BikinginLA

We mentioned it the other day.

However, David wants me to remind you about Sunday’s Marathon Crash Ride, which follows the traffic-free route of the LA Marathon in the wee hours before all those runners and walkers take it over.

And he’s not the only one who thinks it’s one of the year’s best bike rides in LA every year.

Photo by Laurence Hamdy from Pexels.

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Los Angeles has replaced the heady scent of asphalt with the pungent smell of bullshit.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton looks at the sad two-year history of Measure HLA, and the city’s so-far successful efforts to block any progress in implementing the measure.

HLA has a very simple premise. The measure, championed by Streets For All and passed with a two-thirds margin by Los Angeles voters, requires that the city implement its already approved mobility plan anytime a significant portion of a street in it gets resurfaced.

But instead of following the clear will of the voters, the city has implemented a lousy 300 feet — the length of a football field, sans end zones — since the measure was passed.

City officials have gone so far as to invent the entirely fictional descriptive “large asphalt repair” instead of resurfacing streets, leaving just a small strip of unpaved asphalt to avoid triggering the requirements of HLA, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Consider this one section from Linton’s article.

June 2024 – City departments started announcing that they had an HLA plan. LADOT and StreetsLA stated that they were working together on “a joint work plan” for the coming fiscal year starting July 2024. As of June 4, DOT and StreetsLA claimed that their HLA work plan “is currently being finalized and will be made publicly available in coming weeks.” In late June LADOT General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo stated that DOT had submitted its list of project-ready Mobility Plan corridors to StreetsLA.

For several months Streetsblog requested that the city share the HLA work plan. In September, StreetsLA claimed that the “StreetsLA/LADOT work plan for FY 24-25 is in the final stages of assessment, and we expect it to be finalized this month. This work plan will serve as this fiscal year’s blueprint for bicycle facilities that require resurfacing or other paving treatments in order to be implemented.”

No plan, draft or final, was ever released.

HLA gives the public the option of suing the city if they fail to implement the measure when a street is resurfaced. But there’s no legal recourse when Los Angeles officials simply refuse to resurface anything.

At this point, the only apparent option is to remember that this is an election year, with a primary in June and the general election in November, as Mayor Karen “Do Nothing” Bass is up for re-election, along with half of the city council.

Which makes this the best possible time to pressure candidates to commit to implementing Measure HLA. Or simply pull the lever for someone else in the voting booth.

I’ve spoken to a number of people in recent weeks, of all political stripes. And I’ve yet to find anyone who plans to vote for Karen Bass.

Myself included.

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People For Bikes is bringing their Bicycle Leadership Conference to Dana Point for three days, starting on St. Patrick’s Day.

Which is appropriate, because it’ll cost you a lot of green to get in.

Here’s a (very long) press release for the event.

Bicycle Leadership Conference Convenes Industry’s Most Senior Leaders at a Defining Moment for the Bike Business

PeopleForBikes will host the 2026 Bicycle Leadership Conference (BLC) March 17–19 at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa in Dana Point, California, bringing together the most senior concentration of bicycle industry leadership in the event’s history.

The gathering comes at a pivotal moment for the bike business as leaders across the industry navigate continued trade volatility, waning consumer confidence, margin compression, evolving e-bike regulations, participation shifts, and increasing pressure to define and protect the bicycle category.

Headlining the conference are three of the most influential figures in modern bicycling:

• John Burke, President of Trek Bicycle
• Phoebe Liu, CEO of Giant Group
• Mike Sinyard, Founder of Specialized Bicycle Components

Together, their presence reflects a rare alignment of executive leadership, global manufacturing scale, and multigenerational industry stewardship.

Burke will present the U.S. Congressman James L. Oberstar Awards for Outstanding Advocacy Leadership. Liu will deliver a keynote focused on ESG integration and long-term supply chain strategy. Sinyard will outline his vision for expanding youth cycling participation through Outride as a foundation for sustained industry growth.

The 2026 conference also features California State Senator Catherine S. Blakespear, who will join a session focused on the growing e-moto problem at a time when states are reconsidering electric bicycle definitions. Her participation underscores the industry’s active engagement in protecting the three-class e-bike framework and ensuring high-powered electric motorbikes are not misrepresented as e-bikes. This distinction is critical to safety, access, and protecting the e-bike category nationwide.

A Leadership Agenda for a Complex Market

The BLC program is structured around four themes: leadership and vision, market forces and public policy, innovation and technology, and data and intelligence.

Sessions will address federal trade and tariff strategy, e-bike classification and category protection, youth cycling participation, artificial intelligence, operational efficiency, cross-category profitability, and the launch of the PeopleForBikes Data Suite.

“We are not spectators in this moment,” said Jenn Dice, president and CEO of PeopleForBikes. “When trade policy is debated, this industry has a voice and must lean in. When category confusion threatens our future, this industry has a coordinated response. The leaders in this room are not just reacting to change, they are directly shaping what comes next.”

Over the past year, PeopleForBikes led senior-level engagement across federal agencies, Capitol Hill, and state legislatures while organizing industry comments, model legislation, and rapid-response communications on trade and category issues. The 2026 BLC builds on that coordination, bringing CEOs into direct alignment around shared priorities rather than isolated advocacy.

“This is where collaboration becomes leverage,” said José Maldonado, chief marketing officer and BLC director at PeopleForBikes. “Trade strategy, e-bike category protection, infrastructure investment, and participation growth are not separate conversations. They require senior alignment and collaboration. The concentration of executive leadership at this year’s BLC reflects that understanding.”

Alignment Beyond the Stage

The BLC week opens with a reception featuring remarks from Burke and recognition of Oberstar Award honorees Daniel Langenkamp and Jill and Michael White, families who became national advocates for safer streets in response to personal tragedies.

Morning group rides — including guided road rides, mountain bike rides led by Hans Rey and Richie Schley, and a townie e-bike ride, provide small-group environments for extended discussion among executives.

PeopleForBikes will also present its Bicycle Leadership Honors, recognizing industry members whose lifetime achievement, rising leadership, outstanding service, catalytic change, and philanthropic guidance are shaping the future of bicycling and the bike business.

Early registration data reflects presidents, founders, CEOs, general managers, board members, and international trade leaders representing major global brands, retailers, suppliers, and advocacy organizations.

Registration remains open, but limited spots are available.

See the full 2026 BLC agenda and register today.

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Calbike wants you to demand a more complete state highway bill.

Demand a Better 2026 SHOPP

Every two years, California approves a massive spending plan for the state’s highways. It’s called the State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP) and at several billion dollars per cycle, it’s the single largest pot of money Caltrans controls. It funds repaving, bridge repairs, safety upgrades, and more across thousands of miles of state roads.

It also, by law, must fund safe infrastructure for people who walk, bike, and take transit. That law is the Complete Streets Bill, sponsored by CalBike, SB 960, passed in 2024. It requires that each SHOPP make measurable progress toward 10-year targets for bike lanes, sidewalks, and crosswalks on the state highway system. It was a hard-won victory, an acknowledgment that California’s highways aren’t just for cars, and that Caltrans has a legal obligation to build streets that work for everyone.

The California Transportation Commission has the authority to approve or reject the SHOPP, and to recommend that Caltrans fix it before they do. Send them a message now and tell them to stand up for Complete Streets.

Click through for an email response form and sample message.

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It’s looks like the long hope-for extension of the Ballona Creek bike path is really becoming a reality.

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It also looks like the long-gestating Mid-City Greenways are finally taking shape.

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ActiveSGV wants to know what you want the San Gabriel Valley to be, on behalf of the San Gabriel Valley Collaborative.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/2029600251372335140

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Metro Bike is hosting a virtual bikeshare workshop on Thursday. Although just to be clear, it’s the workshop that’s virtual, not the bikeshare.

You’ll also get a free 30 day pass for participating.

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Our old friends Walk ‘n Rollers is hosting a Westwood ride on March 21st.

Speaking of which, their Walk ‘n Roll Festival will take place in Exposition Park from 11 am to 3 pm March 14th, complete with free bike skills courses, helmets and tuneups.

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Clearly, Black Girls Do Bike. And have for a very long time.

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

No bias here. British bike riders were in disbelief after a traffic safety group tells bicyclists to give parked cars a one meter — roughly three feet — passing distance to avoid getting doored, but fails to offer any advice on how motorists can avoid dooring someone.

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

A Singapore bike rider got hit with a hefty five grand fine for blocking a traffic lane for half an hour when he mistakenly thought a driver had “inched out” while he was riding in a crosswalk.

Spanish motorcycle racer Aleix Espargaró was criticized after a driver posted video of him passing cars on the left while descending on a training ride on his bicycle, pretty much riding like he would on a motorbike.

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Local 

Cafecita Coffee will host a group bike ride this Sunday for International Women’s Day, beginning and ending with coffee at Cafecita. Although with a route that includes Mulholland Drive, the ride promises to be scenic, but not exactly family friendly. 

If you’re not busy Tuesday night, Metro Bike wants your input on where the bikeshare system should expand.

 

State

The inaugural Bike the Coast Ventura come back to Ventura coast for the first time this June, offering rides of 17, 35 and 65 miles.

 

National

If you’re one of the 40,000 people who bought a Concord 360 Degree Rechargeable Light-Up bike helmet from Walmart, the Consumer Products Commission says to stop using it immediately because it poses a risk of death in the event of a crash or fall. Which is probably a bad thing.

An Ashland, Oregon school has offered the nation’s only standalone certified training program for bike mechanics for more than 40 years.

Rad Power Bikes is apparently rising from the dead, after South Florida-based Life EV bought what’s left of the moribund Seattle e-bikemaker in bankruptcy court.

A 57-year old Brooklyn man riding a bicycle was repeatedly stabbed by a woman who approached him at 3 am, and attacked him with a sharp object for no apparent reason.

A professor of environmental management and the principal of Urban Cycling Solutions joins the parade condemning New Jersey’s draconian and wrong-headed crackdown on ebikes.

Bicyclists in Columbia, South Carolina say the state’s capital is on its way to becoming a bicycling city.

Georgia Public Radio observes a ghost bike ceremony for a fallen bicyclist, killed by a motorist outside of Macon last year.

 

International

The father of a five-year-old girl who was knocked down by a bicyclist on a Belgium pathway on Christmas Day 2020 has won his appeal of a lawsuit filed by the guy on the bike, who claimed he was defamed by a viral video of the incident; not only was the case dismissed, but the bike rider was ordered to pay the equivalent of nearly $2,400 in costs after the judge concluded the video was a matter of freedom of expression.

The Irish Times says there’s a reason there’s only one bicycle parked outside a Dublin school, as the lack of a bike lane means it’s not safe for people walking, let alone riding a bicycle.

A writer for Cycling Weekly takes extreme riding to the limits with a snowy nine-hour ride through Norway in the middle of winter.

 

Competitive Cycling

Three-time winner Tadej Pogačar now has a dirt section of the Strade Bianche course named for him, just days before the Saturday race.

Aussie pro Michael Matthews is out of action for the foreseeable future after breaking both his wrists in a training crash.

And this is what a real cyclist looks like.

 

Finally…

Yes, bicycle gymnastics really is a thing. Your bike helmet has an expiration date.

And what’s so funny about someone riding a Penny Farthing?

Or peace, love and understanding, for that matter.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.