Archive for bikinginla

Examine where your LA tax money is going, bicycling helped then and now, and you can’t take a dog on a bike, right?

January 23, 2026 / / No comments

So that’s where it’s all going.

The Los Angeles City Controller’s office has developed a dashboard allowing you to examine where each city department stands in relation to the budget, including how much has been spent, and how much remains.

For instance, 44% of the city transportation budget for the ’25-’26 fiscal year has already been spent, most of which has gone into salaries for city employees.

And something tells me they’re not working on bicycles.

Never mind that the entire transportation budget is roughly 11% of what the city spends on police alone.

It’s worth taking some time to check it out.

Because it’s your money.

Actual photo of Los Angeles officials spending your tax money by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels. 

………

True then. True now.

"You are helping by cycling when you can"British WWII propaganda posterca. 1940🧵

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2026-01-21T18:33:03.355Z

………

Not only that, but one of them looks like a corgi.

………

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

In a brilliant example of cost effectiveness, the leadership of Medford, Oregon voted to rip out a road diet and two-way protected bike lane, spending $1 million to return the road to the previous layout — and another half million to repay a state grant to do the original work.

No bias here. A Killarney, Ireland website is up in arms after spotting a group of bicyclists riding in the street next to a new $4 million curb-level bike lane, saying “If you build it, they will come… or maybe not.” Except a group ride of a dozen or so fast-moving bicyclists is exactly what you don’t want in a bike lane, which should be used by a) fewer bike riders at once, and b) slower bike riders.

………

Local 

An ebike rider was hospitalized in critical condition after riding out of an A Line train car at a high rate of speed, and falling off the elevated Allen Station in Pasadena.

 

State

A Fallbrook kid was struck by a driver while riding their bike and knocked completely under the vehicle, then just got back up and rode their bike home before first responders even got to the crash site; sheriff’s deputies found him at home, and paramedics took him to the hospital.

The owner of a downtown San Diego bike shop is still struggling to recover, weeks after burglars escaped with more than $25,000 worth of merchandise.

 

National

Bicycling drops their paywall to promote a handful of products they think will make your rides more fun, or at least make them a few bucks if you buy them. The bubblegum pink inner tube is kinda fun, but the only way anyone will ever see it is if you’re fixing a flat, which is not so much. 

Velo says AI will make you faster on your bike, but not the way you think. Especially if you leave the damn thing at home, whatever device you keep it in, and just ride your bike without the extra weight and distraction.

Led by high school students, Washington State advocacy groups backed a proposal to keep the state’s three-tier ebike definitions, while adding a clear distinction between ebikes and electric motorbikes.

A Joliet, Illinois man is suing the city for more than 50 grand, plus medical expenses, after he rode his bicycle into a giant hole in the road without warning, alleging the city knew about the pothole and did nothing to fix it.

An Illinois man is riding his bike across the US, 50 year’s after he was one of 2,000 people who took part in the Bikecentennial, which involved riding 4,200 miles across the US to mark the bicentennial.

Road.cc’s ebiketips website says New Jersey’s draconian new ebike law will remove a viable form of clean transportation off the road.

Richmond, Virginia is moving forward with plans to replace a 113-year old bridge, even as planning commissioners got an earful about the lack of protection for proposed bike lanes.

Police in Savannah, Georgia, have made an arrest in the hit-and-run death of the city’s beloved Flag Man, known for riding his bike with a giant flag, nine months after he was killed while riding his bicycle. Seriously, if you can’t see someone on a bicycle with a giant flag on a flag pole, you’re driving with your eyes closed. 

 

International

Filmmaker Lee Donaldson makes a pitstop at the Cyclist podcast to discuss his upcoming documentary 525: The Unstoppable Eddy Merckx.

Life is cheap in Nova Scotia, where a drunken hit-and-run driver who killed a 10-year old girl was granted a full parole after just under a year and a half behind bars, less than a third of his four and a half year sentence.

Off.Road.cc says the 1990s was the golden era of British mountain biking.

Netflix is developing a documentary series about the death of Tony Parsons, who disappeared on a Scottish fundraising ride only to be discovered years later when a farmer confessed to his girlfriend that he killed Parsons while driving drunk, and with his twin brother, hid Parson’s body in a peat bog; they were sentenced to 12 years and 5 years behind bars, respectively. The moral of this story: don’t tell your girlfriend about the bodies. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Pro cyclists share their best hacks, habits and kit tweaks to make it through the worst of the winter months.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your epic ride goes from Boring to Dull. Your next ebike could be a computer on two wheels.

And aren’t drop bars supposed to, you know, drop?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

23-year old man riding bicycle killed by 79-year old driver last night, on “notorious” Oxnard roadway

January 22, 2026 / / 2 comments

Once again, we have to ask ourselves how old is too old to drive.

Because a 79-year old Oxnard driver somehow killed a man riding a bicycle directly ahead of her, on a dark roadway “notorious” for crashes involving bike riders and pedestrians.

According to the Ventura County Star, the victim, identified only as a 23-year old man, was riding on Wooley Road near Industrial Ave when he was run down from behind around 6:30 pm Wednesday.

Police found the victim lying in the eastbound lanes of Wooley, suffering from major injuries. RMG News reports he was taken to a local hospital, but died in transport.

The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. The grill of her massive older SUV showed damage to the center of the grill, suggesting the victim was right in front of her in center of the lane.

Video showed the victim’s red road bike crumpled on the side of the roadway. There are no lights visible on his bicycle in the video. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t have any, either on him or on his bike.

RMG News describes that stretch of Wooley Road as known for “being poorly lit and the site of multiple past collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists.”

So the question remains why she couldn’t avoid someone who, at the very least, should been clearly lit up by her headlights.

We have no way of knowing whether her age was a factor in the crash. It’s possible it could have affected her ability to see the victim on the dark street, or reduced her ability to react in time.

Which is exactly the problem.

Due to limited testing of elderly drivers, we have no way of knowing who can operate their vehicles safely, day or night — and who can’t.

Or who shouldn’t be driving at all.

There’s also a question of why a street known to be hazardous for people walking and biking hasn’t been improved, or at least lighted well enough to prevent crashes.

We’re not likely to get the answers. But those are questions any lawyer will undoubtedly ask.

This is the fifth bicycling fatality that I’m aware in of Southern California this year, and the first in Ventura County.

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

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Long Beach traffic deaths doubled since 2015; LADOT installed pathetic 30 lane miles of bikeways, ignores Vision Zero

January 22, 2026 / / No comments

Welcome to our world.

Traffic fatalities in Long Beach have more than doubled in the ten years since the city vowed to eliminate traffic deaths within a decade, rising to the highest level in the last ten years.

That corresponds with the City of Los Angeles, which adopted a Vision Zero program that promised to end traffic deaths by last year.

And you know how that worked out.

Now LA’s Vision Zero is a forgotten program, trotted out only when the city wants to assure us that they are really, truly doing something to reduce traffic violence, without actually holding themselves accountable for it.

Like Los Angeles, most of Long Beach’s traffic deaths have been inflicted on people who weren’t encased in a couple tons of steel and glass.

According to the Long Beach Post story in the above link,

Their greatest toll has been on people outside of cars. Last year, 32 people were killed while walking, biking or riding an e-scooter. That eclipses the number of people murdered here last year: 29.

At least in LA, it’s only the total number of traffic deaths that exceeds the city’s murders.

Photo by Zariflavin from Pexels.

………

LADOT has released their 2026 Annual Report, touting their usual list of successes for the past year, modest though they may be.

Including a rather underwhelming, if not pathetic, total of 31 lane miles of new bikeways installed during the last fiscal year. Which includes 1.3 lane miles of sharrows, which studies have shown are literally worse than nothing.

So make it a little less than 30 miles.

And since lane miles count each side of the roadway separately, that amounts to less than 15 miles out of the city’s 6,642 miles of city streets.

Just 0.23 percent.

I also challenge you to find a single mention of Vision Zero anywhere in the report.

If you can, you’re a better reader than I am.

………

Interesting idea.

An Idaho legislator is trying to close a loophole in the law, after a judge dismissed a case where a driver hit an ebike rider.

According to the judge, the law in Idaho defines a bicycle as a “human-powered” vehicle, and it wasn’t clear to his or her honor if an ebike is actually human powered.

And that’s the problem. Some ebikes are human powered with an electrical assist, while others are strictly throttle controlled, or a combination thereof.

So defining an ebike as human powered could be the solution to the current dilemma of cities cracking down on ped-assist ebike riders for the problems caused by people on electric motorbikes and dirt bikes.

Something which was made clear by New Jersey’s new law that requires a driver’s license and registration to ride even the slowest ped-assist bike.

Meanwhile, Vermont legislators say the state’s ebike laws can’t keep up with technical advances leading to ebikes that can easily exceed the state’s 28 mph limit.

………

We mentioned last month that you can, in fact, use an HSA/FSA — Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account — to buy an new bicycle or ebike, as well as bike gear, using pretax dollars, resulting in an average savings of 30%.

Now Marvin forwards word that Trumed will be the source you’ll have to use.

He adds,

The reason I really like this is because it supports the middle class. if I was poor, I could get help purchasing an e-bike. If I was rich, I could get help purchasing an EV. Finally, with FSA/HSA benefits, I can finally qualify for something that helps me.

The only downside I see is that no one can establish a new or add to an existing FSA/HSA until Nov 2026.

………

Streets Are For Everyone will hold a die-in on the steps of City Hall this Saturday to protest the unacceptable level of traffic violence in this city.

In 2025 alone, 286 people were killed on our streets — deaths that were preventable.

This Saturday, SAFE and partner nonprofits will gather to honor lives lost and demand action after a decade-old City pledge to eliminate traffic deaths was missed.

4th Annual Die-In for Safer Streets
📍 LA City Hall Steps, 232 N. Spring Street
🕙 Saturday, January 24 | 10:00–11:00 AM

Signing up is appreciated, but walk-ups to the event without signing up are also welcome.

Lives are on the line. Inaction is no longer acceptable.

………

Streets for All invites you to register for all their upcoming mobility debates/discussions this month.

………

Local 

The LA Chinatown Firecracker will be back for the 48th consecutive year on weekend of February 28-March 1, marking the lunar new year with running, walking, bicycling and dog walking events.

Glendale is very slowly moving forward with plans for the Glendale-Los Angeles Garden River Bridge Project, a landscaped bridge, currently in the environmental review stage, connecting with Griffith Park across the LA River.

Santa Monica police will conduct yet another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation tomorrow, as usual, ticketing anyone who commits a violation that endangers either one — even if you’re only endangering yourself, at least in their eyes.

 

State

A San Diego bike shop owner is still trying to cope with Trump’s tariffs, after a near year of uncertainty.

Residents of San Diego’s Pacific Beach neighborhood are calling for safety improvements following the death of six-year old Hudson O’Laughlin, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he and his family were riding bikes on the sidewalk — even though all the previous traffic calming measures introduced in recent years were removed following complaints from residents.

A travel website says Northern California’s Forest of Nisene Marks State Park is “a rather secluded and uncrowded haven” for hiking or biking surrounded by towering redwoods.

 

National

A nine-year old Washington State boy got a new bicycle from a local group after his broke down, nominated for his leadership and friendship to others — and he immediately named it for his favorite soccer star.

A Texas family is coping with the grief of losing a baby by attempting a long-distance bike ride to raise funds to support families facing high-risk pregnancies. Although how long they consider long-distance isn’t clear.

That’s more like it. Students, faculty and employees of Cincinnati’s Xavier University can now use the city’s bikeshare system for free.

 

International

Road.cc recommends the year’s best road bikes.

Cyclist offers recommendations on the best insulated water bottles. Which I misread as “the best insulted water bottles,” which would make for a much more interesting article.

Tragic news from Peru, where 29-year old Florian Berg was killed by lightening on Saturday when the German climate activist was caught in a severe thunderstorm in the Andes, after more than a year spent riding around the world.

Next City says Victoria, British Columbia is one of the best bike cities not traditionally known for it, after tripling its rate of bicycling in just 11 years. Although they can’t seem to spell Victoria correctly. Or British, for that matter. 

A Scotsman resigned from the rat race, quitting his high-stress job as a communications director for a renewable energy company for a much calmer career fixing bicycles. As I know all too well after a career in advertising, the problem with the rat race is the rats usually win. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Denmark’s Tobias Lund Andresen outsprinted the sprinters to win the first stage of the Tour Down Under.

Bike Radar asked the pros at the Tour Down Under how to make pro cycling safer, and was told the solution is slower bikes and safer courses.

The first stage of India’s Tour of Pune was temporarily halted due to a crash involving around 30 riders; fortunately, no one was seriously injured, though three riders were forced to withdraw.

French cyclist Simeon Sebastien Green is still competing at twice the age of many his competitors.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re a legendary British DJ, and the best bike ride of your life started in West Hollywood. Or when the local golf club is infested with ebikes of the non-bicycle variety.

And waxing eloquent about a blue touring bike bought on an informed impulse — for the equivalent of just 270 bucks.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Killer high & distracted hit-and-run Corona driver could get early release, and a look back at the madcap days of Bicycle Face

January 21, 2026 / / No comments

Evidently, life is cheap in Corona.

The parents of fallen bicyclist Benjamin Montalvo are justifiably angry that the hit-and-run driver who killed their youngest child in 2020 while driving high and distracted could get out of jail after just two and a half years of her nine-year sentence.

Noemi Velado was allegedly texting when she hit the 21-year old man and fled the scene, turning herself in to police days later.

According to KTLA-5,

The couple is now making an appeal to local and state lawmakers to officially designate Velado’s offense as a violent crime, which would require the perpetrator to serve 80% of their sentence.

“When you weaponize your vehicle and you’re texting endlessly and you’re high, that’s a violent crime and it should be treated as such,” Kellie said.

While the Montalvos say they keep their son’s memory alive by speaking out against impaired and distracted driving, they worry that Velado is not fully rehabilitated after such a short amount of time in prison.

Just one more example of how unserious California is about traffic crime.

And why people keep dying on our streets, and drivers keep fleeing afterwards. Because they know it’s not likely to result in more than a slap on the wrist.

And they’re usually right.

………

Now you, too, can suffer from ‘bicycle eye’, ‘bicycle arm’, ‘bicycle elbow’ and/or ‘bicycle heart,’ and other made-up maladies of the Victorian bike boom.

Cycling Weekly looks back at the fads and fallacies of the day, as the Penny Farthings swept the world, allowing men and women to spread their DNA far and wide.

“One of my favourite facts is about what the bicycle did for genetics,” Will Manners, author of Revolution: How the Bicycle Reinvented Modern Britaintold Cycling Weekly. “For people living in rural areas, being able to get around on bicycles expanded the range of marriage partners available to them.”

According to geneticist, Steve Jones, this phenomenon makes the bicycle one of the most important inventions in recent human evolution.

But even more important, it could also clear up your zits in an ancient age before Clearasil.

The crowning glory in an era of ridiculous cycling ailments, ‘bicycle face’ was said to cause serious disfigurement. According to one account in Pearson’s Weekly, C.A. Pearson wrote that ‘bicycle face’ resulted from ‘the constant anxiety, the everlasting looking ahead, the strain on a nervous disposition which imparts a hard, set look to the face, and gives a haggard, anxious expression to the eyes which is quite painful to observe.’

Cycling, however, took a gentler view, writing: ‘we know riders of both sexes who have ridden for lengthy periods… and the only alteration we have ever noted in the countenances of any one of them is that the complexion has invariably been improved.’

It’s a good read, and more than worth a few minutes of your day.

Just be careful that smile doesn’t freeze on your face.

………

Yet another clickbait piece promoting a liability law firm uses 2025 crash data to rank both the safest and most dangerous American cities for bicyclists and pedestrians.

None of which is Los Angeles.

Although it’s no surprise we’re not on the good list.

While the safest cities are spread out across the US, half of the most dangerous ones are clustered in California and Arizona. Add Florida, and it represents three-quarters of the list.

Which is kind of scary to think that just three states make up 75% of the most dangerous cities for bike riders and pedestrians.

And we live in one of them.

………

Congratulations to Streets For All’s Michael Schneider, whose video illustrating the street paving differences between cash-strapped Los Angeles and gilded Beverly Hills was reposted by the New York Post, which never seems to tire of criticizing our (un)fair city.

Then again, we never seem to tire of giving them reasons to.

………

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

An Irish advocacy group complains that Dublin officials can’t seem to find any space for bike lanes while making plans for a street that’s a primary route for the city’s bicycle network.

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

A man in Salt Lake City, Utah, faces a murder charge and seven counts of discharging a firearm for shooting a man in the back, from a second-story window, who he thought was stealing his bicycle. To repeatedly repeat, no bicycle is worth a human life. Register it, put an AirTag in it, and just let the damn thing go and let the cops deal with it, because that’s what they’re paid to do.

A Spanish newspaper gets its knickers in a twist over video of a bicyclist drafting a minivan in the Canary Islands, whose driver seems to be working with him, calling it a very dangerous technique. Even though we’ve all done it. Or is it just me?

………

Local 

Streets For All calls it a Monster Metro meeting tomorrow, as the Metro Board will consider approving a final design for the Sepulveda corridor, and extending the the C-Line to Torrance, while calling for opposition to Metro’s proposed exemption to SB-79 for Los Angeles County.

 

State

A year after the AIDS/LifeCycle bike ride ended after nearly three decades, two new fundraising rides are emerging to take their place, with Cycle to Zero supporting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and Center Ride Out benefitting LGBTQ centers in Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Springs/Coachella; it remains to be seen if these rides will combine to raise as much to fight HIV/AIDS.

As if the financially troubled company wasn’t having enough problems already, Rad Power Bikes suffered another blown when a two-story fire destroyed their Huntington Beach store on Saturday.

Security cam video captured a man being chased down and attacked by a group of teens outside San Francisco’s Maritime Museum on Saturday, who beat and robbed him until bystanders stepped in to stop them – all because the man had asked them to slow down.

 

National

The Disco Biscuits announced a West Coast Tour to mark Bicycle Day 2026, the 83rd anniversary of chemist Albert Hofmann’s accidental discovery of the hallucinogenic effects of LSD as he rode his bicycle home. And yes, I’m just juvenile enough to find the whole thing pretty damn funny. 

An Oregon state appellate court says a cop needs more than a “hunch” that a bike was stolen to justify stopping the person riding it, reversing a gun possession charge resulting from the illegal stop.

Police in Austin, Texas can’t find the owner of an $8,000, customized Trek that they believe was stolen. Which is yet another reminder to register your bikes before anything like that happens to you.

Streetsblog calls on new New York Mayor Mamdani to rescind Central Park’s new 15 mph speed limit for bicycles imposed by former Mayor Eric Adams on his way out of office, arguing that it misapplies state law and sets a troubling precedent.

Meanwhile, new data shows that recent improvements for pedestrian crossings have resulted in better safety for people walking in Central Park.

A 17-year old boy surrendered to police, accompanied by his mother, for the December hit-and-run death of a popular Philadelphia, Pennsylvania DJ.

Something to watch for, as the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health has received a nearly quarter of a million dollar grant to study just how safe ebikes really are. Although as always, the question is whether they will differentiate between actual ped-assist bicycles, and electric motorbikes that unfortunately are also called ebikes.

 

International

Road.cc recommends the year’s best all-road bikes for whatever kind of paved or gravel roads you ride.

She gets it. An Irish columnist says bicyclists should be considered “brave”, “hardy”, “efficient” and “considerate” — rather than reckless or inconvenient — in a country that needs as many people as possible to ride to “alleviate traffic congestion, reduce air pollution, improve public health, make urban spaces more liveable, and cut carbon emissions.”

A new study conducted in Bangladesh, India and Ghana shows that increased bicycling could reduce pollution in the global south, home to 49 of the top 50 countries with the most polluted air, yet policies to improve safety and promote bicycling are far less common in low- and middle-income countries than in the wealthy north.

In a deeply disturbing story from India, a man was beaten to death, and several members of his family injured, when they objected when a woman in their family was struck by a member of another clan riding a bicycle; the other family attacked the victims with sticks and iron rods after the dispute escalated into an argument.

Bike Radar lists eleven Chinese bicycling brands you probably aren’t familiar with, but should be, as quality and innovation become more competitive with Western brands.

Japanese cops will stop giving warnings and start fining people for bicycling violations, with fines up to ¥12,000 — the equivalent of roughly $76 — for distracted bike riding.

 

Competitive Cycling

It could be a balmy 105° Fahrenheit for this week’s Tour Down Under, as Cycling Weekly asks how hot is too hot for bike racing?

Twenty-four-year old British cyclist Samuel Watson won the prologue of the Tour Down Under yesterday, through the INEOS Grenadiers rider opted for black shorts, instead of the team’s highly criticized beige/white kit.

 

Finally…

Your next cleats could save your floors and stop scaring the dog.

And that feeling when you can pedal guitar.

Or something.

Nice beat, easy to dance to. I give it a 95.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Press conference today with arrested DIY crosswalk painter, and European train definitions exclude disability bikes

January 20, 2026 / / No comments

Welcome back from the three-day King Day holiday weekend.

I hope your weekend was better than mine, and you got to ride in that perfect January weather, while the rest of the country froze their asses off.

As for me, I spent every night of the weekend writing about a fallen bike rider, including a six-year old kid killed by a hit-and-run driver in front of his parents in Pacific Beach.

I still haven’t recovered emotionally from writing about that one, and can’t even imagine what they’re going through.

Let’s hope this week is a little better. Okay, a lot better.

………

Streets Are For Everyone will host a public press conference at 1 pm today at Kelton Ave and Wilkins Ave in Westwood with founder Damian Kevitt and Jonny Hale of People’s Vision Zero, who went viral when he was arrested for trying to paint a DIY crosswalk when the city wouldn’t.

A press release promoting the event quotes Kevitt as saying,

“The people of Los Angeles want safer roads; they are begging for them. The City has the tools to save lives, but it’s so mired down in bureaucracy, legal red-tape, and fighting lawsuits that it actively prevents simple and effective ways to make roads safer.”

It also quotes Hale,

“We’re not gonna paint every residential intersection, but the same processes that make it hard for us to make roads safer, make it hard for city workers to do their jobs. The city should address this and prioritize street safety and infrastructure.”

Vision Zero failed in this city as much because of the city’s endless bureaucracy as it did for a lack of vision and commitment.

I know it’s the last minute, but maybe a good turnout for this will put some pressure on city officials to do something, or get the hell out of the way and let us do it.

No one should ever go to jail for trying to save lives.

………

Megan writes to complain that European train operators agreed to a common definition of what is a bicycle to be allowed onto trains.

But as usual, failed to consider adaptive bikes and nontraditional bicycles used as mobility devices by disabled passengers.

Unfortunately, once more the absence of diversely disabled people in “the room where it happens” results in continued inequity.

So while this seems to be a compromise, but improvement on the old rules for abled bicyclists, it’s not as good for those riding other types of cycles, particularly disabled people (many of whom need handcycles, trikes, and bikes with seats rather than saddles).

Some will retort this is a compromise and they’ll continue working on it, but (1) I bet they won’t continue working on accessibility & inclusion issues because (2) they probably aren’t working on getting disabled cyclists into the decision making areas of cycle and train advocacy.

And part of the point is that abled cyclists don’t have to do as much work to get answers nor to “prove” their needs.

………

Streets For All will host a mobility discussion with city council candidate Faizah Malik, who is challenging CD11 Councilmember Traci Park, on Monday.

………

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton demonstrates the danger of slip lanes.

This week’s video ventures onto a porkchop to cross a dangerous #SlipLane

— Streetsblog L.A. (@streetsblogla.bsky.social) 2026-01-15T19:01:54.873Z

………

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

A Florida cop faces charges for tackling a teenager off his bicycle at a local skate park.

Maybe the reason Edinburgh bike riders don’t use the bike lane just might have something to do with the parked cars encroaching on it.

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

Police in San Francisco are looking for a group of bicycle-riding teens who attacked a man who told them to slow down, and was forced to flee for his safety.

………

Local 

Metro will hold a public meeting to discuss the recently released Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Los Angeles River Path Project to close the gap through DTLA, at the Lincoln Heights Community Center this Wednesday.

Speaking of Metro, Michael Schneider explains why Metro has so much trouble doing anything for anyone who’s not in a car, including not pursuing bus lanes because it’s just too hard.

About damn time. Santa Monica will use AI-powered cams mounted on parking enforcement vehicles to enforce drivers blocking bike lanes. I met with various Santa Monica police chiefs multiple times over the past 30 years to complain about blocked bike lanes in the city, only to be told there was nothing illegal about it. 

 

State

You may never get to ride in Copenhagen, but California could be the next best thing, since a petition to sell California to Denmark has now drawn over 280,000 signatures.

Oceanside could be the next California city to restrict ebikes, with a new ordinance allowing police to seize ebikes from reckless riders, or anyone who has gotten two or more ebike violations in 12 months. Once again conflating electric motorbikes with ped-assist ebikes. 

 

National

The New York Times remembers Cannondale founder Joe Montgomery, crediting him as the man who made bicycles lighter by switching from steel to aluminum frames.

Gadget Review considers six cutting-edge bicycle inventions that they say actually deliver.

A Massachusetts man talks with public radio about riding 46,0000 miles across six continents, with no intention of stopping now.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed the nation’s strictest ebike bill on his way out the door, requiring registration, licensing and insurance for all electric bikes, while doing away with the three-tier system most states use to classify them. And once again, lumping ped-assist bikes into the same bucket as electric motorbikes.

Bicyclists in Asheville NC are pushing for safer streets in the wake of a collision that killed two men riding bicycles and injured another, when a garbage truck driver drifted onto the wrong side of the road.

That’s more like it. A 35-year old Florida woman agreed to a nine-year sentence for a 2022 hit-and-run crash that killed a 56-year old man riding a bicycle, knocking his body off a bridge and into the river below where he had to be recovered by a Coast Guard crew.

Florida authorities were able to rescue a lost bike rider who had gone off trail by tracing the GPS on his phone, and relaying it to rescuers. Which is a good reminder to always take your phone with you. 

 

International

Momentum says bicycles are the perfect antidote for the winter blues.

MMA lightweight contender Justin Gaethje is one of us, confessing he didn’t do his best in his last title shot after crashing his bicycle just 18 days before the bout.

An 83-year old English man has no intention of quitting, after working at the same bike shop since he was just 15.

Lime has been ordered to pay a London business owner the equivalent of more than $10,000 after he seized Lime Bikes that had been left on his property, then charged the company storage fees to hold onto them.

 

Competitive Cycling

The iconic Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race has banned drop handlebars, ruling that all competitors must use flat or riser handlebars, although Cycling Weekly says it won’t actually make riders any safer.

Mountain Bike Action profiles two-time US National Champ and World Cup podium finisher Anna Newkirk, calling her America’s rising star in women’s downhill racing.

American Matteo Jorgenson will skip the defense of his Paris-Nice title to become the new wingman for Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France.

British sprinter Vicky Williamson announced her retirement at 32, despite struggling back from a crash that left her with a broken neck and back, dislocated pelvis and a slipped a disc that knocked her out of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

 

Finally…

Who needs a helmet on your head when you’ve got an airbag in your shorts? That feeling when you can’t get a new part for your kid’s bike because the bikemaker is too busy conducting inventory.

And if you’re going to flee from the cops on your bike, make sure you’ve got a good chain on it first.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Update: 6-year old boy riding bike with parents killed by hit-and-run driver in San Diego’s Pacific Beach; 32-year old woman arrested

January 18, 2026 / / One comment

Dear God, no.

For the third time in three days, someone has been killed riding a bicycle here in Southern California.

This time, it was just a little kid, murdered by a hit-and-run driver.

Multiple sources are reporting that a six-year old boy was killed when he was first hit, then run over by a woman while riding his bike in San Diego’s Pacific Beach neighborhood Saturday afternoon.

The victim, identified as Hudson Stephen O’Loughlin, was riding his bicycle with his parents on the sidewalk on the south side of Pacific Beach Drive around 3:44 pm, when he was right hooked by a driver as he crossed the alley at Ingraham Street.

The driver was turning right off Pacific Beach into the alley when she struck the boy, knocking him off his bike. She paused briefly without exiting her car, then accelerated south down the alley, running over Hudson as he lay on the ground in front of her car.

He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The driver, identified only as a 32-year old woman, was taken into custody after police located her car in National City.

Investigators said alcohol was not a factor in the crash, which does not make it better.

Especially considering that the boy might still be alive if she had just gotten out of her car and seen him there. Or even backed up instead of speeding forward.

Even worse, it’s likely that both his parents witnessed the crash that killed their son, according to 10 News San Diego.

Hudson’s mother, Juliana Kapovich, described her son over the phone as everything she could imagine – a fearless, confident child who was full of life. She said he loved his brother and science.

Kapovich said she and Hudson’s father were with him when he was riding his bike Saturday. Police say Hudson was hit and then run over by a car turning into a nearby alley.

A crowdfunding campaign describes the boy as a bright light taken too soon.

Hudson was a bright, curious child who loved all things science, and his energy was contagious. He filled every room with his spirit and had a passion for BMX, cycling, swimming, skating, and building with Legos. Whether he was racing on his bike, splashing in the pool, or creating new Lego masterpieces, Hudson’s adventurous and creative nature inspired everyone around him. Hudson attended school in North Park where he made many friends and touched countless lives. Hudson dreamed of becoming a military scientist one day, and his love for learning was matched only by his love for his family. In his short life, he brought so much joy, kindness, and wonder to everyone he met. One of the sweetest memories his mom holds close is how, as soon as the sun came up, Hudson would come into her room to ask for cuddles. Those quiet, loving moments were a daily reminder of the deep bond they shared.

As of this time, the page has raised more than $35,000 of the $100,000 goal.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact the San Diego Police Department Traffic Division or Crime Stoppers at 888/580-8477.

This is the fourth bicycling fatality that I’m aware in of Southern California this year, and the first in San Diego County.

There’s just no excuse.

Update: The driver has been identified as 32-year-old Tiffany Sanchez. She was booked on charges of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.

However, San Diego’s NBC7 reports Sanchez did not appear to be in police custody Monday, and it wasn’t clear if she had posted bail was posted or been released.

Fox 5 San Diego quotes Hudson’s father, Matthew O’Loughlin, describing how the crash happened. 

“My son is behind me, my other son and wife are about 10 feet behind us,” Matthew described. “No cars, I cross over, I’m fine…I look back to check on him and the lady just runs him over.”

He said his instinct was to capture the driver’s license plate…

“She ran him over taking off with no disregard for anybody, you wouldn’t even do that to an animal, she just left him die on the street,” Matthew said. “She just left.”

The UK’s Daily Mail offers a few more details about the crash. 

David Morrow, who was driving behind the woman at the time, recalled seeing her ‘cut right into the alley’ before running Hudson over ‘twice,’ he told the outlet.

‘Like, both wheels ran over the kid. She stopped right in front for about ten seconds. That’s when I pulled behind her and got her license number, and then she took off,’ Morrow added.

He noted that a bystander, who was possibly a paramedic, jumped in to help Hudson.

‘He got up at first and was standing there all in pain, and then they laid him down, and he stopped breathing right in front of me,’ Morrow said of Hudson. ‘It was sad, and then I left.’

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Hudson Stephen O’Loughlin and his loved ones. 

Photos from Go Fund Me page

 

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

Man riding an ebike killed, apparently by hitting a median in solo Long Beach crash

January 17, 2026 / / No comments

A man was apparently killed riding an ebike in Long Beach Friday night.

Apparently, because the victim was found lying unresponsive on the center median of Artesia Blvd.

And because it’s not clear what kind of electric bike he was riding, or how it happened.

According to My News LA, police responded to reports of an unconscious man in the median on Artesia Blvd near Indiana Ave around 9:40 pm.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, the victim, who was not publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators speculated that he somehow lost control of his ebike while riding in the left lane and hit the median, and was thrown from his bike.

The belief that he was riding in the left lane and hit the curb with enough force to cause his death suggests he may have been riding an electric motorbike or dirt bike, rather than a bicycle.

However, it’s also possible that he was on a ped-assist bike, and may have been forced into the median by a motorist or hit a pothole.

With the limited information available, all we can do is speculate. Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon.

This is the third bicycling fatality that I’m aware in of Southern California this year, and the third in Los Angeles County.

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

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

Watts bike rider killed in collision with Metro bus driver Friday afternoon; Metro immediately blames the victim

January 17, 2026 / / One comment

Someone riding a bicycle was killed by the driver of a Metro bus in Watts Friday afternoon.

Yet all we know about the victim is that Metro didn’t waste time blaming them for the crash.

According to KTLA-5, the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was stuck by the bus at Compton Ave and East Imperial Highway around 4:30 pm.

According to Metro, the bus was traveling south on Compton, when the bike rider allegedly ran the red light while apparently riding on Imperial Highway.

The victim was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. Metro expressed its condolences to the family and friends of the victim.

A photo from the scene shows the victim’s bike wedged underneath the bus. There doesn’t appear to be bicycle infrastructure in any direction.

As usual with collisions in unincorporated Los Angeles County, the crash will be investigated by the CHP. There should be video from the bus to determine what actually happened, and whether the victim actually ran the red light, or if something else may have caused or contributed to the crash.

Which is not to say that the victim didn’t run the red light. But Metro has an inherent interest in saying their driver wasn’t at fault.

This is just the second bicycling fatality that I’m aware in of Southern California this year, as well as the second in Los Angeles County.

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

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

New CA ebike bill still 3 times UK limits, Hollywood Walk of Fame officially sucks, and we pay the price for LA potholes

January 16, 2026 / / No comments

Well, that puts things in perspective.

We mentioned yesterday that a new bill in the state legislature (AB 1557) would cap ebike engines at no more than 750 watts.

Anything above that would be classified as a “motor-driven cycle,” requiring a license and registration.

But in the UK, ped-assist ebikes are already restricted to a maximum continuous power output of 250 watts, with a cut-off assist speed of 15.5 mph.

In other words, a third of what legal ped-assist ebikes would be lowered to in California.

And we wonder why we have a problem.

Meanwhile, Road.cc recommends the year’s best ebikes, most of which should be available in this country. And none of which looks like an electric motorbike.

Photo by Josh Sorenson from Pexels. 

………

It’s official.

Hollywood’s Walk of Fame has once again been declared the world’s worst tourist attraction.

Which anyone who lives or works near, or has ever visited, Hollywood Boulevard can attest to, without ever going to the effort of visiting all the other tourist attractions.

Even the World’s Largest Ball of Twine probably has it beat.

Never mind that we were supposed to see a new and improved version of the boulevard by now, complete with protected bike lanes, larger sidewalks, more trees and fewer traffic lanes.

The plans are already in place, after undergoing the city’s usual endless series of public meetings, complete with compromises to placate every possible point of view.

Plans are also ready to convert the stretch of boulevard between Highland and Orange into a multi-block pedestrian plaza, which could do more than anything else to improve safety and reinvigorate the area.

I asked former LADOT Executive Director Seleta Reynolds that very question all the way back in 2018, and was told it was shovel ready as soon as a majority of Angelenos demanded it.

Who, I might add, were never asked that question.

Our leaders just assumed, as usual, that most people would oppose it, based on the city’s standard decision making process of giving in to whoever screams the loudest.

Never mind that an overwhelming two-thirds majority of city residents voted to build sidewalks, bikeways and bus lanes when they passed Measure HLA.

Hollywood doesn’t have to suck.

We just lack leaders with the guts to do anything about it.

………

It should come as no surprise to anyone that LA streets are full of potholes after the recent record rains.

Which the city is not fixing, due to massive maintenance budget cuts by a mayor and city council who put us on the brink of bankruptcy due to unfunded pay raises for city employees.

But what would be, at worst, an expensive inconvenience for motorists could lead to serious injuries, or worse, for people on bicycles.

Because your front wheel unexpectedly dropping out from under you can result in severe falls. And swerving to avoid a pothole can put you in the path of oncoming drivers and their big, dangerous machines.

So the city might save a few bucks by not fixing potholes now, and pay for it later in the form of massive legal settlements.

But we’ll be the ones who really get stuck with the bill.

………

LADOT wants your input on improving South LA’s Broadway corridor.

………

It’s the battle of the bike lane sweepers this weekend.

https://twitter.com/StreetsR4Every1/status/2011647196781748378

………

You can now ride the full length of California’s most iconic bicycling route once again.

https://twitter.com/CHP_Monterey/status/2011552241459876199

………

British ‘cross competitors demonstrate the many and varied ways you can fall off a bike.

 

………

Local 

South Central LA-based artist Lauren Halsey appears to be one of us, posing with a pink BMX bike to discuss her “immersive, architectural” artworks, as well as the limited-edition bicycling jersey she designed with Rapha and the Miami Design District to raise funds for cancer research.

The Silver Lake Track Club invites you to join them on February 7th for year two of Altadena to the Palisades: An Ultra-Marathon Relay, running or biking up to 50k — aka 31 miles — through the burns zones to raise funds for recovery efforts.

The Los Angeles Times suggests six places in Southern California to try bikepacking. I’ll take Joshua Tree for the win, thank you. 

 

State

Police busted a man wanted for probation violation and robbery after he led them on a pursuit from National City into San Diego, riding his ebike on the freeway. Although something tells me he wasn’t riding anything that would be called an ebike under the new California bill, let alone British regulations.

Life is cheap in San Mateo County, where the local DA announced they won’t be filing charges against a 19-year old woman who pulled her car out of a parking lot, striking an 11-year old kid on an ebike — who had the right of way — then jumped a curb, fatally slamming into four-year old boy and injuring his six-year old sister, before crashing into the restaurant they were leaving; prosecutors concluded they couldn’t get 12 jurors to agree she was negligent. Sure as hell sounds like she was, but what do I know?

 

National

Speaking of ebikes, Specialized is recalling all their Turbo Como SL commuter ebikes, saying you should stop riding it immediately due to a risk of cracks in the steerer tube. Which is probably a bad thing. 

Speaking of recalls, if you’re wearing an R.X.Y bicycle helmet, stop; the helmets violate minimum bike helmet standards, and pose a risk of serious injury or death. Which is definitely a bad thing.

He gets it. The publisher of a Las Vegas sports business site says the solution to the city’s deadly roads is better enforcement and education, as well as engineering better designed roads.

In a rational ruling from the New York courts, a judge has concluded that the city’s Department of Transportation has a rational basis to build bike lanes because that’s exactly what they’re supposed to do.

Kindhearted cops in Oviedo, Florida worked with a local nonprofit to give a girl a new bicycle, helmet and lock to ensure she has a safe way to get to middle school. Apparently, they haven’t heard about Florida drivers yet. 

 

International

Evidently, ice biking is nothing new. The CBC says bicycling up the frozen Yukon River dates back to the Klondike Gold Rush.

After five years and more than 3,000 hours of bicycling the streets of London, a man has developed his own bicycle safety map of the city, which is now used by more than 1.3 million people.

A London woman says that as a Black bicyclist in what is normally a white man’s sport, she’s already an icon whether she wants to be or not.

A British mother of three was sentenced to 35 years to life behind bars for a road rage-fueled feud, after running down and fatally ramming an ebike rider with her Range Rover at speeds of up to 75 mph. Once again, the victim probably wasn’t riding something that should be called an ebike. 

If you build it, they will come. One in five people in Brussels, Belgium now bike to work, as bicycling rates have jumped 40% in just five years.

 

Competitive Cycling

Next year’s Grand Depart for the Tour de France will roll through Scotland, starting in Edinburgh, rolling through the Scottish Borderlands, Dumfries and Galloway before finishing just south of the border in Carlisle, England.

 

Finally…

Your next e-cargo bike could fold like an origami crane. That feeling when your interior design career is on hold until the ’28 Olympics.

And when you need an app to know if your local bikeways are under water.

Literally.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

WeHo bike lanes going green, and new CA bill would cap ebike speeds and reclassify more powerful ebikes as motorbikes

January 15, 2026 / / One comment

West Hollywood will paint existing bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd, Fairfax Ave and San Vicente Blvd green to increase their visibility.

It will be that particular shade known as “Hollywood Green,” allowing filmmakers to work around the color to avoid the disastrous rollout when Los Angeles first went green.

Painting the lanes is probably a good idea, given that most drivers seem to think the Fairfax bike lane is only there to bypass backed-up traffic, seemingly never occurring to them that there might be a bicycle in it.

And usually there isn’t, for exactly that reason.

Green paint isn’t likely to stop those drivers. But at least they’ll have a better idea what law they’re breaking.

………

That’s more like it.

A new bill in the state legislature would cap ebike engines at no more than 750 watts while imposing new speed restrictions.

AB 1557 would also reclassify more powerful electric motorbikes as motor-driven cycles, which would require a license to operate.

Maybe then we can finally get everyone to stop calling the damn things ebikes, and blaming all of us for the actions of a relative few teen knuckleheads.

………

Streets For All will host a mobility debate for the candidates for city controller next Thursday.

Only one of whom has corgis, which should be a key consideration.

………

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

An English borough clapped back when drivers complained about paying for the roadway as well as bike lanes, only to be rewarded with a 20 mph speed limit to protect vulnerable road users, replying that motorists don’t pay any more than anyone else and the country hasn’t had a road tax for nearly a century.

No bias here. A British news channel breathlessly announced that bicyclists now think illegally modified ebikes pose a bigger risk to their safety than motor vehicles. Except they left out the word “some,” because only 8% of the people polled believe that — and only 500 people were polled.

No bias here, either. Aussie commenters set their hair on fire when a photo showed a bicyclist riding in a bus lane, insisting that the single rider was somehow “inconveniencing hundreds” during rush hour. Must have been a damn big bus, because no one else in the photo seems to be even a little bit inconvenienced.

………

Local 

The Eastsider reminds us that Metro is looking for your comments on closing the gap in the LA River bike path through DTLA, Vernon and Maywood.

Calabasas bike-themed restaurant, bike shop and coffee bar Pedaler’s Fork is opening a second location in LA’s Frogtown, near their existing 10 Speed Coffee and close to the LA River bike path.

Santa Monica will conduct yet another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation from 2 pm to 8 pm today. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits so you don’t get ticketed. Or just avoid the city entirely this afternoon and evening if you can.

 

State

Calbike has opened registration for April’s biennial California Bicycle Summit in Sacramento.

Oceanside police are pushing for a change in the city’s ebike regulations to prohibit carrying a second rider and allow cops to temporarily seize the ebikes of scofflaw riders. Although once again, they seem to be conflating ped-assist ebikes with illegally modified electric motorbikes and dirt bikes.

A 73-year old Rancho Bernardo man is bicycling around San Diego with his son to interview random people they meet and post the videos online. The story is paywalled, but you can see their videos on their website.

 

National

A New York news site says bicyclists and ebikers continue to exceed Central Park’s 15 mph speed limit, endangering lives, while the speed limit is almost impossible to enforce. Yet the photo shows a couple kids on e-motorbikes with full face helmets, one pulling a wheelie, making it clear that regular bicycles and ped-assist ebikes aren’t the problem. And speed guns work just as well on them as they do with motor vehicles.

Streetsblog says the way to solve the problems in Central Park is to build better bike lanes around the park’s perimeter, so non-recreational riders don’t have to use it as the only safe route across town.

Proof protected bike lanes work. Ridership on a contested Brooklyn bike lane went up 60% after it was protected — even though the former mayor ripped out three blocks of the protection.

Justice denied, as a Salvadoran immigrant faced up to 12 years behind bars for killing a Long Island bike rider in a drunken crash, but was deported before he could be sentenced.

A group of Tampa, Florida mountain bikers are building their own trail, the city’s firstl.

 

International

Bike Radar explains why your ebike battery loses power when it’s cold, with a lithium ion battery having just half the power at 4 below zero Fahrenheit that it does at 77 degrees. Which is not a problem most SoCal riders are likely to have. 

The state of Mexico will invest the equivalent of $6.3 million to build four new bike lanes, as well as six protected intersections in high traffic areas.

London’s Telegraph recommends the ten European bike routes for all skill levels that you should tackle in your lifetime. Particularly if you feel an uncontrollable urge to circumnavigate Iceland. 

A London writer experiences the culture shock of moving from an air-conditioned office to a bicycle delivery service following his fourth layoff in six years, saying he hadn’t counted on get hit by cars and skinheads — let alone seeing the city in a whole new light.

Ireland’s Taoiseach, otherwise known as the country’s prime minister, condemned a judge’s comments that bike riders have made Dublin a nightmare, while the country’s Labour Party filed a formal complaint with the courts.

Cycling Weekly recommends the “unknown” climbs of the Austrian Alps, calling them harder than those of the Tour de France.

More proof protected bike lanes work. A year-old protected bike lane in the Australian state of Tasmania hasn’t had a single bicycling crash since it was installed, despite seeing 6,000 trips each month, while overall crashes on the street have dropped nearly a third.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can turn your kid’s balance bike into an electric snow trike. That feeling when you have a need to prove you really did it.

And building your granddog his own bike seat. Or a mobile dog house.

Or something.

@louie_and_grandpaw

Spoiled little daschund ! Grandpaw built this custom snoopy inspired dog house from scratch for his grand dog Louie! #daschund #dogsoftiktok #dogtiktok #dogmom

♬ Linus And Lucy – Take 1 – Vince Guaraldi Trio

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries  
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee