attempts to either a) climb the tree to get it, or b) bark it into submission.

However, I did discover Post is a multi-modal bike commuter who lives just a couple blocks from where Blake Ackerman was killed, and he’s a big supporter of the planned safety improvements on Fountain Ave, including protected bike lanes.

I’ll leave it to you to find out more about his positions on other issues. But we agreed it’s long past time for a new generation of leadership. And he seems like someone ready to take that next step into local governance.

So if you live in WeHo, check him out. And if you don’t, check him out anyway.

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The father and son team of Scott and Ethan Pesch are nearly finished with their 10,000-mile ride to visit every Major League ballpark in the US, with a goal of raising $100,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Meanwhile, another father and son duo completed a 4,300-mile ride across the US, raising $240,000 to fight Type 1 diabetes.

And to think I had a hard time just talking our dad into riding around the block with us. Then again, the racing bike he kept hanging on the garage wall was over 40 years old by then, and it was hard to get parts for a 1920s vintage road bike even back then.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Cal Matters examines what California’s three new ebike laws actually do.

Calbike recaps the wins and losses in the just concluded legislative session, counting the halting of three bad ebike bills among the former.

 

National

No surprise here, at least not if you’ve been paying attention, as a new study from Johns Hopkins reconfirmed that narrowing traffic lanes does not result in more crashes, and makes streets safer for bike riders and pedestrians.

Someone who owns both explains why mountain bikes and road bikes don’t get along, at least when it comes to riding together.

Hats off to Irish ultra-endurance cyclist Joe Barr, who is now the official Guinness World Record holder for biking the entire 2,448-mile length of Route 66 in 10 days, 6 hours and 27 minutes.

A new Honolulu bike commuter looks to New York for hope and inspiration. As do we all, my friends. As do we all. 

He gets it. A letter writer with the Akron, Ohio Vision Zero program says ebikes aren’t the problem, cars are. Or maybe ebikes are a small problem compared to the big, dangerous machines and the people in them.

Seriously, it takes a major schmuck to steal an ebike from an 86-year old Ohio man.

Um, okay. A 66-year old Connecticut priest says he felt like Moses in the desert on just the first day of a 350-mile ride through the Alps to raise funds for a Catholic school. Even though Moses spent 40 years wandering through that desert, and never did get where he was going.

New York is embarking on a ten-year safety review of the city’s streets, with an emphasis on improving condition for bicyclists and pedestrians. The difference between New York and Los Angeles is that when they conduct a safety study, they actually do something about it. 

A couple of New Jersey cops helped resuscitate a 76-year old man after he suffered a heart attack, the second life they had saved in just three weeks.

 

International

Wired examines how a tiny Vancouver-based startup studied head-banging woodpeckers to discover a new approach to skull protection, leading to the world’s safest bike helmet.

A 27-year old London woman was sentenced to almost 11 years behind bars for killing a music student, also 27, as he was riding his bike; she was high on laughing gas and doing two-and-a-half times the speed limit when she slammed into him.

A Scottish counselor warns that wet leaves can be dangerous on bike paths. Which is a good reminder if you’re riding anywhere in SoCal for the next few days.

In response to a question from the Irish parliament, the country’s Minister for Justice says 1,368 bicyclists and 253 e-scooter riders were fined for running red lights since 2024 — and no, they didn’t note the number of drivers ticketed for the same offense, though a previous study showed drivers run more red lights than bike riders do. Maybe it’s just me, but that number actually seems pretty low for a country of five-and-a-half million people.

Thousand of people rode everything from modern recumbents to vintage penny-farthings as Sydney, Australia shut down the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge for the 40th annual bike ride to benefit a mental health foundation.

 

Competitive Cycling

World champ Brandon McNulty, European champ Remco Evenepoel, and other national champions led a five-minute protest before the start of Il Lombardia demanding safer conditions for pro cyclists after recent deaths and serious injuries; following the protest, 20-year old French wunderkind Paul Seixas broke away with 19km — roughly 12 miles — to go to become the youngest winner of a Monument race since 1944.

Twenty-three-year old Norwegian cyclist Per Strand Hagenes won the one-day Paris–Tours race after breaking away from the lead group with one kilometer — a little less than two-thirds of a mile — to go.

Sad news from North Carolina, where 19-year old collegiate cyclist and rising cyclocross star Tofik Beshir remained unconscious in the ICU after he was struck head-on by a driver during a training ride near Lees-McRae College on Thursday; a crowdfunding campaign to help pay his medical expenses has raised over half of the $200,000 goal.

Speaking of collegiate cycling, congratulations to Colorado Mesa University back in my home state on winning their seventh consecutive national mountain bike title.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a major bike event turns into a “bike-pushing festival” in “the international capital of embarrassing fails.”

Or when your job requires making Amazon deliveries by ebike during a heatwave.

@iamautoboy

you wrong JB #amazon #fyp

♬ original sound – AutoBoy

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

Westwood bike lanes coming over a decade after Koretz killed them, and charges filed in 2025 Desert Hot Springs distracted driving death

October 9, 2026 / / No comments

The long planned and fought for Westwood Blvd protected bike lanes could finally be happening.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton writes that LADOT is moving forward with a proposal for 2.2 miles of bus lanes and protected bike lanes, from the E Line station at Westwood and Exposition to the UCLA campus, along with another 1.1 miles of  bus-only lanes.

Councilmember Katy Yaroslovsky has urged the city to speed up construction of the project following February’s 99 Ranch Market crash, when an elderly driver slammed into the building, killing three people and injuring at least six others, after hitting and injuring a bike rider.

Despite the work of advocates, any hopes of a bike lane south of Santa Monica Blvd were dashed in the early 2010s due to intense opposition from local businesses and the wealthy Westwood South of Santa Monica Blvd Homeowners’ Association, coupled with double-dealing by former CD5 Councilmember and all-around schmuck Paul Koretz.

However, as Linton explains,

In the past, elected officials, nimby homeowners, and city departments colluded to keep the boulevard car-centric and deadly. This began to change with the 2022 election of City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who pledged support for walkable, bikeable neighborhoods and “getting Angelenos out of their cars.”

Even under Yaroslavsky’s leadership, Westwood Boulevard improvements are taking a long time. Yaroslavsky and LADOT have been working on the fully-funded $10 million Westwood Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project since early 2024.

LADOT is asking for your input on the project. Fill it out, because there’s no reason to believe the opposition will be any less intense this time around.

The only difference is the councilmember won’t be in the pocket of wealthy local homeowners.

Image from LADOT via Streetsblog. 

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Charges were finally filed against the pickup driver who killed a 67-year old woman riding an ebike in Desert Hot Springs over a year ago.

Cellphone records show Oscar Pinuelas was using Instagram and Pandora on his phone right up to when he slammed into Laura Harker’s ebike from behind, even though she wearing a brightly colored bike helmet and clothing.

Pinuelas remained at scene, but apparently the CHP only recently examined the cellphone data and made an arrest.

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ActiveSGV invites you to the opening of the Emerald Necklace Mobility Hub a week from tomorrow.

Twitter post

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BikeLA invites you to their annual Bike Fest fundraiser next month.

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A Chicago group says they were “blown away” by the bike lanes in Minneapolis, asking if they’re the best bike lanes in America.

Although the key words there are “in America,” because we may have a ways to go to catch up with China.

Yes, China.

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

A reckless driver drove his car onto an Ohio bike path, despite two missing tires, then stole another car at a park after that one became disabled, and returned to the continue along the bike path. No word on whether anyone who was actually supposed to be on the bike path had to bail out of their way.

Police in Gloucestershire, England told ebike riders they need insurance and a license, and need to pay the road tax, apparently confusing the rules for ebikes with motorcycles. And even though the UK’s road tax was halted 89 years ago. 

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

A 43-year old Liverpool, England man “swerved dangerously into traffic” on his bike and rode towards a family walking with baby carriages in an attempt to evade the cops after they spotted him riding on the sidewalk while using his phone; he was fined the equivalent of slightly more than $380 after being convicted of dangerous cycling. Then again, if he’d been in a car, that whole family could be dead right now. 

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Local 

KNBC-4 reminds you about this Sunday’s CicLAvia — Heart of LA. Unless of course you’re going to Pasadena’s CatCon, instead. 

The LA City Council voted unanimously to set up a donation-funded fund to maintain the instantly iconic 6th Street, including removing trash and other waste from the pedestrian walk and bike lanes; the city recently hired a firm to restore the lighting on the bridge after thieves stole all the copper wire.

Long Beach police released photos of the alleged hit-and-run semi driver who killed 68-year-old Kevin Moran as he rode his bike on the sidewalk; police initially absolved the driver, saying he might not have known he hit Moran, before concluding it was in fact a hit-and-run.

 

State

A Hesperia man had his ebike stolen at gunpoint after a passing driver pulling a U-Haul got out of his car with gun in hand, announced he was taking the bike, and fired a shot past the victim when he initially refused to hand it over.

Oakland’s plans for calming a dangerous street only include proposals for painted bike lanes, and exclude the protected bike lanes advocates argue would be necessary to tame the street.

A suspect was arrested for a Santa Rosa hit-and-run, nearly two weeks after a bike rider was killed and left lying in the street until the body was found the next morning. As I’ve said before, cases like this should be charged as 2nd degree murder, because the driver made a conscious decision to flee the scene and leave the victim to die alone in the street.

 

National

The New York Times recommends the best e-cargo bikes. And for once, I can’t object to any of their picks. 

Aussie Lachlan Morton is attempting to break the record for the fastest ever Pony Express run, set in 1861 when a relay of riders carried Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address to California; Morton hopes to ride the historic 1,966-mile Pony Express route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California faster than the record of seven days and 17 hours. Of course, he has the advantage of paved roads, and doesn’t have to worry about anyone shooting at him until he passes through Nevada. 

A new hardcover graphic novel celebrates the life of early Black cycling champ Major Taylor, known as the world’s fastest man for his exploits on the track at the dawn of the Jim Crow era; the book is available on Amazon for 30 bucks, and probably well worth it.

New green bike lanes are hitting the pavement in the Biggest Little City on Earth.

The Texas driver who killed rising professional boxer Hannah “Hanarchy” Rapp in July was formally charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for backing his car into Rapp at a high rate of speed as she was riding with her boyfriend, after he gestured angrily following a too close, too fast pass; he faces life in prison when if he’s convicted.

Oops. New York is suing a Manhattan law firm and its principals, accusing them of running a personal injury fraud scheme that allegedly sought tens of millions of dollars from the city over bike crashes that never happened.

Gothamist says the hottest way for celebs to show they’re real New Yorkers is to record themselves riding a Citi Bike bikeshare.

Lawyers for the New Jersey driver who killed the hockey-playing Gaudreau brothers two years ago blamed the victims for the crash, saying they were riding their bikes in the roadway, making it impossible to avoid the crash. Even though that’s exactly where they were supposed to be, and the driver was allegedly drunk, speeding and passing a slower car on the grass shoulder of the roadway. But yeah, it’s their fault. Schmucks. 

 

International

A new Canadian-made bike helmet has rocketed to the top of Virginia Tech’s safety ratings, scoring a 4.61, over two points better than the second place helmet. Thanks to Megan for the link.

Nice. A London bike shop focuses on giving jobs to ex-offenders to give old bikes new life, as well as offering training workshops in prisons to teach bike mechanics to inmates before they’re released.

Cadillac F1 driver Valtteri Bottas completed his ride from last weekend’s race in Malaysia to this week’s Singapore Grand Prix, dodging pythons and cobras, and jumping over an iguana on the 250-mile ride.

 

Competitive Cycling

Last year’s Tour de France Femmes champ Pauline Ferrand-Prévot says Dutch cyclist Dylan van Baarle’s helmet “definitely saved his life” when he was struck by a driver while on a training ride Wednesday, just weeks before their wedding.

Egan Bernal denied persistent rumors that he intends to retire, as the 2019 Tour de France and 2021 Giro winner says he will definitely be at the starting line next year.

 

Finally…

Apparently, cheating in a marathon by hitching a ride on a bicycle is too much for Brooks running shoes. Pro cyclists don’t have the strength to race a “proper bicyclist” on a normal bike.

And what’s wrong with this picture?

Reddit post

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

10 laps of 10 miles up and down Mandeville Canyon for mental health, and ghost bike proof that the bike lanes are the real problem

October 8, 2026 / / No comments

Ten laps of ten miles each on 10/10. Or put another way, 10/10 on 10/10.

That’s what a group of bike riders will be doing Saturday morning, riding up and down Mandeville Canyon to raise funds for the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, which runs the suicide prevention hotline here in Southern California.

This is the seventh consecutive year the 10/10 Mandeville Challenge has been held, now sponsored by the Domestique Cycling Club. The first time it was just a single man riding up and down the iconic cycling climb; last year 91 bicyclists raised over $13,000 for mental health and suicide prevention.

This year they’re already over $22,000.

There’s still time to sign up ride or make a donation, so I’m including the full press release for the event below. And even if you’re saving your legs for Sunday’s CicLAvia, you can still show up and cheer the riders on.

LA Cyclists Will Climb Mandeville Canyon Up To Ten Times On World Mental Health Day To Fund The 988 Crisis Line
The 10/10 Mandeville Challenge returns Saturday, October 10, raising money for Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, home to the nation’s first suicide prevention center

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7, 2026. On Saturday, October 10, World Mental Health Day, cyclists from across Los Angeles will gather before dawn at the base of Mandeville Canyon for the 10/10 Mandeville Challenge, a community ride benefiting Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, home to the nation’s first and most comprehensive Suicide Prevention Center and the organization that answers 988 calls, chats and texts for Southern California.

Each lap is a full climb of Mandeville Canyon, 1,000 feet over 10 miles round trip. Ten laps is 100 miles and 10,000 feet. Cyclists choose their own lap goal, supporters pledge per lap or donate outright, and all donations and pledges go to Didi Hirsch. Last year 91 cyclists completed 391 laps and raised more than $13,000. This year flat donations have already passed $22,000 before a single lap has been ridden, with per-lap pledges still to come.

The challenge was founded in 2020 by Dr. Trevor Schraufnagel, who saw the isolation of that fall deepen depression and suicide risk, and who rode Mandeville alone on October 10 that year. The name carries the meaning: a 10 out of 10 is the hardest effort a cyclist can give, and the challenge asks everyone on the mountain to find theirs at least once, whether that takes one lap or ten.

“In the fall of 2020 I watched isolation deepen depression and suicide risk for a lot of people, and the hardest part of my job was the number of them who believed help wouldn’t help. It will. That’s what this ride is for,” said Schraufnagel, licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Balance CBT, Associate Director of the UCLA Anxiety Disorders Clinic, and founder of the 10/10 Mandeville Challenge. “Somewhere on that climb every cyclist hits a 10 out of 10, and that effort is relative only to you. We ride on World Mental Health Day because that’s the point.”

“We are so grateful to Dr. Trevor Schraufnagel, event organizers, and everyone taking part in the 10/10 Mandeville Challenge for turning a personal challenge into a powerful act of community support,” said Lyn Morris, LMFT, Chief Executive Officer of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. “Suicide prevention is something we all have a role in, and every conversation, every act of connection, and every dollar raised can help make sure someone in crisis knows they are not alone and that help is available. On World Mental Health Day, this ride is a meaningful reminder of the difference we can all make and the power of community.”

The 10/10 Mandeville Challenge is presented by Domestique Cycling Club, with support from Specialized Santa Monica, Goodboybob Coffee, Maurten, SVRY, Tirata and Athletic Brewing. Cyclists can register and supporters can pledge at go.rallyup.com/1010mandeville.

Event details

What: 10/10 Mandeville Challenge 2026, a community cycling climb benefiting Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services

When: Saturday, October 10, 2026, 6:30am to 7pm

Where: Mandeville Canyon Road, Brentwood. Participants gather at the Event Base Station at Paul Revere Charter Middle School, 1450 Allenford Avenue, Los Angeles.

Who: Open to all cyclists. Supporters can pledge per lap or donate at go.rallyup.com/1010mandeville

As for today’s illustration, I’m too tired tonight to try to figure out any other way to illustrate mental health, so a happy smiling sun it is. 

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It’s not the cars, it’s the bike lanes that are the problem.

Even when someone on a bicycle gets killed in the shadow of In-N-Out in Venice Blvd, in what passes for a protected bike lane in Los Angeles, and right under a Karen Bass campaign poster.

If that doesn’t sum up the state of the city these days, I don’t know what does.

At least now we know when and where Oscar Lazaro was killed, reportedly in a dooring.

I’ll write something up later to remember him.

Thanks to Angelo for the heads up.

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Local 

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1740, creating a statewide fast track for bike, pedestrian and transit projects that improve access to the coast.

 

State

Not a bad idea. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a regional Ebike Injury Warning System to identify where ebike injuries happen, who is being hurt, and what types of devices are involved. Which should help them figure out that legal ped-assist ebikes ain’t the problem.

 

National

A Bend, Oregon columnist writes that he finally got an ebike after 21 years of bike commuting, and wondered why he waited so long. Although I’m more impressed that he still rides a skateboard at skate parks in his 50s.

A Utah couple in their 60s rode their bikes 3,634 miles across the Northern US.

Hundreds of people decorated their bicycles to take part in an unofficial bike ride marking the start of a Cincinnati art festival.

The parents of a fallen teenage bike rider filed suit against the 80-year old driver who killed her as she rode her ebike in a crosswalk with warning lights flashing; the noted local folk artist is already facing a misdemeanor charge of negligent operation of a motor vehicle resulting in the death. Which will likely be pled down to a traffic ticket before they’re done, and he should be back to driving in no time. 

A Boston writer considers what the city could learn from Danish cyclists, and concludes it’s a matter of obeying the law and being more courteous. I would have said it’s fighting for safer streets to stop drivers from killing kids — aka stop de kindermoord — but he’s entitled to my opinion. 

Crashes — and deaths — are piling up in New York’s Central Park, despite a lack of motor vehicles and the people in them on the park’s carfree loop, which looks as busy as a typical CicLAvia in the photo accompanying the story.

This is the cost of traffic violence. Nearly ten months to the day after a 78-year old New York philanthropist was killed riding his bicycle, police arrested the driver — but only charged them with failure to yield.

 

International

Cyclist says “by women, for women” bikewear brands have multiplied in the last decade, resulting from “frustration with the lack of well-designed, thoroughly tested women’s cycling clothing and a desire to build products around women’s own ideas of what cycling kit could and should be.”

An Ontario, Canada letter writer says adults on bicycles need to set a better example for kids by riding safely and following the law. She’s got a point. I stopped blowing through stop signs when a little kid pointed at as I went through one, and told his dad he wanted to be just like me when he grew up. 

New traffic regulations go into effect in Nova Scotia later this month, including regulations designed to prevent doorings and right hook collisions, as well as cracking down on ebikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

An angry Tom Pidcock says he wanted to stop racing after a cop traveling the wrong way on a police motorbike hit two of his teammates during an Italian race, injuring one rider and fucking up the other’s bike.

Good news from Philadelphia, where 20-year old American cyclist Ezra Caudell was released from the hospital, 31 days after he was critically injured when he lost his balance and hit a lamppost during Philadelphia Cycling Classic

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could carry six additional people, or every dog in the neighborhood. Why settle for off-the-shelf titanium or carbon fiber, when you can build your own wooden bike, right down to the wooden chain.

And that feeling when ChatGPT can’t conceive of tradespeople transporting their gear by bicycle any more than real people can.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

Man dies in jail awaiting murder trial for intentionally running down girlfriend’s daughter on bicycle, and it’s Prime time again (yawn)

October 7, 2026 / / No comments

Anyone want to guess how much I want to write about bikes right now, after writing about at least the seventh person killed riding one in Southern California in the past two weeks?

Anyone?

I didn’t think so. 

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In a bizarre story from Mississippi, a man awaiting trial on murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run charges for intentionally running down two bike riders dropped dead in his jail cell.

Fifty-seven-year old Shannon Thomas reportedly died of a heart attack last month, after he allegedly chased down and killed a 21-year old woman and attempted to kill the 36-year old man she was riding with in March.

To make things even stranger, Thomas was dating the mother of the woman he killed, and ran the couple down after an argument with the other man.

Which you’d have to think would adversely affect his relationship with the victim’s mom.

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Yawn.

It’s Prime Day again, the two-day national holiday devoted to buying things you don’t need, just because the marked up price has been marked down to make it seem like an irresistible bargain.

Which isn’t to say you can’t actually get some good deals, but caveat emptor. 

That said, Singletracks offers their picks for the best buys for bike riders. And Velo recommends eleven bicycling deals it says are actually worth buying.

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Gravel Bike California invites you to join them for this Sunday’s Heart of Downtown CicLAvia.

Twitter post

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SNL star Marcello Hernández rode a bicycle to Amy Pohler’s podcast, and brags about getting there nine minutes sooner.

Thanks to Megan for the link. 

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Sometimes, it’s the person on two wheels behaving badly. 

Police in Stoke-on-Trent, England are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who failed to stick around after crashing into another bicyclist, leaving the victim with serious injuries.

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Local 

CD13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez has taken to his bike to participate in A Week Without Driving. Hopefully, he’ll get a better feel for what we all have to deal with riding in Hollywood.

The first new Los Angeles speed cams are set to begin operation on October 26th, with fines rising to $500 for drivers doing 100 mph or higher. Although if you’re doing over 100 mph on a city street, they should just impound your car and throw away the key. 

 

State

The Coachella Valley’s newly completed CV Link pathway will be closed for two years under Ramon Road in Palm Springs for the construction of a new bridge.

A San Francisco Streetsblog op-ed asks how many deaths will it take before safety improvements are made to Arguello Blvd in the city’s Richmond District, after an 80-year old man attempting to cross the street last week became the latest victim. That’s easy. Too many. 

A Sacramento man studying engineering at a Macon, Georgia university is building a destructive test rig to test the failing point for handlebars and pedals made by Sacramento components maker PNW.

 

National

Ebike maker Gazelle is recalling roughly 1,032 of its Urban Arrow cargo bikes because the front bolt in the seat post clamp can break and make the seat come loose. Which is an oddly specific number to follow the word “roughly.”

In more proof that nowhere is safe for bike riders, a boy in rural Wyoming was medevaced to a Colorado hospital after he was struck by a driver on a farm road out in the middle nowhere near Burns, Wyoming, population 393.

At least some people in Idaho are turning to bicycles as gas prices continue to rise.

He gets it. A Milwaukee County supervisor has put a stop to a planned 15 mph speed limit for bike trails, arguing it doesn’t make sense to impact legal trail users when the real problem is “unauthorized high-speed e-motos that should not be operating on these trails in the first place.” Maybe he could have a talk with some of our SoCal city leaders. Thanks to Megan for the heads-up. 

 

International

A London bike rider was seriously injured when he was struck by the driver of a police cruiser on Monday. No, the other London, in Ontario, Canada.

In the most heartwarming story you’ll read today, a 96-year old great-grandfather was reunited with the bicycle he rode for decades, after his 67-year old daughter had it restored and delivered to the Cambridge, England care home where he now lives by members of his cycling club; he met his wife of 73-years when they both were riding back in 1947.

London office developers are strongly backing proposals to weaken the city’s bicycle parking requirements, after a new analysis showed that the vast majority of indoor bike spaces sit empty every day. Which I can understand, because I always insisted on taking mine into my office, rather than risking getting it stolen from an unsecured parking garage. 

Damn. A 48-year old European commercial bond trader at JPMorgan’s London office declared “I’m not a cyclist” before taking part in a 500-mile fundraising ride, then proceeded to drop dead on the first day.

Eight years and 1 million crossings after Dutch engineers replaced the asphalt surface of a bike path with hollow panels made from recycled plastic, the trail has resulted in 50–70% lower carbon emissions, while rain storage reached 48% of capacity.

 

Finally…

You can find a lot of things while riding your bike; hopefully a badly decomposed body in a livestock feed trough won’t be one of them. Why install solar panels when you can ride one?

And if you claim a personal best after getting caught cheating in a marathon by hitching a ride on a bicycle, just say you’re really, really sorry.

But in Chinese.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

Person riding bicycle killed by driver in Palm Spring collision Monday night; 7th SoCal bike death in past two weeks

October 7, 2026 / / No comments

Well, we managed to make it three whole days without someone getting killed while riding a bicycle on the mean streets of Southern California.

That’s something, I guess.

According to multiple, virtually identical stories, someone — because that’s all we know about the victim — was struck by a driver going east on East Palm Canyon Drive near Cherokee Way in Palm Springs, around 8:30 pm Monday.

The victim died at the scene. The driver stuck around after the crash, and cooperated with investigators.

Unfortunately, that’s about all we know right now. There’s no word on how fast the driver was going, how the crash occurred, where the victim was or what they were doing.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Palm Springs Police Department at 760/327-1441.

This is at least the 57th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the seventh in Riverside County. It’s also at least the seventh person killed riding a bike in Southern California in the last two weeks.

Maybe we can manage to make it another three days without someone else getting killed.

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

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Sunday’s CicLAvia tops best things to do list, LA’s safest drivers are no drivers, and Montrose opens La Crescenta Ave project tomorrow

October 6, 2026 / / No comments

Once again, I failed to win the Nobel Prize for physics, despite my discovery that a body not in motion will usually grow a big butt. 

Mine included. 

So keep moving out there. 

Meanwhile, if you’re still reading this, it means Iran hasn’t taken Donald Trump up on his invitation to nuke Los Angeles and/or San Diego. 

Although what’s even scarier is the laughter from the audience. 

Twitter post

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Santa Monica public radio station KCRW lists Sunday’s Heart of LA CicLAvia at the top of their things to do list for this week.

CicLAvia—Heart of LA (Downtown) | Sunday | FREE
The dream of safe streets becomes reality for one day. Bike, skate, or walk through 6.5 miles of car-free streets connecting Downtown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, Boyle Heights, and Echo Park.

………

The Los Angeles Times reports that the safest drivers on LA streets appears to be no driver, as Waymo stats show crashes involving the driverless cars are climbing. But most result in just minor damage and injuries, and many occur while the vehicles are stopped.

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Montrose invites you to the official opening of the re-imagined La Crescenta Ave tomorrow.

 

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Noted bicyclist Conan O’Brien talks bikes with Owen Wilson, including about how deadly SoCal’s killer highway is. Thanks to Megan for the heads-up.

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

No bias here. Chicago Magazine offers a two-minute guide to the city’s largely Latino-driven bikelash, saying recent research in the city shows that protected bike lanes don’t adversely affect business, but the science is still out on whether bicyclists are irritating. But you’ll have to get past their paywall to read it. 

Sometimes, it’s the person on two wheels behaving badly. 

Oops. A Chinese influencer celebrated her personal best in last month’s Berlin Marathon, but failed to mention she caught a lift on the back of a bicycle for more than three miles.

………

Local 

Pasadena police urge drivers to slow down in school zones, and offer safety tips for students walking, biking or rolling for tomorrow’s National Walk, Bike and Roll to School Day. Meanwhile, LA tells drivers to just carry on.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton visits Santa Monica’s newly concrete-curb-protected Broadway Bikeway, which is now the county’s longest continuous concrete proved bikeway.

 

State

Sad news from Hollister, where a 63-year old man was killed by a driver while riding a bicycle.

More sad news from Modesto, where a 33-year old man faces charges for the — allegedly — drunken hit-and-run crash that killed a man riding a bicycle; the accused driver has a history of DUIs, which means he could face a murder charge under California law.

World Relief Sacramento examines the city’s Bicycle Kitchen, which works with the organization to send bicycles to people in need in Africa.

 

National

More proof that hit-and-run drivers really are cowards, as police in Fitchburg, Wisconsin arrested a man accused of fleeing the scene after seriously injuring a 24-year old bike rider as the driver hid in a closet to avoid arrest.

Kindhearted cops in Providence, Rhode Island gave a new bicycle to a boy after his was stolen.

New protected bike lanes are coming to Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, replacing a painted buffered bike lane. And none too soon, judging by the photo of a woman riding her bike in the buffer.

Tragic news from New York, where a 71-year old man was killed when he crashed his bike into a roaming golden retriever in an off-leash section of Central Park; the good news is the dog wasn’t hurt, and the owner stuck around.

 

International

A Calgary city counselor is calling for a halt on all bike lane work, as the Alberta legislature works on increasing provincial oversight of bicycling infrastructure.

An Ontario man is riding a Brompton to his treatments to beat cancer. Thanks again to Megan for the link. 

Torquay, England is replacing the notorious bike path stair dubbed the “Stairway to Hell,” after a bicyclist was injured falling down them.

The Beeb questions whether London’s ebike situation has gone too far, while failing to note how cars have taken over the city.

China’s Xinhua news agency says bicycling is booming in the massive country that’s bikemaker to the world.

A pair of German ebike riders retraced the more than 4,300-mile route of Mao Tse Tung’s historic Long March during the communist revolt in 1930’s China.

Cadillac F1 driver Valtteri Bottas is skipping the flight to this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix by riding his bicycle 217 miles from the Malaysian site of last weekend’s race, accompanied by his partner, professional cyclist Tiffany Cromwell.

 

Competitive Cycling

Italy’s Giulio Ciccone is questioning the results of a photo finish that gave victory in the European cycling championships to Remco Evenepoel, despite what appears to be a dead heat; Evenepoel was awarded the win by a margin of just 0.0028 seconds.

The Upworthy site spends some time with cycling great Gino Bartali, who was not only a two-time winner of the Tour de France, but helped save hundreds, if not thousands, of Jews by hiding forged papers from the Germans and Italian fascists in the frame of his bicycle during WWII.

Cyclist examines six items at Italy’s Ghisallo Museum that illuminate the history of cycling, next to the cycling-oriented chapel honoring the Madonna del Ghisallo, the patron saint of bicyclists. Although once again, you’ll have to get past the magazine’s paywall. And I’d gladly make the case for Bartali as the patron saint of cyclists. 

 

Finally…

If you kill two people while speeding and driving impaired, be sure to call your cop daddy before dialing 911. You won’t find any anti-bike bias in Pearls Before Swine, either. When you’re riding your bike with a pair of outstanding arrest warrants and a baggie of meth, put a damn rear light on it, already.

And maybe it’s not the best idea to attack the cops after they stop you for drunkenly speeding in the bike lane.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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