Archive for bikinginla

LA Board of Public Works rejects Linton’s HLA appeals, and Rad Power rejects CPSC’s not-so-rad ebike battery recall

November 26, 2025 / / One comment
Day 330 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Just a quick note before we get started. 

As usual, this will be our last regular post for the holiday week. I’ll be taking tomorrow and Friday off to spend with family, so we’ll see you back here bright and early on Monday. 

Although if you’re not too busy hitting the Black Friday sales — or better yet, getting out on your bike and avoiding the hell out of the whole mess — come back Friday for the kick off of our 11th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. 

I’ll do my best to put the fun back in fund drive, while simultaneously begging you to part with a small portion of your own hard-earned funds to help keep this whole thing going for another year. 

Today’s photo depicts yours truly signing the original petition in support of Measure HLA, corgi in tow, with Streets For All founder Michael Schneider. 

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Okay, one more quick note. 

Because I’m thankful this year for a lifetime on two wheels, which has led me to so many of my best experiences and memories. 

And I’m even more thankful for you, and everyone else who reads this site. Because I couldn’t do what I do without you. 

So in all sincerity and with deepest humility, thank you. 

………

To the surprise of absolutely no one, LA’s Board of Public Works rejected the overwhelming majority of Measure HLA appeals heard on Monday.

According to LAist,

First round of appeals: The Board of Public Works partially sided with the appellant in one appeal and rejected the other six. Joe Linton, in his capacity as a resident and not as editor of Streetsblog L.A., filed all the appeals heard on Monday. “It’s the very first time, so we’re kind of throwing a lot of spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks,” Linton told LAist. “Not a lot stuck.”

One appeal approved: Linton partially won his appeal claiming the city did not adequately install pedestrian improvements along a nearly half-mile portion of Hollywood Boulevard that it resurfaced last year. The city said it will publish an “appeals resolution plan” to fix sidewalks there within the next six months. “It was really obvious to me that the city’s justification … was not true, so I was glad that that was acknowledged,” Linton said.

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton explains further.

Per the text of the Measure HLA ballot measure, the city does not have to implement its mobility plan if the city is only completing “restriping without other improvements.” This exemption is listed alongside pothole repairs, utility cuts, and emergency repairs. In the six appeals that the board voted to reject, the city did not “restripe” the existing configuration, but installed new lane striping to change traffic patterns, added parking, bike lanes, turn lanes, etc.

The appeals argued that these changes go beyond “restriping without other improvements.”

The city disagrees.

The city’s position appears to be more or less along the lines of: if a street reconfiguration project included installed pretty much any kind of lane striping, then it’s exempt from HLA because it’s considered “restriping without other improvements.”

In other words, the city is basically daring Linton to sue them, after he already filed one lawsuit over Metro’s failure to include the required bike lanes in the redesign of the Vermont Ave corridor — again, in his own capacity, and not as a representative of Streetsblog.

Four more appeals filed by Linton will be heard by the commission on Monday.

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Seattle ebike maker Rad Power Bikes says thanks, but no thanks, to the ebike battery recall ordered by the feds, arguing that such a massive recall would put them out of business.

Not that their prospects look too good right now, with or without it.

Meanwhile, a writer for a surf site puts tongue firmly in cheek to discuss the “grom immolation terror” brought on by the recall, while questioning why the Consumer Product Safety Commission is even still around following the Trump budget cuts. “Grom” being slang for a young or inexperienced surfer, and by extension, any inexperienced and/or overly enthusiastic teen — the opposite of what waits for me in the mirror every morning. And you’re welcome. 

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Thanks to the generosity of a fallen bicyclist’s family, all donations to Streets Are For Everyone will be matched dollar-for-dollar through the end of the year.

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

Cycling Weekly considers what it will take to turn down the hatred, opprobrium and vilification that bicyclists are subjected to on a near daily basis.

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Local 

Calbike examines how Metro’s Nina Kin, Tech Lead on LA Metro’s Digital Experience Team, is building more reliable data and trust for transit riders on bicycles, as Metro begins to recognize that transit and bikes are two “halves of the same promise.” And no, that’s not an exceptionally awkward and unwieldy job title at all.

Joe Linton, acting this time in his capacity as Streetsblog editor, offers an open thread and photos from Sunday’s Stranger Things 5 CicLAvia on Melrose Ave, where a good time was reportedly had by all, human and demogorgon alike.

Pasadena approved a contract of up to $4.8 million to move forward with a new design for the Pasadena Ave and St. John Ave Roadway Network Project, including a safer and more accessible bicycle and pedestrian network — without removing existing traffic lanes, of course.

Santa Monica announced plans for a Holiday Sweater Community Ride on Saturday, December 6th, offering guided bike tours of the Bergamot Area First/Last Mile Improvements, departing from the 17th Street/SMC Metro Station from 10 am to noon.

 

State

Evidently, those public radio budget cuts have hit hard, as San Diego public radio station KBPS is just now catching up with CARB’s heartless shiv through the heart of the California Ebike Incentive Program, while adding little or nothing to the story.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office urges parents to think twice before buying ebikes for their kids, warning that they can be held criminally liable for whatever mischief the little miscreants get up to with them. And once again, conflating electric dirt bikes and motorbikes with regular ped-assist ebikes, to the benefit of no one. 

The Kern County coroner identified the victim killed by a driver while riding his bike last week as an 81-year old man, who deserved better. Then again, so does anyone else who’s still riding at that age. 

Caltrans pushed bike lanes planned for a Tiburon street makeover back to 2029, after advocacy groups questioned limitations imposed by a school bus operator.

 

National

Vice examines hacks to safely store a bicycle in your apartment, and says ditch the backpack and try panniers, instead.

American voters approved nearly $2 billion in bicycling improvements sponsored by People For Bikes in the recent elections.

A pair of Congressional members introduced the bipartisan Bicycle Instruction, Knowledge, and Education (BIKE) Act, which would make bike safety education a standard part of youth learning nationwide.

A UK citizen married to a US resident was nabbed by immigration authorities while riding his bicycle in Montana, despite having a pending green card application.

 

International

A new study from the Journal of the Obesity Society suggests that evening is the best time for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity — like bicycling — to help improve and control your blood sugar. Note to Bicycling: If you intend to hide the story behind a paywall for subscribing members only, don’t leave a link to the story just above the blockage notice. And if the study is readily available, the story ain’t that exclusive.

The London Times examines how bicycles have changed lives for indigenous Colombian students and adults.

If you build it, they will come. Daily bicycling journeys in London are up 12.7 percent over last year, and 43 percent above pre-Covid levels.

A member of the British Parliament proposes legislation banning the annual World Naked Bike Ride, arguing that the country’s police can’t ignore “flashers on bikes.” Just wait until someone tells him about Lady Godiva.

A writer for Cycling Weekly imagines what the UK’s future could look like if the country could actually learn from the Netherlands. At this point, there just ain’t enough weed in the world to conjure up visions of an Amsterdam’ed Los Angeles. 

The New York Times talks with Dutch-Canadian author and advocate Melissa Bruntlett, co-writer with her husband Chris of the recently published Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation.

The New York Times also talks with French ultracyclist Sofiane Sehili, who spent 50 days in a Russian hoosegow after trying to cross the border despite Russian border guards refusal to acknowledge his previously approved visa, while attempting to set a new record for the fastest crossing of Eurasia.

 

Competitive Cycling

A sports website catches up with America’s other ex-Tour de France winner, turned whistleblower, turned weed entrepreneur, Floyd Landis.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get busted for illegally modifying a DIY ped-assist ebike to do nearly 40 mph. Now you, too, can buy grandma her very own $40,000 one-off bespoke bike.

And your next indoor exercise bike could be a giant, horned, spinning marble disk.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Metro board members propose rescue for open streets funding, and ebikes blamed in Hermosa Beach teen gang attack

November 25, 2025 / / No comments
Day 329 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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They get it.

While I was out of commission last week, Metro considered a bizarre plan that would have virtually eliminated open streets events for the next three years, other than events tied directly to the World Cup, and Olympic and Paralympic Games, and held within a narrow two-month window each year.

Even though each of the 51 CicLAvias held since October 10, 2010 have averaged more than 100,000 people experiencing the streets of Los Angeles County in a new way, many for the first time.

Not to mention the many Active Streets events hosted by Active SGV in the San Gabriel Valley, and others funded by Metro.

It’s a plan that would mean an end, at least temporarily, to most CicLAvia and  Active Streets events outside of that narrow window, with no guarantee that they would resume afterwards.

According to Steve Scauzillo of the Southern California News Group, writing in the Los Angeles Daily News,

At issue is a dramatic change in the way Metro intends to fund “open streets” events in the next three years. A true “open street” event is as it sounds: Allowing people on bicycles, scooters, skates, skateboards and pedestrians to ride or walk the asphalt streets free of cars for exercise, while stopping at booths for food and games within various neighborhoods of Los Angeles County…

This round of funding includes 29 events at a two-year cost of $10 million, according to Metro.

As of last week, LA Metro staff proposed funding “open street” and “slow street” events (limiting car access) squeezed into two months during the next three years: 2026, 2027 and 2028. The 29 events OK’d for funding coincide with the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in July 2026 and the LA Olympic and Paralympic Games in July 2028. All others were either rejected or ineligible for funding because they weren’t within that narrow time frame.

But riding to the rescue is a proposal supported by six of the 13 Metro board members, which would commit at least $1 million to fund other events that were rejected by Metro staff for falling outside that Copa Mundial and Olympic window.

And better yet, make that funding permanent.

The group includes LA County supervisors Lindsey Horvath, Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis, as well as CD5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, Whittier Councilmember and Metro Chair Fernando Dutra, and Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval.

By my math that leaves them just one vote short for the motion to carry. Bearing in mind that I was an English major, so my calculations may leave something to be desired.

Let’s hope they find it.

Because open streets events may be a relatively recent tradition here in Los Angeles. But they have quickly grown to be the largest in the US, and are far too valuable to sacrifice.

Even temporarily.

No guarantee the Daily News link won’t be blocked by their paywall, however. It was hidden the first time I tried to read the story, but not the second. So your luck may vary. 

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Once again, ebikes are in the news.

And not in a good way.

As usual, though, the press manages to conflate non-street legal electric dirt bikes and motorbikes with the far slower and tamer ped-assist ebikes.

In this case, it takes the form of a seemingly random violent attack by a gang of South Bay teens riding the former, which left a man in his 50s lying incapacitated in the street.

@bikinginla.bsky.social @streetsblogla.bsky.social This will end badly. The Beach Cities does have youth gangs who use e-bikes. But passerby may not be able to tell the difference between them and the vast majority of teens going about their business.

— Dr Grace Peng (@gspeng.bsky.social) 2025-11-25T02:52:29.978Z

This is a more nuanced story. Local eBike dealer pointed out that this gang rides illegal dirt bikes, not ebikes. These kids are known to school and local police. Parents that bought their boys illegal bikes seem not inclined to check their boys' behavior. @bikinginla.bsky.social

— Dr Grace Peng (@gspeng.bsky.social) 2025-11-25T03:14:13.842Z

The problem here is not ebikes, but gangs of teens engaged in random street violence.

But by painting ebikes with such a broad brush, these stories risk the general public confusing illegal electric motorbikes with the legal ped-assist bikes being rapidly adopted by countless bike commuters and recreational riders.

And risks a crackdown on all two-wheeled electric bikes, legal and otherwise — like this ordinance unanimously approved to clamp down on ebikes in Newport Beach, just the latest to be passed by a SoCal beach community (thanks to Ed for the heads-up).

So for the uninitiated — and that includes the overwhelming majority of news outlets out there — if they don’t have functional pedals, or travel faster that 28 mph, they’re mo-peds, motor scooters, motorbikes, motorcycles or dirt bikes, regardless of how they’re powered.

Or they just ain’t legal.

Period.

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Case in point, news broke yesterday that a 12-year old boy was injured in a hit-and-run while riding an ebike in Anaheim Sunday night.

Although video of the bike after the crash looks a lot more like an electric motorbike than an electric bicycle.

KNBC-4 reports the victim was hospitalized with “a broken leg and concussions.” Which suggests that he may have more than one head, since a single head can only suffer a single concussion in a single event.

The driver fled on foot after crashing his car about a block away. Police suspect he was under the influence based on undisclosed evidence found in the car.

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Our old friend Zachary Rynew shares his take on Sunday’s Stranger Things CicLAvia.

Which, had it occurred next year, wouldn’t have been funded under Metro’s proposed new restrictions, since it would have fallen outside of the World Cup schedule, and had no connection to the soccer/football tournament.

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Now that’s what I call a close call.

A man in India’s Uttar Pradesh province barely avoided becoming road kill when an out-of-control speeding bus slammed into the wall where he was parking his bicycle.

The crash injured 30 people; only his good reflexes saved him from being one of them.

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Evidently, you can transport a wheelbarrow by bicycle.

Saw this lad on my way to work
byu/jakobolobo incarryshitolympics

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

A writer for the Cornell University student paper highlights a problem experienced by bike riders almost everywhere, after bicycles are banned from the local Commons, forcing riders to choose between a busy highway and a “bike boulevard” consisting of a couple speed bumps and no protection.

A New Zealand politician complains about the “cruel” abuse she received online after posting about breaking her leg in a bicycling crash, asking “how can a human being write that to another person?” Welcome to our world, counselor. 

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Local 

As we mentioned last week, West Hollywood will host a mobility popup on Santa Monica Blvd from 5 pm to 7 pm tonight, including distributing free bike lights as part of BikeLA’s Operation Firefly.

 

State

Riverside County firefighters conducted an air rescue of an injured mountain biker, who crashed while riding off designated trails near Lake Elsinore.

 

National

Cycling News considers whether expensive bike lights are really worth that much more than the budget variety.

Velo selects the best Black Friday road and gravel bicycling deals. Which reminds me it’s time for my annual “fuck Black Friday” campaign. Seriously, just get out and ride your bike, and let everyone else fight the crowds, virtual or otherwise.

Formerly high-flying Seattle ebike maker Rad Power Bikes can’t catch a break as it continues to circle the drain, the latest blow coming in the form of a recall of the company’s ebike batteries, which the Consumer Product Safety Commission says pose a serious fire hazard.

Seatle’s annual Cranksgiving ride set a new record, with bicyclists collecting 6,540 pounds of donations for local food banks. Let’s hope the SoCal Cranksgiving editions were at least as successful, since some Thanksgiving Grinch stole 500 turkeys intended for a giveaway from a Lake Elsinore nonprofit. Thanks to Megan for the link. 

‘Tis the season. The Toys For Tots program in Bowling Green, Kentucky got a welcome surprise when they received a donation of 400 kids bikes, while expecting just a quarter of that.

That’s more like it. A 46-year old Florida man was sentenced to 12 years behind bars for the drunken crash that killed a 66-year old man riding a bicycle; he was also ordered to pay $750 for the victim’s funeral expenses.

 

International

A travel website highlights “the most grueling and unforgettable” bicycling routes on the planet, only one of which is even partially in the US.

No real surprise here, as no city in the UK or US is on the latest Copenhagenize list of the world’s top bicycling cities. Even if Minneapolis celebrates being ranked #44 in the world, and #2 in the US (insert scatological pun here).

A bike-touring Aussie writer discovers that South Korea is an undiscovered bicycling gem.

 

Competitive Cycling

Slovenian cycling star Tadej Pogačar denied rumors of an early retirement, saying his contract extends through 2030 and he intends to honor it.

Thirty-five-year old former Il Lombardia winner Esteban Chaves called it a career, saying he’s “very happy to close this chapter” of his life.

No real surprise here, as former cyclist and current team sprint coach Marcel Kittel says pro cycling is “absolutely not” clean. But the doping era is over, right?

Thirty-six-year old former Paris-Roubaix champ and current Canadian national road champ Alison Jackson has moved to a new team, saying she still has big ambitions and isn’t ready to leave the sport.

A petition calling for removing the Col de Sarenne from its inaugural appearance in the Tour de France has garnered more than 6,000 signatures, highlighting concerns that the mountain’s ecosystem is to fragile to host the final climbing stage of this year’s race.

 

Finally…

Who needs to be a car enthusiast when you’ve got a bicycle? Your next high-performance bike could be whittled from wood. That feeling when you steal a bike, and end up with someone’s grandma’s ashes.

And you, too, could have won Kraftwerk’s bicycle from the band’s 1984 Tour de France video for a mere $57,601.

If only you’d known about it.

Right?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

16 years for killer Santa Ana DUI driver; Burbank approves $3.3 million Chandler Bikeway extension “with trepidation”

November 24, 2025 / / No comments
Day 328 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It’s kind of a quiet news day, as the holiday week doldrums hit the bike world. Or at least the press that usually covers it. So let’s just dive right in, for those of us who are still around this week. 

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That’s more like it.

A Santa Ana man was sentenced to 16 years and four months behind bars for killing a five-year old boy, and critically injuring his father and 6-year-old sister as they all rode their bikes in Garden Grove.

Thirty-year old Ceferino Ascencion Ramos was convicted of driving at nearly three times the legal alcohol limit when he ran down the entire family of five last summer.

According to KTLA-5,

The incident took place on Sunday, July 7, 2024, shortly after 7 p.m. Angel Ramirez and Angela Hernandez-Mejia were riding e-bikes with their three young children near Haster Street and Twintree Lane. Angela led with the couple’s 7-month-old daughter in a bike trailer, while Angel followed with a trailer carrying their 5-year-old son, Jacob, and 6-year-old daughter.

A witness told police that the family was riding on the right side of the road when Ramos struck all five members and drove away. The witness followed Ramos until authorities could stop him. His blood alcohol level was later measured at .22, nearly three times the legal limit of .08.

Jacob died at the scene.

The family’s bones and abrasions may have healed by now.

But the family itself never will.

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Burbank officials approved a $3.3 million plan to extend the popular Chandler Bikeway “with some trepidation,” despite a near total lack of public opposition.

And even though it’s only been in the works for a mere 20 years.

After all, what’s the safety, convenience — and yes, enjoyment — of thousands of bike-riding families when there’s a whole 53 parking spaces at risk?

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Streets For All is hosting their Holiday Bash and Mobility Champion Awards on the 13th of next month.

Meanwhile, Streets Are For Everyone is looking for people to help clean up the Reseda, Blvd bike lanes the same day.

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

Chicago ripped out part of an already installed protected bike lane because the local alderwoman didn’t like it. Proof that there are, in fact, other cities with leadership as crappy as ours. Or maybe even worse, if that’s possible. 

Police in Cambridge, Massachusetts continued their search for the thumbtack-wielding anti-bike terrorist who tossed the tiny tacks across a bike lane, resulting in flat tires for several riders. While it may sound like a relatively petty form of protest, it can be expensive and inconvenient to replace a tire, and potentially dangerous — or worse — if a tire pops at speed.

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Local 

LA-based professional mountain bikers Eliot Jackson and Katie Holden are on a mission to grow bicycling by tearing “down the barriers to entry in cycling for marginalized communities.”

 

State

A San Francisco med student makes the case for AB 981, which would create a test program requiring Intelligent Speed Assist systems for serious or repeat speed violators — in other words, using software to cap speeds for drivers who can’t keep their damn foot off the gas; the bill was left hanging in the Appropriations Committee when the last legislative session ended, and will need public support to move forward.

Sad news from Petaluma, where a hit-and-run driver left a man to die alone in the street, after his body was found hours after he was struck while riding his bike. Cases like this should be investigated as second-degree murder, because the driver made a conscious decision to drive off and let the victim die, rather than calling for help. 

 

National

A writer for a military website says yes, it’s okay if you replace running with bicycling for fitness training sometimes. Or maybe all the time. 

It seems like formerly American-based Felt has changed hands more than a Las Vegas card table, now on its fourth owner in less than ten years.

An 18-year old Texas man faces a felony hit-and-run charge for killing a 77-year man riding a bicycle in Galveston, after turning himself in five days later. Which gave him plenty of time to get whatever he might have been on at the time of the crash out of his system.

An off-duty Texas cop was struck by a driver while riding a bicycle on Sunday. And yes, the driver stuck around.

Newton, Massachusetts spent half a million bucks building a new elevated bike lane, then ripped part of it out after residents who initially supported it complained it was poorly executed, with one calling it a “clusterfuck.”

An Atlanta driver was allegedly doing 91 mph in a 35 mph zone when he hit and killed a 61-year old man riding a bicycle.

 

International

Cycling Weekly examines when and why bicycling suddenly became part of the mental health conversation, and vice versa, beyond just making us happy. I’ve long talked about how biking has gotten me through the toughest and darkest times of my life. The experts are just catching on now. 

Meanwhile, Cycling Weekly readers take the seemingly wacky stance that it’s possible to just enjoy riding your bike, without the slavish focus on heart rate, cadence, et al.

Life is cheap in Hamilton, Ontario, where a bicyclist says “the laws are not there to protect you,” after prosecutors allow the driver who fractured his hip off on a lessor charge; the bike rider complained he was struck during an aggressive pass, while the driver insists he never actually made contact with the victim. Which shouldn’t matter, since a close pass can do as much damage as an actual collision.

Life is even cheaper in the UK, where the mayor of an English town walked with a fine of 3,000 pounds — the equivalent of $3,900 — for the drunken hit-and-run that knocked a man off his bike; the mayor denied hitting the victim until police found the passenger mirror from his car at the scene of the crash.

Britain’s iconic Brompton foldie is now officially middle-aged, just like the Hollywood stars and “condescending hipsters” who love them.

While Los Angeles continues to dither on installing speed cams, Jersey unveiled the British self-governing island’s first mobile speed cam. Funny how an island famous for cows is moving forward faster than a city known for its deadly drivers. 

A travel writer insists that touring the tiny islands off the coast of Ireland by bicycle makes no sense at all, yet it’s utterly tranquil and addictive.

A Milan bike lane represents the dividing line in Italy’s politics, with the right promising to rip it out, and the city’s center-left mayor calling the conservative head of the country’s senate a NIMBY. In other words, kind of like the left-right divide in much of the world, and especially right here in the good ol’ USA. 

A 26-year old driver in Cyprus faces charges for killing a 20-year old Syrian immigrant riding a bicycle, while allegedly speeding and both drunk and stoned.

Tragic news from Malaysia, where a driver managed to kill not one, but two young boys sharing a bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Once again, a pro cyclist has been struck by a driver, as 28-year old Frenchman Thibault Guernalec suffered multiple fractures, as well as a concussion, when he was run down while on a training ride this this week, only days after Dutch cyclist Lorena Wiebes was also struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Twenty-nine-year old Danish pro Jonas Gregaard joins the ranks of relatively young cyclists who have recently walked away from the sport, contending the risks and toll it takes just isn’t worth it.

Life is cheap in Colorado, where fallen cyclist Magnus White could see less than half-justice, after corrections officials moved the killer of the 17-year old USA Cycling Team member to a halfway house, just six months into her four-year sentence.

Cycling Weekly explains why Africa’s Gravel Burn is the world’s toughest offroad stage race, and talks to the people behind ultra-endurance cycling dot-watching.

 

Finally…

Your next bike computer could light the road and pump your tires. That feeling when your spouse harbors newfound midlife dreams of BMX glory.

And that feeling when a pro motorcyclist has his $23,000 bike stolen, and it’s not even the one with a motor.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Update: 72-year old man dies in fall from bike, attempting to avoid child riding scooter on San Luis Rey River Trail in Oceanside

November 23, 2025 / / 3 comments

For once, it mattered that a victim was wearing a bike helmet.

But sadly, it didn’t make a difference this time.

Because a 72-year old man died after suffering a head injury in a fall off his bicycle, while swerving to avoid someone on a scooter in Oceanside Sunday morning.

A seven-year old child.

The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was riding with a companion when they caught up to a family headed in the same direction, San Luis Rey River Trail near Mance Buchanon Park, around 10:40 am.

The child on the scooter “unintentionally veered” into the victim’s path as they were trying to pass, causing him to fall. Despite wearing a helmet, the man suffered a head injury.

Relatively slow speed falls like that are exactly what bike helmets are designed to protect against, but this time, it didn’t seem to help.

The victim was taken by ambulance to a nearby fire station, but died before he could be airlifted to a hospital, despite the efforts of first responders.

Apparently the child was unharmed. Physically, anyway.

This is at least the 52nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

Update: NBC San Diego says the seven-year old scooter rider was a girl. 

My deepest sympathy for the victim and his loved ones. 

 

 

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

Murder charge for OC 3-time DUI driver, Western Ave 3rd deadliest US street for peds, and new demand for ebike vouchers

November 21, 2025 / / No comments
Day 324 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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I’ve finally managed to get to a place where my eyes, head and stomach are all in reasonable agreement, allowing me to gaze upon this screen for more than a few moments, without risk of one or the other exploding in a most unpleasant manner. 

So let’s try to catch up on all we missed this week. This has turned into an epic post, so cinch down that saddle, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride. 

Photo by energepic.com from Pexels.

………

This is who we share the road with.

A 59-year old San Juan Capistrano man faces a murder charge for jumping a pedestrian island with his truck, and killing 13-year old Luis Adrian Morales-Pacheco was he was waiting for the light to change while walking to school with his brother in Dana Point. Then fleeing the scene, until his truck broke down a few miles away.

Police arrested Bradley Gene Funk at the scene for driving under the influence. For the third time.

At 8:15 in the morning.

In fact, Funk was under probation for DUI at the time of the crash — for his second DUI arrest in just three days, back in 2020, while under the influence of both pills and alcohol.

Yet somehow, he was allowed to remain on the road until it was too late.

Now an innocent kid is dead, and Funk faces life behind bars, just because authorities didn’t take the damn keys away from a driver who had already demonstrated he was a danger on the road.

And if you want to know why people keep dying on our streets, that’s a good place to start.

Because there’s nothing easier to avoid than a DUI, let alone killing someone while under the influence.

Just don’t get behind the effing wheel after drinking or using drugs.

………

Maybe you might want to avoid riding on South Western Ave.

Or walking there.

Like, ever.

Because the Washington Post has identified it as one of the nation’s most dangerous stretches of road.

The Post investigation used data from police reports and other records collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, focusing from when pedestrian deaths began to climb in 2010 to the most recent year with data available, 2023. It revealed short stretches of road that have become exceptionally deadly. In Albuquerque, 34 pedestrians were killed along a three-mile stretch of Central Avenue between 2010 and 2023. In Los Angeles, 33 people were killed on Western Avenue just south of downtown during that time.

In fact, Western ranks as the 3rd most dangerous street for pedestrians in the US, behind streets in Houston and Albuquerque.

And you can stop smirking, Orange County, because Anaheim’s Beach Blvd ranks tenth on the list.

But the most dangerous city for pedestrians is Memphis, according to the paper. Thanks, in part, to roads like many found right here at home.

The road, seven miles from the city’s heart, has been documented by the city and state as disproportionately lethal but remains mostly unimproved aside from walk signals near where Booker was hit. Cars and trucks roar past apartments, restaurants, corner stores and gas stations, often well above the strip’s 40 mph speed limit. Within two years of Booker’s death, two more people were killed by drivers at the same intersection.

The national data shows how the design of such roads is closely linked to the fatality rate: Those with three lanes or more are by far the most dangerous, because they enable higher speeds. Above 30 mph, fatality risk increases sharply. At 50 mph, someone’s chance of survival when struck is less than 1 in 5.

Then there’s this.

In addition, more than 3,800 people were killed almost immediately when they were struck in 2023, an indication that high speeds and larger vehicles are making impacts more violent. The rate at which pedestrians are declared dead at the scene of the crash has more than doubled, according to The Post’s analysis.

Despite abundant evidence of dangers, state and city agencies have been slow to invest in improvements such as safer places to cross or take steps to curb vehicle speeds, according to experts and former officials. A priority among local transportation agencies remains avoiding traffic jams rather than responding to concerns of pedestrians in the most danger, who are more likely to live in poor neighborhoods and wield less political influence.

The story notes that Los Angeles has taken steps to improve safety on Western.

Not enough, obviously. But let’s hope it takes.

Because that only leaves the rest of Los Angeles, where cars continue to overrule safety.

………

A large coalition of California advocacy groups have come together to demand that the state reinstate the Ebike Incentive Program.

The groups include Calbike, Streets For All, Streets Are For Everyone, Active SGV, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, Move LA, Day One and Los Angeles Critical Mass, among more than a dozen others.

According to Streetsblog,

CalBike called for the ebike program to be restored, and earlier this week they sent a letter to CARB Board Chair Lauren Sanchez with a dozen other bicycle and pedestrian advocacy groups amplifying that call. While program execution – by CARB and its partner Pedal Ahead – has been questioned, the popularity of the program could not be denied. “It was also clear that the pilot phase succeeded – over 2,000 low-income individuals were able to obtain high-quality e-bikes, and the demand far outstripped the available incentives,” the advocates wrote…

“This is not what climate leadership looks like. Over one hundred thousand Californians lined up for a modest voucher that would help them drive less, save money, and move freely.” said Kendra Ramsey, Executive Director, CalBike. “Ending that opportunity now ignores that clear demand and walks back hard-won progress.”

………

Streets For All is hosting a mobility debate next month for the candidates running to replace Curren Price in CD9 in next year’s city election.

………

Active SGV is hosting an Easy Access Holiday Ride with SGV Water Action on December 6th.

………

Now that’s what I call a train.

@bikinginla.bsky.social

— Ted Faber (@snorerot13.bsky.social) 2025-11-16T06:01:35.037Z

………

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

No bias here. A writer for the Times of San Diego sarcastically opines about Mission Valley bike lanes and bike racks at a new Home Depot, apparently never having heard of cargo bikes to transport the hefty items typically bought at home improvement stores.

Someone sabotaged a Cambridge, Massachusetts bike lane by strewing tacks across it, with one rider picking up 20 tacks in his tire, in what should only be read as a deliberate attempt to injure bike riders.

A British motorcyclist walked with a suspended sentence after he was caught on video knocking a naked man of his bicycle, telling police he thought the man was “some kind of pervert,” without realizing he victim was participating in the World Naked Bike Ride.

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

No bias here. A website says San Franciscans are supposedly rejoicing as the cops “finally” start ticketing scofflaw bike riders, calling for them to do ebikes and scooters next.

A British man had to view a neighbor’s security cam to learn what happened to him, two days after he was knocked cold by a “brutal” crash with an ebike rider.

………

Local 

Sunday’s Melrose Stranger Things CicLAvia isn’t the only bike-related event this weekend, as the Natural History Museum will host its LA on Wheels Day tomorrow, displaying cars and bicycles, as well as hosting vendors, screenings, historical slides, skate demonstrations, and “activities focused on SoCal’s on-the-move spirit.”

The Los Angeles LGBT Center will host a new Center Ride Out three-day bicycling fundraiser next April, replacing the annual AIDS/LifeCycle fundraising ride.

Los Angeles continues to underperform, installing 35.6 miles of new bikeways in the most recent fiscal year, although about half of that was new pathways — up significantly from last year’s 22.5 miles, but just a fraction of the 251 miles installed in 2012-13 under Mayor (and current gubernatorial candidate) Antonio Villaraigosa.

Streetsblog catches us up on a new — and long delayed — traffic circle in a deadly Koreatown intersection, as well as coming upgrades on a dangerous stretch of Pico Blvd.

An aging woman says she did the right thing by giving up her car and riding a bicycle, but Los Angeles is failing bike riders like her. Although two of her complaints are actually in Inglewood, but still. 

Plans for a remake of Huntington Drive call for a lane reduction, bus lanes, curb protected bike lanes and wider sidewalks.

A NoHo burglar is charged with breaking into 33 restaurants, while making his getaway by bicycle. But at least he took almost three-dozen car trips off the road. 

LA County is asking for state help to close the gap in the LA River bike path through DTLA and parts south, as the project has somehow ballooned from a relatively manageable $365 million to a whopping $1 billion.

WeHo will co-host a bike light giveaway with the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition on both sides of Santa Monica Boulevard, just east of San Vicente Blvd, from 5 to 7 pm Tuesday.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition calls for connecting bike paths through the Pasadena Community College campus to help complete the city’s network.

Streetsblog says the Pomona North Metro station will get a protected two-way cycle track extending a little less than two miles.

 

State

Nailed it. Calbike calls a proposal from the chair of the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for the next highway bill to only fund “traditional” infrastructure like roads and bridges “car-brain at its logical endpoint” by assuming bike lanes and sidewalks are “not real infrastructure.”

Tell me about it. San Diego’s dangerous Friars Road is getting a makeover from Caltrans, with a separated Class IV bike lane on one side, and a painted bike lane on the other — although a spokesperson for a safe streets advocacy group says she’d hesitate to tell someone to ride on a bike lane with no protection, with cars going 45 mph or more right next to it.

Fontana cops busted a bike-riding man for firing a flare gun at a house, but are still investigating if he’s the same person who threw a couple Molotov cocktails at it. I’d go all in on “yes.”

Sad news from San Francisco, where someone riding a bicycle was killed on a “wide, high-speed street with painted bike lanes and no protection,” as Streetsblog calls it the inevitable outcome of the street design.

Megan forwards news that Chico is is looking for feedback on how to improve safety on the city’s roadways; if you live up that way, tell ’em they need to build more bikeways.

 

National

Bike Rumor asks if we can finally retire the idea of having to clip into a ‘clipless’ pedal.

A group of 34 Congressional representatives demanded that the Trump administration rescind the cancellation of bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects across the United States, and and reaffirm its commitment to building safer, more connected communities.

Trek is recalling 75,000 children’s and Elektra bikes due to faulty coaster brakes, telling users to immediately stop riding them.

In yet another example of allowing a dangerous driver to stay on the road until it’s too late, a Kentucky man faces a hit-and-run charge, as well as driving with expired plates and an invalid license, for killing a man riding a bicycle despite 15 — count ’em, 15 — previous traffic violations. Which is one more argument for impounding their car instead of just taking their damn license away.

Momentum asks where New York is on the latest Copenhagenize list of the world’s most bike friendly cities.

Streetsblog asks if the NYPD’s security demands will smother new mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s habit of taking the train and riding bikeshare bikes.

A North Carolina teenager was charged with murder after killing a 14-year old boy riding a bicycle and seriously injuring a man driving another car; the 16-year old was allegedly driving drunk at twice the speed limit at the time of the crash.

More horrible news from North Carolina, where the body of a 15-year old boy was found in a ravine, overgrown with weeds, 25 days after authorities believe he was killed in a hit-and-run by the driver of a semi-truck while riding his bicycle home from a party. As we’ve said before, the driver should be charged with murder for making the conscious decision to leave the victim to die alone like that, rather than stop and call for help. 

That’s more like it. A 25-year old Florida man was sentenced to 15 years behind bars, along with another five years probation, for the hit-and-run crash that killed a man riding a bicycle in 2023. The same crime in California would have garnered just four years. 

 

International

A new report considers how bicycling can help fight climate change.

Bike Radar consults an expert on how to be more conspicuous on the roads, saying hi-viz ain’t it.

A Windsor, Ontario driver won the door prize, somehow managing to door not one, but two passing bicyclists with a single thrust.

The leader of a BBC children’s charity resigned his post after he was convicted of careless driving for crashing into a woman riding a bicycle in the equivalent of a left cross crash, leaving the victim with life-changing injuries.

More proof that cars are bad for business. Sales in central Madrid went up 9.5% when the city closed the area to cars during the Christmas period; air quality also improved, with emissions nitrogen oxide emissions dropping 38% and CO2 emissions falling 14.2%.

A Manilla paper says the Philippines bike boom isn’t over yet, despite a 26% drop in ridership in the last bike count.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch women’s cycling star Lorena Wiebes was lucky to walk away without getting hurt when a driver rear-ended her ebike, though her bike wasn’t so lucky.

Pro-Palestinian protests have driven a stake through the Israel-Premier Tech cycling team, as sports & entertainment agency Never Say Never acquires the team’s WorldTour license and renames it NSN Cycling, with Swiss registration and a new base in Spain.

Speaking of which, a pro-Palestinian protestor charged with disrupting the Toulouse finish on stage 11 of the Tour de France got off with a warning and a fine, saying he wanted to get people talking about Gaza. As if they weren’t already. 

Azerbaijani junior cyclist Artyom Proskuryakov was provisionally suspended after testing positive for meth at the World Championships. Yes, meth. But the doping era is over, right?

 

Finally…

From bodybuilding to building mountain bikes. Your bike parts could become someone’s new prosthetic leg. Why bikes are bad for the economy.

And if you remember this bike, you’re as old as I am.

The Huffy Wheelca. 1968

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2025-11-14T18:55:30.815Z

But at least I don’t remember this one.

British racer Evelyn Hamilton demonstrated a similar one back in 1936

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2025-11-15T07:28:01.847Z

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Move along, nothing to see here — exploding head edition

November 18, 2025 / / One comment

My apologies. I’ve been battling a killer migraine and high blood pressure for the past two days. Hopefully we’ll be back tomorrow to catch up on what we missed.

Image by Klaus Hausmann from Pixabay.

Category: General /

LA Public Works delays HLA appeals, not guilty plea in fatal PCH hit-and-run, and remembering the victims of traffic violence

November 17, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 321 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

You can cancel those plans to attend Los Angeles Board of Public Works meeting, in-person or online, today.

Apparently acknowledging their “oopsie” in scheduling hearings for appeals of Measure HLA denials without the required ten day notice, they have rescheduled the appeals for one week from today, on November 24th.

You’re urged to attend the meeting in person to support Joe Linton as he challenges the denials of seven projects he says met the requirements for implementation under Measure HLA.

Because it’s a lot harder to ignore a room full of bicycle and traffic safety advocates in person than a bunch of people waiting to comment online.

………

The Long Beach woman accused of killing one bicyclist and injuring two others on PCH in Huntington Beach last month has pled not guilty.

Forty-three-year old Amber Kristine Calderon entered the plea to three felony hit and run charges in the death of 45-year old minister and father Eric John Williams, as well as critically injuring the other two men.

Calderon is free on a relatively paltry $100,000 bond; no word yet on the results of her toxicology tests.

………

Sunday was the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which included a moving commemoration surrounding Los Angeles City Hall.

According to a notice from Streets Are For Everyone,

WHAT: As part of World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims (WDoR), Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE), The Emily Shane Foundation, The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Auto Club of Southern California (Auto Club) and other traffic safety organizations will hold a visual tribute Sunday, November 16, to honor the 711 people killed in traffic crashes across Los Angeles County in 2024.

Volunteers will cover a nearly four-block radius surrounding Los Angeles City Hall Park Center with 711 empty black chairs, each adorned with a yellow rose. The display symbolizes the empty seats left behind at dining room tables, outdoor patios and upcoming holiday gatherings, highlighting the impact traffic violence has on the Los Angeles County area. Families of victims are invited to honor their loved ones by bringing a photo or personal memento, or by writing their loved one’s name on a remembrance card to place on one of the empty chairs.

WHY: In 2024, 711 people were killed in Los Angeles County due to traffic crashes. In 2023, there were 814 people killed in crashes on Los Angeles County roads. WDoR is a global event held every third Sunday of November to remember people left behind by traffic violence or personally impacted by car crashes – and a call to action to support safer streets and improve road safety.

Let that sink in.

Seven-hundred-eleven dead on LA County streets.

Then let something else sink in. Because as of this writing, no Los Angeles news outlet has even bothered to cover it. Or at least not post it online.

Evidently, people dying of traffic violence is just an everyday thing around here. Literally.

I’m not in the mood to punch down tonight. But as much as I appreciate this tweet/post from LADOT, they are the ones responsible for creating the road conditions that contributed to far too many of those deaths.

As well as the ones who haven’t fixed them.

Meanwhile, San Diego residents turned out Sunday to call for safer streets on the World Day of Remembrance, hosted by Families for Safe Streets San Diego.

More than 250 people mounted the steps of the Massachusetts State House to mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, and demand stronger traffic safety laws to combat a rise in bicycling deaths.

And a ten-mile bike ride was set to roll Sunday from Bethesda, Maryland to Washington, DC for the World Day of Remembrance; past rides have drawn more than 1,000 people.

………

In yet another study that shouldn’t surprise anyone, researchers in the UK have found that free bicycle programs in some of the most disadvantaged areas resulted in improved health and wellbeing, as well as reduced social inequality for those who use them.

Sport England commissioned the report on behalf of the Active Wellbeing Society and examined the effects of free bike schemes in Birmingham, Essex, and Ealing. Their results show that the scheme, which includes wraparound support of bike lessons, maintenance and group rides free of charge, also strengthened community cohesion and encouraged more sustainable, environmentally-friendly behaviours. The schemes receive public funding but also rely on volunteers.

More than 12,000 bikes have been distributed since 2015 through the respective schemes (Birmingham Big Bikes, Essex Pedal Power and Let’s Ride Southall) and are estimated to have delivered an average return on social and economic investment of £11.80 for every £1.

That works out to $15.55 for every $1.32 invested.

The more than 1,200 bicycles distributed in three cities also resulted in significant reductions in preventable deaths and disease.

Comparing the data to the Office for National Statistics found that the scheme prevented 16% of expected new cases of disease among participants and 6% of expected deaths. The participants’ life satisfaction, when measured on a scale of 1-10, also increased by averages between 0.5 and 1.8.

So what the hell are we waiting for?

I mean, besides safer streets to ride them on.

Meanwhile, another study shows that households that use cargo bikes can cut their car miles in half.

………

They get it.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1990099317294551051

But you may not be out of luck if you live in the San Gabriel Valley.

………

‘Tis the season.

The kindhearted staff at a Duluth, Minnesota ski and bike shop collected over 300 pounds of food from their equally kindhearted customers, and delivered it by bicycle to a local nonprofit.

Hundreds of volunteers turned out in Pensacola, Florida to build over 500 bicycles to donate to local kids in need.

………

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

No bias here. A Kansas City letter writer says she supports safe infrastructure for bicyclists, but the city is going too far in prioritizing bike riders over drivers by removing traffic lanes on several major streets. As if drivers still don’t have near-total dominion on the overwhelming majority of city streets.

No bias here, either. The author of a Portuguese website dismisses a lawsuit filed by a bike advocacy group to keep the new mayor Gaia from ripping out a bike lane, because he never heard of them.

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

You’ve got to be kidding. It turns out that the yellow bicycle that 2019 Tour de France champ Egan Bernal rode into Paris wasn’t stolen after all — the Colombian cyclist staged the whole thing as a publicity stunt to promote his gran fondo. Let’s hope that nobody goes. 

………

Local 

KTLA-5 reminds us that the Melrose Ave CicLAvia this coming Sunday will host a takeover by Netflix’ Stranger Things.

The Los Angeles Times reports we have a limited opportunity to save an El Sereno open space for a new park offering panoramic views of the LA area, but only if the 110 acre Elephant Hill Open Space can be saved from developers, and local landowners convinced to sell.

The LAPD arrested a man they called “the Mountain Bike Bandit,” accused of committing over 20 burglaries and escaping by bicycle.

Apparently having ended crime in Hermosa Beach, local officials touched briefly on the decrease in crime at a recent public forum, before devoting all their attention to the problem of, yes, ebikes.

 

State

Ouch. Jalopnik blames “now-deceased cycling-obsessed weirdo” John Forester for making bike riding worse for everyone else by instructing people to be “the kind of stereotypical, aggressive rider that so many people love to hate,” arguing that you now usually just find “obsessive weirdos” like the San Diego-based Forester in enthusiast forums. I may disagree with many Forester followers, but I’d describe the ones I know as passionate bicyclists, not “obsessive” or “weirdos.”

Sad news from Berkeley, where a man in his 60s was killed by a pickup driver while riding a bicycle on iconic Telegraph Ave near UC Berkeley.

More sad news, this time from Rancho Cordova, where a man was killed when he crashed his bicycle into a pole; police concluded it was a solo bike crash, and there was no foul play involved.

 

National

Life is cheap in Oregon, where a driver walked without charges for killing a 21-year old college student as she rode her bike in a crosswalk, after the driver in the right lane stopped for her, but the driver in the next lane blew right through the crosswalk as if it wasn’t there and the other driver had just stopped at random; cops said they couldn’t prove there was a “gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe” in a similar situation. Other than, you know, stopping for someone in a crosswalk and not killing someone. 

National Geographic says Seattle is a city best explored by bicycle.

A transit user and advocate pulled off a surprising upset to win the race for mayor of Seattle.

Geek Wire considers the rise and fall of the once-mighty Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes, which is now on the brink of shutting down.

Sad news from Moab, Utah, where 56-year old Moab trail builder, mountain bike racer, pizza maker and campground host Fred Wilkinson died of natural causes while camping earlier this month.

Further adventures in bad headlines. Judging by the headline, a Salt Lake City TV station says a driver was charged with manslaughter for killing an ebike, because it doesn’t mention the person on the bike at all.

Advocacy groups are trying to raise the final $5 million needed to close a 3.6-mile gap in the Teton Pass trail system in Teton National Park, part of the 180-mile Greater Yellowstone Trail; engineers call it the “most technically ambitious pathway ever proposed in the Tetons.”

A group of bicyclists calling themselves Cyclingxsolidarity once again took to the streets of Chicago on Sunday to buy out food vendors so they could go home and stay safe from ICE agents.

When demand for Minnesota’s ebike voucher program was so great it crashed the website, it spurred a university study and forced the state to fix the technology. When the same thing happened in California, they just cancelled the whole damn program after a single round. 

A writer for Cycling Weekly calls Bentonville, Arkansas one of the weirdest places he’s ever been, but also one of the best American cities for bicycling.

A kindhearted New Jersey cop gave his own bicycle to a former D.A.R.E. and police youth academy student after the kid’s was stolen.

Around 800 people took part in the 26th edition of a 500-mile bike ride from the mountains of North Carolina to the coast.

 

International

Momentum recommends 12 “amazing” cities to explore by bicycle in the coming year. None of which are Los Angeles.

A cycling psychologist explains how to avoid bicycle burnout.

The London borough of Camden responded to resident surveys by releasing plans to redesign several streets that advocates termed “mind-glowingly good.” Which shows what can be done when cities actually care enough to listen to their residents.

That’s more like it. The British government is now dropping the previously recommended 12-foot lane width, and advising that traffic lanes should now be limited to 10 foot 8 inches to keep drivers from passing bicyclists without changing lanes.

While American cities continue to restrict ebikes, Dutch and Belgian seniors are using them to avoid slowing down as they age.

An Indian news site argues that “the bicycle, hailed worldwide as the greenest, cheapest way to get around,” remains the forgotten road user in Guwahati, “ridiculed by drivers, overlooked by planners, and left to dodge death daily.”

Cambodia’s ancient Angkor Archaeological Park now draws an average of over 100 bicyclists each day with a roughly 14-mile route through forests and rice fields, as bike tourism continues to grow post-COVID.

In a story we’ve heard far too often, a New Zealand man is giving up on bicycling after he and his wife were nearly struck by a driver after swerving their tandem to avoid a dooring.

 

Competitive Cycling

French cyclist Hugo Toumire announced his retirement from the pro tour at just 24, after the Cofidis team lost its WorldTour license, and he was diagnosed with endofibrosis.

Spain’s Aleix Espargaró decided that life as a pro cyclist isn’t compatible with life as a pro motorcyclist after all, and gave up his brief one season experiment with both.

Tragic news from Australia, where multi-time world paracycling champ Paige Greco died at her home Sunday after “experiencing a sudden medical episode;” she was just 28.

UCI is trying to turn the clock back half a decade, reducing key measurements on WorldTour bikes to cut their aerodynamics and slow them down a little in an effort to improve safety.

Cyclist rates how every women’s WorldTour team did this year.

Nothing like testing your new race bikes in a tunnel full of helium bubbles and laser beams.

Dutch cycling officials are trying to set up Mathieu van der Poel and Puck Pieterse to complete in both road cycling and mountain biking in the ’28 LA Olympics.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you learn to ride a bike, but still don’t know the difference between Lance and Neal Armstrong. Or when bicycling is less passion and more lifestyle.

And before you jump into a lake to avoid a traffic stop for a bicycling violation, make sure you can swim first.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

LA Public Works pulls fast one on HLA, private group examines CA ebike safety, and bike events on a rainy weekend

November 14, 2025 / / No comments
Day 318 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

This has been a very long and rough day, leaving me dead on my ass, because I don’t have the strength to get on my feet.

And Friday doesn’t promise to start any better. 

So we’re going to depart from our usual format to cover some breaking news and time-sensitive announcements today, and catch up on the rest of the news on Monday. 

Scout’s honor. 

Meanwhile, the forecast calls for some pretty heavy rain this weekend, especially on Saturday.

So if you can, stay home. But if you do have to ride your bike, make yourself as visible as possible, because drivers will have limited vision, and won’t expect anyone to be out on a bike in the rain. 

Also, be careful riding through flooded intersections. It can be hard to judge how deep they really are, and they can hide hidden objects like potholes and bodies.

Okay, maybe not bodies. Hopefully. 

Avoid bike paths along river channels. And be alert near burn scars from the January fires, which can be prone to flooding and mudflows. 

I want to see you back here Monday in one piece. 

………

Is the Los Angeles Board of Public Works trying to pull a fast one?

And I mean that literally.

Because the city’s ordinance implementing Measure HLA says they have to give ten days advance notice before hearing an appeal from someone accusing the city of violating the measure.

Yet they only sent out notification yesterday that seven appeals filed by Joe Linton in his personal capacity will be heard on Monday.

Which by my calculations works out to just four days. Then again, I was an English major, so math isn’t exactly my strong point.

Still, it’s a clear violation of the law, any way you count it.

But assuming they don’t care about that — and why would they, since they don’t seem to care about anything else having to do with HLA — the appeals are scheduled for Monday’s 10 am virtual meeting.

You can download the agenda here; just click on the Download button on the right of each agenda item for full details of each appeal.

They have already denied six of the seven complaints. On the seventh, they agreed there was a violation, but only promised to fix broken sidewalks, rather than adding the bike and pedestrian improvement required under HLA.

So it’s worth signing up for the meeting and commenting to demand they follow the requirements of HLA, which is now the law after passing with overwhelming support.

Because right now, it looks like the city is just daring us to sue them.

Again.

And not just for pulling a fast one.

………

This could be worth keeping an eye on.

A new statewide coalition funded by a grant from Honda will study “what makes ebikes dangerous and how to make them safer,” without simultaneously discouraging their use.

The California Independent Electric Mobility Council says they will meet six times before releasing recommendations for state and local governments.

Although it seems a little odd to have a set schedule for deciding what the problem with ebikes is, and what solutions there might be — unless maybe they’ve already decided and are just going through the motions.

And that’s assuming that ebikes really are dangerous. We still haven’t seen a study looking at rising ebike rates in the context of increasing ebike usage. Because it’s entirely possible that ebikes are no more dangerous than regular bicycles.

Because to my knowledge, no one has even looked at it, rather than just starting from the assumption that rising injury rates mean ebikes are bad.

There’s also the question of whether they will bother to distinguish between ped-assist ebikes, electric motorbikes and non-street legal dirt bikes, rather than lumping them all together.

You know, like everyone else does.

As a privately funded organization, they won’t be subject to California’s Brown Act, which guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in government meetings.

So we don’t know yet if any or all of those meetings will be public, and if we’ll even have a chance to offer any input.

I’m not saying this private coalition is a bad thing. It could yield some very positive results.

But there are still a lot of questions we need answered.

………

BikeLA, nee Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, says their annual Bike Fest will take place tomorrow rain or shine. And right now, that looks like rain.

 

Rain or shine — BikeFest 2025 is on!

Good news: Rain or shine, BikeFest is happening this Saturday, November 15, from 12–3 p.m. Thanks to Highland Park Brewery, we’ll be shifting the party indoors as the weather turns, so the celebration is fully covered!

We’ll still be hosting free bike valet for anyone who rides, so bring your bike and pedal on over. And don’t forget to dress for a little rain–jackets and rain-ready gear encouraged!

Join us for a Pedal-Powered Party featuring:

  • Free bike valet
  • One beer or non-alcoholic drink
  • A commemorative BikeLA bandana

️ Our largest-ever bike-themed silent auction, with gear from Spurcycle, Patagonia, Yakima, Tern, Road Runner Bags, ABUS, Kryptonite, and more.

The auction is live now, so you can start bidding today!

Come celebrate with us and support BikeLA’s mission to make L.A. a safer, more connected place to ride.

Meanwhile, Bike Long Beach is hosting a feeder ride to Bike Fest in the morning.

Bike LA Bike Fest annual fundraiser

It’s that time again! Bike LA’s Bike Fest happy hour annual fundraiser is this Saturday and once again we’re riding from Long Beach. Come join us as we head to DTLA for an unforgettable day where bike-minded people come together, celebrate, and keep the movement moving. This time we’re riding all the way there via the LA river trail, about 22 miles. For the ride back we can do the same route in reverse, or you can hop on Metro and ride the A line back to Long Beach.

Everyone is welcome on any bike, but keep in mind that due to the distance it’s not a beginners ride. Make sure you’re okay with a ride of this length.

Start: Wardlow station, Wardlow Ave and Pacific Pl.
Meet time: 9:00 a.m., roll at 9:30 a.m.
End: Highland Park Brewery, 1220 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Distance: 22 miles, via the LA river trail.

If you want to attend Bike Fest but rather not ride all the way there, you can take Metro! The venue is very close to the Chinatown station.

………

Streets For All is hosting a discussion Monday night on the future of cities, and how to free ourselves from car culture.

Please.

Freeing ourselves from car culture — live in LA

We’re just a few days away from welcoming The War on Cars hosts for a lively and humorous discussion about their national bestseller, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile.

Join us Monday, November 17th at Dynasty Typewriter for an evening on the future of cities, featuring:

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez
️ Alissa Walker (Torched.la)
Bill Wolkoff (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

️ Get your tickets now — they’re going fast!
Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd
7:30pm (VIP reception at 6pm for Members Club)

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

37-year old man riding bicycle killed by motorcyclist in South LA hit-and-run; over 1/3 of fatal SoCal bike crashes hit-and-run

November 13, 2025 / / 2 comments

Twenty-four hours later, we still don’t know much more than we did last night.

What we do know is that multiple sources reported that someone riding a bicycle was killed by a motorcyclist in a South Los Angeles hit-and-run Wednesday night.

The crash happened around 7:25 pm on East Vernon Ave between Avalon Blvd and McKinley Ave in the South Park neighborhood of South LA.

The victim died at the scene. My News LA identifies him as a 37-year old homeless man.

Witnesses described someone on a motorcycle fleeing the scene, but were unable to provide a description.

Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time. Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD South Traffic Division Officer Hurd at 213/677-9791, or 877/527-3247 after business hours.

As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

This is at least the 51st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; this was also the ninth we’ve learned about in the City of LA.

Nineteen of those drivers have now fled the scene, or more than one out of three fatal crashes involving someone on a bicycle in Southern California since the first of this year.

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

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

Bike rider killed in South LA hit-and-run, Calbike calls for LA River path completion, and bizarre Pedal Ahead apologia

November 13, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 317 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

KNBC-4 reported late last night that someone riding a bicycle was killed by a motorcyclist in a South LA hit-and-run.

According to the station, the crash happened around 7:30 pm at Vernon and Stanford.

Unfortunately, the story hasn’t been posted online, and that’s all we know right now. Hopefully we’ll learn more soon.

………

About damn time.

Calbike says there’s no time to waste to reach out to your Los Angeles County Supervisor, and demand completion of the LA River Bike Path by 2028.

Don’t let Metro miss our last chance to finish the LA River bike path by 2028.

LA Metro has approximately $400 million to complete the LA River bike path through central Los Angeles. Approved by voters in 2016 as part of Measure M, the funding is more than enough to build an in-channel path in the entire 8-mile gap from Arroyo Seco to Vernon. If completed by 2028 as predicted in Metro’s original schedule, the LA River bike path will connect Olympic venues as part of the Festival Trail and provide safe and affordable transportation to the residents who need it most. It will be transformative.

Unfortunately, LA Metro has only considered “above channel” versions of the path that cost $1.1 billion, $700 million more than is available. They have not identified additional funding and have said in public meetings they will not deliver the path by the summer of 2028.

You can change that by helping to get Metro to approve the following two decisions.

Adopt the in-channel design that can be built with available funds. Except for a few weeks each year in the rainy season, it would give Angelenos an amazing river-level experience and a transportation facility that is especially valuable to low-income residents.

Create a Joint Powers Authority dedicated solely to delivering the project by 2028. Independent agencies focused exclusively on specific projects with the power to build and maintain the infrastructure are proven nationwide to expedite construction.

The Metro Board has only one more meeting in 2025. There is no time to waste. Right now, contact your Los Angeles County Supervisor, in their capacity as an LA Metro Board member, and ask them to support the change to an in-channel design and create a Joint Powers Authority.

That project was originally part of the vaunted Twenty-Eight by ’28 list of transportation projects to be completed before the world comes to Los Angeles for the ’28 Olympics.

That is, until Metro decided it was just too hard to get done in that timeline, and replaced it, along with a number of other projects.

Just one more example of the agency’s lack of commitment and follow-through when it comes to bikes and transportation.

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For once, I don’t even know what to say.

Malcomb forwards an absolutely bizarre Twitter/X post from San Diego’s Pedal Ahead defending their role in the now-defunct California Ebike Incentive Program.

Let’s blow that up a little more so you can read it.

 

Not mentioned is that some of those “multiple audits, financial review,” et al, were due to alleged misconduct and reputed state and criminal investigations.

Or that the founder of Pedal Ahead was allegedly forced out as operator of the ebike program.

The San Diego nonprofit may be proud of the job they did, but most observers considered the program deeply flawed, if not a total disaster.

I believe the term I used after enduring the failed first round was “shitshow.”

Which makes their post, in the words of the Bard, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

………

We mentioned this one earlier, but it’s worth repeating as the story is circulating again.

The Associated Press wrote last week that California isn’t strongly punishing DUIs, even as alcohol-related traffic deaths increased.

The AP kindly listed exactly the reasons for that, in bite-sized, easy to digest chunks.

  • California has some of the weakest DUI laws in the country, allowing repeat drunk and drugged drivers to stay on the road with little punishment.
  • The state gives repeat drunk drivers their licenses back faster than other states.
  • Even when the state does take their license, many drivers stay on the road for years — racking up more tickets or new DUIs — with few consequences until they eventually kill.
  • Courts and lawmakers don’t treat DUI deaths as violent crimes.
  • California has fallen behind on a simple solution embraced by many other states: in-car breathalyzers.
  • Despite the mounting death toll, state leaders have shown little willingness to address the issue.

Which goes a long way towards explaining why people keep dying on our streets.

And why every Vision Zero program enacted in the state has failed.

Thanks to Steven for the heads-up. 

………

A YouTuber examines the disconnected Ohio Ave bike lanes to nowhere, while urging you to take the survey to help improve them.

Meanwhile, the UCLA Bicycle Academy weighs in on long overdue plans to improve safety on Ohio and Westwood Blvd.

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Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette reminds us about the need to maximize your uninsured motorist coverage on your car insurance, to ensure you’re protected if you’re injured by a driver with the minimal coverage mandated by the state.

Ted, Im so tired of seeing the bicyclist victims going uncompensated in bad crashes.

I now have a couple of said cases. I also reviewed another case, after a hit & run. Low insurance limits again. It’s just not that much more money if you’re bicycling the mean streets to buy big limits of UM/UIM coverage. But I know money is tight for many I get it. But a while ago, I read an article in the WSJ that said 4.9 Million Motorists are either Uninsured or Underinsured in CA.

Duquette more fully addressed the matter in an earlier blog post, which is more than worth reading again.

You know, in case you meet one of those 4.9 million uninsured or underinsured motorists on the road.

………

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

Members of the Arlington, Virginia Bicycle Advisory Committee are in open revolt against the county manger, complaining that the committee no longer serves a clear purpose after the county cut back on its responsibilities.

No bias here. Berlin, Germany has been backpedaling on bicycling since a conservative government took over two years ago, cutting back on bike-friendly policies and infrastructure, and turning back the clock to a more car-focused time.

………

Local 

She gets it. The founder of H.A.R.D., aka Hit-And-Run Deaths, explains why Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance for the victims of traffic violence matters, eight years after her 15-year old grandson was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike in Natomas.

The Eastsider says plans are starting to come into focus for a $10.5 million Complete Streets remake of Huntington Drive through El Sereno, including dedicated bus lanes and protected bike lanes, with two traffic lanes in each direction, a thin median, and wider sidewalks.

 

State

A writer on the San Francisco Peninsula makes the case for why ebike bans are unenforceable, from federal regulations to the fact that there’s nothing to prevent anyone from claiming their ebike is a mobility device.

 

National

American bicyclists are urged to take action, as a new federal transportation bill threatens to zero out all bicycle funding as it shovels federal money into highways.

A 29-year old man is suing Salt Lake City and a local cop, accusing the officer of a blindside tackle during a popular bike ride, resulting in torn ligaments in both knees; the cop accused him of fleeing after he told a group of riders he was going to cite them for traffic violations, but the plaintiff says he didn’t think the officer was talking to him, and simply rode off when the light changed.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A Texas man rode his bike 75 miles to celebrate his 75th birthday.

Wisconsin is finally getting around to officially recognizing its part of the 3,000-mile Mississippi River Trail, which follows the river from Minnesota through Louisiana, about a quarter century after the other states did.

Once again, Chicago bike riders rolled through the city’s Hispanic neighborhoods buying out the stock of street vendors, so they could go home and be safe from ICE. Thanks to Megan for the link.

A 64-year old Massachusetts man discusses what it was like to ride 4,800 miles across the US, including “about 40 flat tires.”

Livability recommends three regions to explore if you ever ride in Virginia.

Sad news from Florida, where an 82-year old man was killed by a left-turning driver while riding salmon on an ebike.

 

International

Momentum explains just what cities lose when they fail to build or remove bike lanes, from declining local business revenue to rising collision rates and danger to pedestrians.

A writer for Cycling Weekly says he just felt lost after misplacing his bike computer.

After spending a week in Copenhagen, aka the world’s happiest city, a writer for Business Insider provides five lessons for the US, starting with the positive effect an emphasis on biking and walking can have.

If you build it, they will come. Bicycling rates in Paris have doubled in just the last year, thanks to the city’s commitment to building new bicycling infrastructure, and is continuing to trend upward.

A German couple rode their bikes nearly 5,000 miles to Busan, South Korea, discovering along the way how connected everything is.Which is good, because if it wasn’t connected they might have fallen off. 

A native of the Netherlands questions whether she will ever ride a bike again after getting hit by drivers twice since moving to Australia five years ago.

 

Competitive Cycling

A writer for Cycling News discusses what it’s like to cover Tadej Pogačar, from “his quirks to his brutal honesty.”

The Athletic drops their paywall for an interview with Wout van Aert, as he discusses what it’s like to drop Pogačar, and what pro cycling can learn from the NBA.

You can forget adding ‘cross to the 2030 Winter Olympics.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a car maker can’t tell the difference between a cargo bike and a horse and buggy. Or when you’re accused of wearing a condom coat.

And you can now add this helmet-holding turtle to your holiday wish list.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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