Tag Archive for ebikes

Ebike & e-moto injuries rise 2.5 times faster than sales, and two teens busted for leading vicious Hermosa Beach attack

December 1, 2025 / / No comments
Day 335 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It’s Day 4 of the 11th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. And we’re already off to a rip-roaring start!

So let’s all join in a round of applause for Rob, Robs, Ross, Stephen, Joshua, Eric, Johannes, David and Andrew for their generous support to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

So don’t wait! Take a moment to consider what this site is worth to you, how much you can afford to give, and donate now!

After all, what other bike sites offer all the best news and a cute little corgi spokesdog?

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At last, we get a little context for the rise in ebike injuries — although, as usual, there’s no distinction between injury rates for ped-assist ebikes and e-motorbikes.

According to the New York Times, Marin County worked to get California law changed after a 15-year old girl barely survived a fall while riding on the back of a friend’s ebike, prompting a local surgeon to look into rising injury rates.

As the pandemic continued, the number of e-bike accidents increased. “You would expect that,” Alfrey says, “because sales were skyrocketing.” Indeed, in 2022, over a million e-bikes were sold in the United States, up from 287,000 in 2019, according to the Light Electric Vehicle Association. But what really struck Alfrey and Maa was that e-bike injuries were far more serious than those sustained on conventional bikes. Maa says they were more like what’s seen in motorcycle crashes. A pelvic fracture, for example, was uncommon on a pedal bicycle — only about 6 percent of conventional cycling injuries. For e-bike crashes, though, it was 25 percent.

The most alarming difference was the fatality rate. “On a pedal bike, the chance of dying from an injury is about three-tenths of 1 percent,” Alfrey says. On an e-bike, the data indicated, it was 11 percent.

These findings signaled what was unfolding around the country. During the same four-year period when nationwide sales quadrupled, e-bike injuries increased by a factor of 10, to 23,493 from 2,215, according to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. A study by the University of California, San Francisco, found that from 2017 to 2022, head injuries from e-bike accidents increased 49-fold.

Which means ebike injuries rose 2.5 times faster than ebike sales.

Now we finally know.

The paper goes on to note that Class 2 throttle-controlled ebikes have claimed the overwhelming majority of the market.

By “throttle devices,” he is referring to Class 2 machines, which have captured an estimated two-thirds of the e-bike market. According to PeopleForBikes, the rationale in 2015 for creating a class for bikes with throttles — which can eliminate even the modest exercise benefits of pedal assistance — was that many e-bikes already had them, and the trade organization didn’t want to exclude those products and companies.

But to Mittelstaedt and others, it’s inappropriate to consider these vehicles to be “bikes” at all. “The essence of bicycling is pedaling,” Mittelstaedt says. “A machine propelled by a motorcycle throttle just shouldn’t be considered a bicycle. It can go from zero to 20 faster than a regular bike without any exertion at all.”

As we’ve repeatedly stressed, anything that can travel faster than 28 mph isn’t legally an ebike. And anything without pedals isn’t a bicycle.

Some manufacturers — but not governments — have taken it upon themselves to call such machines “Class 4” e-bikes. Others refer to them as “out-of-class electric vehicles”; bicycle-advocacy groups, which want to avoid being associated with these machines, prefer “e-motos.” In any case, they aren’t bicycles, nor are they street legal without registration and a license, yet they still show up regularly on roads and bike paths. One online influencer called Sur Ronster, who also has a retail business called Ronster Rides, posts videos of bands of teenagers, dozens strong, outdoing one another’s daredevil feats at breakneck speed on city streets and highways.

Like this dual-engine Chinese ebike with a top speed of 46 mph, which would classify it as a motorbike in virtually every American state — yet is somehow still sold as a ped-assist bike.

It’s worth taking the time to read the whole Times story. Because it’s long past time we started making those differences clear.

But if you’re in a hurry, you can catch the Cliff Notes version in a brief interview with the writer.

Wait, is Cliff Notes even a thing anymore?

Meanwhile, Harley Davidson is teaming with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition to host a course on ebike safety, while the San Diego police issued warnings about riders on illegal e-motos capable of 80 mph zooming through traffic and crowded areas.

And Electrek warns parents about the dangers of Sur Ron and other high-powered electric motos. Thanks Ellectrek for the link.

And no, I don’t think they don’t mean ped-assist bikes.

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Police in Hermosa Beach arrested two ebike — actually e-moto — riding teens for leading the vicious gang beatdown given to a man carrying his takeout pizza.

The boys were part of a group of five kids aged 13-15 identified by police as the attackers, who only broke off the assault when one of the boys mistakenly yelled that the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was dead.

Another man came forward after news of the attack surfaced, saying he, too, had been attacked by a gang of ebike-riding teens.

Initial police reports sparked angry comments for implying that the victim had somehow done something to instigate the assault, which the police later retracted.

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Bike deals are continuing post-Black Friday with today’s Cyber Monday deals, with the best specials highlighted by Cycling News and Cycling Weekly.

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A podcast host talks with two millennials who quit their jobs to bike around the world, and wrote a book about it.

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A Freemont CA rancher has installed a gate across a formerly open roadway, blocking a path used by bicyclists and hikers for years.

Thanks to Megan for forwarding the video.

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A YouTube video considers how Victoria, British Columbia, population 92,000, tripled its bicycling rate in just 11 years.

Thanks to Norm for the video. 

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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 Sunnyvale website says residents feel their voice is being “drowned out by a vocal cyclist lobby,” because they value their God-given right to park their cars on the curbs over the safety of people on two wheels. There’s that mythical bike lobby raising its ugly head again, and Hulk-smashing all who don’t bow down before it. 

A man and woman face charges in Lafayette, Louisiana after allegedly yelling at another woman, beating her and threatening her with a gun before yet another beatdown in front of her kid, all because her husband committed the crime of yelling at the woman to slow her car down while he was riding bikes with the couple’s young son.

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

A 60-year old Gainesville, Florida man faces 11 separate charges, including possession of meth, resisting arrest and, yes, littering, after he ran away on foot when police tried to stop him for riding salmon and without lights on his bike.

A British reporter launches a “bold social experiment” to see if he can get his phone stolen by ebike-riding — actually, e-motorbike — thieves, then track it to reveal their location. Thanks again to Megan for the video.

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Local 

The Malibu City Council approved a comprehensive, $50 million safety improvement plan for Pacific Coast Highway, including new and improved sidewalks and 9.7 miles of new bike lanes, with just a single dissenting vote.

 

State

Calbike will reveal its legislative agenda for the coming year in a webinar this Wednesday; sign up here for the 10 am video conference.

Police in Anaheim have arrested the alleged hit-and-run driver accused of hitting a 12-year old boy riding an ebike last week, leaving the kid with a concussion, broken leg and multiple bruises; 29-year old Fullerton resident Jonathan Diaz reportedly took off on foot after crashing his car a few blocks after he struck the boy’s bike, leaving behind evidence he was under the influence.

 

National

Bike Magazine is back in print for the first time since the heady pre-pandemic days of 2020.

Cycling Savvy explains how to navigate diverging traffic lanes on your bicycle.

Velo makes the case for why you should skip the crappy bikes, and buy your kid a decent bicycle to learn how to ride this Christmas.

A writer for Strongtowns makes the case that Complete Streets has run its course, leaving cities with “expensive, over-engineered corridors that win awards but fail the people they claim to serve.” Although I’d question whether the study the story is based on cherry-picked cities where Complet Streets failed, rather than where they have succeeded. 

Seattle has launched a commercial e-cargo bike program to encourage businesses to adopt cleaner alternatives to standard delivery trucks.

A pair of Seattle bike advocacy groups have purchased their own ebike-towed bike lane sweeper to clear out the wet, soggy leaves that pile up next to the curb.

 

International

Sometimes the best use of a bicycle isn’t riding it. A nine-year old Peruvian boy raffled off his beloved bicycle to fund a trip to Canada for the World Mathematics Championship, and came back home with a gold medal.

Despite rumors of budget cuts and caps on bike prices, Britain’s Bike to Work program that pays for bike commuters’ bicycles will be largely unchanged in the county’s new budget.

A study from Limerick, Ireland showed that the city’s new bike lanes “maintained or improved” access for ambulances, which could use the bike lanes to get through traffic when needed. So much for the myth that bike lanes keep emergency vehicles from getting through.

British bike writer and historian Carlton Reid talks with American Eric Hassett, who moved from Colorado to Malmö, Sweden to help design Thule’s sleek new pannier system.

This is why people keep dying on the streets. Colombian Tour de France sprinter Fernando Gaviria was given a suspended sentence for drunk driving in Monaco — despite being more than five times over the legal limit. Seriously, there’s no excuse for driving under the influence, no matter who you are.

That’s more like it. Croatia’s Silba Island has replaced engine noise with the sound of bike wheels, after banning cars from the island five decades ago.

Young workers in North Korea’s Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area are only turning up to state jobs on paper, instead ferrying goods and tourists on bicycles and motorbikes, rather than working without salaries or rations.

After biking nearly 400 miles across South Korea, a Malaysian writer wonders if a cross-country bikeway could unlock that country’s tourism potential, as well.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former Dutch pro Stef Clement is calling for cyclists to pass a proficiency test and “crash course” before they can ride in the peloton, while his countryman Tom Dumoulin says protective clothing should be normalized for pro cyclists.

The bicycle the legendary Eddy Merckx rode when he broke the hour record in Mexico City in 1972, cycling 49.4 kilometers, or 30.69 miles, in one hour stands on display in the Brussels metro station named after him.

Twenty-one-year old cycling rookie Isaac del Toro was named Mexico’s sportsman of the year with the country’s highest sports honor, the 2025 National Sports Award, after winning winning 16 pro races, nearly winning the Giro and climbing to third in the world rankings in just his first year on the WorldTour.

Thirty-five-year old Colombian cyclist Esteban Chaves called it a career after 16 years in the pro peloton, including five Grand Tour victories, podium finishes in both the Giro and the Vuelta, and winning Il Lombardia; he called it quits after he didn’t receive an offer for the upcoming season.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can turn your garage into a virtual fortress to protect your two-wheeled pride and joy. Go back to the future of bicycling.

And who needs a nightclub when you can DJ from the seat of your bicycle?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

LA Board of Public Works rejects Linton’s HLA appeals, and Rad Power rejects CPSC’s not-so-rad ebike battery recall

November 26, 2025 / / One comment
Day 330 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Just a quick note before we get started. 

As usual, this will be our last regular post for the holiday week. I’ll be taking tomorrow and Friday off to spend with family, so we’ll see you back here bright and early on Monday. 

Although if you’re not too busy hitting the Black Friday sales — or better yet, getting out on your bike and avoiding the hell out of the whole mess — come back Friday for the kick off of our 11th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. 

I’ll do my best to put the fun back in fund drive, while simultaneously begging you to part with a small portion of your own hard-earned funds to help keep this whole thing going for another year. 

Today’s photo depicts yours truly signing the original petition in support of Measure HLA, corgi in tow, with Streets For All founder Michael Schneider. 

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Okay, one more quick note. 

Because I’m thankful this year for a lifetime on two wheels, which has led me to so many of my best experiences and memories. 

And I’m even more thankful for you, and everyone else who reads this site. Because I couldn’t do what I do without you. 

So in all sincerity and with deepest humility, thank you. 

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To the surprise of absolutely no one, LA’s Board of Public Works rejected the overwhelming majority of Measure HLA appeals heard on Monday.

According to LAist,

First round of appeals: The Board of Public Works partially sided with the appellant in one appeal and rejected the other six. Joe Linton, in his capacity as a resident and not as editor of Streetsblog L.A., filed all the appeals heard on Monday. “It’s the very first time, so we’re kind of throwing a lot of spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks,” Linton told LAist. “Not a lot stuck.”

One appeal approved: Linton partially won his appeal claiming the city did not adequately install pedestrian improvements along a nearly half-mile portion of Hollywood Boulevard that it resurfaced last year. The city said it will publish an “appeals resolution plan” to fix sidewalks there within the next six months. “It was really obvious to me that the city’s justification … was not true, so I was glad that that was acknowledged,” Linton said.

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton explains further.

Per the text of the Measure HLA ballot measure, the city does not have to implement its mobility plan if the city is only completing “restriping without other improvements.” This exemption is listed alongside pothole repairs, utility cuts, and emergency repairs. In the six appeals that the board voted to reject, the city did not “restripe” the existing configuration, but installed new lane striping to change traffic patterns, added parking, bike lanes, turn lanes, etc.

The appeals argued that these changes go beyond “restriping without other improvements.”

The city disagrees.

The city’s position appears to be more or less along the lines of: if a street reconfiguration project included installed pretty much any kind of lane striping, then it’s exempt from HLA because it’s considered “restriping without other improvements.”

In other words, the city is basically daring Linton to sue them, after he already filed one lawsuit over Metro’s failure to include the required bike lanes in the redesign of the Vermont Ave corridor — again, in his own capacity, and not as a representative of Streetsblog.

Four more appeals filed by Linton will be heard by the commission on Monday.

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Seattle ebike maker Rad Power Bikes says thanks, but no thanks, to the ebike battery recall ordered by the feds, arguing that such a massive recall would put them out of business.

Not that their prospects look too good right now, with or without it.

Meanwhile, a writer for a surf site puts tongue firmly in cheek to discuss the “grom immolation terror” brought on by the recall, while questioning why the Consumer Product Safety Commission is even still around following the Trump budget cuts. “Grom” being slang for a young or inexperienced surfer, and by extension, any inexperienced and/or overly enthusiastic teen — the opposite of what waits for me in the mirror every morning. And you’re welcome. 

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Thanks to the generosity of a fallen bicyclist’s family, all donations to Streets Are For Everyone will be matched dollar-for-dollar through the end of the year.

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

Cycling Weekly considers what it will take to turn down the hatred, opprobrium and vilification that bicyclists are subjected to on a near daily basis.

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Local 

Calbike examines how Metro’s Nina Kin, Tech Lead on LA Metro’s Digital Experience Team, is building more reliable data and trust for transit riders on bicycles, as Metro begins to recognize that transit and bikes are two “halves of the same promise.” And no, that’s not an exceptionally awkward and unwieldy job title at all.

Joe Linton, acting this time in his capacity as Streetsblog editor, offers an open thread and photos from Sunday’s Stranger Things 5 CicLAvia on Melrose Ave, where a good time was reportedly had by all, human and demogorgon alike.

Pasadena approved a contract of up to $4.8 million to move forward with a new design for the Pasadena Ave and St. John Ave Roadway Network Project, including a safer and more accessible bicycle and pedestrian network — without removing existing traffic lanes, of course.

Santa Monica announced plans for a Holiday Sweater Community Ride on Saturday, December 6th, offering guided bike tours of the Bergamot Area First/Last Mile Improvements, departing from the 17th Street/SMC Metro Station from 10 am to noon.

 

State

Evidently, those public radio budget cuts have hit hard, as San Diego public radio station KBPS is just now catching up with CARB’s heartless shiv through the heart of the California Ebike Incentive Program, while adding little or nothing to the story.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office urges parents to think twice before buying ebikes for their kids, warning that they can be held criminally liable for whatever mischief the little miscreants get up to with them. And once again, conflating electric dirt bikes and motorbikes with regular ped-assist ebikes, to the benefit of no one. 

The Kern County coroner identified the victim killed by a driver while riding his bike last week as an 81-year old man, who deserved better. Then again, so does anyone else who’s still riding at that age. 

Caltrans pushed bike lanes planned for a Tiburon street makeover back to 2029, after advocacy groups questioned limitations imposed by a school bus operator.

 

National

Vice examines hacks to safely store a bicycle in your apartment, and says ditch the backpack and try panniers, instead.

American voters approved nearly $2 billion in bicycling improvements sponsored by People For Bikes in the recent elections.

A pair of Congressional members introduced the bipartisan Bicycle Instruction, Knowledge, and Education (BIKE) Act, which would make bike safety education a standard part of youth learning nationwide.

A UK citizen married to a US resident was nabbed by immigration authorities while riding his bicycle in Montana, despite having a pending green card application.

 

International

A new study from the Journal of the Obesity Society suggests that evening is the best time for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity — like bicycling — to help improve and control your blood sugar. Note to Bicycling: If you intend to hide the story behind a paywall for subscribing members only, don’t leave a link to the story just above the blockage notice. And if the study is readily available, the story ain’t that exclusive.

The London Times examines how bicycles have changed lives for indigenous Colombian students and adults.

If you build it, they will come. Daily bicycling journeys in London are up 12.7 percent over last year, and 43 percent above pre-Covid levels.

A member of the British Parliament proposes legislation banning the annual World Naked Bike Ride, arguing that the country’s police can’t ignore “flashers on bikes.” Just wait until someone tells him about Lady Godiva.

A writer for Cycling Weekly imagines what the UK’s future could look like if the country could actually learn from the Netherlands. At this point, there just ain’t enough weed in the world to conjure up visions of an Amsterdam’ed Los Angeles. 

The New York Times talks with Dutch-Canadian author and advocate Melissa Bruntlett, co-writer with her husband Chris of the recently published Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation.

The New York Times also talks with French ultracyclist Sofiane Sehili, who spent 50 days in a Russian hoosegow after trying to cross the border despite Russian border guards refusal to acknowledge his previously approved visa, while attempting to set a new record for the fastest crossing of Eurasia.

 

Competitive Cycling

A sports website catches up with America’s other ex-Tour de France winner, turned whistleblower, turned weed entrepreneur, Floyd Landis.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get busted for illegally modifying a DIY ped-assist ebike to do nearly 40 mph. Now you, too, can buy grandma her very own $40,000 one-off bespoke bike.

And your next indoor exercise bike could be a giant, horned, spinning marble disk.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Metro board members propose rescue for open streets funding, and ebikes blamed in Hermosa Beach teen gang attack

November 25, 2025 / / No comments
Day 329 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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They get it.

While I was out of commission last week, Metro considered a bizarre plan that would have virtually eliminated open streets events for the next three years, other than events tied directly to the World Cup, and Olympic and Paralympic Games, and held within a narrow two-month window each year.

Even though each of the 51 CicLAvias held since October 10, 2010 have averaged more than 100,000 people experiencing the streets of Los Angeles County in a new way, many for the first time.

Not to mention the many Active Streets events hosted by Active SGV in the San Gabriel Valley, and others funded by Metro.

It’s a plan that would mean an end, at least temporarily, to most CicLAvia and  Active Streets events outside of that narrow window, with no guarantee that they would resume afterwards.

According to Steve Scauzillo of the Southern California News Group, writing in the Los Angeles Daily News,

At issue is a dramatic change in the way Metro intends to fund “open streets” events in the next three years. A true “open street” event is as it sounds: Allowing people on bicycles, scooters, skates, skateboards and pedestrians to ride or walk the asphalt streets free of cars for exercise, while stopping at booths for food and games within various neighborhoods of Los Angeles County…

This round of funding includes 29 events at a two-year cost of $10 million, according to Metro.

As of last week, LA Metro staff proposed funding “open street” and “slow street” events (limiting car access) squeezed into two months during the next three years: 2026, 2027 and 2028. The 29 events OK’d for funding coincide with the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in July 2026 and the LA Olympic and Paralympic Games in July 2028. All others were either rejected or ineligible for funding because they weren’t within that narrow time frame.

But riding to the rescue is a proposal supported by six of the 13 Metro board members, which would commit at least $1 million to fund other events that were rejected by Metro staff for falling outside that Copa Mundial and Olympic window.

And better yet, make that funding permanent.

The group includes LA County supervisors Lindsey Horvath, Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis, as well as CD5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, Whittier Councilmember and Metro Chair Fernando Dutra, and Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval.

By my math that leaves them just one vote short for the motion to carry. Bearing in mind that I was an English major, so my calculations may leave something to be desired.

Let’s hope they find it.

Because open streets events may be a relatively recent tradition here in Los Angeles. But they have quickly grown to be the largest in the US, and are far too valuable to sacrifice.

Even temporarily.

No guarantee the Daily News link won’t be blocked by their paywall, however. It was hidden the first time I tried to read the story, but not the second. So your luck may vary. 

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Once again, ebikes are in the news.

And not in a good way.

As usual, though, the press manages to conflate non-street legal electric dirt bikes and motorbikes with the far slower and tamer ped-assist ebikes.

In this case, it takes the form of a seemingly random violent attack by a gang of South Bay teens riding the former, which left a man in his 50s lying incapacitated in the street.

@bikinginla.bsky.social @streetsblogla.bsky.social This will end badly. The Beach Cities does have youth gangs who use e-bikes. But passerby may not be able to tell the difference between them and the vast majority of teens going about their business.

— Dr Grace Peng (@gspeng.bsky.social) 2025-11-25T02:52:29.978Z

This is a more nuanced story. Local eBike dealer pointed out that this gang rides illegal dirt bikes, not ebikes. These kids are known to school and local police. Parents that bought their boys illegal bikes seem not inclined to check their boys' behavior. @bikinginla.bsky.social

— Dr Grace Peng (@gspeng.bsky.social) 2025-11-25T03:14:13.842Z

The problem here is not ebikes, but gangs of teens engaged in random street violence.

But by painting ebikes with such a broad brush, these stories risk the general public confusing illegal electric motorbikes with the legal ped-assist bikes being rapidly adopted by countless bike commuters and recreational riders.

And risks a crackdown on all two-wheeled electric bikes, legal and otherwise — like this ordinance unanimously approved to clamp down on ebikes in Newport Beach, just the latest to be passed by a SoCal beach community (thanks to Ed for the heads-up).

So for the uninitiated — and that includes the overwhelming majority of news outlets out there — if they don’t have functional pedals, or travel faster that 28 mph, they’re mo-peds, motor scooters, motorbikes, motorcycles or dirt bikes, regardless of how they’re powered.

Or they just ain’t legal.

Period.

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Case in point, news broke yesterday that a 12-year old boy was injured in a hit-and-run while riding an ebike in Anaheim Sunday night.

Although video of the bike after the crash looks a lot more like an electric motorbike than an electric bicycle.

KNBC-4 reports the victim was hospitalized with “a broken leg and concussions.” Which suggests that he may have more than one head, since a single head can only suffer a single concussion in a single event.

The driver fled on foot after crashing his car about a block away. Police suspect he was under the influence based on undisclosed evidence found in the car.

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Our old friend Zachary Rynew shares his take on Sunday’s Stranger Things CicLAvia.

Which, had it occurred next year, wouldn’t have been funded under Metro’s proposed new restrictions, since it would have fallen outside of the World Cup schedule, and had no connection to the soccer/football tournament.

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Now that’s what I call a close call.

A man in India’s Uttar Pradesh province barely avoided becoming road kill when an out-of-control speeding bus slammed into the wall where he was parking his bicycle.

The crash injured 30 people; only his good reflexes saved him from being one of them.

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Evidently, you can transport a wheelbarrow by bicycle.

Saw this lad on my way to work
byu/jakobolobo incarryshitolympics

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

A writer for the Cornell University student paper highlights a problem experienced by bike riders almost everywhere, after bicycles are banned from the local Commons, forcing riders to choose between a busy highway and a “bike boulevard” consisting of a couple speed bumps and no protection.

A New Zealand politician complains about the “cruel” abuse she received online after posting about breaking her leg in a bicycling crash, asking “how can a human being write that to another person?” Welcome to our world, counselor. 

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Local 

As we mentioned last week, West Hollywood will host a mobility popup on Santa Monica Blvd from 5 pm to 7 pm tonight, including distributing free bike lights as part of BikeLA’s Operation Firefly.

 

State

Riverside County firefighters conducted an air rescue of an injured mountain biker, who crashed while riding off designated trails near Lake Elsinore.

 

National

Cycling News considers whether expensive bike lights are really worth that much more than the budget variety.

Velo selects the best Black Friday road and gravel bicycling deals. Which reminds me it’s time for my annual “fuck Black Friday” campaign. Seriously, just get out and ride your bike, and let everyone else fight the crowds, virtual or otherwise.

Formerly high-flying Seattle ebike maker Rad Power Bikes can’t catch a break as it continues to circle the drain, the latest blow coming in the form of a recall of the company’s ebike batteries, which the Consumer Product Safety Commission says pose a serious fire hazard.

Seatle’s annual Cranksgiving ride set a new record, with bicyclists collecting 6,540 pounds of donations for local food banks. Let’s hope the SoCal Cranksgiving editions were at least as successful, since some Thanksgiving Grinch stole 500 turkeys intended for a giveaway from a Lake Elsinore nonprofit. Thanks to Megan for the link. 

‘Tis the season. The Toys For Tots program in Bowling Green, Kentucky got a welcome surprise when they received a donation of 400 kids bikes, while expecting just a quarter of that.

That’s more like it. A 46-year old Florida man was sentenced to 12 years behind bars for the drunken crash that killed a 66-year old man riding a bicycle; he was also ordered to pay $750 for the victim’s funeral expenses.

 

International

A travel website highlights “the most grueling and unforgettable” bicycling routes on the planet, only one of which is even partially in the US.

No real surprise here, as no city in the UK or US is on the latest Copenhagenize list of the world’s top bicycling cities. Even if Minneapolis celebrates being ranked #44 in the world, and #2 in the US (insert scatological pun here).

A bike-touring Aussie writer discovers that South Korea is an undiscovered bicycling gem.

 

Competitive Cycling

Slovenian cycling star Tadej Pogačar denied rumors of an early retirement, saying his contract extends through 2030 and he intends to honor it.

Thirty-five-year old former Il Lombardia winner Esteban Chaves called it a career, saying he’s “very happy to close this chapter” of his life.

No real surprise here, as former cyclist and current team sprint coach Marcel Kittel says pro cycling is “absolutely not” clean. But the doping era is over, right?

Thirty-six-year old former Paris-Roubaix champ and current Canadian national road champ Alison Jackson has moved to a new team, saying she still has big ambitions and isn’t ready to leave the sport.

A petition calling for removing the Col de Sarenne from its inaugural appearance in the Tour de France has garnered more than 6,000 signatures, highlighting concerns that the mountain’s ecosystem is to fragile to host the final climbing stage of this year’s race.

 

Finally…

Who needs to be a car enthusiast when you’ve got a bicycle? Your next high-performance bike could be whittled from wood. That feeling when you steal a bike, and end up with someone’s grandma’s ashes.

And you, too, could have won Kraftwerk’s bicycle from the band’s 1984 Tour de France video for a mere $57,601.

If only you’d known about it.

Right?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

LA Public Works pulls fast one on HLA, private group examines CA ebike safety, and bike events on a rainy weekend

November 14, 2025 / / No comments
Day 318 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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This has been a very long and rough day, leaving me dead on my ass, because I don’t have the strength to get on my feet.

And Friday doesn’t promise to start any better. 

So we’re going to depart from our usual format to cover some breaking news and time-sensitive announcements today, and catch up on the rest of the news on Monday. 

Scout’s honor. 

Meanwhile, the forecast calls for some pretty heavy rain this weekend, especially on Saturday.

So if you can, stay home. But if you do have to ride your bike, make yourself as visible as possible, because drivers will have limited vision, and won’t expect anyone to be out on a bike in the rain. 

Also, be careful riding through flooded intersections. It can be hard to judge how deep they really are, and they can hide hidden objects like potholes and bodies.

Okay, maybe not bodies. Hopefully. 

Avoid bike paths along river channels. And be alert near burn scars from the January fires, which can be prone to flooding and mudflows. 

I want to see you back here Monday in one piece. 

………

Is the Los Angeles Board of Public Works trying to pull a fast one?

And I mean that literally.

Because the city’s ordinance implementing Measure HLA says they have to give ten days advance notice before hearing an appeal from someone accusing the city of violating the measure.

Yet they only sent out notification yesterday that seven appeals filed by Joe Linton in his personal capacity will be heard on Monday.

Which by my calculations works out to just four days. Then again, I was an English major, so math isn’t exactly my strong point.

Still, it’s a clear violation of the law, any way you count it.

But assuming they don’t care about that — and why would they, since they don’t seem to care about anything else having to do with HLA — the appeals are scheduled for Monday’s 10 am virtual meeting.

You can download the agenda here; just click on the Download button on the right of each agenda item for full details of each appeal.

They have already denied six of the seven complaints. On the seventh, they agreed there was a violation, but only promised to fix broken sidewalks, rather than adding the bike and pedestrian improvement required under HLA.

So it’s worth signing up for the meeting and commenting to demand they follow the requirements of HLA, which is now the law after passing with overwhelming support.

Because right now, it looks like the city is just daring us to sue them.

Again.

And not just for pulling a fast one.

………

This could be worth keeping an eye on.

A new statewide coalition funded by a grant from Honda will study “what makes ebikes dangerous and how to make them safer,” without simultaneously discouraging their use.

The California Independent Electric Mobility Council says they will meet six times before releasing recommendations for state and local governments.

Although it seems a little odd to have a set schedule for deciding what the problem with ebikes is, and what solutions there might be — unless maybe they’ve already decided and are just going through the motions.

And that’s assuming that ebikes really are dangerous. We still haven’t seen a study looking at rising ebike rates in the context of increasing ebike usage. Because it’s entirely possible that ebikes are no more dangerous than regular bicycles.

Because to my knowledge, no one has even looked at it, rather than just starting from the assumption that rising injury rates mean ebikes are bad.

There’s also the question of whether they will bother to distinguish between ped-assist ebikes, electric motorbikes and non-street legal dirt bikes, rather than lumping them all together.

You know, like everyone else does.

As a privately funded organization, they won’t be subject to California’s Brown Act, which guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in government meetings.

So we don’t know yet if any or all of those meetings will be public, and if we’ll even have a chance to offer any input.

I’m not saying this private coalition is a bad thing. It could yield some very positive results.

But there are still a lot of questions we need answered.

………

BikeLA, nee Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, says their annual Bike Fest will take place tomorrow rain or shine. And right now, that looks like rain.

 

Rain or shine — BikeFest 2025 is on!

Good news: Rain or shine, BikeFest is happening this Saturday, November 15, from 12–3 p.m. Thanks to Highland Park Brewery, we’ll be shifting the party indoors as the weather turns, so the celebration is fully covered!

We’ll still be hosting free bike valet for anyone who rides, so bring your bike and pedal on over. And don’t forget to dress for a little rain–jackets and rain-ready gear encouraged!

Join us for a Pedal-Powered Party featuring:

  • Free bike valet
  • One beer or non-alcoholic drink
  • A commemorative BikeLA bandana

️ Our largest-ever bike-themed silent auction, with gear from Spurcycle, Patagonia, Yakima, Tern, Road Runner Bags, ABUS, Kryptonite, and more.

The auction is live now, so you can start bidding today!

Come celebrate with us and support BikeLA’s mission to make L.A. a safer, more connected place to ride.

Meanwhile, Bike Long Beach is hosting a feeder ride to Bike Fest in the morning.

Bike LA Bike Fest annual fundraiser

It’s that time again! Bike LA’s Bike Fest happy hour annual fundraiser is this Saturday and once again we’re riding from Long Beach. Come join us as we head to DTLA for an unforgettable day where bike-minded people come together, celebrate, and keep the movement moving. This time we’re riding all the way there via the LA river trail, about 22 miles. For the ride back we can do the same route in reverse, or you can hop on Metro and ride the A line back to Long Beach.

Everyone is welcome on any bike, but keep in mind that due to the distance it’s not a beginners ride. Make sure you’re okay with a ride of this length.

Start: Wardlow station, Wardlow Ave and Pacific Pl.
Meet time: 9:00 a.m., roll at 9:30 a.m.
End: Highland Park Brewery, 1220 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Distance: 22 miles, via the LA river trail.

If you want to attend Bike Fest but rather not ride all the way there, you can take Metro! The venue is very close to the Chinatown station.

………

Streets For All is hosting a discussion Monday night on the future of cities, and how to free ourselves from car culture.

Please.

Freeing ourselves from car culture — live in LA

We’re just a few days away from welcoming The War on Cars hosts for a lively and humorous discussion about their national bestseller, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile.

Join us Monday, November 17th at Dynasty Typewriter for an evening on the future of cities, featuring:

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez
️ Alissa Walker (Torched.la)
Bill Wolkoff (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

️ Get your tickets now — they’re going fast!
Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd
7:30pm (VIP reception at 6pm for Members Club)

Cleverhood giveaway -> Attend for a chance to win branded merch! A winner will be drawn at random. Choose either a Streets For All Rover 2.0 Cape or Streets for All Anorak.
(Benefit from a 15% discount on gear anytime online)

Don’t miss it!

See you there,
Streets For All

BUY TICKETS!
Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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. 

………

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.  

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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 / / Comments Off on Attempted murder of OC bike rider, murder counts for intentional NJ hit-and-run, and kiss LA River path gap closure goodbye
Day 275 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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

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

……….

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.

………

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.

……… 

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 / / Comments Off on Woman injured jumping from DTLA ebike fire, WeHo cuts Fountain speeds, and SF bike rider collateral damage for YouTuber
Day 272 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

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.

……….

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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?

……… 

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 / / Comments Off on Support pedestrianized 6th Street & wider bike lanes tomorrow, and building SaMo’s “Great Wall of Shitty Rental Bikes”
Day 252 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

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.”

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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. 

………

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