He was bleeding from the nose and mouth when the woman, identified as Claire Viriyavong, moved his hand to perform CPR.
But despite their efforts, and the efforts of first responders, he was declared dead before being moved from the trail.
He was found near a rock, and an SDFD battalion chief said he appeared to have landed face down, suffered traumatic injuries despite wearing a helmet and other protective gear.
Which is yet another sad reminder that nothing offers complete protection.
This is at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
May 20, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Missing bikepacker found safe, guilty verdict in meth-fueled death of 12-year old OC boy, and letter demands action on HLA
Day 140 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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My apologies for the extended absence.
The problems I was having with low blood pressure last week cascaded into a crisis over the weekend I was lucky to weather without ending up in the ER.
Although I probably should have, according to my wife, anyway.
I have no problem accepting my mortality, given that, as a diabetic in my late 60s, I have a life expectancy somewhere between a fruit fly and a green banana.
And I accept that I may never ride my road bike again. Or maybe any bike, for that matter.
But I worry about what happens to this site when the day finally comes that I can’t do it anymore.
In the meantime, I’ll do my best to keep things going on a regular basis. Or often as my aging body lets me, anyway.
The boy’s father was forced to watch the crash that killed his son, screaming for Lavalle to stop his pickup before crushing Noel’s bicycle, and catapulting the boy roughly 120 feet through the air.
Police founds drugs in Lavalle’s truck, and he was unable to stand on one foot for a field sobriety test following the crash; a blood test found meth in his blood hours after the crash.
Although his wife, who was riding in the passenger seat, tried to claim the drugs were hers.
Lavalle had previously been convicted driving under the influence in San Diego County, which allowed prosecutors to upgrade the charge from manslaughter to murder.
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No surprise here.
Streets For All, the original sponsor of Measure HLA, took a look at the the status of HLA projects that the city reports on the official HLA website, and find it, well, lacking.
Tres shock!
They responded with a letter calling the city out for its failure, and urging it to work with them going forward.
At 4,210 acres, Griffith outshines other extraordinary city parks of the US, such as San Francisco’s Golden Gate, which barely tops 1,000 acres, and New York’s Central Park, a mere 843 acres. Griffith’s peaks tower above those flat competitors too, with nearly 1,500 feet in elevation gain, making it practically vertical in orientation. And LA’s crown jewel of a park is still largely uncut, much of it remaining a wilderness area preserved more than 100 years ago, and barely developed, unlike the pre-planned “wild” designs of Golden Gate and Central Park.
Add its history, views, recreation opportunities, unique and hidden spaces, a free Art Deco observatory and museum, the most famous sign in America and the park’s overall star-power, and you have a compelling case that Griffith is not just epic in scope but the greatest city park in the nation.
There’s something for everyone there: a zoo, playgrounds and an old-timey trainyard for the kids; challenging and steep trails for hikers; dirt paths for equestrians; paved roads for bikers; diverse flora and fauna for nature enthusiasts; and museums for the science and history learners.
Take that, New York.
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Gravel Bike California makes a run for the border by riding the Taco Bell Century with Grizzly Cycles.
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Cate Blanchett is one of us.
Seriously. What could beat Blanchett on a bike?
Bluesky post
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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 British paper says the only surprising thing about a London pedestrian being killed by an ebike rider earlier this year is that there aren’t more cases like it. Which is a pretty good indication that it’s not as big a problem as they’re trying to make it out to be.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The notoriously anti-bike New York Post writes that the city must stop treating bicyclists like a special class, for everyone’s safety. Because it’s not treating bike riders like a special class at all when the cops give scofflaw bicyclists criminal summonses that drivers aren’t subject to, apparently (see National news below).
No bias here, either. After the La Mesa council voted to build eight bike lane and sidewalk projects near the city’s schools, a San Diego TV station can only manage frame the story through the lens of the single councilmember who voted against it — then somehow says the city is divided.
A reporter for NPR says bike riding helps with long-term knee and health problems, even if like life, it doesn’t always make sense. True enough. Riding a bike helped keep my failing knee going for a couple decades after a surgeon told me it needed to be replaced. And hid my diabetes for at least that long.
Colorado authorities are asking for the public’s help finding a hit-and-run driver who killed a 41-year old man riding a bicycle in Boulder County on Sunday. Note that they asked for help right away, rather than waiting until the trail has run cold and people have forgotten key details, like the LAPD does.
You’ve got to be kidding. A British coroner ruled that the crash that killed a bicyclist was “unavoidable,” following testimony from the driver that the dark-clad victim “suddenly” appeared in front of her car after she “momentarily” looked down at her gear shift. Because a) bike riders don’t “suddenly” appear out of nowhere, and b) no crash is “unavoidable.”
Horrible news from Japan, where a 70-year old Osaka man jumped or fell from a high-rise condo, and landed on a man riding a bicycle in the street below; the victim was believed to be a 59-year old man from a city over 300 miles away.
Good question. A Colorado public radio station asks why bike racing has struggled to succeed in the state when it has such a strong bicycling culture. Although it’s not just Colorado; pro cycling has struggled everywhere in the US, as former fans of the Tour of California can attest.
May 17, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: Man riding bicycle killed in collision Friday in Baldwin Park industrial area; just the 3rd bike death reported in LA County this year
A man riding a bicycle was killed in Baldwin Park Friday morning.
Something we might not know about if it wasn’t for a single report from a local news source.
Which is one more than we usually get these days, unfortunately.
Despite the efforts of police and paramedics, he died at the scene.
The driver stayed at the scene, and police don’t suspect they were under the influence. Which isn’t surprising given the hour and industrial area surrounding the crash site.
There’s no word yet on how the crash occurred, or whether the victim had lights on his bike more than an hour before sunrise.
This was at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and just the third that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Which either means this is the county’s best year on record, or there are a lot of crashes we’re just not hearing about.
I had hoped to be back today, but I’m not doing well at all today. I’ve fallen a couple times due to extremely low pressure, and given up on a new med that was supposed to help but only made things worse.
Day 135 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Happy Bike to Work, and/or Bike Anywhere Day!
I know of bike pitstops this morning in Beverly Hills and Pasadena, and I’m pretty sure Santa Monica is doing something, too. If Los Angeles is doing anything for Bike to Work Day, they seem to be keeping it secret.
Then again, I’m pretty sure most LA city leaders are keeping their eyes and ears closed, and trying to pretend we don’t exist.
Metrolink trains are free for anyone with a bicycle, and Metro trains and buses are free, along with DASH buses. And Metro Bikes are free for half hour rides.
Unfortunately, I’m having trouble finding a balance between two of my medications. My blood pressure has been in the toilet all day, and I’m currently flat on my back with the world spinning around me, so I’m not up to writing tonight.
Or anything else, for that matter.
So get out and ride your bike today, whether to work, school, shopping or anywhere else.
I’m just going to keep a tight grip on this mattress, and see you tomorrow.
May 14, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Ebike-riding Vietnam vet run down in anti-Asian hate crime, and Aussie ex-pro Rohan Dennis walks in cyclist wife’s death
Day 134 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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A Japanese American man was the victim of a racist attack while riding his ebike in Montebello last month.
According to the Los Angeles Times, 71-year old Aki Maehara, an Asian American history professor at East Los Angeles Community College and Vietnam vet, was run down from behind on April 29th in what appears to have been a targeted attack while riding his ebike on Merle Drive, near his Montebello home.
Before he was struck, he heard someone yell an expletive followed by a racial slur targeting people of Chinese descent, he said. He skidded across a yard and was stopped by a brick wall. Maehara said he heard a man’s voice: “Go back to…” using an expletive and a racial slur, before the car drove off.
“It sounded suspicious to me because I wear a full-face helmet … a helmet with a visor,” Maehara said. “No one can see my face. So how the hell did he know I’m Asian?”
He is currently confined to home after suffering serious elbow, neck, cheekbones, jaw, hips and lower back injuries as a result of the attack.
A crowdfunding campaign has raised a little more than half of the $35,000 goal to provide in-home care beyond the few hours provided by the VA each week.
No arrest has been made, though Maehara has provided police with the name of a suspect, saying he’s been targeted for harassment in the past for teaching the history of racism and racist beliefs.
Let’s hope they find this schmuck and lock ’em up for a long damn time.
The Slow Streets movement wasn’t new when the pandemic hit in 2020. Berkeley had restricted traffic on neighborhood streets that became bike boulevards decades earlier. But the sudden demand for safe space to walk and bike when everyone was staying home fueled a surge in Slow Streets…
Many of the programs instituted by California cities at the height of the pandemic were temporary, taken down once life began to return to normal. But the experience of the freedom of Slow Streets left a lasting impression and a movement for spaces where kids can safely play in urban environments.
On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, at 10 am, CalBike will host a webinar on Slow Streets as part of our Summit Sessions 2025 series. Robin Pam, from KidSafeSF, and Shannon Hake from the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will share experiences from the advocacy and government agency sides of creating and implementing Slow Streets. And Justin Hu-Nguyen and Robert Prinz from Bike East Bay will talk about a Slow Streets pop-up that their bike coalition just did on one of the Berkeley streets that was a Slow Street during the pandemic.
She gets it. A Streetsblog op-ed from Alex Ramirez, Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks, says bikeshare should be treated like the public good it is, with public investment, strong labor standards, meaningful community partnerships, and deep respect for people with the fewest mobility options and the most to gain from a system that serves everyone.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a 75-year old man got a lousy ten months behind bars for running down a 63-year old woman from behind as she rode with a friend, claiming he was blinded by the lights of an oncoming car — even though investigators determined their bike lights and safety vests would have made the victim visible from over 200 yards away.
