CicLAvia comes to South LA Sunday, anti-bike lane bike commuter, and reality shifts when ebike-hater downloads rental app

September 8, 2025 / / One comment
Day 251 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Patch offers a reminder about this weekend’s Historic South Central meets Watts CicLAvia.

Included among the highlights are the birthplace of West Coast Jazz, Watts Towers and the former LA headquarters of the Black Panthers.

Which is not a phrase I ever thought we’d use back in the day,

And BikeLA — the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, will host a feeder ride to the open streets event.

https://twitter.com/heybikela/status/1963666212887593338

………

A year-round London bike commuter says he’s no fan of bike lanes.

His reasoning is that a) they don’t really reduce traffic — either vehicular or on the Tube — since most people stop riding in bad weather, and b) because they’re often blocked for one reason or another.

Then there’s this.

Most British roads still have no cycle lanes, after all, but they’re still very safe for cyclists. In 2023, 24 cyclists were killed and just over a thousand seriously hurt per billion miles cycled in this country. In other words if you cycle a mile, the chance is about one in a million that you’ll be seriously hurt or worse. I’d have to commute every weekday for well over 200 years – without any holidays – before it would be likely that I’d suffer a serious mishap. Even given today’s gloomy pension prospects, I hopefully won’t have to do that.

As for the danger from cyclists, it does exist: but it’s minuscule. We Brits are roughly as likely to be killed by lightning as by a cyclist. We’re noticeably more likely to be killed in an “accident involving cattle”. In a world with cars and carbon monoxide and food poisoning in it – let alone heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s – worrying about being killed by a cyclist would be pretty illogical.

It’s only one man’s view, of course, but I consider the fear that many cyclists have of riding among motor traffic to be pretty illogical too. There are some bad and aggressive drivers out there to be sure, but that’s true of cyclists too, and in fact most drivers in my experience are safe: sometimes even friendly.

He’s right. But wrong.

I made a pretty similar calculation some time back, too.

In 2009, Americans took 4 billion trips by bicycle.

How safe is bicycling? Cyclists suffered in an estimated 52,000 injuries in 2009; making your odds of returning home safely from any given ride nearly 77,000 to one; the chances of surviving any given ride were over 6.3 million to one in your favor.

On the other hand, people do get injured — or worse — riding a bicycle.

So while the odds of completing any given ride safely are astronomically in your favor, they’re still odds. Which means there’s always a chance of losing, infinitesimally small though it may be.

And the whole point of bike lanes is to improve all our odds of getting home in one piece.

He also makes another mistake common to experienced bicyclists.

You may feel comfortable riding in traffic, just like I did for years. But bike lanes aren’t for those of us who feel confident mixing it up with motorists.

They’re for the people who don’t.

Bike lanes — particularly protected bike lanes — provide space for the overwhelming majority of people who don’t feel safe sharing the same road space with drivers.

Especially with bad drivers, which to be honest, most people are at one time or another. They drink, they speed, they use their phones, and just do stupid stuff.

You know, as people do.

So if you feel comfortable riding in traffic, great. But that doesn’t mean everyone else should, because they don’t.

And won’t.

Meanwhile, a Santa Rosa bicyclist insists our London friend is not the only one who feels that way.

………

Another London writer, with tongue planted firmly in cheek this time, says he hates bike riders.

God, I hate cyclists: shooting the lights, ignoring zebras, mounting the pavement, overtaking on the inside, thinking they’re so damned virtuous, being all vegan, pro-Palestine and probably trans, crouched over their racing handlebars like they’re on the Tour de frigging France, in their silly hats with those mincy little shoes, skin-tight shorts disappearing up their bum cracks…

But when he’s on a bike, “the pedal is on the other foot.”

Bloody motorists: fat, entitled, Farage-voting sales reps, slumped in the driving seat like Jabba the Hut, killing the planet with every lazy depression of the gas pedal, oblivious to my presence, distracted by TikTok, missing the light changes, failing to indicate, smoking fags and eating burgers, overlapping into designated cycle lanes, clogging up a city that is perfectly well served by trains and buses…

But one thing we can all agree on, he says, is everyone hates ebikes.

And they’re all drug dealers anyway, and gang members and petty crims, which is why they wear balaclavas and ride with their hoods up. Who cycles with a hood up unless they’re off to bash an old lady or sell heroin to schoolgirls? And if not drug dealers then, worse, they’re Deliveroo and Uber Eats stormtroopers, dispensing poisonous portions of fatty crap to the last few citizens not on Ozempic, feeding the obesity epidemic with cold cheeseburgers their consumers couldn’t be bothered to get up off the sofa and go out and get for themselves; racing to hit the targets they need to make ends meet, unregulated, killing pedestrians to get to the front doors of the people they’re killing with pizzas; a situation I blame, when I’m driving my car, on the illegal immigrants riding the bikes, but, when I’m riding my lefty pedal bike, on the greedy capitalist fat cats at “Big Food”. Farageist or Polanskyite, there’s nothing to love about e-bikes.

And as for the rented ones, the Limes and the Forests and the Santanders, they sit at the top of the pyramid of evil: no accountability, no ownership, no investment in the infrastructure, no dog in the fight. Random chancers leaping aboard them helmetless, no notion of the rules of the road, no tax paid, giggly gangs of students on summer evenings riding seven abreast like the Von bloody Trapps, leaving their bikes, when they run out of juice, strewn across pavements and shop doorways, piles of them in broken heaps all over town like dead green horses at the back door of the slaughterhouse. The very end of civil society.

And then, he downloaded the Lime app, and his world was turned inside out like an Escher lithograph.

Seriously, it’s worth taking a few minutes to read the whole thing. Because it might just be the best laugh you have all day.

………

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

A Naples, Florida advocacy group offers sad but necessary advice on how to get away unharmed in a confrontation with an angry driver, including avoiding eye contact, which can be interpreted as confrontational. Just like with angry apes and aggressive subway riders. 

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

Life is cheap in London, where a 45-year old man walked without a day behind bars for breaking a woman’s jaw when he crashed into her while riding his bike on the wrong side of the road; he was fined the equivalent of a “paltry and insulting” $675.

………

Local 

That’s more like it. A 64-year old Long Beach man was sentenced to 30 years to life behind bars for the meth-fueled crash that killed 12-year old Noel Bascon in 2020 as the boy rode his bike across a Costa Mesa intersection with his father; Richard David Lavalle’s sentence was doubled because of his prior criminal convictions, and charged as a 3rd strike. He was credited with over four years time served.

 

State

Sunnyvale City Councilmember Richard Mehlinger suffered a broken left thumb and right wrist when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike; the “staunch traffic safety advocate” said the crash showed the “necessity and urgency” of installing bike lanes.

Around two dozen bicyclists rode with their dogs on a three-mile circuit along San Francisco’s Sunset Dunes on the Dogon’ Bike Ride, organized by comedian Sarah Catz-Hyman.

 

National

A pair of entrepreneurs scored a $200,000 invested on Shark Tank, after a stationary bike ride convinced Kevin O’Leary and another shark they had indeed invented a more comfortable bike seat.

A guest writer for Bike Portland says the city’s greenways won’t be safe until they build them that way.

Dozens of Denver residents rode across the city in search of bagels and matzo ball soup on the city’s annual Jewish Deli Bike Tour.

A 22-year old Ohio man set out on a bike ride in 1973, and was never seen again; his body was finally identified this year, 52 years after he disappeared after last being seen in Cleveland — and 45 years after remains were found in a Whitney, Ontario park, 461 miles away.

Hundreds of people turned out for a protest ride in central Philadelphia to demand better protection for bicyclists, after a 67-year old bike advocate was killed in a collision while riding a bike.

 

International

A Montreal columnist complains about possible plans to close a roadway to motor vehicle traffic, arguing that there’s no need to provoke a battle between bicyclists and drivers when so many of us are both. And yet, the roads are unevenly apportioned overwhelmingly in favor of one over the other.

An English man returned to his home after riding his bike around the world,  arriving back in Cornwall 477 days and 22,300 miles after he left.

Life is cheap in Ireland, where a taxi driver on his way to work walked without a day behind bars for crashing into a six-year old boy riding a bike; he was fined the equivalent of $879 for the crash that left the kid with bruising and a broken arm.

The good news is, the coach of the Paris Saint-Germain soccer team is one of us; the bad news, he crashed his bike and broke his collarbone, and will be out of action after surgery to repair it.

UNESCO World Heritage site Albi, France successfully melded a 19th-century railway viaduct across the Tarn River with a lightweight new bike and pedestrian bridge.

Drew Barrymore says her 12-year old daughter crashed her ebike while riding in the mountains of France, and ended up using her bra as a tourniquet for her badly ripped elbow.

French endurance cyclist Sofiane Sehili’s attempt to set a new record for bicycling across Eurasia ended badly at the Russian border, where he was accused of crossing the border illegally and tossed in jail, just 248 miles short of his destination, and 10,936 miles after setting out from Lisbon, Portugal.

Horrible story from India, where a 40-year old man was stabbed to death and his body dumped in the woods over accusations of practicing witchcraft, after riding his bike to a nearby village for repairs.

 

Competitive Cycling

Danish sprinter Mads Pedersen claimed victory in Sunday’s Stage 15 of the Vuelta a España, while two-time Tour de France champ Jonas Vingegaard remained in the red leader’s jersey, with João Almeida 48 seconds back in second place.

Once again, someone protesting the war in Gaza disrupted the Vuelta, causing two riders to crash when he jumped out from the side of the road waving a Palestinian flag; because of the repeated protests, the Israel Premier Tech cycling team switched to new uniforms without the team name.

Welsh Olympic medalist and 2018 Tour de France champ Geraint Thomas called it a career after Sunday’s final stage of the Tour of Britain, capping his career in his hometown of Cardiff, as the race was won by 22-year old Frenchman Romain Gregoire.

Pre-race favorite Neilson Powless was forced to run with his bike when he suffered a flat in Saturday’s Maryland Cycling Classic; he ended up finishing 18th, well behind eventual men’s winner Sandy Dujardin, while Poland’s Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka won the women’s race.

Around 70 bicyclists were injured, some seriously, in a mass crash in a German bike race involving more than 1,000 amateur and semi-professional cyclists.

Tragic news from Malaysia, where a 28-year old man was killed in an amateur race when he tried to avoid crashing into a group of riders, falling onto the other side of the road where he was struck by a motorist.

 

Finally…

Nothing like stumbling on a bicycle that’s been rolling in the deep like it was sung by Adele. The mountain bike of the future, as designed by AI.

And motorcyclist pot, meet bike-rider kettle.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: General / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Stockton sucks more than LA for bike riders but so does Long Beach, and victim’s dog rescued after South LA crash

September 5, 2025 / / Comments Off on Stockton sucks more than LA for bike riders but so does Long Beach, and victim’s dog rescued after South LA crash
Day 248 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Drumroll, please.

A new report list the top five most dangerous cities in the US for bike riders as,

  1. Stockton, California
  2. New Orleans, Louisiana
  3. Tampa, Florida
  4. Sacramento, California
  5. Tucson, Arizona

Surprisingly, the report from Consumer Affairs ranked Los Angeles all the way down as the 64th most dangerous American city for bicyclists, although we fared a lot worse for people on foot, coming in at 31st.

Long Beach was 38th and 41st, respectively.

Maybe Los Angeles ranks so low because we’ve already scared most people off their bikes, unlike the other cities.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

There’s always more to the story.

When I write about a fallen bike rider, I can only write what I know at the time. Which is usually what’s been reported in the media that day, or the next.

We seldom learn much about the victim, and little or nothing about what the deaths leave in their wake.

That was the case with a homeless man killed in an early morning crash in South LA last month while riding his bike with his dog, and pulling a trailer to collect recyclables.

We still don’t know his name.

But we now know what happened to the dog that refused to leave his side for hours after his death, thanks to a heartwarming report from KNBC-4.

………

This is who we share the road with.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that following a crash in Reseda, an ambulance was struck by another driver while transporting a victim of the first crash.

Then when a battalion chief arrived to investigate that crash, the truck was struck by yet another driver at the same intersection as the ambulance.

That makes three separate crashes stemming from the same incident.

………

Speaking of the Times, the paper’s outdoor newsletter The Wild includes Saturday’s Emerald Necklace Ride among their 3 things to do.

2. Bike along rivers in the San Gabriel Valley
ActiveSGV and Amigos de los Rios will co-host a 12-mile bike ride from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday starting at the Jeff Seymour Family Center (10900 Mulhall St., El Monte). The ride will take city streets and bike paths as cyclists explore the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel River. Register at eventbrite.com.

………

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

No bias here. London tabloids are up in arms over a new study showing one-fifth of all ebike riders, e-scooter riders and bicyclists in the city routinely jump red lights. Which, by my extensive calculations, means that an overwhelming 80% don’t. And how do they know people “routinely” jump red lights, which would require a) following individual riders to identify their behavior at multiple red lights, or b) identifying individual riders to witness their behavior at the same red light over multiple days.

………

Local 

Los Angeles is looking for comments about a new study on the sad state of LA Parks. Tell them parks are for people, not cars, and cars don’t belong in parks. Any parks. Period. And yes, I’m looking at you, Griffith Park. 

The American Bicycle Association’s ABA Ethos subsidiary will oversee the design, construction and event coordination for the mountain bike course for the ’28 Los Angeles Olympic Games, to be held in international mountain bike mecca the City of Industry.

Streetsblog says Monterey Park is looking for your input on a full redesign of Garvey Ave, with plans for “new bike lanes, safer intersections, upgraded sidewalks, improved transit service/bus stops, and better lighting.” And speaking of Streetsblog, if you’ve got a little extra cash lying around — or stocks, apparently — toss a little their way to support their invaluable work keeping us informed about the latest transportation and transit news.

Santa Monica cops are conducting another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation from 5 am to 8 pm today, so ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits.

 

State

Chula Vista is the latest city to crackdown on ebike riders, but will focus on education and warnings for the next three months before issuing citations. Once again, the real problem is with people riding dirt bikes and high-speed throttle-controlled electric motorbikes, rather than people on ped-assist ebikes. 

Oops. Vallejo police jumped the gun in announcing a man had died after being hit by driver while riding his bicycle Sunday morning; the victim is still fighting for his life, although it doesn’t look good.

 

National

Here’s your chance to ride your bike in and around Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park.

Life is cheap in Arizona, where the truck driver who plowed into a group bike ride in Goodyear, Arizona, killing two people and injuring nearly two dozen more, was sentenced to one lousy year behind bars and will lose his license for a whole 180 days, after the district attorney refused to file felony charges. If you wonder why people keep dying on our streets, lenient sentences like this are a good place to start. 

Three men rode their bikes 200 miles across Iowa to honor a friend lost to suicide, offering hugs and someone to talk with to strangers along the way.

Life is cheap in Vermont, where a cop walked without a day behind bars for killing a man walking a bicycle, despite speeding and allegedly watching a YouTube video on his onboard computer at the time of the crash.

A new trio of 20 minute plays tell the story of pioneering Black bicyclist Kittie Knox, performed by actors riding bikes along the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts, her home town.

A former Massachusetts bike shop owner pled guilty to larceny charges for defrauding several customers by taking their money and failing to deliver the bikes and parts they ordered.

Police in New York are looking for the arsonist who torched a Manhattan bikeshare dock.

New Orleans advocates are calling for bike safety improvements on St. Claude Ave, following two bicycling deaths on the dangerous corridor in a single month.

 

International

Edinburgh, Scotland finally protected a number of bike lanes around the city following months of delays and deferrals, making the lanes permanent, after they had been installed on a temporary basis and scheduled for removal next month.

This is why people keep dying on the streets. An Irish judge threw out the charges against a driver accused of careless driving for nearly hitting a group of bike riding cops — even though he had already pled guilty.

India is the new manufacturing source for mass-market US bike brands in the face of Trump’s tariffs on China — or it would have been, if Trump hadn’t jacked up tariffs on that country, too.

Lonely Planet offers advice on how to plan a New Zealand bicycling vacation. Get used to riding on the wrong side of the road, to start, because the left side is the right side down there.

 

Competitive Cycling

Two-time Olympic mountain biking gold medalist Tom Pidcock moved up to third in the Vuelta General Classification, confirming his decision to bypass this year’s mountain bike worlds, as Spain’s Juan Ayuso won Thursday’s stage in a sprint.

Cycling Weekly offers a preview of tomorrow’s Maryland Cycling Classic.

 

Finally…

If it’s made by Kawasaki, it’s an electric motorcycle, not an electric bike — even if a country star crashes it. That feeling when your new Canyon bike turns out to be a Canyo.

And probably not the best idea to threaten to kill a cop and his family if you get busted for stealing a bike from the local high school.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Fight to save another endangered Encino pedestrian bridge, and Beverly Hills attorney killed in Aspen ebike crash

September 4, 2025 / / One comment
Day 247 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Maybe we should put Encino pedestrian bridges on the endangered species list.

Less than three years after Encino residents lost the fight to save the Encino Ave pedestrian bridge over the 101 Freeway, another nearby pedestrian bridge is on the chopping block, this time on Amestoy Ave.

That battle started so long ago, I had forgotten all about it until someone reached out to alert me to an upcoming virtual meeting of the Encino Neighborhood Council’s Traffic and Transportation Committee on September 15th to consider the matter.

An online petition describes the problem, and the solution, better than I could. And yes, you’ll find my signature on it; I was just the third person to sign, so let’s make sure I’m not the last.

The Issue

Encino residents, the Amestoy Avenue pedestrian bridge is facing potential demolition. This bridge serves not only as a safe passage for pedestrians but also as a symbol of unity and convenience connecting Encino residents, North and South of the 101 freeway.

The Amestoy Avenue pedestrian bridge is structurally sound and provides a car-free route to/from Ventura Blvd, Balboa Park, and Encino Charter Elementary School for countless residents, including children, seniors, and cyclists.  It’s the only pedestrian-only bridge left in Encino.   The bridge is a significant pathway that encourages walking and reduces vehicular traffic, not to mention demolitionalone would cost taxpayers over $6.1M.

CalTrans agrees that the Amestoy Avenue pedestrian bridge should be saved and renovated and is seeking resident feedback.  The proposal would cost $7.8M to renovate the Amestoy Avenue pedestrian bridge and the Louise Avenue car bridge.

BUT, there is a vocal group who would like to see the Amestoy Avenue pedestrian bridge demolished.  According to Caltrans the cost to demolish the Amestory Avenue pedestrian bridge and renovate the Louise Avenue bridge would be $8.4M.   That’s right, demolishing the bridge will cost more than renovation!

To ensure that our voices are heard, we must act now!

  • Sign the petition
  • Contact local officials from CD4 and Encino Neighborhood Council to express your support for preserving the bridge.
  • Participate in the Caltrans survey below

Caltrans Survey

Your involvement is crucial. By speaking up, we can demonstrate to decision-makers our commitment to maintaining this essential piece of infrastructure. Let’s preserve our community’s character and quality of life by standing together in solidarity. Sign the petition now and make an impactful change for the better.

Now that you’ve signed the petition and completed the survey — you have, haven’t you? — just click on the links below to email the Encino Neighborhood Council and CD5 City Councilmember Nithya Raman to share your concerns.

I’m including a sample letter that was forwarded to me below. Feel free to put it in your own words, or write your own message.

But send it before the September 15 meeting. And mark your calendar to participate.

Traffic & Transportation Committee
  • 4:45 pm September 15th
  • The zoom link and meeting agenda should be posted soon.

ATTENTION ENCINO RESIDENTS: 

The Amestoy Avenue pedestrian bridge is in jeopardy of demolition!!!!!!  If you want to preserve and renovate the structurally sound bridge and not spend $6.1M ++ to demolish it…. 

  • Please reach out to the following officials, using the letter template below if you support keeping the bridge
  • Attend the Traffic & Transportation Committee Zoom on 9/15 @ 4:45PM
  • Don’t forget to take the Caltrans survey 
  • Every email counts, make sure your voice is heard! 
Subject: Please Do Not Demolish the Amestoy Avenue Pedestrian Bridge in Encino

Dear [Elected Official/Agency Representative],

I am writing to urge you not to support demolishing the Amestoy Avenue Pedestrian Bridge (Ann Stewart Pedestrian Bridge) in Encino.

This bridge, built in 1954, remains an essential pedestrian connection for Encino. It provides a safe route for residents north of the 101 freeway to access Ventura Boulevard without driving, and it allows families south of the freeway to reach Balboa park and other neighborhood resources including the Metro Bus Line. It also sits within the same district as Encino Charter Elementary School—without the bridge, many families would be forced to drive, increasing congestion and traffic in our community.

Currently the Amestoy Pedestrian Bridge is the only passageway for “pedestrians only” within the Encino community. This is a safer option in general for pedestrians. 

The bridge is not obsolete. It is used regularly by me and many others, and even more people could benefit from it if properly rehabilitated and publicized. Destroying it would be a step backward for walkability, safety, and climate-conscious infrastructure in Los Angeles.

Cost & Scope Considerations
  • Demolishing the Encino Ave bridge cost $6.1 million.
  • The current proposal estimates:
    • $8.4 million to rehabilitate the Louise Ave bridge and demolish the Amestoy Ave bridge.
    • $7.8 million to rehabilitate both the Louise Ave and Amestoy Ave bridges.
  • Rehabilitation of Amestoy Ave alone would save taxpayer dollars while preserving critical infrastructure.

Importantly, the bridge inspection reports confirm the Amestoy structure is structurally sufficient. Rehabilitation—including replacing the railings, improving security, and enhancing the surroundings—would maximize the benefit of infrastructure spending.

Additional Considerations
  • Traffic safety: In California, the maximum legal vehicle height is 14 feet. The Amestoy bridge already provides adequate clearance at 15’-3” northbound and 15’-0” southbound.
  • Repairs: While Caltrans has repaired the chain link fencing twice in the past year, this hardly qualifies as “constant.” In fact, there were far more graffiti removal work orders than fence repairs, suggesting maintenance is manageable.
  • Use of funds: When the Encino Ave bridge was demolished, unused funds were not redirected toward local pedestrian or bike improvements; they simply reverted back to the state program. We should not repeat this mistake,
Conclusion

The Amestoy Avenue Pedestrian Bridge is a vital community link that should be rehabilitated, not demolished. Rehabilitating the bridge is both the fiscally responsible and environmentally responsible option along with offering a much safer option for pedestrians walking in Encino. Please prioritize keeping this bridge intact for the sake of students, families, and the entire Encino community.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Address or Neighborhood]

………

Tragic news from Aspen, Colorado, where Beverly Hills attorney Michelle Mulrooney Jackoway was killed Monday when she lost control of her ebike and crashed into an embankment.

She was 64.

Law firm Wilkie Farr & Gallagher identifies her as a partner and founding member of their Los Angeles office, specializing in estate planning for high-net-worth individuals.

According to the firm,

Aside from her many impressive legal accomplishments, Michele was deeply committed to giving back to others, including through her work as a mentor and advocate for women. Early in her career, she worked part-time because she had young children. When she went back to full-time and eventually became a partner, she ensured that her firm kept women active in law by giving them the opportunity to work a reduced schedule to balance family and career without sacrificing one for the other. Michele also had a strong passion for philanthropy and derived great satisfaction from helping her clients realize their philanthropic goals and giving back to institutions that were meaningful to her, including those supporting education, women’s rights and equal opportunity for all.

She was an active leader in the LA legal community. Through her role as a Board Member of the USC Gould School of Law, her alma mater, and her longstanding support of other community initiatives, Michele was deeply respected for her integrity, compassion and generous spirit. She also served as Co-chair of the Building Committee for Gould, and as a member of the UCLA Health System Board.

………

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

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan ripped out a ten-year old bike lane that was unpopular with motorists, even though it was favored by downtown bike riders after a nearby bike lane was removed a year ago.

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

Sad news from San Jose, where a woman has died a little over a week after she was struck by struck by an allegedly stoned bike rider while jogging on a local trail; the rider was arrested on suspicion of DUI on a bicycle causing injury and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

The schmuck who dragged a dog to its death behind his ebike on a South Korean bike path, reportedly because it was overweight, was released pending trial, after police had requested that he be jailed. With any luck, that will be the last taste of freedom he has for a long time.

………

Local 

The Eastsider profiles Gloria Hwang and Thousand, the Boyle Height bike helmet company she founded a decade ago, featuring helmets designed to “look like if you found an old motorcycle helmet in your grandparents’ basement.”

 

State

Fixed-gear street racing league Formula Fixed is bringing “three days of racing, parties, and creator-driven content” to San Francisco and Oakland beginning Saturday, September 13th; winners will qualify for the pro league.

 

National

Cycling News says there’s no such thing as a grountain bike, so get over it.

A Washington traffic safety commissioner explains why you shouldn’t ride salmon. Besides the fact it’s illegal, that is.

A Reno, Nevada nonprofit is already getting ready for next year’s Burning Man, even though this year’s just ended, collecting donations of used bicycles as well as bike abandoned by Burning Man revelers.

Now even the deer are out to get us, as a North Carolina man riding an ebike was killed when a hit-and-run deer darted out into the roadway ahead of him; the deer survived the crash but fled the scene before police arrived.

 

International

A staff member working for the Indonesian embassy in Lima, Peru was assassinated by a gunman as he rode his bicycle home from work Monday evening, in what authorities believe was a contract killing outside his apartment in the Lince neighborhood.

British folding bike maker Brompton celebrated its 50th anniversary with a limited edition 1975 foldie.

Momentum offers four great bicycling routes to explore Paris this fall. And no, not the one in Texas. 

You can see a lot of things from a bike, including a rare mama lynx and her kittens along a bike path in Maardu, Estonia.

Add Morocco to your bike bucket list, as Drift Travel highlights the country’s top five bike rides and bicycling routes.

 

Competitive Cycling

No one won yesterday’s Stage 11 of the Vuelta after organizers halted the race three kilometers — around 1.8 miles — from the finish in Balboa, Spain after pro-Palestinian protesters spilled onto the course, disrupting the peloton.

Italian cyclist Simone Petilli crashed after protesters ran out onto the road and police were unable to hold them back, later writing on Twitter/X “Please, we are just Cyclists and we are doing our Job, but if it will continue like this our safety is not guaranteed anymore, and we feel in danger!”

American pro Neilson Powless hopes a new pavé section is hard enough to result in some separation at this weekend’s one-day Maryland Cycling Classic.

USA Cycling is following the lead of the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee by banning trans athletes from all female categories at sanctioned competitions starting September 15th, following Trump’s executive order prohibiting trans women from competing in women’s sports.

A humanitarian organization profiles Rwandan cyclist Olivia Maniragena, who rose from a single mother in the impoverished country to finding success and empowerment on a women’s cycling team, in advance of the country hosting the road world championships.

 

Finally…

Apparently, “Lime bike leg” is the modern equivalent of “bicycle face.” That feeling when a pedestrian was in the road because a bicyclist was on the sidewalk because a car was parked in the bike lane.

And why just carve a few trails, when you can carve your own bike, too.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Bike safety bills limp to the finish in CA legislature, building a prop-propelled bike, and who really needs 2 tires, anyway?

September 3, 2025 / / Comments Off on Bike safety bills limp to the finish in CA legislature, building a prop-propelled bike, and who really needs 2 tires, anyway?
Day 246 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Let’s hold a moment of silence for all the good bike and traffic safety bills that won’t make it through this session of the state legislature.

California Streetsblog offers an update on the status of traffic-related bills that are still alive, although some can’t be voted on until next year.

Like AB 891 Quick-Build Project Pilot Program, which would require Caltrans to develop safety projects on state highways for bicyclists and pedestrians;

AB 939, The Safe, Sustainable, Traffic-Reducing Transportation Bond Act of 2026, which would have placed an initiative on next year’s ballot to fund sustainable transportation throughout California;

AB 954, The Bike Highways Bill, which has been watered down to merely define what a bike highway is, allowing jurisdictions to fund and build their own bike highways, rather than mandating Caltrans to build them;

And SB 445, Transportation: Planning: Complete Streets Facilities: Sustainable Transportation Projects, would impose permitting deadlines on companies and jurisdictions, so they can’t draw them out.

On the other hand, a few good bills are moving forward, though some have been severely watered down.

Take AB 366, Ignition Interlock Devices, which would have expanded the interlock program for convicted drunk drivers, but now just indefinitely extends the existing program;

SB 71, California Environmental Quality Act exemptions for transit projects, streamlines CEQA requirements for public transportation, bike and pedestrian projects that reduce car dependency, and just needs to pass the full assembly;

SB 720, Automated Traffic Enforcement System Programs, changes state regulations so cities can create and operate red light camera programs, or do it better in cities with existing programs, now needs to pass the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the full Assembly.

On the other hand, one very bad bill is still in the running.

AB 697, Protected Species: Authorized Take for State Route 37 Expansion, would allow the construction of additional travel lanes on State Route 37 between Vallejo and State Route 121 in Sonoma County, even though it would run through protected habitats and wetlands.

Nothing like destroying a little fragile habitat for another induced-demand inducing highway project that flies in the face of California’s climate goals.

………

Someone stole my idea to put a propeller on a bicycle, dammit.

Thanks to Steven for the heads-up. 

………

Who really needs both tires, anyway?

Reddit post

………

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

Several Edinburgh, Scotland bike lanes could be at risk, as officials dither in the face of a deadline to make temporary bike lanes permanent, while bike advocates warn that “every bike could be another car making congestion worse.”

………

Local 

Courtesy of Los Angeles Streetsblog comes word that ActiveSGV and Amigos de los Rios will host an Easy Access ride exploring the Emerald Necklace greenway this Saturday. 

 

State

Oceanside will move forward with completion of an unfinished half-mile segment of the Coastal Rail Trail, the 44-mile bike and pedestrian trail connecting Oceanside and San Diego.

Sad news just keeps on coming, as the Kern County coroner identified a 42-year old Bakersfield man who was killed Friday when his bicycle was struck by one driver, and he was thrown into the roadway where he was struck by another one; CHP investigators were quick to blame the victim for riding at night with no lights on his bike, even though relatives say the first driver was drunk and speeding. A crowdfunding campaign for the victim’s funeral expenses has raised just $250 of the modest $4,500 goal.

 

National

Ultra-endurance icon Kilian Jornet plans to summit every 14,000-foot peak in the continuous 48 states, linking them all by bike and foot. Which means he can skip everything north, south and east of Colorado; Utah, Arizona and Oregon can sit down, too. 

“Tax-averse” Wyoming is considering plans tp charge mountain bikers $10-20 annual trail fees, on top of state park entrance fees, after federal funding was cut off. Although maybe someone should tell them that, too, is a form of taxation.

Um, okay. An Omaha, Nebraska TV station says bike riders are applauding a new road diet and bike lanes, even though neighbors are questioning the changes, like local residents everywhere. But they couldn’t seem to find any of those questionable questioners to talk with.

Chicago bike riders enjoyed a carfree Lake Shore Drive on Sunday, even as the state abandoned plans to redefine the eight lane highway separating the city from Lake Michigan, while making the roadway even more car-centric.

A reporter for an Illinois website says hey, she’s a bicyclist now, after claiming an old bike from her parent’s garage — and setting out for her first ride sans helmet and without making sure it was in rideable condition. But we all had to start somehow, right?

Philadelphia bike riders plead for safer streets after a 67-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike yesterday, while family members begged for information.

Dashcam video captures the hit-and-run that left a Richmond, Virginia bike rider sprawled in the street, but what really bothers the victim is that no one stopped to help afterwards.

An 80-year old Florida man faces felony manslaughter and hit-and-run charges for killing a nine-year old boy riding a bicycle, then speeding off as witnesses tried to stop him with the kid’s bicycle still trapped under his pickup; he claimed he knew he’d hit a bicycle, but “didn’t think there was a kid on it.” Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive — and whether a judge will really send an elderly man to prison against the wishes of the boy’s very forgiving parents. 

 

International

Bike Radar says gravel bikes have finally outgrown their awkward years.

Luxury Travel Magazine says Slovenia should be your next ebike adventure destination. You could even visit the somewhat creepy semi-faceless bronze statue the purports to represent local girl Melania Trump — or you could, if it hadn’t been stolen after the original wooden version was set on fire.

 

Competitive Cycling

The training crash that injured Chris Froome was a lot worse than we were initially led to believe, as the four-time Tour de France champ suffered life-threatening heart damage, along with a broken back and five broken ribs, when he clipped a curb and crashed head-on into a road sign at 30 mph; Froome’s wife says he now faces a long recovery, and will be off his bike for the foreseeable future.

Twenty-five-year-old Italian cyclist Filippo Baroncini is going home with a contract extension, after a gruesome crash in Stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne in early August that required putting him in an induced coma and extensive facial reconstruction.

No surprise here, as seemingly inevitable winner Jonas Vingegaard is back in the red leader’s jersey after yesterday’s mountaintop finish in Stage 10 of the Vuelta.

Dutch rider Ide Schelling is calling it a career at the tender age of 27, saying it became clear he “didn’t want to do this for the next five to ten years.”

Cycling News offers a guide to streaming pro cycling this month for those of us in the US. Let’s just hope the Canadian bike races won’t be subject to Trump’s tariffs.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to interrupt your bike ride to threaten someone with a loaded flare gun. Sorry, but an e-assisted pedal boat does not a water bike make.

And like we didn’t already know good coffee and bikes just naturally go together.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Bike-riding teen to be sainted Sunday, ICE attacks bike-riding man in DTLA, and Koreatown/Pico-Union quietway

September 2, 2025 / / Comments Off on Bike-riding teen to be sainted Sunday, ICE attacks bike-riding man in DTLA, and Koreatown/Pico-Union quietway
Day 245 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Sometimes it takes a miracle to survive a bike crash.

According to the Catholic Church, anyway.

A 15-year old Italian boy will be canonized by the pope — aka sainted — this coming Sunday, 19 years after Carlos Acutis died of leukemia.

Known as the God’s Influencer and the Millennial Saint, Acutis is credited with performing two miracles in response to prayers after his death — the healing of 4-year-old Brazilian boy with a serious pancreatic malformation, and the recovery of a 21-year-old Costa Rican woman who was nearly killed in a bicycle crash.

And he was one of us, riding his bicycle around the neighborhood he grew up in while befriending doormen and others who worked in the area.

But ain’t we all just two-wheeled saints, anyway?

Photo by Pixabay. 

………

ICE officers “bull rushed” a man outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Downtown Los Angeles while deploying lethal weapons to keep the crowd back, apparently for the crime of just riding his bike past them on the opposite side of the street.

Thanks to Erik for the heads-up. 

https://twitter.com/LongTimeHistory/status/1961208115933937677

………

LADOT wants to know what you think about plans to create a nearly two-mile route along New Hampshire Avenue and Berendo Street between Koreatown and Pico-Union, providing bike riders and pedestrians a quieter, and presumably safer, alternative to busy Vermont Ave.

………

Mark your calendar for the Corazón del Valle Active Streets event on November 2nd, closing five miles of streets in El Monte and South El Monte to cars, and opening them up to people.

………

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

A Calgary op-ed says no one is considering the needs of children and their parents, as three provinces move to rip out bike lanes against the wishes of local governments, leaving kids caught in an endless battle of bikes versus cars.

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

Police in Utah are looking for a hit-and-run ebike rider who knocked a woman walking on a Salt Lake City area trail into a ravine, leaving her with multiple leg fractures.

………

Local 

A Monrovia police chase was caught on dashcam video, showing cops running after and catching a suspected bike thief.

LA County Sheriff’s deputies will conduct a 12-hour bicycle and pedestrian safety operation in West Hollywood Friday from 5 am to 5 pm, ticketing any violation that puts either group at risk regardless of who commits it. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits so you’re not the one who gets ticketed. 

Santa Monica’s E-Bike Voucher Program marked its first anniversary last month, providing 122 income-qualified residents with vouchers up to $2,000 to purchase bikes or ebikes.

 

State

The San Diego Union-Tribune seems to get it, with a news story that appears to make the distinction between e-bikes and electric dirt bikes, warning parents that the latter aren’t street legal. Although the story is hidden behind their paywall for subscribers only, so we’re kinda riding blind here.

A 29-year old man faces charges for allegedly riding his bike up to a Chula Vista police patrol car and throwing a hammer through the window, leaving one cop with minor injuries.

Sad news from Santa Cruz County, where a 78-year old Soquel man died when he veered off the road and crashed his ebike into an embankment.

More sad news, this time form from Woodside, where a someone riding a bicycle died in the hospital after being struck by a pickup driver on Saturday, although there’s no word on how the crash occurred or the identity of the victim.

Still more sad news comes from Vallejo, where someone riding a bicycle was killed by a driver early Sunday; again, there’s no details on who was killed or how it happened.

 

National

A new study says if you want to ride faster, pay attention to how you hold the handlebars.

Men’s Health explains how to balance running and bicycling the same day, without burning out.

Data from YouGov says young people have a huge appetite for ebikes, but feel priced out by the high cost. Trust me, it ain’t just young people. 

A Roswell, New Mexico man is facing charges for allegedly shooting and killing another man, after the victim kicked over his bicycle. Yet another reminder that no bicycle, or perceived slight, is worth a human life.

Kindhearted South Dakota cops bought a new bicycle for an eight-year old girl whose bicycle was destroyed in a collision; there’s also a crowdfunding campaign to help pay her medical expenses.

A 54-year old Oklahoma man recreated the 958-mile bike ride he took from Fruita, Colorado to Copan, Oklahoma as a 14-year old runaway escaping an abusive home.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 75-year old Wisconsin man is still riding over seven decades after his training wheels came off, completing his 200,000th mile last week. I may or may not have passed that mark already, since I never bothered to count miles in the first decade or so of my riding career. 

Thousands of bike riders took over Chicago’s iconic DuSable Lakeshore Drive on Sunday, when the annual Bike the Drive shut down a 30-mile section of the roadway.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever assaulted a 44-year old autistic man as he rode his bicycle in an Indiana park, where a group of people set upon him for “following them too closely” when he stopped for a drink.

There are now over 50 candidates for the unofficial title of mayor of a Massachusetts bike path, ranging from cats to a cactus.

A writer for Slate says Alabama is becoming a destination for bicycling with more than 2,000 miles of dedicated biking and walking trails, and a new law that was set to commit the state to further connect the state’s 67 counties — except Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” rescinded an estimated $93 million in federal funding the state expected to receive to expand the trail system.

 

International

Momentum offers advice on how to find a bike for short people. Which my five-foot tall wife can attest is a lot harder than you might think.

The BBC might be starting to get it. The news agency corrected a recent story to say the victim of a Scottish crash was riding an electric motorcycle, rather than an electric bicycle, after a reader complained that they had misused the term “ebike.”

A 19-year old English man used his college gap year to raise the equivalent of nearly $60,000 for charity — including one benefitting jockeys — by riding 2,600 miles to visit 60 UK horse race tracks.

You’ve got to be kidding. A 13-year old boy in the UK has been arrested on a charge of suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving for causing the death of 12-year old boy, after using the wheels of an ebike to propel a park roundabout, or what we would call a merry-go-round.

That’s more like it. A British man has been jailed for 14 years for the drugged hit-and-run crash that killed a 47-year old man riding a bicycle, driving while high on coke and without a license, then burning his car in an alley to hide the evidence.

Dublin, Ireland is working to solve the bike parking problem by rolling out 300 secure bike lockers across the city.

Ireland’s Kildare County is getting a nearly $2 million, less than two-mile long bike lane “in the middle of nowhere” that no one, including bicyclists, seems to want — but they’re getting it anyway to improve safety on a dangerous stretch of roadway.

Around 7,000 bicyclists turned out in the snow for the annual Passo Stelvio Day, when the legendary Giro climb is closed to motor vehicles and open to bicycle traffic.

 

Competitive Cycling

Multiple Tour de France winners Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard will join Primož Roglič and Mexican star Isaac del Toro in a new four-person, two stage bike race in Andorra this October.

Evidently, losing a testicle to cancer really does make you faster. Norway’s Torstein Træen became at least the second cyclist to lead a Grand Tour after surviving the disease, after Lance set the standard for fellow mono-testicled cyclists in the Tour de France before being stripped of his seven wins.

Speaking of which, João Almeida told Tom Pidcock to grow a pair when Pidcock refused to take a pull as they struggled to catch Jonas Vingegaard on the final climb on Sunday’s ninth stage.

French cycling prodigy Paul Seixas threw down the gauntlet for the next generation by winning the Tour de l’Avenir, becoming the youngest ever winner — at 18 years and 339 days — of what Road.cc calls the de-facto U23 Tour de France, beating 19-year old Belgian Jarno Widar by 40 seconds.

British Cycling is breaking records with the help of bespoke, 3D-printed metal bikes.

Palestinian paracyclists competed in the Para Cycling Road World Championships over the weekend as members of the Gaza Sunbirds, made up of bicyclists who have lost limbs as a result of the Israeli war.

 

Finally…

Your next car could be a velomobile — and a real Motofocker. Now even the walls are out to get us.

And that feeling when you enter a car in a bike race, and lose by six days.

Although to be fair, it was over 130 years ago.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

64-year old man killed in Placentia collision Friday evening, as SoCal’s awful August just keeps getting worse.

August 30, 2025 / / One comment

This awful August just keeps getting worse.

My News LA is reporting that a man was killed riding a bicycle in Placentia yesterday evening — the 10th fatal Southern California bicycling crash we’ve learned about this month.

According to the site, the victim was riding on the 200 block of East Orangethorpe Ave around 5 pm Friday when he was struck by a driver.

The victim, identified only as a 64-year old man, was taken to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries.

There’s no word at this time on how the crash occurred, or who may have been at fault. But at least the driver remained at the scene.

A street view appears to show bike lanes on Orangethorpe, along with two traffic lines in each direction and a center left turn lane.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Traffic Bureau of Placentia Police Department at 714/993-8157.

This is at least the 39th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Orange County.

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

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee