Tag Archive for ebikes

WaPo writer complains about “e-bike menace,” Micah Pan funeral today in Chino, and NJ stalker story gets worse

October 3, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 276 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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He almost gets it.

A columnist for the Washington Post writes about the onslaught of teens on e-motos, almost — but not quite — distinguishing the “e-bike menace” of non-street legal electric motorbikes and dirt bikes from standard ped-assist ebikes.

I was in Hermosa Beach, California, the sweetest little beach town your toes can dig into, when I pressed the crosswalk button. The flashing lights came on, meaning: let’s go. I was one step into the street when a kid about 13 on a bike nearly sent me to my obituary.

But not just any bike. This was one of those e-motorbikes. Have you seen these things? They look like Suzuki dirt bikes, only cooler, quicker and deadlier, since you don’t hear them coming…

But this kid wasn’t just riding his. He was pulling a wheelie on the thing while doing about 40 mph. His front wheel was up so high, it nearly took my face off. Which means he wasn’t looking at any stupid flashing crosswalk lights.

Never mind that under California law, and most states who’ve copied it, ebikes are limited to a max of 28 mph, making anything that can go anywhere near as fast as he said the kid was doing illegal.

But then, he seems to have considered that.

There are tons of e-bike rules and regs, but somehow it’s legal in many states to ride an e-moto on streets as long as it has pedals and can’t go over 28 mph. Kids just go on YouTube and learn how to defeat the speed limiter.

All of which points out the need to clarify the distinction between ped-assist ebikes and e-motorbikes, which Calbike pushed the state legislature to consider this year.

And which they rejected.

Which leaves us with the same problem we’ve faced for the past few years. People who want — or need — a ped-assist ebike to exercise, run errands, replace the family car, or use as a mobility device, are getting lumped in with kids riding overpowered e-motos, and using poor judgement.

Sort of like kids have always done. But with a lot more speed and power at their disposal.

Which means we all get tarred with the same brush.

And the same backlash.

Meanwhile, Seal Beach police claimed a successful crackdown on illegal ebike riding.

A success that consisted of exactly one misdemeanor arrest, three illegal e-motorcycles seized, 22 stops for various traffic violations, and just eight tickets.

Which would suggest that maybe the problem isn’t as big as advertised.

And maybe they would have been better off cracking down on the people in the big, dangerous machines, rather than the little annoying ones.

Today’s photo from Metro Bike Share, showing typical non-teen on non-e-moto.  

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I received word yesterday that the funeral for Micah Pan will be held at 4 pm today at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, 4201 Eucalyptus Ave in Chino.

A passionate member of the local bicycling community, Pan was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Chino two weeks ago.

The funeral is open to everyone.

I know it’s short notice, but it would be great to see some members of that same bicycling community show up to support his family.

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign to help his family get back on their feet has raised over $30,000 of the $35,000 goal.

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It just keeps getting worse.

Because the 17-year boy charged with intentionally running down two 17-year old New Jersey girls riding an ebike turns out to be a relative of the local police chief.

Okay, a distant relative.

But still.

Complicating matters even further, Westfield, New Jersey Police Chief Christopher Battiloro is a close family friend and neighbor of one of the victims.

Must be a small town.

One of the girls had filed a restraining order against her accused killer, while family members said he had been stalking her for months, calling him a “coward of a man.”

The same could presumably be said of the local school district and yes, the police department headed by his “distant” relative, who apparently did nothing to stop him.

A crowdfunding campaign for the two families has raised over $142,000 of the $160,000 goal.

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

No bias here. A British driver attacks those “dangerous cyclists” for doing exactly nothing wrong, other than existing on that part of the planet he somehow claims as his own.

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Local 

A Jesuit priest finished a three-month, 3,800-mile bike ride across the US at the Santa Monica Pier Wednesday to raise funds for Catholic schools in Belize, where he had lived for over a decade.

Nick Patsaouras, a former Metro board member and president of the late Southern California Rapid Transit District, says he was proud to build the kind of bike paths and greenways now deemed “hostile” to cars by the Trump administration. And yes, that’s the same Patsaouras as in the Patsaouras Bus Plaza in DTLA. 

A new analysis reveals Long Beach’s most dangerous corridors for pedestrians, as the city averages nearly one pedestrian crash every day.

 

State

Riverside’s Light Parade has gone from a casual, lowkey ride to a monthly event drawing around 600 people, prompting a fundraiser to pay for city permits and a police escort.

Oakland’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission dreams of transforming the city’s car-centric roads into a tree-lined paradise, calling for an “all-encompassing” citywide greenway. Sort of like bike riders everywhere — including here in Los Angeles.

 

National

Momentum consider’s DoorDash’s plans to send thousands of cute little robots crashing into bike lanes. Which might be good for them, but it ain’t good for those of us on bikes, and of questionable legality. 

A 26-year old Tucson man is being held on $1 million bail after he was charged with second-degree murder for fatally stabbing a man riding on a bike path; the 44-year old victim had gotten off his bike to confront the suspect for throwing things at members of a group ride, and had started riding away before realizing he’d been stabbed.

Apple AirTags even work in Missoula, Montana, where a man got his stolen ebike back thanks to one he had hidden on his bike.

Wisconsin lawmakers are considering changes to the driver’s license renewal process for elderly drivers, in response to the death of a 12-year old boy killed by an 85-year-old driver while riding his bike.

New York police are once again blaming the victims by ticketing bike riders, rather than drivers, at a Williamsburg intersection where a motorist killed someone riding a bicycle just days earlier.

 

International

A couple in Winnipeg, Manitoba are calling for safety improvements after they were both injured while riding bicycles at the same intersection just two days apart.

Candidates for mayor of Montreal insist they don’t oppose bicycling, but some don’t support expanding the city’s bike network, even though the limited loss of parking has generally been offset by an increase in retail sales and livability.

Cycling Weekly says bike theft is effectively being legalized in Britain, thanks to a new policy preventing police from investigating thefts of bikes parked at transit stations for more than two hours. Unlike here, where it’s just not worth the cops time to investigate if the bike is worth less than $1,000, which is only a catch and release misdemeanor under California law.

Cambridge, England is getting the country’s first “official cycle street,” giving bicyclists priority over people in cars.

You’ve got to be kidding. Life really is cheap in the UK, where a 32-year old man walked without a day behind bars for killing a 54-year old woman participating in a bicycling time trial, despite admitting he never saw the victim because he was way too busy looking at his phone. But at least he was banned from driving for a whole year. So if you want to know why people keep dying on the streets, overly lenient sentences like this are a damn good place to start. 

An 18-year old Dutch woman was randomly attacked while riding her bike in The Hague, when a man in his mid to late teens stabbed her in the leg as she rode past a hotel.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sad news from Italy, where former pro Stefano Casagranda died following a long battle against cancer; Casagranda raced for eight years, highlighted by winning a snowy Paris-Nice stage in a 62-mile solo breakaway. He was 52.

Mathieu van der Poel marked the end of his cycling season with a nice, relaxing ride with fans in Los Angeles, checking out the city in advance of the ’28 Olympic Games.

UCI cracks down hard on suspected doping by suspending an entire Portuguese cycling team for <checks notes> a whole 20 days. Because apparently there were no wet noodles left to slap them with.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to ride your mo-ped after drinking, try not to crash into a stopped LAPD patrol car. That feeling when you lock up your bike, and come back to find it’s being used for a stunt jump.

Or when your rocket-powered bicycle can’t even beat an ebike.

Or maybe an e-moto.

……… 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Attempted murder of OC bike rider, murder counts for intentional NJ hit-and-run, and kiss LA River path gap closure goodbye

October 2, 2025 / / No comments
Day 275 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Just call it murder — or attempted, anyway.

The Orange County DA does.

Twenty-five-year old Alexis Jareth Ruiz was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, with an enhancement for premeditation, for deliberately running down a man riding a bicycle in Westminster last month.

Allegedly.

He also faces a count of assault with a deadly weapon for using his car to attack the victim, as well as additional enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury, personal use of a deadly weapon and gang activity.

Prosecutors allege he contacted the 39-year old victim before the intentional vehicular assault, then crashed into a parked car as he fled the scene; police arrested him after finding his damaged car half-a-mile away.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

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Speaking of murder and using a motor vehicle as a weapon, the news broke today that the two 17-year old New Jersey girls killed in a hit-and-run while riding an ebike were the intentional victims of a stalker.

According to a news release from Union County prosecutors, a 17-year-old boy was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for targeting the two best friends with his SUV on September 29th.

Neighbors alleged the boy had stalked one of the girls for several months, parking outside her house, as well as stalking her online and at school. A local TV station reported that school officials had known about the stalking for months.

Although it’s still unknown what led him to kill them.

Again, allegedly.

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Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says funding is partly in place to close the eight-mile gap in the LA River bike path through DTLA and Boyle Heights.

But don’t expect construction the start anytime soon.

In a project update meeting yesterday (a second similar meeting will be held tomorrow – Thursday evening), Metro project staff now anticipate some portion of the path might be open in “at least five years.” Or maybe not.

As SBLA noted earlier, the delays are mainly caused by the lack of a public agency that will be responsible for path operations and maintenance.

When Metro expands freeways, the state (Caltrans) maintains them. When Metro expands rail or bus facilities, Metro maintains them. When Metro expands bicycle and pedestrian transportation… it depends…

But Metro representatives state that Metro will not maintain the L.A. River path because Metro doesn’t own the right-of-way it will be built on.

The project was originally part of former Mayor Garcetti’s Twenty-Eight by ’28 program, one of the 28 green transportation projects originally intended to be finished in time for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

But as we noted yesterday, the project list has been repeatedly watered down, with one project after another replaced by something easier, cheaper and/or faster.

And this was one of the first to go.

Linton also notes that construction costs have risen in the half-dozen years while Metro has dithered waiting for someone, anyone, to step up to act as the maintenance agency.

Which means that the previous funding isn’t enough to cover the current estimates of roughly $1 billion.

If and when it ever gets built.

Here’s Linton again.

It is unclear how this project gets built any time soon. For years, Metro staff have been unsuccessful in arranging for someone else to pay for facility maintenance in perpetuity. It will likely take leadership from L.A. City and L.A. County elected officials (all facing their own budget issues) to get this project out of the limbo it has been trapped in for the last half-decade.

The Metro River Path project will be discussed in a virtual informational session 6-8:30 pm tonight.

Unfortunately, “informational” means you probably won’t get a chance to complain about the projects so-far endless delay.

But you can try.

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Metro and Bike LA are hosting a free eight-mile Ice Cream Sunday ride this, uh, Sunday.

https://twitter.com/heybikela/status/1973167499702374867

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

Once again, business owners try to shoot themselves in the foot, after a judge paused construction of a new Pittsburgh bike lane when business owners and a local business association requested an injunction against it. Maybe the judge could politely point out that bike lanes are actually good for business, making the area around it more walkable and livable, while boosting retail sales. 

Um, okay. A Philadelphia city council member held off authorizing a vote to build new bike lanes around city hall, releasing a statement saying he needs to see them in action first. Although maybe he can explain how exactly he proposes to see them in action without building the damn things.

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

Family members are still waiting for justice, a year after a London woman was severely injured by a 19-year old hit-and-run ebike rider, and seven months after she died in the hospital.

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Local 

Metro Bike Share wants you to answer their 2025 survey.

Streets For All says it’s hard to use Metro’s ridership dashboard, so they built their own.

The annual Long Beach Marathon will take place this Saturday, with bike riders rolling with the runners at 5:30 am; the half marathon will start at a slightly more reasonable 7 am.

 

State

San Diego opened its first Climate Week on Wednesday, with more than 100 community-led events planned around the county — starting, naturally enough, with yesterday’s bike ride.

The Fresno Bee examines Senate Bill 720, and why bike and safety advocates are backing the bill that would loosen penalties for running red lights, as it sits on Newsom’s desk waiting for his signature; meanwhile, San Jose isn’t waiting.

A report from WalletHub says San Jose is the greenest city in the US; with Oakland, Irvine, San Francisco and San Diego also in the top ten.

Oakland agreed to pay a 58-year old man a $7 million settlement after he hit a pothole on his bicycle, putting him in a coma and resulting in a long-term brain injury. Thanks to Ellectrek for the heads-up.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. An ex-con faces a murder charge for the 2022 hit-and-run that killed a man riding a bicycle in Fairfield, as well as hit-and-run and weapons charges, thanks to his three — yes, three — previous DUIs; however, the trial was rescheduled for November because the prosecutor asked for a delay. Just another example of lenient prosecutors, judges and policies keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.

 

National

Grist says ebikes could cut carbon, congestion and costs, while improving health, yet American cities remain hopelessly addicted to cars.

Anchorage, Alaska opened new singletrack trails in the hills above the city. Dispelling the popular misconception that an Alaskan singletrack is made by a two-legged moose. 

Portland organizers are calling for an Emergency World Naked Bike Ride, on a date to be determined, to protest the Trump administration’s military occupation of the city, in what Cycling Weekly correctly calls the most Portlandia way ever.

My former Iditarod mushing and cross-country bicycling brother’s new home of Port Angeles, Washington is planning construction of a new downtown bike network, complete with buffered bike lanes and two-way protected bike lanes in the sub-20,000 population town.

A Salt Lake City article says drivers respect bike riders on green bike paint more than unpainted sections or regular bike lanes, but it’s still no guarantee of safety.

Utah-based CSS Composites joined the long and growing list of bicycle and bike component companies going belly up, shutting down and liquidating all operations of one of the few carbon rim makers in the US.

Authorities believe a missing 53-year old woman may be traveling on a teal-colored ebike, after finding her car partially submerged in a canal. Although if she tried to drown the car, it suggests that she doesn’t want to be found. Or if she didn’t, she’s probably not riding a bike. 

A New York bike commuter takes a frustrating journey through the city’s bureaucratic maze to reclaim a bicycle seized by the NYDOT.

New York City celebrated their annual Biketober by opening a new bike network in Western Queens. And yes, that was an actual bike network, not just a bike lane. 

A Florida writer describes the bravery it took from both of them to let her 11-year old son ride his bike alone.

 

International

He gets it. A writer for Cycling Weekly says you don’t need a thousand bucks worth of added gear to ride a bicycle, just a bike and the will to pedal.

No surprise here. Studies conclude that one of the best ways to improve your training rides is to get a good night’s sleep. In other breaking news, studies also confirm that water is wet, and bears tend to defecate in forested areas.

A group of Toronto bike riders rallied to call for better bicycle protection connecting two of the city’s boroughs.

A new Canadian study compares the effects of individual income compared to living in a low-income low neighborhood, concluding that people with low incomes are more likely to be injured while walking, biking or in a motor vehicle; the same holds true for low-income neighborhoods, except for a reduced rate of bicycling injuries.

Another Cycling Weekly writer questions how London bike riders can create a safer, more courteous and more equitable cycling culture in the UK’s capital.

Czech carmaker Škoda celebrates 130 years after two passionate bicyclists founded the company in 1895. Then they moved on to building motor vehicles and the whole damn thing went to hell.

An Aussie writer says the country needs to remove five million internal combustion vehicles from the roads over the next ten years to meet its climate goals. And he has a two-wheeled suggestion — e- and otherwise — on how to do it. At least they’re trying, unlike a certain backsliding North American superpower we could name.

 

Competitive Cycling

Pez Cycling News says goodbye to world-renowned cycling photographer Cor Vos, after he died suddenly Tuesday morning at the age of 77.

New world time trial champ Remco Evenepoel is now the new European champ, too.

Velo shares the “juicy rumors” surrounding next year’s Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes.

 

Finally…

Turn your scratched-up bike into Japanese art. The internet-famous “blinking guy” is one of us, and raising funds to fight MS.

And yep, this about sums it up.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Woman injured jumping from DTLA ebike fire, WeHo cuts Fountain speeds, and SF bike rider collateral damage for YouTuber

September 29, 2025 / / No comments
Day 272 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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A 68-year old woman was injured jumping from a third-floor apartment in Downtown Los Angeles, after an ebike battery caught on fire.

Spontaneous fires have been an ongoing problem with lithium-ion batteries, leading some cities to ban them, while some buildings prohibit ebikes as a result.

Photo by Adonyi Gábor from Pexels.

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West Hollywood is taking additional steps to improve safety on Fountain, including lowering the speed limit by 5 mph and adding leading pedestrian intervals to crossing lights.

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A San Francisco bike rider became collateral damage when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver, who accelerated suddenly after stopping in the middle of the road to record an appearance by YouTube gamer iShowSpeed.

Except a news helicopter just happened to be watching from above, and followed the driver until police arrived.

Oops.

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

A pair of Denver bike riders were hurt when they crashed into a wire gate blocking a bridge, which had been installed by the city with no advance warning, and no notice other than a white Bridge Closed sign, even though it was located on the far side of a blind curve.

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Local 

Urbanize looks forward to CicLAvia’s return to the Heart of LA October 12th.

 

State

Police in Orange County took down a pair of bike thieves, including a Costa Mesa thief who stole a pair of ebikes from a garage and a high-end bike thief caught on surveillance video in Orange.

Kids in Chula Vista form the latest chapter of the two-wheeled United Lowrider Coalition.

Berkeley residents can enter a monthly lottery for up to $1,500 on a new ebike, along with another $250 for locks and accessories.

 

National

Road Bike Rider has advice on how to take part in a group ride when you’re on an ebike and they’re not.

An editor for Outside says he’s now the slow weirdo on the group ride who gets dropped off the back, and he’s good with that.

For the seventh year in a row, Louisiana bike riders rolled on Saturday on a fundraising ride to remember a Baton Rouge Parish councilmember killed by a driver, along with a friend, as they rode their bikes.

Bike riders in New Orleans were invited to join a two-wheeled second line to the polls on the first day of early voting Saturday.

 

International

How to store your bike when you don’t have room to store your bike.

A 35-year old tree surgeon from Liverpool, England quit his job, and set out on a 25,000-mile bike ride around the world.

Twenty-eight percent of London residents say they are now more likely to ride a bike in the future after riding one during the city’s recent Tube strike.

A trio of Scottish friends are reuniting after 40 years to finish their 17,000 mile ride from Chile to Alaska, with the man and two women completing the 800 miles Chile crossing that wasn’t possible when Augusto Pinochet was dictator back in the 80s.

A British man finished a 55-mile ride on his grandmother’s singlespeed step-through bike, complete with basket on the handlebars, riding from London to Brighton to honor the hospice that cared for her in her final days.

The UK’s RLS bike helmet could be the new MIPS.

Bike riders in Copenhagen can catch the green wave, catching nothing but green lights when riding a bike at a relatively sedate 12 mph. Even if it sounds like taking a few puffs before surfing.

Auto Evolution examines why the “ultimate off-road” e-bike dreamed up by a German design firm never made it off the drawing board.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 80-year old retired physician rode 335 miles across the South Indian subcontinent on a 20-year old bike with two friends, before boarding a ferry to finish in Sri Lanka.

A South African travel site recommends some of the country’s best bicycling getaways.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tadej Pogačar will wear the rainbow jersey for another year, after winning a repeat victory in the men’s elite Road World Championships with a 41-mile three man breakaway, followed by Remco Evenepoel in second and Ireland’s Ben Healy in third after they caught the other two.

World time trial champ Remco Evenepoel couldn’t hide his anger over a slow bike change due to a broken saddle that killed his shot at winning the road title, too.

Twenty-four-year old Canadian Magdeleine Vallieres won the women’s elite road race in an upset at the Worlds on Saturday, becoming the first of her countrymen to wear the rainbow jersey; New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black was 23 seconds back second, with Spain’s Mavi Garcia third.

UCI retired Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer’s race number 84 for all future junior women’s road races, a year after she died crashing during last year’s Worlds, and no one noticed she failed to finish her race until hours later.

An AP slide show captures the pride and excitement of Rwandan spectators at Africa’s first Road World Championships.

The Israel–Premier Tech cycling team was banned from Italy’s Giro dell’Emilia due to threats of further pro-Palestinian protests, like the ones that disrupted the Vuelta.

 

Finally…

A Kiwi woman scouts locations for the ’28 Olympics, proving once again there’s nothing like a dame. Hanging at the Car Wash when you don’t have a car.

And why settle for riding your bike a mere 15 or 20 mph, when you could top out over 200?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Support pedestrianized 6th Street & wider bike lanes tomorrow, and building SaMo’s “Great Wall of Shitty Rental Bikes”

September 9, 2025 / / No comments
Day 252 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Streets For All is calling for action to support a trio of programs at tomorrow’s meeting of the Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee.

Take action this Wednesday:

The Transportation Committee is hearing three items this Wednesday. One would support wider bike lanes, another would create a pilot program pedestrianizing 6th St in Koreatown, and a third is an update on implementing speed cameras.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Make public comment in person:
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Room 401, City Hall
200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

If you can’t attend, please comment publicly on the council file, provided in our toolkit here.

MAKE PUBLIC COMMENT

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A Santa Monica man is called a hero for removing rental ebikes — actually scooters with seats — from the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail, building “the great wall of shitty rental bikes.”

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Seriously?

A Baltimore, Maryland man is facing $2,000 in fines and hundreds more to get his bike back, after a couple misguided cops who apparently have never heard of an ebike slapped him with ten traffic tickets and impounded his bike, insisting it was an unregistered motor vehicle.

Because it has an electric motor.

One that makes it a Class 2 ebike under Maryland law.

And yes, he was literally laughed out of the DMV when he went to register it.

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If you missed this weekend’s Maryland Cycling Classic — and who didn’t? —  Velo offers video of the full race broadcast, although you have have to click through to see it.

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

An English county councilor was left fuming after the council leaders dropped bicycling safety improvements from plans to remake a dangerous intersection because of “rising costs and limited funding” — apparently without consulting her or the rest of the council.

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Local 

Spectrum News 1 talks with the general manager of Bikes and Hikes LA about calls for better bike safety in West Hollywood, while a Sheriff’s spokesman says bicyclists and pedestrians have the same rights as drivers, but far fewer protections. To which virtually anyone who has ever ridden a bicycle would respond, “Tell me about it.”

 

State

Patch says cops in Laguna Beach issued “60+ citations” during a recent multi-agency crackdown on speeding, loud and modified exhausted systems, and ebike violations — which is technically true, since 184 is more than 60. A lot more.

Police in San Diego are starting to get it, warning about a dramatic rise in ebike injuries among kids, while noting that many of the bikes aren’t true ebikes but off-road motorbikes that aren’t street legal.

 

National

The Try Hard podcast talks with Defector writer Diana Moskovitz about learning to ride a bike as an adult, after her over-protective parents forbade her from riding as a child. You can read a full transcript here, if you’d rather read it than listen to it. 

Portland, Oregon has hosted an official City Bike Bus each month since June, concluding next month. If I held up one finger, that would be one more time than Los Angeles has hosted one. And you can probably guess which finger I’d hold up. 

A Salem, Oregon bike shop became the latest victim of the contraction in the bicycle market, citing competition from big box stores and online marketplaces.

A man in Oregon’s Rogue Valley became an unlikely hero in 2020 by livestreaming damage caused by the Alameda Fire from the seat of his bicycle.

There’s a special place in hell for the Fort Worth, Texas hit-and-run driver who left an eight-year old bike-riding kid lying in the street, after stopping briefly to get out of his car and look at the kid covered in his own blood. Or any other coward who drives off after hitting a kid, for that matter.

That’s more like it. Bipartisan legislation moving forward in the Michigan legislature would allow judges to sentence drivers to up to 15 years behind bars if they kill a pedestrian or bicyclist after violating a traffic law, as biking booms in the Motor City.

Riverside Drive in Downtown Memphis reopened after a major redesign with nifty new protected bike lanes.

 

International

Momentum recommends 16 “incredible” fall destinations around the world that are best experienced by bicycle, including California’s Sonoma Valley.

Bike Radar examines five tech trends that will define road and gravel bikes over the near future.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is in planning for a free bikeshare system, along with an improved bike lane network that would make it safer to use.

Nearly 100 Montreal bike riders held a die-in on Monday to call for safer streets after a second person was killed on the city’s busy Parc Ave in less than a year, while eight bicyclists and pedestrians have been killed on the corridor since 2013; meanwhile, the city renamed a bike path for a late bike activist who was pivotal in making it “the bike-friendly city it is today.”

Montreal YouTubers examine initiatives intended to lower the barriers to using cargo bikes, including Canada’s first cargo bikeshare system, run by a local nonprofit.

British Olympic bike hero Sir Chris Hoy’s inaugural fundraising ride raised more than £2 million — the equivalent of over $2.7 million — for cancer charities, as he said it’s possible to “live well and lead a happy life” with the disease, despite his devastating diagnosis with stage four prostate cancer.

Former Wimbledon champ Andy Murray may be one of us, but he doesn’t seem too damn happy about it.

As London prepares for yet another Tube — aka subway — workers strike, a London website wonders if the effects will be muted by bikeshare; meanwhile, Cycling Weekly responded to the strike threat by recommending foldies and commuter bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from France, where yet another U-23 cyclist has died, this time a 16-year old kid who suffered a heart attack during a race.

A human rights group has asked Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante to ban the Israel-Premier Tech cycling team from Sunday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal because of the war in Gaza, after the team’s owner referred to team members as ambassadors for Israel.

Seriously? Not only did a 2012 Sonoma Press Democrat article about fan activities for the late, great Amgen Tour of California inexplicably pop up on a Google search for today’s bike news, most of the story was hidden by the paper’s paywall. Because evidently, they still want you to pay to read 13-year old stories.

 

Finally…

That feeling when drivers park in the bike lane so often, you carry crude pre-printed crude stickers. Why postpone having beers until after Critical Mass, when you can find a bike with a keg of home-brew riding next to you?

And this is what happens when a confirmed roadie experiences his first black diamond downhill ride.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

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. 

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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: , , , , , , , , ,

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: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update: 20-year old surfer Kolby Aipa dies three days after Huntington Beach ebike crash; grandson of legendary “surf royalty”

August 6, 2025 / / 6 comments

As if the news hasn’t been bad enough lately, now we’re learning that the grandson of a surf legend has died following an ebike crash.

According to the Daily Pilot, the victim, identified as 20-year old Huntington Beach resident Kolby Aipa, died three days after he was struck by a car that had been towing him on PCH.

The crash occurred around 10:08 p.m. Saturday night, near Seapoint Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach.

Aipa was taken to UCI Medical Center suffering from critical injuries, where he was placed on life support. His family’s business posted online that he died Tuesday afternoon.

Surfer writes that Aipa was heir to “surf royalty,” the grandson of legendary surfer, board shaper and surfing coach Ben Aipa, a member of both the Surfing Walk of Fame and Surfers’ Hall of Fame. He was the inventor of the groundbreaking Sting surfboard design.

According to the magazine,

Following in his strong surfing lineage, Kolby was an up-and-coming surfer himself. He was sponsored by the clothing brand AVVA, Dakine, Cobian footwear, and others. He was a member of the Huntington Beach Board Riders club…

A memorial paddle-out for Kolby is being planned; stay tuned for more information.

There’s no word on why Aipa was being towed by a car, which was driven by people he knew. However, it’s possible that his ebike battery had died, and he was being towed rather than pedaling a heavy bike.

Or it could have just been an ill-advised stunt.

According to a crowdfunding campaign in his honor,

Kolby always had a way with touching the lives of whoever he met. His acts of kindness and caring was his gift of Aloha to friends and strangers alike. To everyone that reads this…pass his Aloha on. So, how Kolby treated you, treat others in that same way…

In this you are continuing his legacy of Aloha.

As of this writing, the campaign has raised nearly $69,000 of the $75,000 goal.

This is at least the 31st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the just the third that I’m aware of in Orange County.

Update: According to My News LA, Aipa was holding onto a Toyota Tacoma pickup being driven south on PCH — a practice known as skitching — when the driver somehow lost control of the truck, leading to their collision.

There should be no need to point out how dangerous that can be. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Kolby Aipa and his loved ones.

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

Ebike rider killed by San Diego MTS Blue Line trolley in Chula Vista early Monday afternoon

August 4, 2025 / / 2 comments

The deadly toll affecting bike riders on Southern California streets continued in Chula Vista Monday afternoon.

Although this time, the killer wasn’t in a mobile vehicle.

It was a San Diego trolley.

According to multiple sources, the victim was riding an ebike across the Blue Line tracks near Moss Street and Industrial Blvd, when they were struck by the operator of a northbound trolley operated by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, or MTS, around 12:44 pm.

According to a witness, the victim was thrown “at least” seven or eight feet into the air by the impact of the crash. Afterwards, investigators focused on what appeared to be a backpack worn by the victim, as well as the shattered pieces of the bike.

There’s no word at this time about the identity of the victim, or whether the crossing gates were working at the time of the crash.

As the witness, Caleb Reyes, told San Diego’s NBC7, always look both ways before crossing any kind of street, pathway or railroad track.

And never, ever ignore railroad warning signals or ride around lowered crossing gates, regardless of whether you think the train has stopped or the danger has passed.

Because there’s a good chance you might be wrong.

This is at least the 30th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

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

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

Passive aggressive Paris bikelash screed, cops blame San Diego ebike victim, and four years for Magnus White killer

June 16, 2025 / / Comments Off on Passive aggressive Paris bikelash screed, cops blame San Diego ebike victim, and four years for Magnus White killer
Day 167 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

No bias here.

London’s Sunday Times has apparently dropped its paywall once again so more people can read a passive aggressive post on the reputed Parisian bikelash.

Where, by their telling, people on bicycles in Paris are entitled hipsters who endanger old people, while the humble bicycle itself is seen as “a symbol of aggression, every-man-for-himself and urban chaos.”

Of course it is.

And of course, it’s all part of the proverbial war on cars.

But it is the behaviour of the cyclists themselves and their apparent disdain for the code de la route that appears to be provoking many Parisians.

Many drivers, already resentful at losing precious road space to dedicated cycle lanes, dismiss those on two wheels as bobos, a catch-all term for privileged hipsters. Matters have been worsened by the proliferation of delivery riders, usually under time pressure and often astride heavy electric machines that can go at 30 mph or more.

Never mind that the European Union limits ebikes to just 15.5 mph.

Then there’s this.

Nine out of ten cyclists (88 per cent) admitted to having broken traffic rules in a survey in Paris and nine other French cities last October. Some 75 per cent confessed to riding on pavements, 55 per cent to turning without signalling and the same number to running red lights.

Young riders appeared the most reckless: three quarters said they did not wear helmets or reflective clothing, and a quarter admitted pedalling without lights.

Because as everyone knows, French drivers are the most courteous, respectful and law-abiding motorists on the Continent.

Right?

But at least they get this part right.

But is an unequal battle: cars and other motor vehicles were responsible for the overwhelming majority of the 451 pedestrians and 222 cyclists killed in France last year, according to provisional official figures from the French Road Safety Observatory.

By contrast, three pedestrians were killed by bicycles and six by electric scooters. Though tiny in comparison, this was higher than in previous years.

Although maybe the fact that bicycle and e-scooter ridership has boomed in Paris since the mayor began reconstructing the streets to build a bike and pedestrian friendly 15-minute city.

So an increase in injuries and fatalities is to be expected — especially when electric motorbikes continue to be misidentified as bicycles.

But maybe, with traditional British disdain for their Gallic neighbors, the problem isn’t the bicycles.

It’s that the riders on them are, yes, French.

Perhaps, though, it is not the town planning that is the main problem.

Chantal from Nancy said that the cyclists were just as bad in her home city. “They’re all French,” she said. “The French mentality is that even if something is banned, you still do it and it doesn’t matter.”

Then again, it always helps when you get find someone from France to complain about the French.

Kind of like a self-identified cyclist complaining about bicyclists.

Photo from Pexels. 

………

San Diego police were quick to blame the victim after a 54-year old woman suffered serious injuries in a collision while riding an ebike early Saturday afternoon.

Investigators said she left a bike lane too soon while on northbound on Fairmount Ave, where it merges with Montezuma Road, and hit the side mirror of a car in the next lane.

Although another way to look at it is the driver was likely passing closer than the three-foot distance required to pass a bike rider under California law, or they probably wouldn’t have made contact.

Chances are, blame could also be placed on a poorly designed roadway that required her to leave the bike lane in the first place.

Maybe someone from San Diego could tell us more. But at first glance, this one doesn’t seem to pass the smell test.

………

There’s justice, finally, for Magnus White.

The 24-year old Ukrainian immigrant who killed the 17-year old rising US Cycling Team member on a Colorado roadway after drinking and staying up all night was sentenced to four years in state prison, after she was convicted of felony vehicular homicide – reckless driving.

Yeva Smilianska will be required to spend at least three years of that sentence behind bars.

She could have been sentenced to anywhere from two to six years — or could have walked with probation.

………

There’s a new bike path steering bicyclists around the tennis courts at Griffith Park.

………

Who needs a tour bus when you’ve got a bicycle?

………

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

Embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams panders to Brooklyn voters by vowing to remove three blocks of a protected bike lane after local residents raised safety concerns. Although he may find there are more bike lane supporters than critics in the city.

………

Local 

Today is the last day to submit comments on the Draft PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study to improve safety on SoCal’s killer highway.

 

State

A writer for the San Francisco Standard reports on what it was like to be a 44-year old, chubby trans woman taking part in the final AIDS/LifeCycle ride, although organizers announced they will hold two three-day rides next year.

 

National

People For Bikes says the 16-year old federal Bicycle Commuter Benefit is on the chopping block, as House Republicans voted to eliminate the meagre $20 a month tax rebate meant to encourage bike commuting.

Five Colorado bicyclists were injured, and three hospitalized, when they crashed while riding in a group of 12 riders outside of Sterling in the northeastern part of the state on Saturday; the good news is there was no car or driver involved.

 

International

Momentum writes in praise of spandex-free slow bicycling.

Tom’s Guide explains six essential checks to get your bike ready for the summer. They pretty much get it right, although most of us here in SoCal probably started months ago — if we ever stopped.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura shared photos of his visit to Havana, playing basketball with local kids and riding in one of Cuba’s bicitaxis, aka pedicabs.

A CBC reporter explains that Toronto’s bikeshare system has become a victim of its own success, and is looking to New York’s Citi Bike for solutions to meet its high demand.

People in Montreal and Quebec City are being discouraged from riding their bicycles by garbage bins, semis, cars and other obstacles on bike paths. In other words, kind of like pretty much everywhere else. 

Britain’s Aston Martin teamed with titanium hand-built bikemaker J.Laverackit to create “the most bespoke, advanced and meticulously engineered road bicycle ever made,” employing state-of-the-art design processes and manufacturing techniques more commonly found on Formula 1 cars.

Smithsonian examines how Sweden’s 60-year old Vätternrundan became the biggest recreational ride on the planet, offering 196 miles around the country’s Lake Vättern.

A writer for Travel + Leisure recommends a luxury bicycle tour as the best way to see Romania’s medieval villages, castles and vineyards, as well as the ghosts of its communist past.

That’s more like it. After a Singaporean man was killed in a collision after falling off his bicycle, Malaysian officials took responsibility for the poor condition of the roadway, blaming “crocodile cracking” caused by heavy vehicles, and ordered immediate road repairs.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here. Slovenian star Tadej Pogacar dominated the Critérium du Dauphiné, winning nine of the 21 stages — including the Queen stage — even as rival Jonas Vingegaard put up a fight.

Ouch. Legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx chats with his old rival Roger De Vlaeminck, as the two men trash the current generation of riders, arguing that they don’t race often enough or hard enough, and get dropped too easily.

A 50-year old Iowa math teacher is tacking the 2,745-mile, Canada to Mexico Tour Divide for the second time.

French cyclist Romain Bardet called it a career after 14 years, including two podium finishes in the Tour de France, as the pro peloton showed its respect.

https://twitter.com/picnicpostnl/status/1934303154063171852

 

Finally…

If you’re going to preach the gospel, it might as well be from a bicycle on a cross-country ride. Who needs a touring bike to ride across the country when you’ve got a BMX?

And when life gives you an attempted murder charge, just go for a bike ride.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

PCH Workshop next Wednesday, trial in Magnus White death continues, and pediatric e-micro mobility injuries climb

April 3, 2025 / / Comments Off on PCH Workshop next Wednesday, trial in Magnus White death continues, and pediatric e-micro mobility injuries climb
Day 93 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Caltrans forwards word that the upcoming PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study Workshop will take place a little earlier than planned.

Please be advised that the upcoming April 9th meeting at the Malibu City Hall will now start at 5:30 PM instead of 6:00 PM. This extra time is an open house period to provide more opportunities for attendees to review project information displays and ask Caltrans staff questions.

Thank you for your time, and we’re excited to have you at the event!

PCH photo from Caltrans press release.

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More heartbreaking testimony in the death of US National Team junior cyclist Magnus White.

Day three in the reckless driving trial of Yeva Smilianska featured more descriptions of the crash that killed the 17-year old White, as a forensic investigator estimated that White went from 25 mph to 55 in “milliseconds” when Smilianska rear-ended him.

Another bicyclist who was following White on that “perfect” Boulder, Colorado day two years ago reported seeing the recent Ukrainian immigrant’s car strike White’s bicycle so quickly he would have had no chance to react.

He also said he gave up bicycling after what he saw that day.

The other notable piece of news came from a police investigator who said the woman Smilianska was with the night before the crash told him neither of the women drank because she wouldn’t allow alcohol in her house, and both got six hours of sleep the morning of the crash.

Yet examination of Smilianska’s phone showed video of her taking a drink out of a tumbler, as her friend asks if that’s whiskey. Smilianska said yes, nodding, and the friend took a drink herself, contradicting her earlier comments to the police.

And yes, once again prosecutors showed photos depicting the crash, this time White’s bloodied bike helmet. So make sure that’s something you really want to see before you click on the link.

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A new report in the medical journal JAMA shows ebike injuries among children and teens jumped from 751 in 2017 to 23,493 in 2022, while e-scooter injuries climbed from 8,566 in 2017 to 56,847 in 2022 — likely more reflective of the climb in ridership rather than an increase in risk.

That was demonstrated by a crash in Orange Tuesday night, when two teens riding an e-scooter were critically injured when they slammed into the side of a Tesla while riding upstream on the wrong side of the road.

A tragic reminder that it’s not what you ride, but how that matters.

Thanks to Arthur W Bauer for the Orange heads-up.

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Doris Day was one of us.

Actress, singer, and bike lover Doris Day riding her bicycle around Beverly Hills. The license plate reads, "This vehicle is smog free."Happy #BicycleBirthday, Doris!April 3 (1922-2019)

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2025-04-03T04:00:08.526Z

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Norm Bradwell forwards the clearest view yet of the remarkable changes underway in Paris, with the transformation of the iconic and formerly car-clogged Rue de Rivoli.

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

No bias here. ESPN sportscaster Randy Scott posted video of a group of “sad” bicyclists riding single file while politely hugging the shoulder, saying “These monsters must be stopped” because they made him slow down a little bit. Never mind that he’s the one who could be breaking the law by using a handheld cellphone to record the video, or that he crashed his own car into a concrete barrier last year, without the help of anyone on two wheels.

https://twitter.com/RandyScottESPN/status/1906831097108762886?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1906831097108762886%7Ctwgr%5Eee4ec0c5d73c91ca378853d9db2f087c2eb86de5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-2-april-2025-313321

Click here for the video if Elon is still screwing with embedded X/Twitter posts.

………

Local 

Culver City will host the final walking tour this Saturday to help develop the city’s new Complete Streets Design Standards. Actually, all they have to do is go back to the MOVE Culver City Complete Streets project. You know, before they ripped it out. 

So, am I the only one who thinks the Long Beach Grand Prix should include a bike race on the closed circuit course for us two-wheeled racing fans?

 

State

San Diego authorities are offering a $1,000 reward for the driver of a gray Mercedes E-Class sedan who fled the scene after killing an ebike rider in the city’s Clairemont neighborhood last week.

Chula Vista opened a new 39-acre bay front park, compete with two-and-a-half miles of walking and biking trails.

This is who we share the road with. A road-raging Riverside driver knocked a motorcyclist off his bike and dragged him with his car following an argument, in a crash captured on helmet cam.

They get it. The Planning Commission in the Sonoma County town of Windsor says walking and biking should be as easy, pleasant and natural as driving. Although driving may be the norm in the US, but there’s nothing natural about it.

 

National

No surprise here, as a new study of 14 small to mid-sized U.S. cities shows that bicycle-friendly cities are safer for everyone. Yes, even the people in the big, dangerous machines.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation and People For Bikes are launching the eBike eCourse to help improve safety and riding skills for people on ebikes, presumably with or without pedals.

Escape drops their paywall to consider what Rad Power and VanMoof got wrong, and what can be learned from the fall of the two iconic ebike brands.

Momentum suggests taking advantage of Trump’s “Liberation Day” to liberate yourself from driving by riding a bicycle.

Bicycling posts their favorite bikes of the year. But you’ll need a subscription to click on the links.

This is who we share the bike path with. A Portland man was forced off a bike path, and narrowly avoided getting hit head-on, by a driver in a massive SUV blithely cruising down the biking and walking path, taking the concept of a multi-use path just a little too far.

Tragic news from St. Louis, where a man riding a bicycle was killed when he was struck by not one, not two, not even three, but four drivers, only two of whom bothered to stick around afterwards.

A South Carolina woman charged with killing a bike-riding father of three while allegedly driving drunk with an open bottle of vodka in her car has been arrested once again, on charges of “unlawful conduct toward a child, with the risk of abuse or willful abandonment,” as well as possession of meth and coke.

 

International

Road.cc says Trump’s tariffs could be the final blow for the bike industry, which is already in the toilet.

An iconic South London bike shop is throwing in the towel after 43 years due to “rising costs, a brutal economic climate, and a million other small battles.”

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, with the village of Saint-Rémy-la-Varenne along France’s 500-mile Loire à Vélo bicycling route, home to ancient megalithic sites and a 1,000-year old priory.

A new Dutch study contradicts the usual perception in this country by showing that delivery bike riders are safer and more law-abiding than casual bicyclists in the Netherlands.

A 38-year old Indian man is riding over 3,700 miles in 35 days, from Bengaluru to Tamil Nadu and back, despite losing one hand in a machining accident when he was 18.

 

Competitive Cycling

A major upset in Belgium, where American Neilson Powless stunned Wout van Aert and his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates by outsprinting them at the finish to win the men’s Dwars door Vlaanderen on Sunday; Italian champ Elisa Longo Borghini won the women’s race in a solo breakaway.

Sorry, folks. Life Time Grand Prix has banned cyclists from drafting riders outside their own category in any of their races, such as Unbound Gravel.

A writer for Outside says skip the Tour de France, and go to Europe to watch the Tour of Flanders, instead.

 

Finally….

Recharge your next ebike with your phone charger. We may have to worry about feral LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to contend with a loose bull moose.

And nothing like that feeling when you order a new bicycle on Temu, and this is what you get.

@cloud9ceo

Temu gave me the biggest April Fool

♬ original sound – cloud9CEO

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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