Archive for Morning Links

Watch for smoke near Simi Valley, RoS meets LA Traffic Violence State of Emergency, and good bills die young in CA legislature

May 19, 2026 / / One comment

Before we get started, thanks to Kyle for sharing a candidate questionnaire prepared by the South Bay Bicycle Coalition for city offices in Torrance. 

Out of the nine candidates they contacted, four responded. It’s going to take me some time to format the questionnaire and their responses, so I’ll try to share it as a separate post later today. 

Let me applaud them for making the effort. Others have attempted similar surveys here in Los Angeles and surrounding communities, with varying degrees of success. It’s hard to get candidates to pay attention these days, let alone take the time to answer. 

I used to question candidates for my home council district, but as more money from special interests have flooded local races, the responses dwindled to roughly none. 

Okay, exactly none. 

So a nearly 50% response rate is pretty damn good. 

………

If you’re in the Simi Valley or West San Fernando Valley areas, keep your eyes on the skies for the next few days.

The Sandy Fire has swelled to 1,300 acres, which could affect where you ride. But more important, it can affect the air you breath if you happen to find yourself downwind of the flames.

Wildfire smoke contains tiny particulates and toxins that can cause lasting harm, and affect your lung health for days, if not weeks, afterwards — let alone the possibility of damage that can last for years, if not a lifetime.

As a bicyclist, your ability to draw in strong and healthy breaths are of vital importance, providing a lifelong benefit.

It’s not something you want to take foolish chances with.

And yes, that includes smoking, too.

………

As far as I’m concerned, tomorrow night mark’s one of the most important rides of the year.

The annual Ride of Silence takes place in cities around the world to remember those lost to, or injured by, traffic violence.

It’s a time to honor those victims — and we have a lot this year — and to call for traffic safety improvements. So that someday, the last person killed on our streets really will be the last person killed on our streets.

This year, we also call on Los Angeles city leaders to declare a Traffic Violence State of Emergency, after the complete and total failure to implement, let alone achieve, Vision Zero over the past decade. So if you haven’t already, sign the letter.

Then contact the mayor and your councilmember to demand action on safer streets.

Now.

And if they won’t do something, vote for someone who will.

Here are all the RoS rides I know about this year. If you know of any more, let me know and I’ll post them tomorrow.

Bakersfield
Contact: Louis Bravos   <–Send email
Distance: 8 mi
Notes: Meet at Café Smitten downtown 909 18th Street at 6:35. We will read names of riders to remember and the Ride of Silence poem with enough time to gather and start in silence at exactly 7:00 PM in brotherhood with all Ride of Silence events in our time zone.
Los Angeles
Contact: Rafael Hernandez   <–Send email
Distance: 10 mi.
Notes: Contact the organizer for more details.
Palm Springs
Contact: John Siegel   <–Send email
Distance: TBD
Notes: 2026 Ride of Silence

Wednesday, May 20, 6:30 pm, Ruth Hardy Park, Palm Springs
Pasadena
Contact: Thomas Cassidy   <–Send email
Distance: TBD
Notes: When
May 20, 2026, 6:15 PM – 8:30 PMWhere
Rose Bowl (Lot K), Parking lot, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
Rancho Cucamonga
Contact: Cycling Connection Nancy Michalski    <–Send email
Distance: 13 mi.
Notes: Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2842469792752657

Redding

Contact: Doug Holt   <–Send email
Distance: 8.8 mi.
Notes: Ride starts at Shasta Bike Depot 1322 California St. Redding.
Start time 7:00 PM. Public parking on south side of Bike Depot.

An additional Ride of Silence will be held in Long Beach, according to Bike Long Beach.

Ride and Walk of Silence

Organized by Car-Lite LB, community members, advocates, families, and local leaders will gather at Trolley Park at 2nd and Redondo on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 5:00 PM for the Ride of Silence, a worldwide memorial event honoring the lives lost and forever changed by traffic violence in Long Beach and beyond.

The gathering will provide a space for remembrance, reflection, and solidarity while calling attention to the urgent need for safer streets for everyone — including people walking, biking, using mobility devices, and driving.

Afterward, pedestrians and cyclists will walk and ride westbound on 2nd St to Bixby Park and from there head to Bluff Park for a candlelight vigil overlooking the ocean.

………

Speaking of the victims of traffic violence, Christian forwarded news over the weekend that an 87-year old man was killed by a driver while riding a mobility scooter in Irvine Thursday night.

According to the Irvine Police Department,

On May 14, 2026, at around 8:30 p.m., the Irvine Police Department (IPD) responded to a traffic collision involving a Tesla SUV and an 87-year-old man using a mobility scooter at the intersection of Irvine Boulevard and Groveland.

IPD and Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) immediately responded and attempted life-saving measures; however, the man was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the Tesla was transported to a hospital for minor injuries and is cooperating with investigators.

Preliminary information indicates the driver of the Tesla was traveling westbound on Irvine Boulevard with a green signal light, while the man on a mobility scooter traveled northbound in the crosswalk at Groveland when the collision occurred. DUI is not believed to be a factor in the collision.

Let’s repeat that.

The victim was an 87-year old man who needed a mobility scooter to get around. But cops somehow had to blame him because he couldn’t clear the crosswalk fast enough for a driver who couldn’t manage to avoid someone on a mobility device directly in front of them.

I mean, it’s not like Teslas come loaded with cameras and collision avoidance systems, or anything.

………

Streetsblog offers a recap of the transportation bills that bit the dust at the state legislature at the first deadline, as well as the handful that managed to move forward.

And some very good bills died an ignominious death.

To wit,

  • AB 1557 would have limited the motor output of ebikes sold in the state to a maximum of 750 watts, aligning it with federal definitions; however, a similar bill (SB 1167) is still alive in the Senate.
  • AB 1833 would have allowed drivers voluntarily opt into insurance telematics, with privacy protections, to allow insurance rates to better align with actual behavior, so safer drivers could pay less.
  • AB 1976 would have streamlined planning, construction and protection of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure across the state.
  • The good news is, AB 1942, which would have required owners of Class 2 and Class 3 electric bicycles to register them with the DMV and display a special ebike license plate, is dead — for this session of the legislature, anyway.
  • And SB 1035 would have suspended the state gas tax and other fuel charges for one year, which would have been a disaster for highway maintenance.

Among the bills moving forward,

  • AB 1546 increases penalties for repeat DUI offenders to bring California law more in line with other states.
  • AB 1662 would allow drivers who avoid fines through a court-mandated misdemeanor diversion program to still receive points on their driving record.
  • AB 2276 would have created a statewide pilot program requiring reckless and excessive speed offenders to install active intelligent speed assistance devices in their vehicles before they could regain driving privileges.
  • SB 1423 would steer half of State Transportation Improvement Program funds to projects to improve safety for people walking, biking, and taking transit, while also making the state’s top safe streets grant program easier for cities to access.

………

Bike Long Beach invites you for Bikes and Coffee at the end of the month.

Toss in some donuts, and I’m in. Although for diabetics like me, that could be considered assisted suicide.

………

LADOT wants you to check out the proposed final design for Pico Blvd between Crenshaw and Figueroa. And if “proposed final design” doesn’t tell you what’s wrong with LA’s process, I don’t know what will.

Twitter post

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Support the NoHo to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit line tomorrow.

Twitter post

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ActiveSGV invites you to learn more about the El Monte Clean Mobility Nexus Program.

Twitter post

………

Thanks to Megan for forwarding a pair of recent videos.

In the first, a Bay Area nonprofit exec is taking on the “grueling challenge” of Everesting in downtown Los Gatos to help fund a program that helps people transition out of prison, after losing $3.4 million in federal funding. And yes, you can thank Elon Musk and his chainsaw for that.

In the second, Italian TV reports on a crash that was barely reported here, as a driver slammed into a bike and a group of pedestrians, injuring eight people — four critically. Police were unsure if it was an act of terrorism, or just another “accident.” It’s also unclear if anyone was on the bike at the time.

………

Just stunning.

Bluesky post

………

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

No bias here. An angry driver leaped out of his car to confront the UK’s Cycling Mikey, raging that “everybody hates you” for the bicyclist’s history of filming drivers illegally using their cellphones. Because the real problem isn’t distracted driving or even breaking the law, but getting caught.

………

Local 

Secret Los Angeles looks forward to this summer’s CicLAvia—Meet the Hollywoods, connecting East and West Hollywood with seven miles of carfree streets this July. Although that skips over next month’s CicLAvia connecting Leimert Park with Exposition Park.

Metrolink will offer free rides for bicyclists on Thursday’s Bike Day, not to be confused with last week’s mostly ignored Bike to Work Day.

 

State

Forget traffic safety. The Laguna Beach PoliceDepartment led a multi-agency traffic enforcement operation that resulted in 140 citations — with a focus on loud and modified exhaust systems, while also netting three illegally modified ebikes.

The Pacific Beach Planning Group heard the case for opening a one-block section of Ocean Blvd to pedestrians and bicyclists on weekends, who already make up nearly 74% of all traffic for that section.

Bike riders in Santa Maria celebrated the city’s inaugural BiciChella event.

A German writer tours Specialized’s Morgan Hill HQ, and gets to see a military-style ebike customized for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and one made for Jason Momoa, “the actor from Aquaman.” Although I must have missed the sequence where he rides his undersea bicycle, effortlessly flipping through gearing on the fl…uh, swim.

 

National

Denver is opening yet another round of ebike rebates, though the amount has gone down to a max of $675, which can be combined with state rebates of $225. Which is about $675 more than Los Angeles offers, combined with $0 from California. 

A former Southern Californian is spending her retirement just a few miles from my Colorado hometown, putting over 10,000 miles on her bike. Or as I used to consider it back in the day, a good year. 

The Canadian National Railway agreed to sell an abandoned railroad grade for a new bike trail to connect Hurley, Wisconsin to Montreal. No, the other Montreal, about three miles away in Wisconsin.

A prothetic limb specialist in Saginaw, Michigan is attempting to address the global mobility crisis by fabricating prosthetic legs from old bicycle parts. Especially since wars in Ukraine, Iran, Sudan and other hotspots are increasing the need every day, with help from motorists.

Richmond, Kentucky will get its first singletrack course, in part because an 8th grade teacher and a bunch of kids in matching blue and orange jerseys stood before the city council to demand it.

A Florida triathlete was lucky to escape with road rash and a deep forehead cut when he got right hooked by a truck driver, despite riding in a completely coned-off lane.

 

International

Road.cc takes a deep dive into the Rover Safety bicycle, which they describe as the first commercially successful modern bike, introduced in 1885.

Um, okay. An “ebike fan” writes about his favorite bike helmets for the London Telegraph, and how to choose the best one. So next week, we can probably expect a “bike helmet fan” writing about ebikes.

No surprise here, as a new report says aggressive drivers are the main thing putting Irish women off bicycling. Aside from Irish men, that is. 

You may have seen this one before, but Steven forwards “a perfect example” of our car-centric roads from Swedish artist Karl Jilg.

 

Competitive Cycling

The 2028 Tour de France will move to the end of June to avoid a conflict with the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games, rather than the usual July start.

Portugese cyclist Afonso Eulálio continues leading the Giro as the peloton reaches the first rest day, though even he recognizes his time in pink is short, if not over.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you name a local hiking and biking trail to scare the tourists away. Who says you have to go butterfly hunting on your feet with a net?

And there may be more than water in that discarded water bottle you grab at the Giro.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Alleged killer Playa driver faces 2 prior DUIs, Bass works to keep Forest Lawn deadly, and “tyrannical bike kings” overtake NYC

May 18, 2026 / / No comments

I may be wrong. 

But somehow, I don’t think this plate I spotted yesterday on motor scooter is an official DMV-issued license plate.

And thanks to everyone who sent items in over the weekend. I’m holding most of it over until tomorrow because of the epic length of today’s post, and my own short attention span. 

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

Police identified the man who ran away from a fatal Playa del Rey collision as 28-year old Moises Santiago Rodriguez Leiva of Canyon Country.

Leiva was arrested three days after the May 3rd crash that killed a one-year old boy and his 25-year old uncle, and injured three others — one critically.

Survivors alleged that Leiva crashed into them in an act of road rage, while driving on the wrong side of the road at a high rate of speed.

The Los Angeles Times reports he was already facing two counts of DUI at the time of the crash, one from June of last year, and another from July, 2024. A judge had issued a bench warrant this January for failing to appear.

His arrest after three days on the run gave him plenty of time to sober up if he had been drinking again prior to the Playa crash. He is currently being held on $200,000 bond as prosecutors ponder charges.

This case raises the question of why drivers are allowed to remain on the road after they’ve been arrested for DUI.

A single arrest should result in the automatic suspension of a driver’s license, at least until the driver appears in court to respond to charges.

If they receive a second DUI before the first case is adjudicated, their license should be physically removed by the judge, and their vehicle impounded until such time as they are acquitted, or complete the sentence from both crimes.

That would have kept Leiva off the road. And chances are, one-year old Roger Sandoval and 25-year old Oswaldo Sandoval would still be alive.

Meanwhile, Streets Are For Everyone offers a guide to the state of DUI in the state of California, as well as the 16 DUI-related bills currently under consideration in the California legislature.

Yes, 16.

I say pass them all, and let the courts figure it out.

I’ve already lost a cousin and a childhood friend to drunk drivers. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose another one.

And speaking of drunk drivers, a New York driver plowed into a car while traveling at 108 mph, allegedly under the influence, then continued on into a group of pedestrians, killing two people and leaving three others in critical condition.

But sure, let’s let this guy stay on the road once he makes bail.

………

Streets For All alleges Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has intervened to pause, if not halt, the safety work scheduled for Forest Lawn Drive.

According to the traffic safety PAC, Bass reached out to StreetsLA to order a delay in the project at the request of Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai cemeteries, as they apparently attempt to increase their business by killing more of us off.

This project has already been debated for years, and multiple city agencies have concluded that will not only improve safety on Forest Lawn Drive, but won’t significantly interfere with funerals or people going to and from the cemeteries.

And people wonder why nothing ever gets done in this city.

………

No bias here.

A New York writer apparently doesn’t like bike lanes.

Or the people who do.

In a New York Post op-ed, the founding president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Greater New York and adjunct fellow of the Manhattan Institute, insists that “tyrannical ‘bike kings'” are taking over the city.

And demanding New Yorkers give up their precious traffic lanes and parking spaces.

New York City is dealing with elevated crime and disorder, failing and emptying schools, taxpayer flight and a fiscally crunched City Hall.

But our ruling class is targeting the “real” emergency: not enough bike lanes.

Cycling activists and their friends at the Department of Transportation have stepped up their crusade against the existential threat of the four-wheeled vehicle, imposing street-redesign plans on neighborhoods, whether residents want them or not.

It gets worse.

The bike kings go to communities with glossy presentations stuffed with buzzwords — “traffic-calming redesign,” “rebalancing public space,” “reimagined corridors.”

Translation: Your car, delivery truck or Access-A-Ride van  — no longer welcome…

And if residents object? Dismiss them as backward, selfish or (worse) suburban-minded.

Face it.

We’re all overprivileged corporate types who don’t care if grandma makes it to her doctor appointment because there’s no parking space for her car. All we care about is reducing traffic lanes to reduce the number of cars.

Never mind that maybe the 81-year old woman with a walker she cites probably shouldn’t be driving in the first place.

Because apparently, bike riders aren’t bus boys. Or college students. Or seniors trying to keep their weight and blood pressure down.

Or maybe just people who don’t want to get killed or maimed riding from here to there. And no self-respecting Chinese American would ever be caught dead on a bicycle.

Right?

But that’s the problem when you see the world in terms of stereotypes. You don’t see people. You see two-dimensional cardboard cutouts who can’t possibly understand your problems, or your perspective.

And you end up talking past one another, instead of with one another.

New York doesn’t need streets designed to conform to the cyclist ideology. It needs streets that make possible greater circulation, commerce and access.

Residents should say no to senseless bike-lane expansion.

Because a city that can’t move and accommodate the people who actually live and work in it isn’t “reimagined.”

It’s just stuck.

Yet somehow, the people going by in the bike lane aren’t “stuck.”

They’re moving. They’re breathing.

They’re living.

And they’re your neighbors.

You know, like us.

………

No bias here, either.

According to the London Telegraph — a bike friendly publication once upon a time — the medieval town on Windsor, home to the famous castle that’s home to the royal family, is being overrun with cyclists.

Make that middle-aged men in Lycra, aka MAMILS.

They are drawn on the 62-mile round trip ride from London because a Windsor cafe is offering a whopping ten percent discount on all drinks and food for anyone who arrives in Lycra, otherwise known as spandex on this side of the Atlantic.

But what some might see as a smart special to draw visitors to town, is somehow an invasion of law-breaking scofflaws who never met a red light they liked.

The paper somehow found a 79-year old woman who apparently doesn’t think it’s fair that bicyclists pay just 90% of the menu price. Never mind that locals get the same deal, Lycra or not, while tourists pay full freight.

However, the growing number of cyclists has coincided with a spate of rule-breaking on London’s roads. Traffic lights and zebra crossings are frequently ignored by some cyclists, leading police to consider tougher penalties for those who break the law…

Meanwhile, councils have been accused of waging a war on motorists in an effort to promote cycling, walking and other forms of “active travel” as part of efforts to tackle climate change…

In Windsor, though, the cyclists keep on coming – not for the castle but for cut-price coffee.

All that, because some local cafe came up with a successful promotion.

And chances are, a few of the people on bicycles may happen to notice the castle while they’re there.

………

A 37-year old Santa Monica woman was arrested for suspicion of bicycling under the influence after she allegedly kept riding after colliding with a car, causing minor damage.

Demonstrating once again that a) it is against the law to bike while drunk or stoned, even if the penalty is less than it is for DUI, and b) you are required to stop after a collision, just like drivers are.

………

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

You’ve got to be kidding. A North Carolina bike rider was handcuffed when cops arrived on the scene and assumed he was an aggressor — even though he was actually the victim of a collision; police swore he was actively resisting. I’d be actively resisting, too, if I got handcuffed for getting hit by a driver.

You’ve got to be kidding, part two. A bike rider in Edinburgh, Scotland was held 50% responsible for getting doored by the driver’s insurance company, which ruled he should have been riding further away from the car.

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

A Redditor complains that her bicyclist boyfriend encouraged her to buy a bike, then came up with reasons why it was impossible to ride together. Hint: Dump the guy, keep the bike. 

A 24-year old Cincinnati man was busted for grabbing ass as he rode by women on his ebike, including local comedian Kelly Collette.

………

Local 

Streetsblog will host the great D-Line Dash tomorrow, pitting a bike rider against people driving and taking the subway from Beverly Hills to DTLA. My money’s on the subway, followed by the bicycle. 

The LAPD busted a suspected shooter after a ten-minute chase that began near Fountain and Formosa avenues, then crossed over into West Hollywood as the suspect jumped on a bicycle — which may or may not have been his — and ended in WeHo’s Plummer Park.

South Pasadena approved a Complete Streets concept for South Huntington Drive, but council members were unable to reach a consensus on how to improve Fremont Ave.

Pasadena residents gathered Saturday to build more than 100 bicycles for the twice-yearly Eva Lin Team’s Charity Bike Build to ensure every child who wants a bicycle can have one.

That doesn’t sound good. A Saugus bicyclist was seriously injured after landing a jump at the Haskell Canyon Bike Park neck first.

This is who we share the road with. Two Valencia teenagers were arrested for an intentional assault on a peace officer when one of the teens swerved his dirt bike into the deputy’s motorcycle, causing the cop to crash.

Harrison Ford is one of us, taking to mountain biking in the Santa Monica Mountains following his 2015 plane crash.

 

State

The Orange County Transportation Authority and the City of Mission Viejo teamed up to host the “Pedal La Paz Road” Bikeway Demonstration Event on Saturday, demonstrating how cities can rethink wide arterial roads to prioritize safety, accessibility, and mobility for everyone, even as nearby Fullerton continues to struggle with disconnected bikeways.

The Cyclovia Encinitas returned to the coast highway for the 6th consecutive year.

This is who we share the road with, too. A driver was arrested after plowing through a group of people standing outside an Oakland market, killing three people and injuring five others; the juvenile alleged killer attempted to flee the scene, but was captured by witnesses.

After a 1,550-mile bike ride from Venice to Athens, a couple who originally met in San Francisco realizes that getting married probably won’t be the hardest thing they do. Although based on 27 years of matrimonial hindsight, I’d say the bike ride is way easier. 

Sacramento bike riders decorated their bikes with bright lights and loudspeakers, and wore colorful outfits, Friday night for the monthly Big Party Sacramento.

Davis residents were warned to be careful riding after a mountain lion was spotted near a popular bike path. If you encounter a mountain lion, or any kind of wild cat, remember you can’t outrun it. So stay still, try to make yourself look as large as possible, yell loudly, and if you have anything you can throw at it, do it. 

 

National

Redditors say wiggle your handlebars, or maybe your butt, to add an air of unpredictability and encourage drivers to give you a little more space on the road.

Life is cheap in Las Vegas, where a man is looking for answers after the driver who killed his bike-riding wife two years ago walked without a day behind bars, and a lousy 100 hours of community service and a $1,140 fine, despite an original charge of manslaughter.

A Detroit man learns the hard way that if you’re going to lead a life of crime, leave your distinctive ebike at home.

The New York Times Wirecutter newsletter offers tips to make bicycling less intimidating. Although what could be less intimidating than just getting on a bike and turning the pedals?

Amazon is using big box ebikes for last-mile deliveries in DC. And yes, they do actually have to be pedaled, albeit with a pedal-by-wire drivetrain.

Savannah, Georgia cops finally got their man — or woman, in this case — nearly two years after a hit-and-run driver killed a 37-year old man riding a bicycle; the 29-year old driver was charged with vehicular homicide, as well as attempting to coverup evidence of the crime.

At a time when our government is kicking refugees from “shithole” countries out of ours, a former competitive cyclist is helping Georgia refugees get on a bicycle by refurbishing donated bikes to provide them with reliable transportation.

A Florida triathlete is recovering after she was sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bike, suffering an extensive list of serious injuries, but credits her helmet with saving her life; a crowdfunding campaign has raised over $52,000, topping the $50,000 goal.

 

International

Just in time for Metro’s not Bike to Work Day, Road.cc offers tips on how to avoid common bike commuting mistakes.

Bike lock manufacturer Litelok is offering a real-time look at where bike thefts are occurring so you can avoid hotspots. That’s easy. Everywhere. 

Road.cc guides you through the weird, wacky and wonderful world of alternative bike seats.

While US cities are cracking down on ebikes, a UK petition is calling for raising speeds for ped-assist ebikes to 20 mph.

LA bike riders have to worry about car horns, while British riders are concerned with cow horns in the countryside this time of year.

An Irish couple shares the lessons they learned by bicycling 7,500 miles around the world, including “don’t camp with bears” and “it really is all in your mind.” Not to mention your thighs. And butt. And calves. And back. And…

France is offering the equivalent of $4,600 to trade in your car for an ebike.

Spanish bicyclists will continue to be expected to use the shoulder, but only when it’s passable and never if there’s a separated bikeway — and they’ll be fined if they ride the shoulder when there is a bike path

Bicyclists in Jerusalem are pushing for a more bike-friendly city, as a massive annual event drew bicyclists out to the streets.

Israel is set to mandate license plates for all e-scooter and ebike riders, but the plates will apply to the rider, not the bike, so you could apparently transfer your license from one vehicle to another.

China is starting to leave the Western bicycle industry behind, just like the country is doing with electric vehicles.

An 81-year old San Francisco man is now leading Tokyo bike rides of up to 35 miles on behalf of the fittingly named Half-Fast Cycling.

Frustrations are growing over Japan’s new policy of fining bicyclists for a host of violations, with some people believing the fines go too far and others who think they don’t go far enough, even though most people think they’re about right. Meanwhile, bicyclists also have to deal with fake cops fining riders on the spot.

Aussie bike shops faces fines up to $1.1 million for selling fixies without front and rear brakes, as well as meeting a host of other standards.

 

Competitive Cycling

Good for them. Two Cycling Canada board members resigned from the national sport organization in response to the decision to not field a women’s team pursuit squad in the world championships or the upcoming ’28 Olympics.

Seven-time-ex-Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong is helping to design the mountain biking course for the LA Olympics, after the LA Olympic Committee was apparently unable to find any non-dopers willing to do the job.

Nineteen-year old Danish wunderkind Albert Withen Philipsen was lucky to escape without major injuries following a training crash at 50 mph, even if he’s been left “mummified” in bandages.

Once again, stupid, idiotic, no-good “fans” have interfered with the peloton, as two 19- and 20-year old men were arrested for stepping onto the roadway during the Giro, and reaching out towards the riders.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can take a biking vacay just like Richard Branson. Now you, too, can help a bike rider through cartoon traffic, even if the situation is anything but funny.

And you, too, could have had a painting of a bike rider being abducted by aliens.

But you’re too damn late, because someone already bought it.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Bad ebike bills bite the dust, Florence-Firestone ride goes up against Ride of Silence, and past and future OC & Ventura County rides

May 15, 2026 / / One comment

Just a couple quick notes today.

I’ve been battling a migraine all week, and the meds finally got to me today; I’ve been barely conscious and mostly incoherent all day.

And to be honest, I’m not in a good place mentally. Sometimes I feel like I’m just shouting into the wind, which is the most polite — and hygienic — way I can put it right now.

After two decades of doing this, it seems like we’re just as far from getting anywhere as we were when I started.

Or maybe I’m just down because I’m not riding a bike these days; if I stay on my current meds, there’s a good chance I’ll never ride again. You’ll know I’ve given up when my bikes aren’t hanging in a corner of my apartment anymore.

Maybe someone can start a GoFundMe to pay for my next tatts, which will remind me a) not to judge others, and b) life is good.

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

I’ll see you on Monday.

And I promise to be in a better place.

………

However, on the plus side, a couple of bad ebike bills went down in flames at the state legislature Thursday.

Twitter post

Twitter post

………

On the downside, what should be good news is less so just because of timing.

According to the LA Times The Wild newsletter, a Los Angeles advocacy group is holding a “colorful” ride through Florence-Firestone on Wednesday, which sounds like a celebration of bicycling.

1. Illuminate the streets of Florence-Firestone
People for Mobility Justice, an L.A.-based transportation equity collective, will host a bike ride from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday starting at Ted Watkins Memorial Park. Riders are encouraged to decorate their bikes with colorful and creative lights for this free Glow Ride through the streets of the Florence-Firestone neighborhood. Register at eventbrite.com.

Except the third Wednesday of May is the annual Ride of Silence, the one day each year reserved for silent and sober rides to remember those who have lost their lives to traffic violence while riding their bikes.

And we have a lot to remember. We’re already up to 30 souls lost while riding this year, putting us on a pace for nearly 90 deaths this year if we keep up at this pace.

To be honest, I haven’t heard of any local rides yet, but they do tend to come together at the last minute. So if you’re holding a ride, or know of one, let me know and I’ll mention it next week.

So maybe it’s just me, but the Florence-Firestone ride seems kind of disrespectful.

……….

Finally, let me share a couple of press releases I received this week, one from the Orange County Transportation Authority about a Bike Week ride in the OC; the other about the expansion of a popular San Diego ride into a second edition in Ventura County next month.

………

More than 130 Cyclists Roll through Orange
for OCTA Bike Rally

The annual Bike Rally features a 4-mile ride, and there’s still time to pledge to bike during May for a chance to win an e-bike while staying active

ORANGE – More than 130 cyclists took to the streets of Orange early Wednesday morning, riding together in a show of community spirit and support for active transportation as part of OCTA’s annual Bike Rally, a signature event celebrating May as Bike Month.

The 4-mile group ride began at the Orange Metrolink Station and traveled through city streets and a slice of Santa Ana to OCTA headquarters, highlighting how easy, accessible and enjoyable biking can be for commuting, recreation and everyday trips across Orange County.

“Events like this are about more than just a ride, they’re about promoting safer streets, healthier lifestyles, and more transportation choices,” said OCTA CEO Darrell E. Johnson, who participated in the ride, along with OCTA directors William Go and Mark Tettemer. They were joined at the finish line by OCTA directors Tam T. Nguyen and Kathy Tavoularis for the rally.

The annual rally brings together riders of all experience levels and showcases OCTA’s ongoing efforts to expand safe and convenient biking options throughout the county. Participants enjoyed free Bike Month T-shirts and light refreshments, and were entered for a chance to win prizes, including an Aventon Pace 4 Step-Through e-bike.

While the rally has wrapped up, there is still time for the public to take part in Bike Month. Those who pledge to ride during May can be entered for a chance to win an Aventon Soltera 2.5 e-bike, courtesy of Bike Month sponsors Aventon E-bikes and Spectrumotion.

OCTA continues to encourage residents to consider biking not just during Bike Month, but throughout the year, as an easy, efficient and environmentally friendly way to get around.

Beyond events like the rally, OCTA is investing in projects that make biking safer and more accessible, including protected bike lanes, regional trail connections and improvements that better connect neighborhoods to transit.

Riders are also reminded to make safety a priority. OCTA offers an e-bike safety video with tips for riding responsibly, and those who watch can enter for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

For more information about Bike Month activities or to make a pledge to ride, visit www.octa.net/bikemonth.

………

Local Businesses and Organizations Partner with Bike the Coast Ventura Ahead of Inaugural Event

The Ventura community will be represented at the 2026 event through local charities, tourism boards, restaurants and more

VENTURA, Calif. – Bike the Coast Ventura will be hosting their inaugural event on June 13, showcasing the charm of the Ventura community. The event has put a strong emphasis on its local involvement, focusing on building partnerships with businesses and organizations within the Ventura region and authentically connected to the community. Registration for the 2026 event is now open.

This year’s sponsors and partners include Visit Ventura, Downtown Ventura Association, Ventura Coast Brewing Company and Ventura Coast Cycling. The event has also partnered with local charity organizations, including The Los Angeles Chapter of National MS and the Downtown Ventura Foundation. The event will also host Ventura-based band The GAMBLE at their free Finish Festival, which will also include various local food, drink and vendors for riders, spectators and community members to all enjoy.

“Bike the Coast is an event that is meant to be enjoyed by all. We push the idea of this being a ‘ride, not a race’ so that participants can truly take in all that Ventura has to offer, whether it be the scenery or the amazing community that has already been so supportive of our event,” said Mike Bone, president and CEO of Spectrum Sports Management, producer of Bike the Coast Ventura. “Ensuring that this is a community-centric ride is very important to us, and we hope that our participants feel that at our inaugural event.”

The event welcomes riders of all ages and experience levels, offering three course options: the Metric Century 65-mile ride, a 35-mile ride and the rider’s favorite 17-mile family ride. Participants of the Metric Century 65-Mile ride will enjoy a tour of the coastline with some hills in neighboring cities. The 35-mile and 17-mile ride will also highlight constant ocean views along their rules of the road routes. All courses are stocked with support and gear locations to ensure riders are provided opportunities to rest and nourish.

Bike the Coast Ventura is an expansion of the original Bike the Coast event hosted in San Diego County, which is entering its fifteenth year of riding. The growth of the event has led to its expansion into Ventura, where riders are able to enjoy what Bike the Coast is all about: a leisure oceanside ride with a post-race party that gets people to “Come for the Ride – Stay for the Party”. The 2025 Bike the Coast San Diego ride saw great results in fundraising efforts as well, as it raised over $10,000 for Bike MS, a record amount for the event after just three years of partnering with the organization. Bike the Coast is produced by Spectrum Sports Management, a recognized leader in endurance and sporting events in Southern California.

For more information on Bike the Coast Ventura, visit www.bikethecoastventura.com. Follow the event on Instagram and Facebook.

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

Happy Bike to Work Day (not you LA), Reseda hit-and-run critically injures e-scooter user, and USDOT takes credit for Biden funding

May 14, 2026 / / One comment

Happy Bike to Work Day, or wherever the hell you want to ride.

Just get on your bike, and ride somewhere.

Unfortunately, Bike to Work Day seems to be a bust here in Los Angeles. Instead of the dozens of Pit Stops we enjoyed back in those heady pre-pandemic days, Metro is observing Bike Day with free Metro bus, bike and train rides.

But they’re doing it next Thursday, rather than today, for reasons known only to them. And the link for more information on their site was dead when I tried it last night.

Although it will be interesting to see if any of mayoral candidates or city council candidates rides a bike today, or even makes note of the day. So far, if any of the leading mayoral candidates other than Nithya Raman has even mentioned bicycles, I haven’t heard it.

But all is not lost.

A handful of other cities in the LA area still observe Bike to Work Day, to wit:

Look, I’m not saying I’m old. But I remember when Bike to Work Day used to be, you know, fun.

………

A man riding an e-scooter — or “e-shooter,” as KABC-7 called it — was critically injured in a Reseda hit-and-run last week, suffering what was described as “severe injuries.”

Although why we’re just learning about it now is anyone’s guess.

According to KABC-7,

The hit-and-run crash happened the morning of May 7. A dark-colored SUV traveling east on Strathern Street hit the victim who was riding an e-schooter in the bike lane along Reseda Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD detectives at 818/644-8025. Never mind that they might have gotten more help if they’d asked sooner.

………

Seriously?

The good news is the US Department of Transportation is releasing nearly $1 billion in Safe Streets and Roads for All grants, funding a total of 521 projects nationwide.

But they’re also making a point of putting President Trump’s and USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy’s names all over it. And taking an uncalled for swipe at their predecessors while they’re at it.

In April, Secretary Duffy announced the program had been retooled to remove DEI and environmental justice requirements installed by the last administration. These absurd requirements were bogging down the system and making it harder for dollars to flow to critical safety projects across the country.

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg inserted radical DEI and Green New Scam requirements into these safety grant programs – making it harder for communities to apply for these funds and delaying critical projects. Under President Trump’s leadership, we’ve put aside the woke nonsense and focused on one goal: safety,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “We’re moving these investments at the speed of Trump to save lives and deliver infrastructure upgrades that will benefit the American people for generations.” 

It continues funding at about the same level as under Biden, who established the program under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, providing $5 billion in competitive grants from 2022–2026.

I really don’t care if Trump and Duffy want to take credit for a program Biden created and funded.

But seriously, come on, already.

………

Streetsblog is sponsoring a three-way race from Beverly Hills to DTLA next week, according to their Headlines yesterday.

Next Tuesday May 19 is Streetsblog L.A.’s D Line Dash commuter race: a cyclist vs. a driver vs. a subway rider – all racing from Beverly Hills to Downtown Los Angeles. Watch this week’s short videos introducing the racers:bicyclist Michelle Moro and driver Rachel Reyes! Subway rider Kalayaan Mendoza will be featured tomorrow.

………

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

No bias here. Reuters writes that 50,000 people turned out for the opening of a new 1.2-mile bike and pedestrian bridge in Helsinki, Finland, yet focuses on the lack of car lanes and money the city has invested on public transport and bike lanes. Even though lumping the two together makes no sense, since public transport is a hell of a lot more expensive than bike lanes, and virtually any American city would kill for the cold and windy city’s 9%–11% bicycling rate.

Road.cc says viral video of “hated” bicyclists legally riding two abreast actually makes a better argument for protected bike lanes.

Twitter post

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

No bias here, either. A Milwaukee letter writer confuses free bike licenses with the kind drivers get after passing a test, saying those darn dangerous bike riders have to obey the law or be held accountable and fined. For anyone unclear on the concept, bicycles are licensed so they can be recovered and returned to the owner if they’re stolen, while driver’s licenses are intended to ensure people are capable of safely and legally operating their big, dangerous machines, even if they don’t actually do it in practice.

………

Local 

LAPD traffic detectives are still looking for the hit-and-run driver who severely injured a man in his 60s riding a bicycle at 20th and Hoover streets last May, although the “new video” cited in the story is nine months old.

Streets For All wants you to tell the City Council Rules Committee to fix the Public Works Department at this afternoon’s meeting. Because the way it works now, Public Works doesn’t. 

 

State

The Orange County DA’s office is opening a special unit to prosecute illegal ebike and e-motorcycle use, with a focus on potential criminal cases involving juveniles, adults and parents who knowingly allow children to ride illegal e-motos.

San Diego Mayor Gloria released his revised budget, which restores some funding for libraries and a dog park, but does nothing to reverse bike and traffic safety cuts.

The La Mesa City Council voted 4 to 1 to approve a new ebike ordinance, prohibiting children under 12 from riding any kind of ebikes.

San Francisco officially opened a new bikeway that closes a gap along the waterfront, providing a continuous route through Mission Bay.

Caltrans joined with a hundred or so Sacramento bicyclists to mark Bike Month last week.

 

National

A Reno, Nevada driver rolled the dice by fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider, running the victim down from behind while they were riding in a bike lane.

New York Mayor Mamdani is adding funding for additional bike and bus lanes to the city budget, and will extend an Astoria bike boulevard by installing a traffic circle to divert drivers from continuing forward.

Philadelphia advocates are marking Bike to Work or Bike to Anywhere Day by demanding safer streets for bike riders and pedestrians.

A Pennsylvania paper reminds us of next week’s Ride of Silence. Which LA Metro will probably ignore, too. 

The DC area is celebrating Bike to Work Day tomorrow, with over one hundred actual pit stops. Unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name.

 

International

A writer for Cycling Weekly says he won’t ride without his rear-facing bike radar, calling it an essential safety device, despite initially dismissing it as “an expensive gimmick, a rich boy’s toy.”

Google Maps will now show bikeshare locations and how many bikes are available in ten cities around the world, including four in the US. And no, Los Angeles is not one of them. 

Momentum highlights the top 12 Canadian rail trails.

Speaking of commuter challenges, bicyclists dominated a series of bike versus car races in Victoria, British Columbia, with just a single driver winning their race, compared to 16 bike riders. Even though the the story mistakenly flips the numbers. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Thirty-two-year old Dutch sprinter Arvid de Kleijn is returning to the peloton after a turbulent off-season that included the birth of his first child, the death of his father, and a violent, unprovoked attack by a group of teens during a training ride that left him with a broken nose.

Spanish pro Igor Arrieta came back for a last-gasp win in stage 5 of the Giro, despite a fall, and taking a wrong turn near the end of the race.

 

Finally…

Crossing guards here, lollipop ladies there.

And that feeling when you want to float above your handlebars.

Reddit post

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

East LA bike rider suffers serious injuries as driver runs away, and arraignment postponed for OC e-motorcycle mom

May 13, 2026 / / No comments

A bike rider suffered serious injuries in an East LA collision Monday night, as a driver hit multiple vehicles as well as the victim’s bike.

The driver fled the scene on foot afterwards, literally running away.

The crash occurred at 10:30 pm in the 5300 block of Whittier Blvd, near Amalia Ave.

A photo taken after the crash shows the victim’s mangled bike resting on the curb, with the seat and handlebars snapped off the frame.

There’s no description of the victim or the suspect at this time.

Unfortunately, this occurred outside the City of Los Angeles in LA County, so the city’s standing hit-and-run reward doesn’t apply.

………

An Aliso Viejo mom’s arraignment was postponed until next month, as she made her first court appearance yesterday.

Tommi Jo Mejer is charged with involuntary manslaughter, with prosecutors attempting to hold her responsible for her 14-year-old son crashing his illegal e-moto into an 81-year old man in Lake Forest last month.

Vietnam vet Ed Ashman died two weeks after he was struck on April 16th.

Prosecutors allege the 51-year old mother was repeatedly warned by police that her son was riding his illegal Surron e-motorcycle in a dangerously irresponsible manner.

He was reportedly popping wheelies when he crashed into Ashman, then fled the scene afterwards.

According to ABC-7,

“We have her on body-worn camera talking about and understanding the dangers and the illegality of this particular vehicle,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a recent interview with Eyewitness News. “I’m charging the mother because she provided the motorcycle, she was aware of it, she was warned on a prior occasion that this was a dangerous vehicle that her son could not legally possess, and certainly couldn’t ride. And, irrespective of those admonitions and warnings, she continued to allow him to do so.”

Mejer faces additional felony counts of child endangerment and being an accessory after the fact, along with misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to a peace officer, as well as an infraction for permitting an unlicensed minor to drive a motor vehicle.

She faces a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison if convicted on all counts. There’s no word on what charges her minor son may face, if any.

Mejer was released on $100,000 bond, with her arraignment rescheduled for June 30th.

A crowdfunding campaign to help pay Ashman’s medical expenses has raised over $120,000.

………

Santa Monica Spoke is hosting a Handlebar Happy Hour for Bike to Work Day tomorrow.

………

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

A longtime Glendale resident complains about bike lanes on La Crescenta Ave, hitting nearly every note in the standard roster of bike lane complaints, from the bike lanes are empty to the majority of residents oppose them. Which actually translates to some of the people he knows opposes them, unless he somehow took a poll of all the city’s residents, or at least everyone he knows.

An English city spent the equivalent of $3.65 million to rip out a bike lane they already spent the equivalent of $2.3 million to build — which means they spent nearly $6 million building and removing it, but at least traffic is “running smoothly” now. Apparently unlike whatever it was doing before all that.

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

The mayor of Girona, Spain ordered the police to investigate video of a bicyclist riding down the 400-year old stairs of the Pujada de Sant Domènec, one of the most recognizable points of the Old City, complaining that some bike tourists “disdain the city’s heritage and use it to show off.” Seriously, don’t do that.

………

Local 

Los Angeles Public Press profiles the candidates to replace Bob Blumenfield in LA’s 3rd Council District.

 

State

This is who we share the road with. The victim of last week’s e-moto crash in Garden Grove has been identified as a 13-year old Garden Grove boy; he was riding a non-street legal electric dirt bike when he hit the center divider at 35 mph, while wearing a regular bike helmet instead of a motorcycle helmet. Never mind that he couldn’t legally ride the bike to begin with.

Thanks to David for forwarding more news about Porsche shutting down the carmaker’s four-year old ebike division, as well as software and vehicle infotainment subsidiaries, including the company’s store in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza.

Tijuana is working with US Customs and Border Protection over a proposal to build a binational bike path connecting the Mexico city with Imperial Beach.

Bad news from San Luis Obispo, where a 12-year old ebike rider was flown to a trauma center after being struck by a driver last week, and is in stable condition following several surgeries; the kid was not wearing the bike helmet required under state law. A photo shows what appears to be a crumpled ped-assist ebike in the middle of the street. Or at least it had pedals, anyway. 

Good question. A local San Francisco website examines the candidates for the city’s 2nd Supervisor District, asking them “Where should bike lanes go?”.

 

National

AARP reports that head injuries are rising among older people, corresponding with the use of shared ebikes, e-scooters and bicycles. Although they should know that correlation does not imply causation. 

Today is Bike Everywhere Day in Seattle. Or as it’s known in Los Angeles, Wednesday. 

A pair of East Idaho motorcycle clubs are giving away a trailer-full of kid’s bikes on a first come, first served basis.

Wisconsin is planning to announce a 900-mile gravel bike network next month,  taking advantage of existing farm roads and trails paved with the state’s red granite.

Bike to Work Week is taking on added meaning in West Michigan this year, as gas prices make driving more expensive, while rising gas prices have driven some drivers in New Haven, Connecticut into trading their cars for bicycles.

 

International

Police in the UK found the body of a man in a ditch, five days after the 62-year old father was reported missing; police are still looking for his missing bicycle.

A council member in Gqeberha, South Africa warned bicyclists to be vigilant and not ride alone on the beachfront, following violent attacks by thieves; however, police were unable to confirm the reports. Bonus points if you can pronounce the city’s name without looking it up, because I sure as hell couldn’t. 

Heartbreaking news from India, where a woman’s family carried her body to the police station on the back of a bicycle, her bare feet dangling from a shroud, as they allege police failed to arrest the suspect in her murder after she clashed with neighbors over a construction project; her sister-in-law was also hospitalized with serious injuries.

 

Competitive Cycling

Members of the Canadian women’s track squad are reportedly indignant over the decision not to compete in the women’s team pursuit at this fall’s Track World Championships in Shanghai, China, or qualifying for the ’28 LA Olympics, describing it as “gut wrenching and infuriating.”

Italian cyclist Giulio Ciccone took the leader’s maglia rosa in the Giro, aka pink jersey, “if only for a day or a night.”

Don’t bother booking your reservations for the women’s Tour de Romandie in Switzerland this month, after the race was cancelled due to a lack of sponsors and “event overload.” Whatever the hell that means.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you have to steal your own bike back. Mr. Loophole says bike riders should wear helmets, just like drivers do.

And why ride a bike when you can play it?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Driver asleep at the wheel in mass bike crash, criticizing criticism of criticizing reporters, and quitting bicycling because of bike rage

May 12, 2026 / / No comments

I guess that makes it okay then.

The Florida Highway Patrol says the pickup driver who plowed into a group ride in Deland was “asleep or fatigued,” at the time of the crash, which left three of the victims in the hospital awaiting surgery for potentially “life-changing” injuries.

After all, what possible option could someone have when they’re too tired to operate their vehicle safely?

It’s not like they could, you know, just not drive or something.

And if plowing through eight people on bicycles like they were bowling pins is the cost of people carrying out their God-given right to drive no matter what condition they’re in, we just have to accept that.

Right?

………

He gets it.

A Pacific Beach resident offers an “unsolicited response” to a recent piece in one of San Diego’s least bike-friendly publications criticizing the criticism of journalists for their reporting on bicycle crashes, and saying bike riders should just “try safety first.”

In it, Paul C. LeBlanc argues that her central premise is off the mark.

The author contends that, rather than “lecturing reporters on how to do our jobs,” attention should be directed toward instructing cyclists to safeguard their own lives. That framing invites a more fundamental question: are journalists not themselves subject to critique? Thoughtful scrutiny of language and framing is not an affront to journalism; it is one of its necessary companions. Reporting, particularly on matters of public safety, carries an obligation to be precise, neutral, and grounded in evidence. To question how incidents are described is not to lecture, but to engage.

This discussion is not about absolving cyclists of responsibility. Cyclists, like motorists, are bound by traffic laws. Rather, it concerns the implications of language that may assign fault before facts are established. Words matter. They shape perception, and perception often precedes understanding. Precision, therefore, is not a luxury in reporting; it is its discipline.

LeBlanc goes on to make the argument that roadway design can have a significant influence on collisions, bike and otherwise. And that “sensible policy addresses conditions, not merely conduct.”

It’s worth reading the whole thing.

Because he makes a very good case that how articles about bicycling are framed makes a big difference.

………

Seriously?

A columnist for The Times of London says it’s not getting older that’s put him off bicycling, it’s the risk of unpleasant interactions with other bike riders.

Being 61 rather than 31 was the least of my reasons for quitting. The main factor was other cyclists. They made me feel unsafe and ashamed. I loathe their aggression and their entitlement. Many cyclists now behave as monstrously as the worst road-rage motorists, as if the rules don’t apply to them and the whole road (plus the pavement) should give them priority. Now I prefer a combination of train, bus and my own two feet. Once a bicycle evangelical, I’m now an apostate, like those people who were fans of Wham! or the Human League, but only their early stuff, before they got popular…

The anger and arrogance is extraordinary. Cyclists used to be mild-mannered hippies. Now they’re often foaming-at-the-mouth bullies, not caring who or what is in their path. Or they’re sneaky GoPro provocateurs, looking to film reactions incited by their own crazy manoeuvres. Then there are the Just Stop Oil zealots, bursting with self-righteous fury, deliberately holding up traffic by sticking to the middle of the road.

Because people never get into disputes with other people on buses or when walking or anything.

I’ve had my life threatened when bicycling, walking, riding a bus and writing this blog. But oddly, never by someone else on a bicycle.

In fact, I’ve had far more pleasant interactions with other bicyclists and pedestrians than otherwise. That even goes for drivers, too.

It’s just that we’re hardwired to remember the unpleasant interactions, which get replayed over and over in our minds, while the friendly ones slip into the mists of time.

So if he doesn’t want to ride a bicycle anymore, that’s his choice. But don’t paint all of us with the same dirty brush.

………

Streets For All is urging you to contact your legislators to oppose a bill that could outlaw a number of currently legal ebikes.

Sacramento is moving fast on e-bikes, and one bill could do serious damage.

AB 1557, currently advancing through the Assembly, would outlaw thousands of e-bikes that meet legal standards across the country — including cargo bikes and shared mobility services (like Baywheels and Lime) that San Franciscans (and Angelenos) depend on every day.

This legislation isn’t a solution to a real problem. A report from December 2025, required by a bill we supported, found that the vast majority of e-bike injuries and fatalities are caused by illegal high-powered e-motos, not legal e-bikes. The evidence points clearly to one fix: crack down on illegal devices and invest in protected infrastructure.

But AB 1557 does the opposite. It punishes legal riders, burdens the e-bike industry, and does nothing to address the actual danger on our streets.

Eight e-bike bills are moving through the legislature right now. Some are smart, but AB 1557 is not — and it needs to be stopped.

Streets For All is fighting back. Take 60 seconds to use our tool and contact your legislator today.

………

Calbike is hosting a webinar on May 27th to discuss their 2030 strategic plan.

Hello friend –  I invite you to join me, CalBike Executive Director Kendra Ramsey, and members of the Board of Directors for A Future Full of Bicycles: CalBike’s Strategic Plan for 2030, a coalition webinar at noon on May 27 about the work ahead. Register now.

We will dive into CalBike’s 2030 Strategic Plan is a roadmap for the next chapter of bicycle advocacy in California: safer streets, stronger local movements, long-term funding, and a broader coalition for change. Leadership will share where CalBike is headed, what we believe this moment requires, and how our coalition can move together toward a California where bicycling is safe, joyful, and possible for everyone.

Together, we will take a look at our main priorities through 2030:

– Priority 1: Create a built environment where biking and walking are safe and accessible choices in all communities
– Priority 2. Secure long-term active transportation funding to support the mode shift required to meet California’s climate goals
– Priority 3. Strengthen the power of the active transportation movement in California
– Priority 4. Elect bike champions to public office and work in partnership with them to create a policy landscape that prioritizes bicycling
– Priority 5. Strengthen CalBike

As we often say, the most important word in our name is “Coalition” that means you, friend. So please, bring your questions about what we can do together to create a future full of bicycles.

………

OB Cycler offers a visual reminder that it’s not always the person on the bike who’s at fault when a pedestrian gets hit.

Bluesky post

………

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

It’s happened again. A road-raging driver drove up on a Lewiston, Maine sidewalk to intentionally ram a man riding a bicycle following an altercation; fortunately, the victim was not seriously injured.

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

It’s happened again, again. A mob of teen “ebike” riders violently attacked a Huntington Beach man riding an e-scooter on a date night with his wife, apparently because he asked them to slow down, or maybe just because he tried to navigate through a few hundred teens hanging out on the beach and boardwalk. Although judging by the photos, those ebikes look more like illegal e-motos and dirt bikes; hopefully, they can find the attackers, who should be held accountable legally and civilly.

………

Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports that Los Angeles has resumed street repaving, rather than just “large asphalt repair,” but apparently nothing large enough to trigger the requirements of Measure HLA, leaving “Angelenos on track for failing bumpy unsafe roads for years ahead.”

This is where your bike or other stuff ends up if you leave it on an LA Metro bus or train.

 

State

A correction to yesterday’s story, as Amazon voluntarily removes “hooligan” ebikes from their website in California, banning anything in the state that travel faster than 28 mph, rather that 40 mph as we said yesterday.

When a bobcat is catnapping on a California bike park, you might want to find another place to ride. Just saying.

A 12-year old San Diego boy remains in a medically induced coma, more than a week after he was struck by a driver while riding an ebike, and his helmet came off when he struck the car’s windshield.

Le Mesa moves forward with a ban on ebike use for kids 11 and under.

A Palm Springs active transportation subcommittee considers a number of bicycle and pedestrian issues, from downtown wayfinding to a proposed bidirectional bike lane.

A Santa Barbara writer says a Vespa and an out-of-class ebike pose the same risks, but only one requires a license and registration. Except the real difference is that one is street legal, and the other isn’t.

Sad news from Woodside, where a 75-year old man died ten days after he was struck by a driver while riding a bicycle.

 

National

Momentum reminds CNN that there are other ways to commute besides driving, as gas prices continue to rise due to Trump’s little “excursion” in Iran.

The rich get richer. My Platinum level bike-friendly Colorado hometown continues to make improvements for bicycles, on streets I used to ride and streets that didn’t exist when I was a kid. I was also today years old when I learned there’s something called a “Michigan turn.”

A writer for Cycling West recalls bike touring through Yellowstone last September.

Sad news from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where a local website writes in remembrance of a kindhearted local bike advocate who refurbished and gave away hundreds, or possibly thousands, of bicycles; ironically, he had stopped by the website’s offices last week to remind them of Bike Month events, including next week’s Ride of Silence.

Baltimore will build 17 miles of new bike lanes over the next three years, which will put the city over the 300 mile mark. Although it doesn’t say whether those are centerline miles or lane miles, which would count each side of the road separately, resulting in half the amount of actual roadway.

 

International

Cycling News examines how seriously professional bike racing is taking sustainability. But you’ll have to be a member if you want to know the answer, because apparently it’s a secret. 

A German website explains what’s true or false about seven “bicycling myths.” Surprisingly, none of the myths turn out to be true. 

Collisions involving bicyclists and e-scooter users set a record high in Prague, Czech Republic last year, as the city failed to invest in bike infrastructure.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tejay Van Garderen says fellow former American pro cyclist Taylor Phinney can win gold in the ’28 Los Angeles Olympics at what will then be the ripe old age of 37, because Phinney “doesn’t do anything if he’s not ready to give it 100%.”

Canada pulls the plug on its women’s team pursuit squad due to a a lack of funding and fears they won’t be competitive in time for the ’28 Olympics, although the men’s squad will go on.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a favorite actor stars in a competitive bicycling psychological thriller in his “slutty little bike shorts.” Bike polo has gone international.

And that feeling when a collision leaves your motorcycle dangling from a traffic light.

I know it has nothing to do with bicycles.

But still.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

LA moves to ban pretext stops — again, ghost tires installed at 99 Ranch Market, and pickup a weapon of mass destruction in Florida

May 11, 2026 / / No comments

Los Angeles is banning pretext stops.

Again.

Several years after a fight with the police commission led to actions that would supposedly prevent cops from stopping drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians on some flimsy pretext to conduct what would otherwise be an illegal search, the city is doing it again.

Sort of.

The City Council voted unanimously to ask the Police Commission to pretty please take action to stop LAPD officers from doing what they already weren’t supposed to be doing.

Here’s how the Los Angeles Times put it.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted in favor of new restrictions on so-called “pretextual” traffic stops, signaling a growing impatience with the Police Commission’s failure to rein in a controversial LAPD tactic that critics say enables racial discrimination.

The vote requests that the department’s all-civilian watchdog adopt new guidelines similar to San Francisco, which bars police officers from pulling people over for broken taillights and other minor equipment violations unless there is a safety threat.

It has long been a problem with bicyclists, particularly bike riders who were the wrong color or in the wrong neighborhood.

Call it biking while Black or brown.

Roll a stop after almost coming to a complete halt, or fail to signal a lane change, and a flashing roof rack could light up behind you. And next thing you know, you’re standing on the side of the road in handcuffs as a cop rifles through your clothes and belongings.

That’s what led the city to eliminate the bike licensing requirement all the way back in 2009, because officers would too often pull people of color over on the pretext of checking for a bike license. If they didn’t find one — which was usually the case, since most people didn’t even know they were supposed to have one — and you could be humiliated at best, arrested at worst.

It was biased policing at its most heinous, particularly in the Rampart district.

The city council cancelled the requirement as a result. But advocates found themselves before the Police Commission a few years later, fighting for a promised reduction in pretext stops by making officers justify and record the stops on their body cams.

You can tell how successful that was, since the city council had to come hat in hand to ask the commission to do for real this time.

The problem is, in a bizarre quirk of the city charter, neither the council nor mayor has direct authority over the police. The Police Commission makes the rules on an independent basis, sort of like the Federal Reserve and other federal commissions in the pre-Trump era.

So the City Council is asking them, once again, to please ban the practice once and for all.

We’ll see how well that works out.

………

As long as we’re rolling video, KCBS-2 covered Saturday’s ghost tire installation at the 99 Ranch Market in Westwood.

Three people were killed inside the store when a 92-year old woman hit a bike rider while apparently turning left onto Westwood, then continued on the wrong side of the road until plowing into and through the market.

Yet amid all the other questions over how to prevent something like this from happening again, no one seems to be asking whether a 92-year old woman belonged behind the wheel in the first place.

Until we start asking ourselves the hard questions and taking the difficult steps to address them, it’s not a question of whether this will happen again.

But when. And where.

………

Once again, a motor vehicle has become a weapon of mass destruction, after a truck driver plowed head-on into a Deland, Florida group ride.

The immediate aftermath of the crash was visible on a home security cam, showing the swerving pickup driver nearly collide with another vehicle moments after slamming into the riders.

Eight riders were struck, with three transported to a hospital in serious condition, while a fourth was taken with non-life-threatening injuries.

According to the West Volusia Beacon,

The cycling group was estimated at 14 riders. FHP said the bicyclists struck were a 38-year-old male from DeLand, a 37-year-old male from DeLand, a 41-year-old male from Lake Mary, a 29-year-old male from DeLand, a 42-year-old male from DeLand, a 49-year-old male from DeLand, and a 33-year-old male from DeBary. No names were provided.

No word on the condition of the other four victims, or any information about the eighth victim. One rider described getting three staples in the back of his head, as well as suffering pain and bruising in his lower back and hip.

Most of the riders were customers of a Deland bike and surf shop, while one of the most seriously injured was reported to be the store manager.

The driver of the 11-year old pickup remained at the scene, and faces a fine of $65 to $300, and a whole 3 points on his driver’s license for failing to remain in his lane.

Chances are, he’s going to be drastically uninsured for the damages and injuries he caused.

………

Analysis from a law group concludes, as you’d expect, that male bicyclists are more likely to be killed than female riders in most states.

But surprisingly, that statistic is reversed in 13 states, where more victims are women than men.

According to Cycling West,

In Idaho, women were 60 percent more likely to die in cycling crashes. Montana showed a gap of about 47 percent, and Utah 18 percent. The contrast with neighboring states is striking: in Colorado and Nevada, men were 170 percent and 160 percent more likely to be killed, respectively. In smaller states, however, limited data may make firm conclusions difficult.

States with higher female fatality rates span both rural and urban areas. Only Florida and California reported more female cycling deaths than Arizona, which ranked second nationally in per-capita deaths among women. Arizona also ranked third for male cyclist fatalities.

I don’t know what you can conclude from that, except maybe more women ride in those states. Otherwise, I don’t have a clue.

………

A new report from Streets For All says Los Angeles faces a dire future if we continue to underinvest in city streets, opting for smaller-scale treatments and delaying compliance with long-standing federal accessibility laws

Twitter post

………

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

No bias here. A West Hollywood property owner suing the city over the Fountain Avenue Streetscape Project, alleging the city failed to conduct an environmental impact assessment — even though state law exempts bike lanes from CEQA review.

No bias here, either. New York’s most consistently anti-bike columnist complains that plans to redesign iconic Park Avenue are a “convoluted mess,” arguing that a proposed lane reduction would add to Midtown gridlock, and that “like most recent traffic-pattern disruptions, the Park Avenue scheme is a Trojan horse for bike lanes.”

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

Um, okay. British actor Benedict Cumberbatch was accused of a road-raging meltdown when he confronted a bicyclist who had chased him for blocks, accusing him of repeatedly breaking the law on his cargo bike, with Cumberbatch arguing that the other man sas “verbally abusing” him, before calmly charming bystanders and posing for selfies. Yeah, sounds like he was really out of control, all right. 

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. The suspect who plowed through a group of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department trainees, killing one man and injuring more than two dozen people, will go to trail after backing out of a plea deal.

This is who we share the road with, part two. The LAPD is looking for the hit-and-run driver who killed a 65-year old man near Figueroa Street and 75th Street in South Los Angeles, after the Chicago Cubs fan had come to the city to see the Dodger’s-Cubs series with family members last month; as always, there’s a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the city of Los Angeles.

Streetsblog examines the new three-mile continuous bike lane on Colima Road, providing what will eventually be a five-mile scenic route from the edge of Whittier to Fullerton Rd.

Santa Monica began warning drivers caught blocking bike lanes by automated cams mounted on parking enforcement vehicles on May 1st, and will begin ticketing for real in July.

 

State

Submitted without comment. Streets For All has endorsed billionaire Tom Steyer for California governor.

Amazon has finally done the right thing, sort of, by removing “ebikes” with advertised speeds over 40 mph from their website in California. Never mind that anything that can go over 28 mph is already in violation of California law, and they likely only did it to reduce their legal liability. So bikes that only violate the law by 12 mph or less, carry on. 

This is who we share the road with, part three. A 13-year old Santa Ana boy was killed in Garden Grove when the electric motorcycle he was riding hit the center divider, sending him flying; he was on the bike even though you have to be at least 16 year old and have a motorcycle license to legally ride one. But at least the police and press made clear he was on an e-motorcycle, rather than an ebike, this time.

Santa Barbara closes the final eight-mile gap connecting a network of separate bike trails to make a continuous pathway from Goleta to Santa Barbara.

A San Francisco teenager has dethroned reigning British National Hill Climb Championship titleholder Harry MacFarlane as King of the Hill, taking the KOM on San Francisco’s steepest climb two week’s after MacFarlane.

The executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition says everyone benefits when more people ride a bike.

 

National

Guardian readers share what it’s like to live in the US without a car. Speaking strictly for myself, it’s a huge effing relief, even if it is inconvenient sometimes. 

A commenter on Pink Bike wants to know what dogs are doing on bike parks, after a pooch nearly took him out on a jump. Damn good question, actually, though it’s not clear if the dog is a stray or someone’s pet. 

A Xavier University history professor has published a new book devoted to riding through the history of Dayton, Ohio, titled Bicycling Through Dayton — Twenty-One Historical Tours.

She gets it. A New York writer says once you notice a dangerous ebike rider zooming by, you see them everywhere — but “What fades into the background are the dozens of completely unremarkable, friendly cyclists in between.” Well said. 

A New York State website recounts the journey of two friends, who biked nearly 450 miles through the Adirondacks from Montreal down to Brooklyn last September.

 

International

A 27-year old woman pled guilty to the hit-and-run death of a man riding a bicycle in London’s Hackney neighborhood, who was riding while on a hands-free call with his parents at the time of the crash; the woman, who was high on “hippy crack,” aka nitrous oxide, and doing 50 in a 20 mph zone, will be sentenced to something below the 12 years she would have faced had she gone to trial.

Road.cc offers an excerpt from British adventure cyclist and former world bicycle speed record holder Guy Martin’s new book, All The Medals Have Been Handed Out, recounting a near-death experience in Turkey’s road-tunnel system as he attempted to ride from Istanbul, Turkey to Baku, Azerbaijan.

Bicycle business groups blasted the UK government’s proposal to limit ebike motors to 500 watts and cap speeds at 15.5 mph, calling the regulations “unnecessary,” “risky,” and “the wrong approach.”

Porsche is getting out of the performance ebike business, just four years after jumping in head first.

Tour talks with a “passionate” German collector of vintage racing bikes, jerseys and memorabilia.

A Philippine study argues that the national standard of 8-foot wide bike lanes is insufficient, concluding that physically separate bikeways must be at least 8.7 feet to be safe and comfortable for bike riders, while bike lanes on roadways should be at least 8.9 feet wide. Although you may need to read Tagalog to get the most out of the report. 

China hasn’t just taken the lead in innovative electric cars; now they’re coming for established Western bike brands with bikes that “are ahead of the curve when it comes to cutting-edge tech.”

A New Zealand coroner reminds truck drivers of their obligation to check their blind spot for bike riders before making a left turn, after a 59-year old man riding a bicycle was killed in the Down Under equivalent of a right hook.

 

Competitive Cycling

Aussie cyclist Jay Vine crashed out of the second stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, suffering a broken elbow and a concussion, with several riders going down when one rider lost traction on a slippery descent, and Vine crashed into a barrier with a sickening thud; Adam Yates and Derek Gee-West were also caught up in the major crash that caused the race to be briefly neutralized.

Spain’s Paula Blasi won the women’s La Vuelta Femenina on the final climb of the final stage, dropping previous leader Anna van der Breggen to finish second on the stage and take the overall GC win.

Former WorldTour pro Michael Woods embraces the “organized chaos of Spanish gravel racing.”

There’s a special place in hell for whoever decapitated a bronze statue of legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx in the Brussels, Belgium neighborhood where he grew up.

Thirty-eight-year old Italian amateur cyclist Felice Giangregorio was provisionally suspended after testing positive for for EPO for the second time, derailing his comeback after a previous four-year suspension, and casting doubt on the European gran fondo scene. But the doping era is over, right? And it’s a virtual guarantee that if European amateurs are doping, Americans are, too. 

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could have a semi-solid state battery. Presenting the most crazy-ass bike of the week not made by LEGO.

And what mother wouldn’t love to spend Mother’s Day fixing bikes with their kids?

Aside from most moms, I mean.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Arrest in knife attack on WeHo bike rider, cemeteries still fighting Forest Lawn Drive project, and maybe there’s hope for LA yet

May 8, 2026 / / No comments

Damn.

West Hollywood Sheriff’s detectives finally made an arrest in an attack on a bicyclist last August.

According to the Canyon News, a man was riding a bicycle near Westmount Drive and Rosewood Ave when someone threw a knife at him from a passing car, hitting him in the neck.

There’s no word on whether the rider was injured by the knife or how the suspect was located, nor is there any mention of possible charges.

But the suspect should be charged with attempted murder, because the knife assault could have been fatal if the attacker had better aim.

Image by Walter Bichler from Pixabay. 

………

Evidently, a group opposed to red light cameras has a lot more sway with local leaders than we do.

And oddly, they seem to be on our side.

According to the Jewish Journal, Mt. Sinai and Forest Lawn cemeteries are once again complaining about plans to improve safety on Forest Lawn Drive.

After talking with Mayor Karen Bass and CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman, they thought the project had been put on hold, only to see it revived in response to pressure from Safer Streets LA.

Which, according to their website, exists to “Stop red light camera rip-offs,” and “Stop the plan to impose speed cameras on California.”

Nowhere on their site can I find any support for bike lanes or lane reductions on Forest Lawn. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Yet, written in black and white on the walls of cyberspace.

Two years ago, in 2024, (Mount Sinai General Manager Randy) Schwab met with Councilmember Nithya Raman to explain the potential impact on the two cemeteries and the traffic congestion the plan could create. “At the time she promised not to do it, but then I think Safer Streets LA got in touch with her and convinced her that it should be brought back.”

So we apparently owe them our thanks for their hard work and dedication to improve safety for us all, even as they try to make the streets more dangerous.

In fact, the plan has long been in the works due to the inherent dangers of the street, as anyone who has tried to use the painted lanes could testify.

The Journal contacted Councilmember Raman’s office and received the following response: “Forest Lawn Drive provides Angelenos access to key destinations, like Griffith Park and the LA Zoo, and is used by people driving, biking and running. About half of all drivers on Forest Lawn are speeding above the 45 mph legal limit, and at those speeds, a pedestrian or bicyclist struck by a car has a 50% chance of being killed. That is not acceptable, and we have been working to change it.”

Her office said the Forest Lawn Drive Safety & Mobility Project is intended to address these safety concerns by reducing vehicle speeds, adding physical protection for cyclists, and improving conditions for all users of the corridor. It also said the plan includes improved turns for both cemeteries and the Junior Achievement Center. A Raman spokesperson said issues raised by cemetery representatives were taken into account during the design process, and LADOT’s proposal includes expanded turn lanes.

Let that first paragraph sink in.

On a roadway commonly used by bike riders, as well as mourners on their way to visit or say farewell to loved ones, more than half of all drivers exceed the already too high 45 mph speed limit, turning the curving street in their own personal speedway.

Yet the cemeteries continue to fight changes that would benefit their own visitors, in what can only be seen as an apparent attempt to drive up business.

So, thanks Safer Streets LA.

We owe you one, apparently.

………

Let’s consider this statement from New York’s former DOT Commissioner, as Gothamist wonders whether Mayor Zohran Mamdani is the city’s first real Bike Mayor.

“I think it’s taken a long time, but I think the politics have really caught up with the people,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, the transportation commissioner under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Not so long ago, a lot of these ideas seemed like they were crazy, and today, a mayor who rides a bike for fun and for transportation is just another part of New York.”

So there may be hope for us yet.

………

The rescheduled memorial for three people killed when an elderly driver crashed through the 99 Ranch Market on Westwood Blvd in February will be held this Saturday.

Here’s a press release from Streets Are For Everyone announcing the event. And if you haven’t signed the letter demanding a Traffic Violence State of Emergency in the City of Los Angeles, there’s still time before it’s released at the event.

THREE GHOST TIRES TO BE PLACED BY THE COMMUNITY
HONORING VICTIMS OF 99 RANCH MARKET MASS TRAFFIC FATALITY EVENT,
CALLS FOR STATE OF EMERGENCY

LOS ANGELES, CA – On Saturday, May 9th, Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE), People’s Vision Zero, family members of those lost, and community members will be holding a press conference and placing three Ghost Tires to honor the three lives lost and six people seriously injured in the mass traffic fatality event outside 99 Ranch Market on February 5th, 2026. They will also be addressing a second mass traffic fatality near Vista Del Mar on May 3rd, 2026, which killed two more people, including a one-year-old child, and left two others seriously injured. Speakers will call on the LA Mayor and City Council to declare a state of emergency due to traffic violence in Los Angeles.

Ghost tires will be decorated and placed at the site as a memorial to those killed. Victim family members and their legal representatives will address the press, followed by advocates and community leaders.

WHAT:   Ghost Tire Memorial and Press Conference honoring victims of the 99 Ranch Market mass traffic fatality and calling for emergency action on traffic violence in Los Angeles.

WHEN:   Saturday, May 9, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 11:20 AM

WHERE:  1360 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024

WHO:

  • Family members of those lost
  • Damian Kevitt, Founder and Executive Director of SAFE
  • Jonny Hale, People’s Vision Zero
  • Phoebe Kiekhofer, SAFE Families

………

As long as we’re doing press releases, the Orange County Transportation Authority, aka OCTA, is holding a Bike Month Ride Along next week. And yes, I could write about it instead of just reposting the press release, but I’m getting lazy and fond of sleep in my old age.

OCTA Rolls out Bike Month 2026, Ride Along May 13
Annual Bike Rally features a 4-mile ride and prize opportunities, and pledge to bike during May for a chance to win an e-bike while staying active

ORANGE – OCTA is celebrating Bike Month this May by encouraging people across Orange County to get out and ride, whether for commuting, recreation or short everyday trips. The monthlong campaign highlights the benefits of biking as a convenient, healthy and sustainable way to travel.

As part of the celebration, OCTA will host its annual Bike Rally at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 13, featuring a 4-mile group ride from the Orange Metrolink Station to OCTA headquarters in Orange.

The rally serves as a signature Bike Month event, bringing riders together for a shared experience on city streets while showcasing how easy and accessible biking can be throughout the county. Participants will be entered for a chance to win an Aventon Pace 4 Step-Through e-bike, valued at $1,799, along with other prizes. Riders will also receive free Bike Month T-shirts and light snacks while supplies last.

Those who pledge to ride a bike during May will be entered for a chance to win an Aventon Soltera 2.5 e-bike, valued at $1,199, courtesy of Bike Month sponsors Aventon E-bikes and Spectrumotion.

Beyond Bike Month, OCTA continues to invest in active transportation infrastructure and programs that make it safer and more convenient for people to walk and bike throughout Orange County. Working in partnership with local cities and the county, OCTA helps fund and deliver projects such as protected bike lanes, regional trail connections and first- and last-mile improvements that link neighborhoods to transit.

These efforts are designed to reduce reliance on cars, improve air quality and support healthier, more active communities.

OCTA is also encouraging riders to make safety a priority. An e-bike safety video is available with tips for riding responsibly, and those who watch can be entered for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

Together, these efforts are designed to inspire more people to consider biking as an easy, efficient and environmentally friendly way to get around.

For more information about Bike Month and to participate in the Bike Rally, visit www.octa.net/bikemonth.

………

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

No bias here. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers tips to keep bike riders safe on the roadways by offering advice for…bike riders. People in the big, dangerous machines, carry on.

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

A Singapore woman was criticized as “irresponsible and brainless” for riding her bike through a busy intersection with her Shiba Inu dog running behind on a leash, despite the hot pavement. I’ve never been a fan of riding with your dog on a leash, which poses too many opportunities for something to go drastically wrong, even if it is an easy way to exercise your dog. Or may over exercise it, because a dog will run itself to death to please you. 

………

Local 

Streetsblog considers how the new extension to the D Line, aka Purple Line, could change the way Angelenos get around.

 

State

A Seal Beach cop responds to a question about ebikes on the sidewalk, reminding readers that ebikes are banned from walkways under city ordinances, and that not everything called an ebike actually is one under California law. Although I’m not sure some of the state ebike requirements he mentions have actually passed the legislature yet, let alone been signed into law. 

Elementary school kids in San Francisco participated in bike buses on this week for Bike and Roll to School Week.

 

National

You know we’re making progress when they’re celebrating Bike Month and Bike to Work Day in the dusty, windswept cowtown college town of Laramie, Wyoming. I say that with all fondness, having grown up in the home of their collegiate arch rivals, about 40 miles away.

Another longtime bike shop is closing its doors, this time in St. Paul, Minnesota; Grand Performance owner and former USA Cycling National Team member Dan Casebeer has owned the shop since setting the US hour record in 1983.

Singer Amy Grant is one of us once again, riding a bicycle for the first time in four years after suffering a severe traumatic brain injury when she hit a pothole while riding her bike in Nashville in 2022. And yes, she was wearing a helmet when she fell.

A Boston bike lawyer and blogger says overall, the city is getting safer for bicyclists, even if dooring remains deadly. While dooring is one of the most common types of bicycling collisions, it’s rarely deadly, amounting to roughly one to 3 percent of bicycling deaths each year. Although one is still one too many. 

A Massachusetts woman has won an international grant competition with her design to put a roof over a local bike co-op, which currently works out of two disconnected shipping containers.

Police in Bay Ridge, New York are looking for the man who pushed a 13-year old boy off his ebike, apparently for the crime of riding on the sidewalk; fortunately, the kid escaped with just minor lacerations. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with some people?

 

International

This is why people keep dying on the roadways. A British pub owner was fined the equivalent of $900 and had his liquor license suspended for a whole three months for knowingly serving a 16-year old kid five pints of a strong lager, before the kid was killed when he drove his four-wheeled farm vehicle off the road on the way home.

A father and son duo from the UK set three world records with their 400-day, 18,600-mile ride around the world — and avoided arrest in a forbidden China county when one of the cops recognized them from their social media posts, sending them on their way after posing for selfies.

They get it. The Irish Examiner says riding a bicycle is one of the best ways for men to maintain their health as they age, from “improving cardiovascular health and muscle strength to boosting testosterone and lowering stress.” Hint: It works for women, too. 

German bike magazine Tour tests out the best bikes for the equivalent of under a grand.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist examines the top contenders for this year’s Giro d’Italia, which kicks off today with a 91-mile stage in Bulgaria. Yes, Bulgaria.

Cycling News does much the same, offering a team-by-team look at the Giro competitors.

Submitted without comment. Much of the planned Lotto-Intermarché risked missing the Giro, including Belgian sprinter Arnaud De Lie, after they fell ill from a cow dung infection — yes, cow dung — during the rain-soaked Famenne Ardenne Classic.

Dutch cyclist Jan-Willem van Schip says he feels unwelcome in road cycling, after he was booted from a race for the second time in eight months, and the fourth time in five years, for an unusual and, by UCI standards, illegal handlebar setup and seat position.

 

Finally…

When you get arrested for bike theft, it’s usually not the best idea to issue death threats to the arresting officers. Probably not the best idea to fire three shots at your girlfriend because her mother won’t help take an ebike out of the trunk, either.

And that feeling when you’re somehow walking while riding.

………

Thanks to someone who prefers not to be named for her very generous annual donation to help support this site, and keep our spokescorgi in kibble. Donations are always welcome and appreciated, for whatever reason might move you. 

And yes, spellcheck, “spokescorgi” is a real word that I made up. 

While we’re at it, let’s all thank Steve for making this site so much more attractive and work a lot better, especially if you’re viewing it on a phone. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Daily News endorses Kenneth Mejia, LAPD busts Playa road rage suspect, and sign LA traffic violence state of emergency

May 7, 2026 / / No comments

Before we get going, I had the misfortune of watching yesterday’s gubernatorial debate.

To quote Doonesbury, back when it was still funny, it had “all the subtle dynamics of a grade school recess.”

Six of the candidates kept insulting and shouting over one another, while Katie Porter asked people over and over not to interrupt her, which they continued to do.

If you listened to the only two Republicans on the dais, you’d be left with the assumption that Democrats were responsible for all the state’s problems, and if you just elect one of them, everything will be sunshine and puppies forever.

Personally, I thought former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came off best, although with this group, that’s such a low bar he could have tripped over it walking off the stage. But his chances of winning are somewhere south of a snowball in hell. 

My main takeaway when the whole damn thing was over was wondering if it was too late to get someone else.

Which it is.

I’d give you my take on the Los Angeles mayoral debate that proceeded it, but I fell asleep shortly after it began.

But considering the bickering that it began with, that would probably have been my take, anyway.

Photo of Kenneth Mejia and his corgis from Abundant Housing LA.

………

On a related subject, the conservative Los Angeles Daily News surprisingly endorsed bicyclist and corgi dad Kenneth Mejia for re-election as City Controller.

That comes despite a $1.5 million campaign from opponent Zach Sokoloff aiming to oust him, which is funded by Sokoloff’s mother.

Yes, his mommy is paying for the whole thing.

But the Daily News evidently doesn’t want you to know about it, because even their own opinions are hidden behind the paper’s draconian paywall.

You’d think if they really wanted people to vote for Mejia, they’d want everyone to read it.

But you would be wrong.

………

Looks like they got him.

The LAPD made an arrest in the Monday morning Play del Rey hit-and-run that killed a one-year old boy and a 27-year old man on Vista del Mar, aka Deadly del Mar, as they were driving home after a night at the beach.

Twenty-seven-year old Osvaldo Sandoval died at the scene, while his 14-month old nephew Roger Sandoval died after being taken to a hospital; Osvaldo’s 15-year old sister, and Roger’s aunt, remains on life-support at UCLA Medical Center.

To make matters worse, Oscar Sandoval, the driver of the car and the father of one-year old Roger, believes the crash was an intentional act of road rage.

According to KTLA-5,

Oscar Sandoval survived the crash and said he believes it may have been intentional. Family members also told KTLA’s Rick Chambers that the driver of the white Jeep had been flashing his lights and trying to cut them off moments before the collision.

“The Jeep hit my door where my son and brother were sitting, the ones who took the strongest impact,” Oscar said in Spanish. “My son was still alive, but barely.”

Police confirmed a suspect was arrested yesterday morning, but only identified the him as a Hispanic male.

If this was an intentional act, let’s hope prosecutors charge him with two counts of felony murder.

………

If you haven’t yet, sign your name, business or organization to the open letter urging city leaders to declare a state of emergency over traffic violence, sponsored by People’s Vision Zero and Streets Are For Everyone.

Because traffic injuries and deaths continue to be out of control, over ten years after former LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the city’s Vision Zero plan — and more than a year after it officially failed.

If you belong to an advocacy group, get them to sign it. If you belong to a bike club, sign for the club and ask members to sign individually. If you own or work for a bike shop or in the bike industry, do the same.

Add your name.

The letter will be released soon. So do it today.

Declare a State of Emergency in LA Due to Traffic Violence

Traffic Violence in Los Angeles is OUT OF CONTROL!

The City of Los Angeles has not been taking traffic violence and the public health crisis that is, seriously.

In 2015, the city committed to Vision Zero – its plan to end traffic violence by 2025. In 2025, traffic fatalities were reported by LAPD to be 290, 56% higher than in 2015.

For the past three years there have been more traffic fatalities than homicides.

An audit directed by the Los Angeles City Council found that Vision Zero failed – and thousands of people died – because of a lack of political will and poor coordination between city departments.

Traffic violence is the leading cause of death for children ages 4-14 in LA County.

Between 31 January and 5 February 2026, there were two mass traffic fatality events, resulting in 5 people killed and 7 others seriously injured.

The City of Los Angeles was about to return 100 million dollars in road safety funding to the State of California because it didn’t have the manpower to use the money.

What We’re Asking You to Do

Sign onto an open letter we will be releasing to the media and sending to the LA Mayor and City Council, demanding that they declare a State of Emergency due to traffic violence and treat it as the public health crisis that it is.

The full letter is on this page. Please spread this around to as many people as possible. Thank you!

Jonathan Hale — People’s Vision Zero
&
Damian Kevitt — Streets Are For Everyone

………

This puts the horrible state of LA’s roads in perspective.

Although Mr. Smith somehow seems to think it’s a “gotcha” that Streets For All is a PAC, which they’re very open about, and that progressives tend to support safer streets that serve all road users, unlike their more conservative brethren.

Shocking, I know.

Twitter post

………

Here’s a couple more posts from one of my favorite Bluesky accounts.

I confess, I never knew that Keith Haring rode a bicycle, let alone drew one. And ’60s bike advertising is just effing cool.

https://bsky.app/profile/coolbikeart1.bsky.social/post/3ml2e6oqdn22t

Bluesky post

………

Nice story from San Diego, where a team of engineering students designed a pedal extension that allows a Marine vet to ride a bicycle for the first time since 2003, when an explosion shattered his leg while he was deployed to Iraq.

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

No bias here. When residents of the Scottish Isle of Cumbrae complained about drivers “speeding away from the ferry terminal and ‘pelting’ around corners towards oncoming traffic,” the local cops naturally responded by admonishing bicyclists, including toddlers on balance bikes.

………

Local 

Writing for Torched, the great Alissa Walker had a different, and more positive, take from mine yesterday about Mayor Karen Bass’ Capital Infrastructure Program for the City of Los Angeles, though we’re both in agreement that it was long-overdue.

Metro will offer free rides across the their system, including buses, trains and the Metro Bike bikeshare all weekend to celebrate the three-stop extension of the D, aka Purple, Line subway. Although it still won’t go far enough for my wife to take the train to work. 

Secret Los Angeles writes that Los Angeles will shut down four miles of streets next month when CicLAvia connects Exposition Park and Leimert Park, which is hardly a secret.

The LAPD reminds drivers to share the road during Bike Safety Month. The other eleven months, it’s as you were, apparently. 

 

State

San José Spotlight gently breaks the news that construction on a local street is due to a bike lane project. And yes, I take great pride in including the diacritical in the website’s name.

Oakland skips the work requirement, and celebrates next Thursday as Bike Anywhere Day, instead of Bike to Work Day. Or as it’s known in Los Angeles these days, Thursday. 

A Marin County serial ebike thief was arrested after he was caught using a rented Amazon truck to make reverse deliveries.

The family of a UC Davis student who was killed riding a bike on campus last month are calling for protected bike lanes to be installed in his honor.

 

National

A writer for Bike Mag opens up about how bicycling saved his mental health, forcing him to slow down and breathe following his diagnosis of ACHD.

It’s now illegal to block a bike lane anywhere in Colorado. California, not so much. 

Jefferson City, Missouri, population 43,000, adopts the “Idaho Stop Laws,” allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and stoplights as stop signs.

Rock Island, Illinois is celebrating a colorful new bicycling sculpture in memory of a long-time local bicyclist, who rode a custom-built bike without a saddle, which is replicated in the sculpture. If anyone designs a sculpture in my honor after I depart this mortal coil, put a damn saddle on it.

Tennessee titanium frame maker Lynskey Performance Products, LLC, is just the latest company in the bicycle industry to go belly-up, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in hopes of reorganizing after a disastrous move to Shopify.

Massachusetts approves a new four tiered system defining bicycles and ebikes by their speed, with traditional bicycles, Class 1 and Class 2 ebikes, low-speed scooters and mobility devices in the new Class 0, up to Speed Tier 3 covering anything above 40 mph.

Bike advocates in Saratoga Springs NY are complaining that the city is ignoring its Complete Streets plan as it repaves streets, despite an ostensible commitment to improving its multimodal infrastructure. Something people in a certain Southern California megalopolis can probably relate to.

Okay, now he’s just rubbing it in. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn to take part in a bike bus to announce plans for two new bike boulevards. I’m not sure if LA Mayor Bass knows what a bike bus is, let alone has ever ridden one.

Alexandria, Virginia and the DC region will offer giveaways and prizes to encourage people to bike to work next week. Los Angeles, not so much.

Atlanta will celebrate the week-long Atlanta Cycling Festival next week, including Spoke & Word, a two-day “progressive dinner” combining bicycling and storytelling.

 

International

Momentum highlights Canada’s most bike-friendly cities, in case anyone wants to flee north of the border, where things seem a little saner these days.

Speaking of draconian paywalls, that’s the reason I don’t link to the BBC anymore.

A Deutschland magazine looks back on those heady days of National Socialism, when bike races were just another form of Nazi propaganda.

You can now bring your bicycle on China’s high-speed Beijing to Zhangjiakou train line, although it’s limited to stops between Beijing North and Chongli.

 

Competitive Cycling

Britain’s longest‑running, biggest and most prestigious single-day and somewhat cobbled road race marks its 70th Anniversary on Sunday.

Road.cc answers the question of what pro cyclists do after they retire, profiling seven former racers who now work in professions as diverse as firefighter, banker and sommelier — including America’s one-time ex-Tour de France champ-cum-CBD maven.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re stopped for illegally impeding traffic in a teeny, tiny little car, and people want to know how many clowns were inside. Or when you pedal across the country to spell out “kindness,” while inviting strangers to ride along.

And now you, too, can have a MagSafe dock in the shape of the world’s ugliest truck.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Bass belatedly releases Infrastructure Plan, LA belatedly proceeds with Forest Lawn Dr. project, and OC streets are appalling

May 6, 2026 / / 2 comments

To steal from Hamlet, something is rotten in the state of Los Angeles.

Or so it seems, anyway, as Mayor Karen Bass belatedly released her Capital Infrastructure Plan after more than three years in office. Something she should have done on Day One.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem to pass the smell test, to mix metaphors.

Not only because it reads like a plan to develop a plan, but because it has to be read in the context of an unpopular mayor running for re-election.

If you read the press release, you’ll see a handful of city council members falling all over themselves to praise Bass and the CIP; notably absent is Councilmember Nithya Raman, one of the mayor’s primary opponents.

And you have to wonder if this plan has only been released at this late date because Raman has developed her own plan.

According to the press release,

Mayor Bass’ Capital Infrastructure Program lays out a comprehensive roadmap for L.A. to reform and improve the way it maintains and builds new infrastructure, including 10 recommendations to achieve this vision by reforming City processes and the Charter. Greater transparency is also achieved by laying out a data-based foundation regarding how and where the City must address short and long-term infrastructure needs.

Included in the program are 29 Olympic and Paralympic legacy capital projects that will both prepare the City for 2028 and leave lasting investments for communities across L.A. 16 of these capital projects are currently funded in Mayor Bass’ proposed FY 26-27 budget. Working alongside the City Council, the Mayor’s Office will seek to advance the reforms in the Capital Infrastructure Program and begin the long-term funding and planning for the proposed capital projects.

For years, advocates have called for simplifying LA’s overly complicated infrastructure process by removing the silos separating LADOT, Streets Services and the Bureau of Engineering and combining them into a single department.

Instead, the mayor’s plan calls for greater cooperation between those silos, while creating an additional layer of bureaucracy by strengthening the Capital Planning Steering Committee, giving the Bureau of Engineering responsibility for creating the CIP, and establishing a new Director of Public Works.

It also calls for prioritizing projects for the ’28 Los Angeles Olympics, rather than, you know, resurfacing streets and filling potholes.

Never mind building bus and bike lanes for the people who already live here. And if there’s any mention of complying with Measure HLA, as mandated by the city’s voters, I didn’t find it.

I’m also not thrilled by this line, which places blame on the public, rather than the people we elect to actually do the hard things:

Angelenos do not have a clear understanding of what can realistically be funded and when, nor the city’s long-term priorities beyond those of a given year.

Never mind that Bass doesn’t seem to have any problem approving unfunded pay raises for cops and other city employees. But the public clearly seems to be expecting too damn much.

Although Bass and her staff at least seem to have a reasonable grasp of the problems.

The city’s current capital planning process is falling short:

  • Fragmented systems and data silos
  • No shared vision across city departments
  • Growing maintenance deferrals
  • Slow, inefficient capital planning
  • No capital project intake standards
  • Limited project scoring and prioritization
  • Highly decentralized and uncoordinated grants
  • Limited analytical capacity and predictive modeling
  • Resource planning and staffing misalignment
  • An opaque capital planning process
  • A growing need to quantify infrastructure needs

Missing from this list is the city’s endless series of public meetings before anything ever gets built, which stretches a process that could, and should, take months into years.

Many, many years, in some cases.

So this may be a good start. And it may even be an improvement over our current failed system.

But it’s about three years too late.

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Speaking of Nithya Raman, her office announced the city is finally moving forward with the long-discussed Forest Lawn Drive Safety and Mobility Project, including what passes for protected bike lanes in the City of LA.

And yes, this should be seen in light of the mayor’s race, as well.

As should any pronouncements by anyone running for mayor for the next six months.

………

He gets it.

A writer for a Minnesota transportation advocacy site visits Orange County on a Costco packaged travel deal, and is suitably appalled by what he found.

Car dependency is a modern California birthright. It is very common to drive on avenues with 10 or more lanes and speed limits of 60 miles per hour. To be clear, that is an avenue with periodic traffic light intersections with five lanes in each direction and more turn lanes at intersections. The speed limits in Orange County were usually about 10 miles per hour higher than what would be expected in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

There were a small number of bicyclists. They typically were enthusiast athletes along Pacific Coast Highway and residents who cannot drive, like teenagers on a bike going to school. I felt sick for how dangerous the intersections were for these children. I also saw a family with a stroller crossing an unmarked intersection, and stopped my car to let them cross the street. Bike lanes are typically one line of paint and sometimes green paint at intersections. I did not see a single protected bike lane with any level of plastic bollard or curb protection. There were, however some multi-use paths in more recreational park areas. Practical cyclists — like the teenagers — typically rode on the sidewalk.

To be honest, it’s kind of pitiful and humbling, if not humiliating, the way people from other places see us.

Especially when they actually do.

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

No bias here. A San Diego driver, writing for what may be the city’s least bike-friendly local publication, blames bicycling deaths on “high-risk biking practices, like running stop signs and stoplights,” complaining that she’s never seen a campaign for bicyclists that on focuses putting safety first — except, of course, for the bike safety courses she mentions in her penultimate paragraph, which do exactly that. Never mind all those studies showing that the Idaho stop improves safety. Or that drivers are at fault in many, if not most, bicycling deaths.

No bias here, either. The only Member of Parliament representing the extreme right Restore Britain party complains about “central planning lunacy” resulting in a “very rarely used” used bike lane, saying “I declare bicyclists a very rare breed here.” Although with attitudes like that, it’s no wonder. 

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Local 

Metro looks at what passes for Bike Month in Los Angeles these days, where no one really seems to give a damn anymore.

WeHo celebrates Bike Month, even if Los Angeles barely does.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers a bike-friendly report card on Los Angeles-area roundabouts, giving high marks to Santa Monica, good to Long Beach, West Hollywood and Culver City, and passing — or C — to Beverly Hills and Los Angeles. Which seems too high for one of the latter two, and too low for the other. I’ll let you decide which I mean.

Pasadena will host a beginner-friendly, six-mile Bagel Ride aimed at building confidence and carbs for city this Saturday. You can tell it’s for beginners because most experienced bicyclists won’t get out of bed unless you promise them a long ride, or donuts. 

Canyon News highlights Bike Month events on the gilded streets of Beverly Hills.

The Signal Tribune provides a non-paywalled look at Long Beach Bike Month events.

Despite all the city’s safety improvements, traffic deaths in Long Beach hit the highest level in a decade, with 53 people killed as a result of traffic violence.

 

State

Calbike invited advocates, community leaders, bike coalition staff, riders, parents and local organizers to meet with state legislators and staffers last month for the organization’s Lobby Day. Contrary to common assumptions, they don’t actually call it that because most legislators won’t let us past the lobby.

Speaking of Calbike, they announced a handful of endorsements in state legislative races in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties. Although I’d really like to see them weigh in on the confounding governor’s race. 

San Diego can look forward to more ghost bikes and more pedestrian deaths, after the mayor’s new city budget eliminates the team of traffic engineers focused on improving safety.

Leaders of the century-old Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood say newly installed bike lanes are limiting access to the church, while making it more dangerous for older parishioners, and forcing them to unload caskets in the middle of the street. Never mind that it’s on a corner, with a side street that dead-ends three blocks away when people could be dropped off, living or otherwise. 

A kindhearted Fresno detective worked with police cadets to get a new bicycle for a local boy whose bike was stolen in a robbery, after seeing the brokenhearted look on the boy’s face when he learned that, even though an arrest had been made and his bike was recovered, he wouldn’t get it back because it was impounded as evidence.

As other bike industry events continue to shut down, Monterey’s Sea Otter Classic is rapidly becoming an international trade event.

Palo Alto will “experiment” with temporary, quick-build protected bike lanes. Because there are no studies showing whether protected bike lanes improve safety, apparently. Although I hear there’s a university in that town where they could look it up. 

This is who we share the road with. Police in Oakland and San Francisco cooperated with the CHP to seize 77 dirt bikes and ATVs following a nearly hour-long street takeover in San Leandro, East Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, after trapping the riders on the Bay Bridge and cutting off any avenue for escape. Thanks to the cops for making clear the perps weren’t riding legal ped-assist ebikes. 

The UC Davis student newspaper says students and community members are right to demand better bike safety.

 

National

Bike industry advocacy group PeopleForBikes considers what it will take to get kids riding to school again. Hint: Whatever it takes to make parents believe their kids will come back in one piece.

The Hawaii legislature approves plans for speed cams, while joining the parade of jurisdictions cracking down on ebikes.

A bike rider was badly injured in a collision yesterday next to Denver’s Washington Park, exactly where I used to ride on a near-daily basis when I lived in the city back in the Mesolithic period.

This is who we share the road with. A 56-year old woman in Waco, Texas — or maybe Wacko, in this case — faces DUI and attempted assault charges for driving on the sidewalk in a deliberate attempt to run down a young kid riding a dirt bike, then trying to break into a nearby house half an hour later.

A Detroit city worker crashed into a woman riding a bicycle while going the wrong way on a one-way street, waving her on when she stopped for him before lurching forward and running over her; a bystander was placed in handcuffs for trying to record the scene on his cellphone. For anyone unclear on the subject — including Detroit cops, evidently — you have a First Amendment right to record anything that happens in public, as long as you don’t actually interfere with the police. And no, standing several feet away and recording them is not interference. 

Um, okay. A New York bike rider says he was intimidated by group rides until he developed “jalopy pace,” which is his way of describing a moderately paced ride with no one left behind. Don’t tell him those have been around for years. Just let him enjoy the moment.

The Pennsylvania teenager who killed a Swarthmore mathematics professor as he was riding in a bike lane last December, has been charged with “homicide by vehicle, driving without a license, DUI and related offenses” because he was high on cannabis and driving with just a learner’s permit. Something tells me he’s already failed his driver’s test.

Traffic deaths in Pennsylvania dropped to the lowest level since the state has been keeping records, although bicycling deaths were up nearly 50%.

Apparently, the animals are out to get us, too. A woman was injured while riding on a bike trail in Arlington, Virginia when a white-tailed deer crashed into her at full speed, knocking her off her bike and, appropriately, into a patch of deer-tongue grass.

How many times do we have to say it? If you’re riding your bike after dark while carrying meth and a pipe, put a damn light on it — something a Georgia man learned the hard way. And by the way, you don’t have to consent to a search of your body or belongings if you’re pulled over for a traffic stop. 

That’s more like it. Prosecutors will recommend that a Florida woman has her license permanently revoked after pleading guilty to the hit-and-run death of a 67-year old man who was riding in a bike lane, as part of her sentencing next month.

A former Florida cop is on trial for the 2021 murder of a bike shop owner, who was fatally shot and set on fire, apparently for the crime of dating a woman the former cop had been involved with.

 

International

Momentum highlights the year’s best routes around the world for epic bikepacking trips, only one of which is in North America.

They get it. A Quebec coroner concluded that the lack of a bike lane on one of Montreal’s busiest streets contributed to the death of a woman who crashed her bike into a parked and fell into the traffic lane as she tried to avoid a truck coming up behind her, recommending that the city install one there.

The story of Tony Parsons, the man killed by a drunk driver during a Scottish charity ride, who then worked with his twin brother to hide his body for four years before confessing to his fiancee, is now being featured on Should I Marry a Muderer on Netflix.

A writer for the New York Times explores the lasting racial, social and economic legacy of apartheid on a short, ten-mile ride from Cape Town, South Africa to the fringes of the Langa township.

 

Competitive Cycling

NBC looks at plans for bicycling events at the ’28 Los Angeles Olympics.

The “only independent organization representing the views and interests of female professional riders” complains about UCI’s lack of progress in promoting women’s cycling, suggesting staging festivals around women’s races.

The Navajo Nation will host the annual Hashkéníinii Bike Road Race May 25th, with a course winding through the striking terrain surrounding Navajo Mountain in the Four Corners Region; the race commemorates the legendary Diné leader who guided the Naatsisaan, Paiute Mesa and Oljeto communities during the Long Walk period of the 1860s.

 

Finally…

Your next bicycle could be powered by hydraulics. Or maybe it could be a LEGO.

And your next bicycle built for two could be a banana.

On orange slices, no less.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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