Tag Archive for LADOT

Sunday memorial for pregnant Playa crash victim and baby, comment on LA speed cam pilot, and bikes boost testosterone

February 20, 2026 / / No comments

Apparently, we jumped the gun yesterday.

Yesterday’s post featured a Twitter/X post announcing a Thursday night ghost bike memorial for 36-year old Google executive, mom, wife and expectant mother Regan Cole-Graham, who was killed by a 87-year old driver while riding with her husband and two young sons in Playa del Rey earlier this month.

So my apologies to anyone who showed up last night expecting to honor her.

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, will host a memorial and ghost bike installation for Cole-Graham and her unborn daughter, who the couple named Ophelia, at 10 am this Sunday.

It will be held at the site of the crash, at 8415 Pershing Drive.

I’ve written about a lot of sad things over the nearly two decades I’ve been doing this. But I can’t recall any that have hit me any harder.

Meanwhile, an op-ed by Jonathan Hale, described as a community activist and founder of People’s Vision Zero, says the deaths of Regan and Ophelia Cole-Graham suggests it’s time to rethink the Westside’s knee-jerk opposition to traffic safety.

Cole-Graham family photo from the GoFundMe page for Regan Cole-Graham, which has raised over $287,000 of the now $300,000 goal.

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Speaking of SAFE, you can’t blame the organization for taking a small victory lap following LADOT’s announcement that they are finally ready for public comment on the city’s speed cam pilot program, after months of inaction.

Let’s hope they have at least one planned for Deadly del Mar.

According to LADOT,

On February 11, LADOT officially began a 30-day public review and comment period of the upcoming Speed Safety Systems Program Pilot.

Angelenos will have the opportunity to review the program’s policies and proposed locations of 125 speed safety systems, which are set to be placed in every council district. This is your time to ask the department questions and offer feedback on the pilot program’s policies, meaningfully contributing to the process of making our city safer, together.

Click here to provide an official public comment on LADOT’s Report to Council

To confront rising traffic deaths and injuries, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is launching a Speed Safety Systems Program pilot across the city. The pilot program seeks to curb speeding and dangerous driving activity to make our city safer. But they can’t do it alone.

Speeding is one of the leading causes of serious injuries and deaths on our streets. In Los Angeles, around one in five fatal crashes in the city were directly attributed to speeding in 2024.

How to Submit Public Comment

You know your neighborhoods best. Your voices are essential to ensuring this program reflects community needs and advances our shared goal of safer streets for everyone.

The full program policies and recommendations are available on LADOT’s website.

To submit comments on the program, please do so through the council file. You can also send questions regarding the program to LADOT staff by replying to this email at ladot.speedsafety@lacity.org.

Thank you for your time and consideration during the process of this critical pilot program launch. Together, we can make our streets safer and reduce traffic deaths.

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The not always bike-friendly London Times reports a small study has found that bicycling boosts testosterone levels in middle-aged men.

That’s in addition to other well known benefits such as burning fat, lowing cholesterol and boosting your immune system.

However, as with any limited study, the question is whether researchers will get the same result testing 2,800 men as they did with these 28.

Or 28,000.

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

No bias here. Nearly two-thirds of Chicago’s aldermen voted against a proposed ordinance that would have allowed private citizens to report commercial vehicles blocking bus lanes, bus stops and bikeways.

Ireland’s bus drivers union gets its Irish up calling for mandatory hi-viz for bike riders, insisting it would make the roads safer by making us easier to see. Even though people still manage to crash into such hi-viz items as road signs, bridges and emergency vehicles.

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

A British website places its metaphorical tongue deep inside its metaphorical cheek to criticize lycra-clad bicyclists who insist on riding in the streets instead of using bike lanes, which apparently takes all the fun and jeopardy out of it. But maybe the just do it because the bike lane is closed at one end and blocked by a parked van on the other.

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Local 

A Los Angeles jury rejected a lawsuit alleging that an LAPD officer was intentionally killed by another cop during a 2022 bicycle training exercise at the police academy.

Santa Monica’s “Bicycle Nomad” is on a mission to honor Black history by riding historical trails across the country, such as tracing the route of the famed Buffalo soldiers, and the Underground Railroad.

The Loyola Marymount University student newspaper reports campus theft has returned to pre-pandemic levels, with thieves snatching everything from laptops to Labubus — including almost as many bicycles and skateboards as motor vehicles.

 

State

Redland’s new 3.8-mile segment of the Santa Ana River Trail is just a small part of what will eventually be a 110-mile pathway.

 

National

Road.cc reports US-based private equity giant KKR has lost its shirt, if not its ass, placing a $2.2 billion bet on bicycling by buying the Accell Group, parent company of Raleigh, Babboe, Lapierre and several other bike brands, losing all their initial equity plus another $1.36 billion since the 2022 takeover.

A Medford, Oregon man who designs riding routes for his bike club makes the case for why the city needs to do more to improve the safety of its streets.

That’s more like it. New Mexico’s state legislature passed a bill requiring student drivers to take a course on bicycle and pedestrian safety before they can get a license.

If you build it, they will come. Manhattan’s bike lanes and congestion pricing seem to be having the intended effect, as bicycle ridership over New York’s East River bridges has reached an all-time high for the fifth consecutive year.

A Philadelphia paper has honored the “tattooed, middle-aged hairstylist” who revived the Philadelphia Cycling Classic as their Citizen of the Week. Which sounds a tad 1984-ish, but still.

Sure, let’s go with that. A South Carolina woman was arrested for a hit-and-run that left a bike rider with a broken leg, as well as cuts and abrasions, insisting she had no idea she had crashed into someone because she was busy looking down at her phone and thought she just hit a sign; she was not charged with DUI, despite appearing “grossly intoxicated” when police arrested her two hours later. Never mind that distracted driving is illegal in South Carolina. Or that most rational people would have at least stopped to check for damage if they thought they’d hit something.

 

International

Cycling Weekly reports that a new, admittedly complicated tire level could solve the problem of mounting stiff tires once and for all. Unless you’re left-handed, in which case you’re screwed.

A picture of a flooded UK street looks like it could have been taken in LA yesterday.

If you build it, they will come, part two. In an annoyingly paywalled story, a Scottish paper reports that for the first time, there were more bicycles than cars on a Glasgow street during both the morning and evening peak rush hours. But at least the first two paragraphs are worth reading. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Former pro Phil Gaimon says he’s got leaked information detailing the full route of the road cycling race for the 2028 Olympics, and says he couldn’t have designed a better course himself.

But will he be on the side of the road handing out fresh cookies to the competitors? Only time will tell.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re planning to ride every stage of the Tour de France at 60 years old — despite a hip replacement and cancer diagnosis. Or when you take part in an unsanctioned, underground anti-Super Bowl bike race.

And lots of people ride with their dogs, but how many ride the entire Left Coast towing a 350-pound, life-size fiberglass rhinoceros?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Killer distracted hit-and-run driver gets out after less than 1/3rd of sentence; LADOT wants thoughts on Sunset/Cesar Chavez

February 13, 2026 / / No comments

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

The mother of fallen Corona bike rider Benjamin Montalvo has received word that the hit-and-run driver who killed her son is getting out of prison six and a half years early.

Twenty-eight-year old Neomi Velado was sentenced to nine years behind bars after she was convicted of felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit-and-run causing death.

She was busy texting her boyfriend when she slammed into Montalvo’s bicycle back in 2020, after reportedly drinking and smoking weed; it was her fourth distracted driving crash, which alone should have justified a murder charge.

But by fleeing the scene, she gave herself enough time to sober up before her mom convinced her to turn herself in — but only after she had replaced her windshield to hide evidence of the crime, and driven to work the next day.

And was photographed partying with her boyfriend in Las Vegas shortly afterwards. Apparently, taking the life of an innocent man didn’t do much to dampen her spirits.

Montalvo’s mother is appealing to Governor Newsom to halt the early release. She is also supporting Senate Bill 907, which would add gross vehicular manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated to the state’s list of violent felonies, which would allow sentences to be reduced by just 15%.

The fact that they aren’t already considered violent felonies would be impossible to believe if this wasn’t California, where even the most egregious motor vehicle collisions are still just considered “oopsies.”

The bill would also require a Watson notice anytime a DUI is knocked down to hit-and-run, allowing drivers to be charged with 2nd degree murder if they kill anyone while driving under the influence again.

Although they should also require a Watson notice after a first-time distracted driving conviction, so the driver could face a murder count if they kill someone while driving distracted again.

Let alone a fourth time.

Instead, we once again allowed a demonstrably dangerous driver to remain on the streets until it was too late.

And even then, shamefully let her go with a relative slap on the wrist.

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.

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LADOT is conducting yet another survey, this time to consider changes to the Sunset/Cesar Chavez corridor.

Sunset/Chavez Safety and Mobility Project
We want to hear from you! Take our survey for a chance to win a $50 gift card!

The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is kicking off a new planning effort to improve safety and mobility along Sunset Blvd and Cesar Chavez Ave, between Fountain Ave and Alameda St. This major corridor connects neighborhoods across the city to key destinations such as Dodger Stadium, LA State Historic Park, Chinatown, Olvera Street, Union Station, and Downtown LA – Today there are critical gaps in the transportation network and ongoing safety concerns for people walking, biking, and taking public transit along the corridor.

At this stage, LADOT is focused on understanding the full range of issues people experience along Sunset Blvd and Cesar Chavez Ave. We are especially interested in hearing from community members about safety concerns, access challenges, and ideas for how the street could function better for everyone. LADOT wants your input to better understand the full range of issues experienced along Sunset Blvd and Cesar Chavez Ave to ensure the project reflects the community’s needs. Please take our survey to share your experience along the corridor and let us know how the corridor can be improved for all road users.

The survey is available until Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in English, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese.

Survey participants will be entered into an opportunity drawing for a chance to win a $50 gift card.

Take the Survey by Tuesday, March 31, 2026

 

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Metro will host an All The Love Community Ride to mark Valentines Day tomorrow.

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

Um, okay. A columnist for the London Telegraph calls for all of us “selfish” bike riders to be forced to wear license plates, arguing that drivers are ‘”terrified” by “egomaniac” bicyclists with “absolutist green agenda.”‘ Maybe we should just rivet a license onto our bike shorts. Or jeans. Or whatever the hell you ride in. 

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Nope, nothing to see here, either. 

 

National

A Las Vegas police station swings into action when a viewer complained about the broken HAWK beacons on a rail trail bike path crossing.

A 100km — 62 mile — ride connecting the Tucson area’s three Costcos has become an annual tradition for the University of Arizona medical school, and sparked conversations that have led to new areas of research.

The head of a Denver design firm makes the case for why the city’s protected bikeways provide a year-round return on investment. When I lived in Denver back in the Dark Ages, I could ride my bike across most of the city without ever riding in the street. And did year round, unless it snowed. In which case I used the same paths to ski to work. 

People For Bikes marks Black History Month, without mentioning it, by celebrating the North Omaha Trail, saying it connects communities while centering its culture, in the birthplace of Malcom X.

Two weeks after bike riders around the world honored slain Minneapolis mountain biker and VA nurse Alex Pretti, a moment-by-moment video analysis by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul showed that Pretti made no aggressive movements or tried to resist ICE officers in any way, and did nothing to justify the shooting that killed him.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani will announce plans today to re-reverse his predecessor’s decision to reverse plans for bus and bike lanes. Got that?

Florida cops conducted a full-blown police chase, complete with helicopter, and eventually took the miscreant into custody — a 14-year old kid on an ebike.

 

International

Travel site Islands takes a look at Montreal, after Copenhagenize named it the most bike friendly city in North America. Which oddly, is not an island. But still. 

A BBC radio host will ride a tandem most of the way across the UK, but not quite, to raise funds for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day.

You’ve got to be kidding. In a story that’s equal parts heartbreaking and infuriating, a 58-year Korean man walked without a day behind bars for using a choke chain to drag his dog to death behinds his ebike, while leaving a half-mile streak of bloodstains from the dog’s bleeding paws. Maybe someone should put the judge in a choke chain and make him run barefoot behind an ebike for an hour on an 82° night. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The first stage of Spain’s Andalucía Bike Race has been called on account of rain.

 

Finally…

Your next taillight could use AI to scare the crap out of you when a car comes too close. Your next bike could trace the history of Trek.

And we may have to deal with some real snakes behind the wheel. But a real Burmese Python, not so much.

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See you at Santa Anita Park on Sunday, when our spokescorgi will compete in the Winter Corgi Nationals. 

We’ll be easy to spot. We’ll be the ones with the corgi. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Long Beach traffic deaths doubled since 2015; LADOT installed pathetic 30 lane miles of bikeways, ignores Vision Zero

January 22, 2026 / / No comments

Welcome to our world.

Traffic fatalities in Long Beach have more than doubled in the ten years since the city vowed to eliminate traffic deaths within a decade, rising to the highest level in the last ten years.

That corresponds with the City of Los Angeles, which adopted a Vision Zero program that promised to end traffic deaths by last year.

And you know how that worked out.

Now LA’s Vision Zero is a forgotten program, trotted out only when the city wants to assure us that they are really, truly doing something to reduce traffic violence, without actually holding themselves accountable for it.

Like Los Angeles, most of Long Beach’s traffic deaths have been inflicted on people who weren’t encased in a couple tons of steel and glass.

According to the Long Beach Post story in the above link,

Their greatest toll has been on people outside of cars. Last year, 32 people were killed while walking, biking or riding an e-scooter. That eclipses the number of people murdered here last year: 29.

At least in LA, it’s only the total number of traffic deaths that exceeds the city’s murders.

Photo by Zariflavin from Pexels.

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LADOT has released their 2026 Annual Report, touting their usual list of successes for the past year, modest though they may be.

Including a rather underwhelming, if not pathetic, total of 31 lane miles of new bikeways installed during the last fiscal year. Which includes 1.3 lane miles of sharrows, which studies have shown are literally worse than nothing.

So make it a little less than 30 miles.

And since lane miles count each side of the roadway separately, that amounts to less than 15 miles out of the city’s 6,642 miles of city streets.

Just 0.23 percent.

I also challenge you to find a single mention of Vision Zero anywhere in the report.

If you can, you’re a better reader than I am.

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Interesting idea.

An Idaho legislator is trying to close a loophole in the law, after a judge dismissed a case where a driver hit an ebike rider.

According to the judge, the law in Idaho defines a bicycle as a “human-powered” vehicle, and it wasn’t clear to his or her honor if an ebike is actually human powered.

And that’s the problem. Some ebikes are human powered with an electrical assist, while others are strictly throttle controlled, or a combination thereof.

So defining an ebike as human powered could be the solution to the current dilemma of cities cracking down on ped-assist ebike riders for the problems caused by people on electric motorbikes and dirt bikes.

Something which was made clear by New Jersey’s new law that requires a driver’s license and registration to ride even the slowest ped-assist bike.

Meanwhile, Vermont legislators say the state’s ebike laws can’t keep up with technical advances leading to ebikes that can easily exceed the state’s 28 mph limit.

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We mentioned last month that you can, in fact, use an HSA/FSA — Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account — to buy an new bicycle or ebike, as well as bike gear, using pretax dollars, resulting in an average savings of 30%.

Now Marvin forwards word that Trumed will be the source you’ll have to use.

He adds,

The reason I really like this is because it supports the middle class. if I was poor, I could get help purchasing an e-bike. If I was rich, I could get help purchasing an EV. Finally, with FSA/HSA benefits, I can finally qualify for something that helps me.

The only downside I see is that no one can establish a new or add to an existing FSA/HSA until Nov 2026.

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Streets Are For Everyone will hold a die-in on the steps of City Hall this Saturday to protest the unacceptable level of traffic violence in this city.

In 2025 alone, 286 people were killed on our streets — deaths that were preventable.

This Saturday, SAFE and partner nonprofits will gather to honor lives lost and demand action after a decade-old City pledge to eliminate traffic deaths was missed.

4th Annual Die-In for Safer Streets
📍 LA City Hall Steps, 232 N. Spring Street
🕙 Saturday, January 24 | 10:00–11:00 AM

Signing up is appreciated, but walk-ups to the event without signing up are also welcome.

Lives are on the line. Inaction is no longer acceptable.

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Streets for All invites you to register for all their upcoming mobility debates/discussions this month.

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Local 

The LA Chinatown Firecracker will be back for the 48th consecutive year on weekend of February 28-March 1, marking the lunar new year with running, walking, bicycling and dog walking events.

Glendale is very slowly moving forward with plans for the Glendale-Los Angeles Garden River Bridge Project, a landscaped bridge, currently in the environmental review stage, connecting with Griffith Park across the LA River.

Santa Monica police will conduct yet another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation tomorrow, as usual, ticketing anyone who commits a violation that endangers either one — even if you’re only endangering yourself, at least in their eyes.

 

State

A San Diego bike shop owner is still trying to cope with Trump’s tariffs, after a near year of uncertainty.

Residents of San Diego’s Pacific Beach neighborhood are calling for safety improvements following the death of six-year old Hudson O’Laughlin, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he and his family were riding bikes on the sidewalk — even though all the previous traffic calming measures introduced in recent years were removed following complaints from residents.

A travel website says Northern California’s Forest of Nisene Marks State Park is “a rather secluded and uncrowded haven” for hiking or biking surrounded by towering redwoods.

 

National

A nine-year old Washington State boy got a new bicycle from a local group after his broke down, nominated for his leadership and friendship to others — and he immediately named it for his favorite soccer star.

A Texas family is coping with the grief of losing a baby by attempting a long-distance bike ride to raise funds to support families facing high-risk pregnancies. Although how long they consider long-distance isn’t clear.

That’s more like it. Students, faculty and employees of Cincinnati’s Xavier University can now use the city’s bikeshare system for free.

 

International

Road.cc recommends the year’s best road bikes.

Cyclist offers recommendations on the best insulated water bottles. Which I misread as “the best insulted water bottles,” which would make for a much more interesting article.

Tragic news from Peru, where 29-year old Florian Berg was killed by lightening on Saturday when the German climate activist was caught in a severe thunderstorm in the Andes, after more than a year spent riding around the world.

Next City says Victoria, British Columbia is one of the best bike cities not traditionally known for it, after tripling its rate of bicycling in just 11 years. Although they can’t seem to spell Victoria correctly. Or British, for that matter. 

A Scotsman resigned from the rat race, quitting his high-stress job as a communications director for a renewable energy company for a much calmer career fixing bicycles. As I know all too well after a career in advertising, the problem with the rat race is the rats usually win. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Denmark’s Tobias Lund Andresen outsprinted the sprinters to win the first stage of the Tour Down Under.

Bike Radar asked the pros at the Tour Down Under how to make pro cycling safer, and was told the solution is slower bikes and safer courses.

The first stage of India’s Tour of Pune was temporarily halted due to a crash involving around 30 riders; fortunately, no one was seriously injured, though three riders were forced to withdraw.

French cyclist Simeon Sebastien Green is still competing at twice the age of many his competitors.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re a legendary British DJ, and the best bike ride of your life started in West Hollywood. Or when the local golf club is infested with ebikes of the non-bicycle variety.

And waxing eloquent about a blue touring bike bought on an informed impulse — for the equivalent of just 270 bucks.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

SAFE takes Long Beach and Los Angeles to task for failing on speed cams, and how to request improvement on county roads

December 9, 2025 / / Comments Off on SAFE takes Long Beach and Los Angeles to task for failing on speed cams, and how to request improvement on county roads
Day 343 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It’s Day 12 of the 11th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Brian, Kathleen, Steven and Lisa for their generous support for SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy!

So what are you waiting for? It only takes a few clicks to donate via PayPal, Zelle or Venmo, and guarantee our spokescorgi will find a little kibble in her stocking this year.

And yes, that’s the same photo of our official spokescorgi that we used yesterday, because it’s after 4 in the damn morning and I want to go to sleep, already. 

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Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is also conducting a year-end fund drive, and more than deserving of a few bucks.

Or maybe more than a few.

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Speaking of SAFE, the organization takes Glendale, Los Angeles and Long Beach to task, along with Oakland and San Jose, for failing to implement the state’s speed cam pilot program, over two years after it was signed into law.

Only San Francisco has actually placed speed cams on the streets, getting a 100% A+ grade in SAFE’s scoring system, while seeing a dramatic decrease in speeding where the cameras have been installed.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, gets a D grade, with Long Beach only slightly better at D+.

Although, while I can’t speak to Long Beach, that’s probably being undeservedly kind towards LA.

Malibu, which was added to the plan a year later as residents clamored for speed cams on deadly PCH, has done much better at implementing the program, already achieving a B+ in SAFE’s scoring.

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Thanks to Luc for forwarding a response from LA County on how to request safety signage or other improvements on country roads.

Report a Problem: Bike Path:
Hi – Not a problem but a proactive measure to enforce safety for all. Now that the Rockstore section on Mulholland is finally open to all traffic:
Who do I ask for a sign to be placed showing to “share the road with cyclists”?
Thank you!

Answer:
Thank you for contacting the website for Los Angeles County Public Works. We provide services to the unincorporated areas of L.A. County. Your concerns have been forwarded to the Traffic Investigator for the subject location, who should be contacting you shortly. You may also contact them at 626-300-4848.

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LADOT wants your feedback on the South Broadway Mobility Project, as well as input to help shape their upcoming Mobility Action Plan.

And no, “more protected bike lanes everywhere” is probably not quite what they’re looking for.

But still.

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Gravel Bike California discovers some some hidden trails and camps in the Verdugo Mountains in the inaugural Tour de Dugo.

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

Once again, business owners try to shoot themselves in the foot, protesting new curb-protected bike lanes in Chicago while alleging they were losing business after just 45 days, even though studies show protected bike lanes usually result in increased sales if they just give it a little time.

New York Streetsblog examines everything that’s wrong with a judge’s order to rip out a Queens bike lane, accusing her of overstepping her jurisdiction.

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Local 

LAist offers more details on the $10.5 million Complete Streets makeover of Huntington Drive, which adds bus lanes, curb-protected bike lane, wide sidewalks and a narrow median, while removing a traffic lane in each direction.

Bikeshare is booming at UCLA, where students and staff took roughly 15,000 Metro Bike trips last year, including nearly 6,500 trips on campus.

Burbank Bike Angels will hold their annual celebration tomorrow at Burbank City Hall to display hundreds of new and restored bicycles that will be donated to local children.

 

State

Carlsbad became the second city in San Diego’s North County area to crack down on ebikes, including restrictions on where they can be ridden.

A Fresno driver was on the wrong side of the roadway when he struck and killed a 51-year old anthropology professor three years ago as she was riding with three other bicyclists, according to a woman riding with her; the 50-year old driver faces a vehicular manslaughter charge, as well as a couple misdemeanors for her death.

This is the cost of traffic violence. Yesterday we mentioned that someone riding a bicycle was killed by a driver on the famed Pebble Beach 17 Mile Drive; today we learned the victim was a 66-year old former professor from CSU Monterey Bay, who founded the school’s Service Learning Institute and led it for 25 years.

A 24-year old man pled not guilty to DUI and hit-and-run charges in San Mateo County, after he allegedly hit a 15-year old boy riding an ebike in a bike lane, and dragged the kid several blocks before crashing into a couple parked cars; police found half gram of meth and 14 empty beer cans in his car after the crash. No word on how the boy is doing, but he can’t be good after that.

 

National

Momentum recommends the best rail trails in the US for “cycling bliss.” None of which are anywhere near Los Angeles, of course. 

San Antonio, Texas is proposing a $67 million plan to remove a lane in each direction from a seven-lane roadway, while adding wider sidewalks and a bike path.

An Illinois bill would create a 15 mph speed limit on all bike paths in the state for all bicycles, as well as low-speed ebikes, low-speed gas bicycles, motor-driven cycles and mopeds.

The New Jersey legislature advanced a bill that would reclassify all ebikes, including ped-assist bikes, as motorized bicycles, and require a drivers license for anyone over 17 to operate one, or a motorized bicycle license for anyone 15 to 16. A perfect example of how lumping all forms of electric bikes, including motorbikes and dirt bike, together as ebikes can result in a crackdown that harms everyone.

High school students in Tampa, Florida worked with a local legislator to file a bill requiring bike helmets for all ebike riders under the age of 18. Although bike helmets aren’t designed to protect against the speeds many e-motorbikes and dirt bikes are capable of achieving. 

 

International

Speaking of Momentum, the magazine updates their list of the world’s worst bike lanes. Oddly, Los Angeles doesn’t make the list, but San Diego does. Twice. 

‘Tis the season. Volunteers in Winnipeg, Manitoba reclaimed and refurbished 350 bicycles headed for the landfill to donate to local children in need.

No surprise here, as officials say a new $26 million bike path connecting a Northamptonshire, England railway station to the town center will offer “enormous benefits,” as well as “a safer and greener environment for everyone.”

They know us so well. The UK’s CyclingElectric offers their list of the best Christmas gifts for ebike riders and bicyclists, including a local craft beer. Sign me up, Santa. 

Amsterdam considers a ban on fat-tired ebikes, hoping that restrictions on tire widths will substitute for a ban based on engine power or potential speeds.

A South African appeals court called for a new inquest into the 2016 death of a woman who fell off a cliff while mountain biking with her husband, after a magistrate had ruled that her husband was implicated in her death “on the face of it,” without hearing any testimony; she supposedly fell when he turned his back after stopping to take a photo.

Chinese authorities took nearly $1.6 million worth of fake Specialized bike parts off the market, while tracing the counterfeits back to the factories that made them.

An “everyday athlete” from Australia rode his bike over 2,600 miles across the continent. Or rather, two bikes, after his original bike was stolen as he slept in his one-man tent.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly examines the disturbing trend of young cyclists giving up on the sport.

 

Finally…

Now even the gods are out to get us. It may not be such a long way to Tipperary soon.

And apparently, you’re not the only one who tosses your valve caps.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Reporting on LA’s crumbling infrastructure, weaseling out of HLA, and comparing street users to bloody gang warfare

December 4, 2025 / / Comments Off on Reporting on LA’s crumbling infrastructure, weaseling out of HLA, and comparing street users to bloody gang warfare
Day 338 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It’s Day 7 of the 11th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Bernard, Michael, another Michael, Catherine and Patrick for their generous support to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. Along with one donation specifically earmarked for corgi treats. 

So what are you waiting for? It only takes a few moments to donate via PayPal, Zelle or Venmo. 

Our Fund Drive spokesdog is standing by. 

………

Don’t count on it.

My News LA reports the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a proposal requiring city departments to report back on what they need to fix the city’s crumbling infrastructure.

The measure gives the departments 60 days to return with a “comprehensive analysis of funding, staffing and resources needed to address deteriorating public infrastructure and bring the city up to industry standards,” including “repair, replacement, maintenance and timely inspection of bike lanes, curb cuts, sidewalks, street trees, storm drains and street lights.”

Like the street lights on my street, which were stripped by thieves for copper wire. And the city says they’ll get around to fixing in six months, at best.

You mean, like that.

But if past is prologue, that 60 day deadline will likely slip by weeks, if not months. If they actually respond at all.

Experience tells us that no one is likely hold them to that commitment. And whatever reports are returned are unlikely to move the needle much.

Because one thing Los Angeles does best is study problems. But never actually, you know, do anything about them.

………

Good on them.

Streets For All takes Mayor Bass, LADOT and the Board of Public Works to task for trying to weasel out of their obligations under Measure HLA, as we reported yesterday.

Let’s hope someone actually listens this time.

Meanwhile, Streetsblog’s Damien Newton has more on the city’s ongoing efforts to not comply with the simple requirements of the street safety measure passed overwhelmingly by Los Angeles voters.

Not that that seems to matter to city officials.

………

The police chief of Gulf Shores, Alabama says the simple competition between various groups for space on the streets is nothing but a “good old-fashioned turf war.”

Not having stuck his far enough into his mouth, he continued,

“Not your traditional turf war. We could call the e-bikers the Crips, the pedestrians the Bloods, the bicyclists the Gangster Disciples and the motorists Mammoth-13. Name your gang.”

First of all, there is no street gang called Mammoth-13. I can only guess he meant MS-13, short for Mara Salvatrucha. Which tells you how much experience he has with actual gangs.

And while there are inevitable conflicts between various street streets users, particularly in a small beach town with limited road space, I’m not aware of much intentional bloodshed on the roadways.

According to Wikipedia, an estimated 20,000 people have been killed in gang warfare between the Bloods and Crips since their founding in the 1970s, the overwhelming majority of those deaths purely intended.

And that’s just as of 2014.

I have no idea how many people have been killed in that supposed “gang warfare” between pedestrians, bicyclists, ebikers and drivers in Gulf Shores. But I suspect the number may be just a tad lower.

Which is not to minimize the dangers of traffic violence, let alone the incidents of violent road rage.

But comparing people competing for road space to actual gang warfare just doesn’t play in a city like Los Angeles, where far too young lives have been snuffed out over the past five decades just because someone was wearing the wrong colors, or crossed into the wrong neighborhood.

Never mind that the overwhelming majority of killing on our streets — and presumably, his — is done by just one of those so-called “gangs” he’s so worried about.

The one in cars.

And that’s the one gang he doesn’t suggest doing anything about. Unlike bikes, ebikes, scooters and pretty much any other kind of non-motor vehicle conveyance, including feet.

So maybe he needs to just deal with the situation by calling for more bike lanes and crosswalks, and leave metaphors to people who actually know what they’re talking about.

Which is a polite way of saying get your fucking head out of your ass already, chief.

………

You’d think all those drivers stuck in traffic would catch on after a while.

But nope.

………

UCLA’s bruins4bettertransit teams with LADOT to conduct their own race to determine whether bikes, buses or cars provide the fastest means to get from campus to the E Line station.

My money’s on the bike.

Even without the long-debated bike lanes that would make it even easier, and safer.

………

………

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

No bias here. A Silicon Valley news site reports that bicycle advocates in Sunnyvale scored a victory over disgruntled neighbors, after the city council voted to eliminate parking on one street to make room for buffered bike lanes, framing the issue as “us versus them,” rather than a matter of improving safety for everyone.

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

A Massachusetts woman suffered a shattered left ankle and torn right knee when she was thrown from her horse when a bike rider cut across her path and spooked the eight-year old horse, which then had to be put down.

………

Local 

Caltrans is improving sidewalks and resurfacing a stretch of Alvarado Street in Echo Park, which already has shared bus/bike lanes, and building 1.7 miles of new bus/bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood.

Torched enjoys the recent Stranger Things Melrose CicLAvia, while pondering the upside down need for corporate sponsorships for all things LA, including open streets.

We’re not the only ones holding an end-of-the-year fundraiser. Streetsblog is holding a fund drive through the end of this month, so toss ’em a few extra bucks, too.

Volunteers from the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition delivered turkeys and other Thanksgiving fixin’s to the Friends in Deed nonprofit to feed people experiencing homelessness or vulnerability.

 

State

Irvine and Newport Beach joined the parade of Orange County cities cracking down on ebikes, following similar action in Stanton, Huntington Beach, Yorba Linda, Orange and Buena Park.

Carlsbad became the latest San Diego County beachfront city to crack down on ebikes, banning riders under 12, and asking the state to prohibit anyone under 16 from carrying passengers on the back. Although like the Orange County cities, they don’t seem to distinguish between ped-assist bikes and electric motorbikes and dirt bikes. 

‘Tis the season. For the 22nd year, elementary school children in Victorville received new bicycles courtesy of a local nonprofit program.

This is who we share the road with. A heartless hit-and-run driver slammed into a group of families crossing a San Bernardino street, dragging a baby stroller down the block and severely injuring two little kids. Yes, a baby stroller.

 

National

Kindhearted Oregon cops dipped into their own pockets, combined with a steep discount from a local bike shop, to replace a bike for a middle school boy after his was stolen.

More proof bikes are good for business, as People For Bikes examines how the annual El Tour de Tucson boosts participation, community, and the local economy.

A Monroe, North Carolina car dealer is living on the roof of his business until he collects 1,017 bikes to donate to kids in need for Christmas; as of Wednesday evening, he had about 670 bikes to go.

No surprise that Florida ranks second, behind only South Carolina, for people searching online for legal help after a bicycling crash. The only real surprise is that California doesn’t even rank in the top ten — maybe because we know to call the BikinginLA sponsors over there on the right first.

 

International

How is bicycling better than any dating app? Let Momentum count the ways.

Strava data shows Colombia’s Alto de Patios climb on the outskirts of Bogotá is the world’s most popular bicycling road, followed by a riverside road in São Paulo, Brazil, and a bridge in southwestern London.

A 69-year old Canadian man raised $50,000 riding around the world for cancer research.

Tragic news from Wales, where a 37-year old French fashion designer was killed when she was run down from behind by a driver while on a bicycling vacation.

Cycling Weekly goes looking for the roads, people and culture that make France’s Britany region a “dream cycling destination.”

If you have an Agree C:62 road bike made by German bikemaker Cube in either of the last two years, you’re asked to stop riding it immediately due to a risk of the front fork delaminating and cracking.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling site offers their holiday gift guide for bicyclists — and for a change, they’re focused on “thoughtful picks” for women who ride bikes.

A South African woman says she feels energized after she was invited to represent women bike riders a breakfast meeting at Johannesburg business school, after taking up riding to cope with grief following the death of her mother.

 

Finally…

Cervelo, the choice fleeing felons everywhere. You may not be a deviate, but your bike still can be.

And your next recumbent could really fly.

No, literally.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Accused PCH hit-and-run killer faces just 5 years, LA rejects HLA appeals without hearing, and LA not carfree best or worst

October 24, 2025 / / One comment
Day 297 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

We’ve learned a lot more about the man killed by a hit-and-run driver on PCH in Huntington Beach Monday morning.

The Daily Pilot reports a ghost bike has already been installed at the crash site for 45-year old Eric John Williams, a pastor and youth counselor who founded a Garden Grove church with his wife in 2011.

I’ve updated my story to reflect all the new details, so you can read about it here.

But in brief, the alleged driver, Amber Calderon, was arraigned on Wednesday, and we learned more about the condition of the other victims.

So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll quote myself this one time.

Calderon was charged with one felony count of hit and run causing permanent injury or death, and two felony counts of hit and run with injury.

Thanks to California’s lax hit-and-run laws, she faces a maximum sentence of 5 years and four months, according to the DA’s office. She did not enter a plea, and the hearing was rescheduled for Nov. 13 in the West Justice Center in Westminster…

The DA’s office says the other two victims, who should not be overlooked in the anger and grief over Williams death, suffered serious injuries “including spinal fractures, broken ribs, a broken ankle, as well as cuts and bruises.”

Calderon’s charges could be changed based on her toxicology report, which is still pending.

But 64 months hardly seems like justice for killing one person and severely injuring two others, then just driving away.

Compare that to a Florida hit-and-run driver who faces up to 30 years behind bars after accepting a plea for fleeing the scene of a fatal crash that took the life of someone on a bicycle.

Maybe something in between would be nice.

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.

………

Longtime LA bike advocate Joe Linton writes that Los Angeles is dealing with appeals over projects that should be governed by Measure HLA exactly the way we expected.

By rejecting them.

Now the city is responding to #MeasureHLA appeals – with rejection letters (three so far that I am aware of). Here's my rejection letter for bike lanes on Ohio Ave: labikas.wordpress.com/wp-content/u…

— Joe Linton (@lintonjoe.bsky.social) 2025-10-21T03:19:19.259Z

Linton writes that LADOT has begun sending out rejection letters, despite the lack of a hearing before the Board of Public Works, as required by the city’s HLA ordinance.

Evidently, our president isn’t the only one who doesn’t feel constrained by the rules.

Or maybe the city is just bored of Public Works.

Linton writes that the city’s rejection an appeal over a missing crosswalk at Western & Marathon is emblematic of their actions so far.

GM Rubio-Cornejo appears to have missed the point raised in the appeal: that the resurfacing – though mostly on Marathon Street – also overlapped with part of Western Avenue. See the overlap outlined in yellow in the above photo. The area where the crosswalk goes – along Western – was repaved.

The rejection of Western/Marathon is one of at least a half-dozen similar rejections. I haven’t had time to post them all here, but most are similar to Western/Marathon. An appellant requested the city add missing crosswalks on a PED street, and LADOT GM Rubio-Cornejo rejected the request, without it even going to a hearing of the Board of Public Works, which is where the city HLA ordinance states that appeals will be decided.

There are dozens of HLA appeals already filed – more than a dozen from me. Most of them are still waiting for any kind of city response. If you’re interested in filing a Measure HLA appeal, see my instructions.

The city’s attitude seems to be, “So sue us.”

Linton already has, filing suit over Metro’s rejection of bike lanes on the Vermont Ave corridor during their work to install bus lanes, even though they’re contained in the city’s Mobility Plan.

Metro’s argument is that as a city ordinance, HLA doesn’t apply to them as a county agency. Even though the work is being done on a city street, in junction with the city.

Something tells me Linton’s won’t be the last HLA lawsuit.

Especially at this rate.

………

More clickbait city ratings, this time from a storage website, which ranks the best and worst car-optional cities in the US.

Surprisingly, Los Angeles doesn’t make either one, but Santa Clarita and Lancaster both check in at the Bad Place, at #7 and #20.

Not surprisingly, no Southern California city appears in the Good Place. In fact, San Francisco is the only California city to make the list of the most car-optional cities, at #12.

And if a site pimping storage facilities and equipment doesn’t know all there is to know about living without a car, who does?

………

Cal State Northridge will host their third annual Bike Fest a week from Sunday.

………

Nice to know there are no serious crimes that need the attention of Glendale cops, or anything.

Not to mention that sidewalk riding would be legal in all of California if not for Governor Newsom’s almighty veto pen.

https://bsky.app/profile/eddiethelazor.bsky.social/post/3m3s5paesks2w

………

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

An Arizona man known locally as Bicycle Barry after he gave up driving for health reasons is now battling an ankle infection that could cost him his leg, ten months after he was nearly killed by a road-raging driver. Never mind that driving is so normalized that merely giving up your car is enough to earn you a bicycle sobriquet.

No bias here. A London train station draws complaints from commuters when a newly unveiled bike hub is only accessible by carrying your bike up and down a flight of stairs.

No bias here, either. An Irish city counselor says nobody wants bike lanes and no one uses the ones they’ve already got, anyway; local bike riders beg to disagree.

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

A Chicago man is blaming the cops for a $3,000 ambulance bill after he was struck by a young woman riding an ebike as he was getting out of his car, complaining that they let her go without a citation. Although the fact that they didn’t cite her just might suggest she wasn’t at fault.

Police are on the lookout for a 53-year old inmate who escaped from the Henderson County, Kentucky jail by simply riding off on a bicycle he had been repairing with two other inmates.

A Singaporean website examines the online debate after a video goes viral of a teenage bicyclist who failed to apologize after crashing into an elderly woman walking on a bike path.

An Australian mom is calling for stricter regulation of ebikes, a year after her toddler daughter was run down by someone riding one.

………

Local 

Streets For All wants you to take LADOT’s survey about the Westwood Safety and Mobility Project, and urge them to install protected bike lanes all the way down to National Blvd, rather than stopping at the Expo station. Although it’s kind of pathetic that we’re still fighting this same battle after more than a dozen years. 

LA’s new bike-trailer street sweeper custom built for the Hollywood Blvd bike lanes was powered by Olympic hopeful cyclist Kayla Hankins. At least for the official unveiling, anyway. 

Lime is introducing pedal-free throttle-controlled LimeGlider bikes to the streets of LA. Because honestly, what could go wrong?

A carfree Angeleno examines the promise of a carfree LA Olympics, even if Mayor Karen Bass walked it back just days later. Speaking of Bass, word is she bet the mayor of Toronto she’d ride a bike wearing a Blue Jays jersey if the Dodgers lose the World Series. Which I’m pretty sure is the first time she’s mentioned riding one since she was elected. 

Culver City officially cut the ribbon to open the Robertson Boulevard Complete Street project, complete with the bike lanes that make it that way.

Malibu marked two full years since the tragic deaths of four Pepperdine sorority sisters on PCH, victims of SoCal’s killer highway, as well as a speeding driver; a crowdfunding campaign is raising money to install a permanent memorial.

 

State

Everyone seems impressed with the first bike from Irvine-based Rivian’s new ebike spinoff, with Robb Report praising its whopping 100-mile range, while a writer for Outside calls it the most impressive bike he’s ridden all year, Velo says it’s absolutely wild — in a good way, and Singletracks writes it’s a full-suspension ebike “unlike any other you’ve seen.”

While everyone else was focused on Rivian’s new ebike, Gear Patrol asks if their new spinoff just invented the perfect bike helmet.

Seriously, it takes a major schmuck to take off after hitting a 12-year old kid riding a bicycle in El Cajon.

Mountain Bike Action looks back on the early days of downhill BMX racing in Corona, all the way back in 1975.

Volunteers with the Kern River Bike Patrol ride the popular bike path to aid bicyclists in need.

Despite a recent report showing Stockton’s bike fatality rate was six-times the national average as of 2023, recent safety improvements have brought that down to zero this year. More proof that bike deaths can be eliminated, if cities are willing to spend the money and do the work. Looking at you, Los Angeles.

 

National

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Peter Flax, who writes for Bicycling about nine “badass” women who’ve raised millions for cancer research, calling them “the fiercest sisterhood in cycling.” Unfortunately, though, the story is hidden behind their paywall for members only. 

No surprise here, as the US bicycle industry is waking up to Trump’s “crushing” 50% tariffs on aluminum, with one bike shop owner comparing it to “screaming into the void.”

If you have a Favoto bike helmet, the Consumer Products Safety Commission says stop wearing it, cut the straps and toss it in the trash, because the helmets “violate the positional stability, certification and labeling requirements of the mandatory safety standard for bicycle helmets.”

Portland, Oregon bike riders demanded the city council either “approve or improve” a settlement negotiated with the city to resolve a lawsuit that alleged that the Portland Bureau of Transportation has violated a state law requiring the construction of bicycling facilities on major projects.

A Lubbock, Texas bike rider was lucky to escape without injuries, along with her dog, when she was struck by a sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked car; naturally, the person on the bike got the blame, and a citation. Because cops are never at fault, right?

Tulsa, Oklahoma firefighters honored a local teenager for helping to save the life of a friend after a mountain biking crash.

The mayor of Kansas City is proposing a ban on right turns on red in a school zone during school hours — a week too late for a nine-year old girl killed by a driver while riding her bike to school.

The same goes for an Illinois mayor’s call for safe streets and protected crossings, but only after a 13-year old boy was killed by a semi driver while riding his bicycle.

Good idea. A Cambridge, Massachusetts bike safety group works year-round to help bike-friendly politicians win local elections.

Florida now has its first glowing bike path, with the 4.4-mile, 12-foot wide bike path on Okaloosa Island giving off a blue glow at night, thanks to paving with bioluminescent rock.

 

International

An adventure site takes a deep dive into how adventure bicycling could benefit your mental health.

Sixty-six-year old Jean Louis, the only bicyclist named Sportsman of the Year for the Caribbean isle of Saint Lucia, was killed by a driver while riding in Ontario, Canada.

They get it. Momentum says Ontario, Canada’s plan to ban bike lanes is proof that “stupid is as stupid does.”

Yet another study, this time from an English university, shows that physical barriers separating bicyclists from drivers and pedestrians is key to safer streets.

A 20-something man in Oxford, England was stabbed in an unprovoked attack while riding on a bike path, after two men approached him and started an altercation, leaving on e-motorbikes afterwards.

Britain’s Liberal Democrats political party is urging the country’s National Crime Agency to set up a bait bike unit to catch bike thieves. No American political party has even mentioned bike theft since cars took over the roads. 

The 25-year old Ukrainian Bike Project is still building bicycles for “residents, service workers, educators, ministry leaders and the military,” despite the three-year old Russian invasion.

In a surprising move, a Russian court released French ultracyclist Sofiane Sehili, who was busted for an illegal border crossing while trying to set a new record for the fastest endurance ride from Lisbon to Vladivostok; he was released after being fined 50,000 rubles — the equivalent of $612.

 

Competitive Cycling

A New Zealand researcher says pro-cycling crashes may be dangerous, but slower bicycles aren’t the solution.

 

Finally…

Your next saddle could support each butt cheek separately, and rock with every peddle stroke. Who needs a naked bike ride when you’ve got a two-wheeled second line?

And if you’re riding your bike with outstanding warrants, try not to get hit by a driver while crossing the street.

Or better yet, just don’t cross against the light.

……… 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

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

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

………

Sometimes it takes a miracle to survive a bike crash.

According to the Catholic Church, anyway.

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

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

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

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

Photo by Pixabay. 

………

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

Thanks to Erik for the heads-up. 

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

………

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

………

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

………

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

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

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

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

………

Local 

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

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

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

 

State

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

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

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

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

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

 

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

International

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Competitive Cycling

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Finally…

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

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

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

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Repairs begin on Marvin Bruade Trail, share your thoughts on 3rd Street barriers, and LA’s bike “party on wheels” tomorrow

August 28, 2025 / / Comments Off on Repairs begin on Marvin Bruade Trail, share your thoughts on 3rd Street barriers, and LA’s bike “party on wheels” tomorrow
Day 240 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

About damn time.

Work is finally underway to repair a section of the beachside Marvin Braude Bike Trail near Will Rogers State Beach.

The $800,000 project will fix the pathway between Chautauqua Boulevard and Entrada Drive, near the Roosevelt Pedestrian Tunnel, that was washed out by heavy rains early last year.

The popular pathway is used by upwards of 10,000 people a day.

It’s been awhile since I’ve ridden that path, but I’m told there’s also a section further south that’s been washed out, as well.

And raise your hand if you even knew that tunnel had a name. Because I sure as hell didn’t, and I used it for years.

………

LADOT wants to know what you think about the new concrete barriers protecting the 3rd Street bike lanes in DTLA.

………

LA Critical Mass invites you to join their “party on wheels,” aka the nation’s largest community bike ride, tomorrow, and the last Friday of every month.

………

Bike Long Beach invites you to attend a screening of Biking While Black tonight, and join them for Bikes and Coffee on Sunday.

 

………

Bike Portland editor Jonathan Maus talks with Portland Mayor Keith Wilson as they bike to work together.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass claimed she was one of us when she campaigned for office. But to the best of my knowledge, she’s has ridden a bike to work or with any member of the community ever since.

The last LA mayor I know of who actually biked to work was the late Richard Riordan, who frequently led rides with hundreds of his fellow Angelenos.

………

An English man took a tandem ride from his home in Bristol to Beijing after recovering from a rare form or cancer.

Which a reviewer for The Guardian says “makes for a good story but a rather annoying film.”

Ouch.

………

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

A Texas man faces multiple charges after allegedly using a stolen truck to jump a curb and intentionally crash into a man riding a bicycle, then returning three minutes later to run over the victim where he sat injured on the ground; the driver was arrested following a short police chase, after a witness used her own pickup to halt the second attack.

Life is cheap in London, where the father of a two-year old kid was sentenced to just 18 months behind bars for brutally attacking bike riders in two separate incidents, using his mo-ped to kick them off their bicycles while they were riding, and leaving both victims with lasting injuries.

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

A writer for the Southern California News Group explains the rules governing bicycles after an Upland writer asks what can be done to stop scofflaw bike riders from breaking the law. Just wait until they find out about all those scofflaw drivers breaking the law in their big, dangerous machines.

Commenters in Victoria, British Columbia were up in arms after someone posted a photo of a man riding a bicycle with a helmet-less baby strapped to his back. Although it’s my understanding that a baby’s neck isn’t developed enough to support the weight of a bike helmet.

A bike rider allegedly punched a driver in the coastal town of Poole, England and threw his bicycle into the car, causing the equivalent of $1,350 in damage. Nope, that’s the entire story, taking up all of one sentence. 

………

Local 

The LA City Council Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved a motion that could lead to ending off-street parking requirements for new developments, although Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says they’ll probably just build it anyway.

They get it. An injury law firm says LA’s streets are dangerous by design, and have a notable lack of bike lanes, protected or otherwise.

WeHo Times says a driver T-boned another car turning left from Fountain Ave onto De Longpre Ave, reigniting calls to improve safety on the deadly corridor; fortunately, no one was seriously injured this time.

Seriously? Mountain biking events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be be held in the City of Industry, which is better known for housing warehouses than for its challenging terrain.

Police departments in multiple South Bay cities teamed up to crack down on ebike riders on Tuesday, citing riders for illegal ebikes, as well as blowing stop signs and teens not wearing bike helmets.

 

State

An 18-year old ebike rider and a younger relative both suffered non-life threatening injuries when they reportedly went through a red light and crashed their ebike into a car in San Marcos Monday evening. Although judging from the damage to the car, it looks a lot more like the driver hit them. 

Good for them. Bakersfield is formally opposing a recent grand jury report calling for a halt to building bike lanes that might kinda, sorta inconvenience some drivers; meanwhile, the founder of advocacy group Bike Bakersfield remains committed to working with the city to improve safety for everyone.

A San Jose bike co-op is teaming with the YMCA to provide third, fourth and fifth graders in East San Jose with free bicycles to help them get to schools farther away, after the closure of three local elementary schools.

 

National

Applications are now open for next year’s Cherokee Nation Remember the Removal Bike Ride, a three-week tour retracing the northern route of the infamous Trail of Tears.

Bike Mag offers a recap of Portland, Oregon’s MADE Handmade Bike Show, calling it the best bicycle show in North America.

That’s more like it. Portland backed off on plans to rip out concrete traffic diverters protecting bike lanes after a huge hue and cry from the public.

Thirty-seven-year old adventure cyclist Sarah Swallow set off on nearly 3,700 mile trip from Oregon to Missouri, becoming the first person to ride Adventure Cycling’s new, mostly dirt road Golden Gravel Trail.

A Reno, Nevada bike rider was hospitalized with minor injuries after being struck by a 14-year old riding an illegal electric motorcycle on the sidewalk; the kid who caused the crash was cited for multiple violations, while a friend on another bike was released with a warning.

The lead singer of ’90s rock stars The Offspring is one of us, going for a ride through Austin, Texas with America’s seven-time ex-Tour de France champ.

The leader of an Illinois advocacy group urges drivers to have “patience, empathy and attentiveness” in the wake of two serious bicycling collisions in the past week.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A second-generation Methodist paster in rural Tennessee was killed when he was rear-ended by the driver of a big rig truck while riding his bicycle.

Talk about not knowing your market. The owner of a Summerville, Massachusetts donut shop fears the removal of parking in front of his shop for a new bike lane will force him to move. Never mind that studies show bike lanes are good for business. And we don’t need any studies to know donuts attract bicycles like magnets.

A 49-year old New Jersey man will spend the next five years behind bars for killing a “selfless” nurse bicycling with her husband eight years ago, while driving under the influence of “a very high level of narcotics.” Although his two previous DWIs — aka DUIs — would have made him subject to a murder charge here in California. 

Speaking of DUIs, a Pennsylvania man faces a DUI charge for crashing his ebike while riding under the influence.

Seriously? A recent ex-con faces charges for attempting to sell firearms from his ebike, just five months after he was released from prison for his 12th — yes, 12th — felony conviction.

 

International

Bike Radar says carbon fiber is great, but your next bike should have an aluminum frame. Or maybe just get the new steel Pashley.

A former UFC announcer was fined the equivalent of nearly $3,400 for attempting to throttle a 14-year old boy over a Lime dockless bikeshare bike blocking the sidewalk outside his London home — even though he rode one himself to his court hearing.

The New York Times says the fatal stabbing of a 17-year old girl riding her bike home from a night out in Amsterdam has unnerved residents, in a city where riding a bike safely at any hour is taken for granted.

German ebike maker Riese & Müller has stopped shipping bikes to the US as a result of Trump’s 50% tariff on steel.

 

Competitive Cycling

Jonas Vingegaard is back in the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta, after his Visma-Lease a Bike team came in second in the team time trial.

Protesters briefly held up the Israel-Premier Tech team during their team time trial attempt to protest the war in Gaza. While the team is based in Israel, it’s mostly in name only, with only one of the team’s riders currently competing in the Vuelta from Israel. 

Velo looks forward to the third edition of America’s leading one-day bike race when the Maryland Cycling Classic kicks off next week, featuring US stars Neilson Powless, Brandon McNulty and Quinn Simmons.

A website for a tutoring company makes the case that the bikes used by cycling legends matters as much as the people on them, ranging from Fausto Coppi’s Bianchi to Lance’s Trek.

 

Finally…

Don’t mess with a cross-country rider’s Surly Trucker. Don’t let your next ebike make you SchArt yourself.

And probably not the best idea to use the local cop shop as your alibi for the hot bike you pawned.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

How LA’s inaction led to a child’s death, LADOT “improves” safety by restoring parking, and CicLAvia rolls again

August 18, 2025 / / Comments Off on How LA’s inaction led to a child’s death, LADOT “improves” safety by restoring parking, and CicLAvia rolls again
Day 230 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Of course he gets it.

Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Streets For All founder Michael Schneider says fourth-grader Nadir Gavarrete did not have to die in a Koreatown intersection earlier this month.

Nadir Gavarrete was riding an e-scooter along with his 19-year old brother when they were run down by a drunk driver, who was accused of blowing through a stop sign to make a left turn.

A stop sign, and an intersection, that shouldn’t have still been there.

Koreatown is one of the densest parts of Los Angeles — at 44,000 people per square mile, it’s more crowded than most New York City boroughs. Nearly every major street in Koreatown is on the city’s “high injury network” list — the 6% of streets that cause 70% of the traffic injuries and deaths. In other words, L.A. knows how dangerous Koreatown’s streets can be.

As a result, 14 years ago, in 2011, L.A. applied for a federal grant to improve safety along several city streets, specifically choosing to focus on the intersection of New Hampshire and 4th for one of its projects. The city won the grant money and kicked off community meetings to discuss installing a roundabout at the intersection, as well as adding enhanced crosswalks and other safety improvements to the immediate area.

Needless to say, a decade-and-a-half later, nothing has happened, this being Los Angeles and all.

Except for yet another needless death, added to a long and ever-growing list of failure.

What will it take for Los Angeles to have a sense of urgency in actually making our streets safer? We currently spend more on legal settlements to those hurt and killed on our streets than we do on Vision Zero, the city’s half-baked effort to reduce traffic deaths. Since Los Angeles declared itself a Vision Zero City in 2015, with the ultimate aim of having no one killed in car crashes on city streets by 2025, deaths and injuries have only gotten worse. In the last few years we’ve had at least three children hit and killed while walking to school. And yet the city’s leaders — facing a budget crisis, much of it of their own making — perpetually underfund LADOT and street safety in general.

Good question.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the whole thing.

Because the more things change in this city of fallen angels, the more they stay the same.

And that’s not a good thing.

………

Good news and bad news, as LADOT announced plans to remove peak-hour lanes on a number of low-traffic streets throughout the city in an effort to improve safety.

The lanes currently prohibit parking during morning and/or evening rush hours, too often turning them into high speed traffic lanes.

However, the bad news is, instead of converting the lanes to full-time bus or bike lanes, the city is restoring parking throughout the day. Which doesn’t actually improve safety for anyone, just trading one problem for another.

LADOT dangles the possibility of converting the lanes to some other, better use at some undisclosed future time. Although given the city’s financial problems — due in large part to those legal settlements referenced above — that day could be years, or even decades, off.

If ever.

LADOT Begins First Phase of Peak-Hour Lane Removal

LADOT has begun implementing the first phase of a citywide initiative to improve safety and access to street parking by removing peak-hour travel lanes and restoring full-time parking. This initiative, directed by the Los Angeles City Council, aims to enhance safety, improve access, and support the City’s long-term mobility goals.

Phase 1 of this initiative focuses on low-traffic corridors, restoring street parking on corridors where traffic volume is below determined thresholds. Future phases will examine higher-volume streets and may propose alternative uses for peak-hour lanes, such as dedicated bus lanes, protected bike lanes, or expanded pedestrian zones. LADOT will conduct outreach and collaborate with community stakeholders as future phases move forward, ensuring that proposed changes align with neighborhood needs.

In addition to providing greater parking availability to support surrounding businesses, these changes are expected to have minimal impact on congestion while improving street safety, with reduced speeding, fewer collisions, and improved visibility for people walking and biking.

The specific corridors selected for Phase 1 of peak-hour lane removal are:

  • Alpine St, from N. Spring to Yale
  • Alvarado St, Northbound, from James M. Wood to 7th
  • Beverly Blvd, from Rampart to Witmer
  • Broadway, Northbound, from 2nd to 1st
  • College St, from New Depot to Alameda
  • Crenshaw Blvd, from Florence to 59th St
  • La Tijera Blvd, Northbound, from Thornburn to Knowlton
  • Melrose Ave, from Vermont to Virgil
  • Nordhoff St, Westbound, from Corbin to Canoga
  • Pico Blvd, Westbound, from Overland to Sepulveda
  • Ventura Blvd, Eastbound, from Farralone to Tampa
  • Victory Blvd, from Lankershim to Clybourn
  • Washington Blvd, from Vermont to Flower
  • Washington Blvd, Eastbound, from Redondo to La Brea and from Wellington to Crenshaw

Thanks to Dr. Grace Peng for the heads-up.

………

A writer for Circling the News was the first to post a report from yesterday’s Culver City meets Venice CicLAvia.

And the first thing they noticed was the bad shape of the road around Venice and Abbot Kinney, saying it was easy to notice if you’re trying to dodge pavement problems.

The second thing seemed to be members of White People 4 Black Lives, several accident attorneys and the Venice High School Cheerleaders handing out free water along the route, the latter as they tried to raise funds.

And yes, it seems a good time was had by all.

Although I had to miss it because of my wife’s health problems, since she still hasn’t bounced back enough to go herself, or to be left at home alone.

Meanwhile, the Militant Angeleno’s guide to highlights along the route was posted too late to link to before the CicLAvia, but you can still check it out to see what you missed.

………

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

No bias here. A 55-year old Miami man claims he was arrested just for touching a police cruiser, as he tried to ride around the patrol car stopped in a bike lane; police claim he intentionally hit the car hard enough to dent it “four to five times.”

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

A 12-year old Singapore girl was hospitalized after she was knocked cold by a 51-year old man on fixie while riding her bicycle; the older man was being investigated for a “rash act causing hurt.”

A Brisbane, Australia writer offers a carrot and stick solution to the problem of scofflaw bicyclists, saying the answer is more bike paths, while forcing bike riders to wear registration numbers.

………

Local 

Two women were arrested for shooting another woman in the arm on Sepulveda Blvd in Culver City earlier this month, in an attempt to steal the victim’s ebike; a search of their apartment also turned up two assault rifles with high-capacity magazines, ammunition and a kilo of suspected cocaine.

 

State

Mark your calendar for September 4th, when the Orange County Transportation Authority will hold a webinar to discuss the OCTA Bikeways Connectivity Study to expand options for bikeways across Orange County.

A mom writing for the Times of San Diego explains how to select the right bicycle for your kids.

California Streetsblog reports on Bike Bakersfield and Calbike teaming up to “flip the script” on a “ludicrous” grand jury report decrying efforts to implement bicycle safety measures.

A local website reports bicycling and pedestrian deaths in Watsonville far outpace the average in Santa Cruz County, and considers four ways to make the city streets safer.

 

National

ABC News says the deadly 85th Percentile Rule that allows drivers to set speed limits with a heavy right foot could finally be on the way out.

Great idea. The White Line — the bicycle safety group founded by the parents of fallen Team USA cyclist Magnus White — put a group of Colorado lawmakers on a bus, and drove them around for a series of mobile town halls to show them the impact crashes have on vulnerable road users.

I want to be like her when I grow up. A Missoula, Montana woman calls a local octogenarian, peacemaker and bicycle evangelist her hero and mentor, the 87-year old woman is known throughout the community for riding around town in a bright vest, with her dog in her basket.

Chicago Streetsblog says yes, the city has a long way to go to become bike friendly, but People For Bikes’ use of it as a poster child for bicycling problems is just a joke.

New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare will now require users to prove they’re over 16 to use the service.

Florida — yes, Florida — is now the first state in the nation to offer ebike education as part of the regular curriculum, at least in some schools.

A 54-year old Miami man riding a bicycle on the city’s deadly Rickenbacker Causeway was killed when he was struck by two kids riding an electric dirt bike.

 

International

Momentum ranks the ten best European city’s for bicycling and the best time to visit, including four French cities, led by Paris.

An op-ed from a Calgary, Alberta bike advocate urges local drivers not to fear road diets, arguing that they can ease the city’s traffic woes.

An expat website explains how to get around the Netherlands by bike like a local.

Here’s another one for your bicycle bucket list, as Travel + Leisure recommends a 560-mile bike trail through France’s Loire Valley, exploring a unique blend of ancient Gaelic history, Renaissance châteaus, and ancient vineyards.

A 65-year old Tallahassee, Florida high school teacher and tennis coach stopped in Madrid, Spain, a little less than a quarter of the way on his attempt to become the oldest person a bike around the world.

 

Competitive Cycling

Remco Evenepoel will now be on the same team as Primož Roglič, as Roglič says he hopes they can do great things together, after the Belgian star signed with the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe cycling team.

 

Finally…

Your next car could be a bike.

No, seriously, that’s all we’ve got this time. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Conservative writer says there’s no such thing as a bike community, and LADOT wants your input on Spring & Alameda

August 4, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 216 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

It’s always the ones who claim to ride a bike.

Or in this case, an adult tricycle, when his knees got too bad for a ‘bent.

A writer for the conservative American Thinker takes issue with a recent Cycling Weekly story, in which a self-identified fat Black woman said “You can’t call yourself a cycling community without fat Black women.”

But he not only takes issue with including fat Black women in the bicycling community, but with the very idea of a bicycling community, period.

By Mike McDaniel’s perspective, unless you’re actively engaged in some form of competition, we’re all just a bunch of individuals riding bikes for our own personal reasons.

Just when you think this kind of manufactured nonsense is on its deathbed, Cycling Weekly resurrects it. We’ve been told “silence is violence,” and so is pretty much everything else. Now we learn unless the cycling “community” “centers” fat black women, that community is “participating in exclusion.” Do we need to buy bikes and other cycling gear for fat black women too? How about old white guys riding old recumbents? And fine, I’ll tell a story: I read about a fat black woman who started riding bikes. Good for her. The end.

That’s a leftist view of reality, where it’s all about one’s identity, which must not only be noticed, but praised. In real reality, one doesn’t join a bicycling “community” by riding a bike. There are people with shared biking interests, largely defined by their machines, abilities and participation in types of competition. Beyond that, no one much cares about anyone not in those particular, narrowly defined interest groups.

Then again, he also has something to say about breasts, which he claims to know something about — and Sydney Sweeney’s in particular.

Oh, and he’s not a Nazi.

Good to know.

Iresha Picot’s point isn’t wasn’t identity politics, though, or some sort of DEI for the bicycling community.

It wasn’t even about fat Black women. Or whether or not there really is some sort of bike community.

It’s that our streets — and our preferred form of recreation and transportation — has to be safe and welcoming for everyone, including those on the margins, who you don’t normally see descending at 30 mph on the club rides.

And if you’re not intentionally including everyone, you are by default excluding some, whether they’re fat and Black, poor and Latino, handicapped, old or just puttering along on an old cruiser bike.

It’s a fair point.

I’ve learned over the years that the biking community includes people of every shape, color and description.

Some who charge up and down hills on carbon racing bikes, and some who ride, well, trikes.

It’s not about politics, identity or otherwise.

And it sure as hell isn’t about Sydney Sweeney. Or her breasts.

Photo: Bikes belonging to the non-existent bike community line the street.

………

BikeLA, formerly the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, reminds us that LADOT wants your input on bike safety upgrades on Spring and Alameda streets in DTLA.

https://twitter.com/heybikela/status/1951325962316161423

………

Bike Talk talks about the provincial and old-fashioned views that block progress on streets where people are dying from cars.

Suburban, provincial, old fashioned views often block progress on streets where people are dying from cars. soundcloud.com/biketalk/253… #bikesky @transalt.org@cycletoronto.bsky.social@mlongfield.bsky.social@lintonjoe.bsky.social@bikinginla.bsky.social@streetopia.bsky.social@openplans.org

— Bike Talk (@biketalk.bsky.social) 2025-08-02T22:07:47.532Z

………

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

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from bike writer esteemed Elly Blue, who rebuts the pervasive, and completely untrue, myth that bike riders don’t pay for the roads.

No bias here. A motorist in Killarney, Ireland was “irked” to actually have to slow down for a few moments because a bicyclist was riding in the traffic lane, right next to a new raised bike lane that had been built “at enormous expense.” Even though a photo clearly shows several bike riders were already using it, and the only way to get around them was to take to the street — never mind that he was hugging the curb, and would have been easy to pass.

………

Local 

Streetsblog editor Joe Linton says the new Metro Bike bikeshare contract remains up in the air and operating on a month-to-month basis, following a “twice-botched process.”

 

State

Laguna Beach is looking for a location to build a proposed pump track.

A New York website remembers the 28-year old former Central New York man and current San Francisco bike mechanic who gave his life to protect a group of women and children from an attacker at a transit station.

 

National

Cycling West says the Trump administration’s efforts to slash environmental rules could make it easier and faster to build bike lanes, but could wreak havoc on the natural world, all while GOP budget cuts are hurting bicycling.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 19-year old Albuquerque, New Mexico woman became the third employee of the city’s bicycle safety center to be killed by drivers in the last two years — two years to the day after a 64-year old man was killed riding his bike home from working at the center.

Now you, too, can star in a commercial for an ebike brand. But you have to live in Idaho.

Speaking of Cycling West, a writer for the website travels to Austin, Texas to find out how the 900-member Breakfast Club became the world’s largest weekly group ride.

The St. Louis edition of the World Naked Bike Ride brought “bikes, butts and body positivity” to the protest against car culture.

You know they’re doing something right when a Maine neighborhood bike parade and ice cream social returns for the 25th straight year.

A New Hampshire writer says riders of a certain age may be too old for the Tour de France, but can still take part in the “Tour de Pharmacy” to manage their aches and pains. Then again, there are those who say the Tour de France was, and possibly still is, a Tour de Pharmacy.

More than 6,000 people took part in two-day Massachusetts fundraising ride benefitting the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute; despite raising $53 million, the fund drive was still $23 million short of the $76 million goal.

 

International

Writing for Cycling Weekly, a male bicyclist says he was praised for “looking like a real athlete” when he was actually suffering from anorexia.

The Royal Canadian Mounties are looking for a 66-year old Manitoba man who disappeared on Friday while riding his bike.

Canada’s CTV looks at where things stand, and what comes next, in the seemingly endless battle over Toronto’s protected bike lanes, which city officials want to keep, and Ontario provincial officials want to rip out.

A Toronto couple who run a custom bicycle painting shop not only got their stolen bikes back after setting up a sting for the thief, but got a “heartfelt apology,” too.

An English man was planning to ride nearly a thousand miles on a fundraising bike ride, just two years after he was nearly killed when he was stuck by a hearse driver.

Life is cheap in Ireland, where an 82-year old woman got off with fine and lost her license for killing a 78-year old man riding a bicycle, once again raising the question of how old is too old to safely drive a car. And no, I don’t want to see an octogenarian go to the gaol, either. But still. 

A Vietnamese resort will pedal a bike to your suite and make the country’s celebrated coffee for you in person.

 

Competitive Cycling

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot cemented her domination of French cycling, as the Paris Olympic champ demolished her competition in the Alps to win the first Tour de France Femmes for the country, as well.

 

Finally…

Beyonce’s husband is one of us. That feeling when you get tackled by a cop mid-wheelie.

And when you’re carrying over an ounce-and-a-half of meth on your bike, maybe try riding on the right side of the road.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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