Tag Archive for Lake Forest

81-year old man clings to life after Orange County e-moto hit-and-run, and 3-time world paracycling champ killed in Texas

April 20, 2026 / / One comment

This is who we share the road with.

An 81-year old Orange County man was left fighting for his life when he was run down by a 14-year old kid riding a electric motorcycle, who fled the scene afterwards.

The boy was reportedly riding recklessly when he collided with the victim as the older man was crossing the street. Deputies identified the suspect and arrested him after serving a search warrant at a nearby home in Lake Forest.

The Orange County Sheriffs Department reports he was on a Surron e-motorbike, which is not street legal and can reach speeds up to 68 mph, depending on the model.

And thanks to the OCSD for making it clear the boy on an e-moto, and not a Class 1, 2 or 3 ped-assist ebike.

Although not every media outlet was careful to make that distinction.

Meanwhile, Jalopnik correctly observes that confusing electric motorcycles with ebikes is more than just semantics.

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Tragic news from Texas, where a three-time paracycling world champ and seven-time Paralympic medalist was killed by a driver on Thursday morning.

Fifty-four-year old Dory Sellinger lost his right leg and suffered a TBI in 1993 when a driver suffering a psychotic break intentionally plowed into a group of riders in Alamo, California, after hearing voices telling her to “Get the demons!” Another rider named Vladimir Quinn was killed in that crash.

A crowdfunding campaign to benefit Sellinger’s family has raised nearly $21,000 of the $25,000 goal.

And yeah, I gave to that one.

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A new Chinese study shows that younger urban adults are more car-dependent than previous generations, but could be quicker to with to active transportation if they get better infrastructure.

Although whether the results can be replicated in other car-dependent countries, such as the US, remains to be seen.

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We could be getting bike lanes on Vermont Ave after all.

Although the motion only calls on the city to study adding bike lanes to the project. And as well all know, studying is what this city does best, rather than actually, you know, doing anything.

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Someone please get me this painting for my birthday. Or Cinco de Mayo or Memorial Day, or something.

https://bsky.app/profile/coolbikeart1.bsky.social/post/3mjpo7cbrus2s

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Video circulated throughout the Mideast showing the President of Iran casually riding a bike with the governor of Isfahan and other officials over the weekend, appearing unfazed by the American and Israeli attacks.

But it was actually video from October of last year.

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

No bias here. London police are proudly going after the relatively few bicyclists caught running red lights, but only made arrests in 2% bike thefts, and none of the 106 hit-and-runs involving bicyclists last year; the meager 4% of hit-and-run cases resulting in a conviction were the result of drivers turning themselves in.

Once again, a bike trail has apparently been sabotaged, this time in France near the Swiss border, when someone strung a cable across the trail at eye level that knocked two kids off their bicycles while on a family outing.

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

Maybe it’s the result of a bad translation. Two sets of South Korean parents were arrested and released on charges of child neglect after their middle school kids reportedly threatened people with their “Pixie” bikes, the site says is an abbreviation for “fixed-gear.” Can’t speak for you, but “pixie bike” kinda has a ring to it.  

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Local 

An op-ed in the new Rupert Murdoch-owned California Post looks at LA’s invention of the phrase “large asphalt repair” rather than repaving, which would trigger legal mandates increasing the costs, concluding that fewer streets will get fixed and we’ll all be worse off as long as “fixing a street means triggering a cascade of costly mandates.”

The ROW DTLA shopping and housing complex is hosting the bike-centered Pedal for the Planet with Playdate this Saturday, with families encouraged to bike between various hands-on sustainability projects.

 

State

Calbike says AB 2168 currently before the state legislature ensures that we’re getting the most out of California’s Active Transportation Program. Particularly since Governor Newsom keeps insisting on cutting it. 

Advocate groups are pushing for a second attempt at a docked bikeshare system in San Diego County, after a previous attempt at both docked and docked bikeshare, as well as e-scooters, failed due to theft, vandalism and improperly parked vehicles.

San Diego’s budget problems are leading to criticism of the city’s daylighting enforcement, since it can’t afford crews to paint curbs leading to intersections.

A writer for Bike Rumor calls this year’s Sea Otter Classic “weird, wacky, unique and a little bit funky,” while admiring the “pretty, unique, and eye-catching custom painted bikes” on display.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a man riding a bicycle was killed by a driver in the North Natomas neighborhood on Friday.

 

National

The Smithsonian, of all sources, looks at the history of yesterday’s Bicycle Day, 83 years after Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann accidentally ingested LSD before bicycling home from his lab in Basel, Switzerland, taking the first trip on two wheels.

A new study of 28 cities and more than 14,000 neighborhoods tells you what we all already knew, that a connected bike network is key to growing bike ridership.

A Reno, Nevada bike rider shares what he’s found on the side of the road, from gold and diamonds, organic avocados and bullets, to fear of death from passing motorists.

The Colorado legislature passed a new bill that not only bans blocking bike lanes, but also replaces the word “accident” with “crash” in state statutes.

A kindhearted Texas police sergeant was honored for fixing a student’s broken bicycle on the spot.

Rhode Island doubled down on highway building when the Trump administration pulled $25 million in funding that had been set aside to build a bike path; to save the funding, the state diverted it into making mile-long highway a little more pleasant.

 

International

A Toronto supercar driver murdered a row of bicycles, plowing his orange McLaren through a bike rack and scattering bike parts across the area, before ending up pointed skyward against a wall.

An Edinburgh, Scotland man says he doesn’t feel safe riding his bike in the city anymore, after a group yobs lobbed logs and a bicycle at him as he rode on the bike path.

Dozens of bicyclists descended on Dursley, England over the weekend to honor Danish-born Mikael Pedersen, inventor of the unique Pedersen bicycle, made in the town through 1914.

Off.road.cc offers a list of British bike brands actually made in the UK, for all you bicycle Anglophiles out there.

Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner is one of us, and so is his girlfriend, influencer Laila Hasanovic, as they were spotted on a relaxing bike ride in Monaco.

Taiwan’s Giant bicycle is reportedly on the verge of launching the first ebike powered by a semi-solid-state battery, a step between lithium-ion and solid-state batteries, which could provide more energy for less weight, longer life and less risk of fires.

An Australian Communications professor offers advice on how to get back on your bike after months or years of not riding, including giving up any ideas of what a “cyclist” is supposed to be, and that you’re more likely to ride your bike if you keep it near the door.

Aussie bike shops are being threatened with fines of up to $1.1 million for selling fixies that don’t comply with the country’s consumer safety standards, including having both front and rear brakes.

 

Competitive Cycling

American pro Matteo Jorgenson won’t be leading the Visma–Lease a Bike into the Ardennes Classics after crashing out of Amstel Gold Race when he broke his collarbone colliding with a competitor on a damp, downhill corner, and going down hard.

Twenty-four-year old Megan Jastrab’s 5th place was the best American finish in Paris-Roubaix in 25 years, since George Hincapie’s 2001 4th place; Greg LeMond also finished fourth in 1985. Hincapie actually finished 2nd in 2005, but his podium finish was voided because of his involvement in the USADA doping scandal.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to headbutt a cop after swerving a bicycle at multiple women. Your next ebike could be a woodie.

And that feeling when the pickup driver blocking a bike lane isn’t blocking a bike lane because the bike lane isn’t a bike lane, despite the distinct bike lane markings not marking the bike lane.

Got that?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Malibu approves watered-down PCH plan, cougar stalks OC mountain bikers, and Calbike fights back on CA ebike incentives

November 6, 2025 / / One comment
Day 310 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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We won.

More or less, anyway.

Less than a week after we joined with other organizations in an urgent call for support — although this is only an organization if you count the corgi — the Malibu Planning Commission voted 4 – 1 to approve desperately needed safety improvements on PCH.

Although there were changes that watered down the project to get commissioners on board.

According to public media site LAist,

  • Caltrans decreased the number of new streetlights from 42 to 27.
  • City planning staff will inspect and ensure the lights are compliant with the city’s Dark Sky Ordinance.
  • Caltrans reduced the total length of new or upgraded bike lanes from 15 to 10 miles.
  • Caltrans must engage with first responders and Pepperdine University about a sidewalk it plans to build between John Tyler Road and Malibu Canyon Road to clear any concerns over emergency access to campus.

Notice that the bike lanes have been cut by a third. So apparently, the goal is now to only cull a few people on Malibu’s share of SoCal’s killer highway, instead of actually eliminating traffic deaths, or anything.

Approval of the project was needed this month, or Caltrans would have shifted funding for the $73 million project somewhere else, likely never to return.

Although LAist makes clear that some aggrieved person could still try to throw a wrench in the works. And there’s no shortage of aggrieved people in the ‘Bu.

Appeals timeline starts: According to the city, an “aggrieved person” has 10 days after approval to file an appeal of a Coastal Development Permit, like the one the commission extended to the Caltrans project. If the project is appealed, the matter will go before Malibu’s City Council.

Meanwhile, the Malibu City Council unanimously approved an additional $1.6 million for “enhanced safety measures” along PCH, including innovative speed detection technology and infrastructure for speed cams.

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We may have to deal with feral SoCal drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about aggressive mountain lions.

Usually.

Two Orange County mountain bikers ran into one on Sunday, which followed them down the trail as they tried to back away.

They were riding on a trail in Whiting Ranch in Lake Forest on Sunday afternoon when they recorded the big cat walking slowly down after them. Which is not a good sign, since they usually try to avoid people.

Adding to the concern, this is the same area where 35-year old Mark Reynolds was killed by a cougar back in 2004, apparently as he was fixing his bike.

The mountain bikers tried using their bikes to shield them from the big cat and yelling to frighten it off.

You can see from the video how well that worked.

Growing up in Colorado, where cougar encounters are far more common, we were taught to make yourself look as big as possible while maintaining eye contract and yelling while you slowly move away. Holding your bike or backpack up to make yourself appear larger could help.

But whatever you do, don’t run. Because that can trigger an attack response.

Experts say the young cat was probably just curious, rather than hungry. But just be careful and keep your eyes open if you’re riding in the area.

Or better yet, maybe ride somewhere else for the next few weeks.

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It looks like Calbike is finally starting to fight back over the ill-conceived cancellation of the California Ebike Incentive Program, calling on followers to write their representatives.

Although the better time to send out this email would have been when their executive director first found out about it in mid-October, rather than weeks later.

The state’s response to a wildly popular e-bike program? Cancel it and put the money towards cars. 

CARB just pulled the plug on the E-Bike Incentive Project, folding what’s left of the funding into Clean Cars 4 All, a car trade-in program. Instead of helping people replace car trips, the state is rewarding people who already own one. It’s a telling political moment that mistakes “cleaner cars” for real progress.

This isn’t what climate leadership looks like. Over one hundred thousand Californians lined up for a modest voucher that would help them drive less, save money, and move freely. Ending that opportunity now ignores that clear demand and walks back hard-won progress.

Send a message now

Our state leaders can’t afford to shrug this off.  It’s time to create a permanent fund for e-bikes — a real mobility solution, not another subsidy for car dependence. Contact your reps now.

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Streets For All is calling on Metro to spend just a tiny fraction of the $600 million it spends building freeways to fully fund CicLAvia.

Tell Metro to fully fund CicLAvia

Metro’s Planning and Programming Committee is currently reviewing Open Streets applications for Cycles 6 & 7 (2026 – 2028), but their own guidelines“include funding only for open and slow streets aligned with the major events 2026 and 2028,” leaving little or no support for local community Open Streets events in between.

CicLAvia is Los Angeles County’s largest recurring Open Streets program, drawing an average of 50,000 participants per event. These events transform city streets into safe, car-free spaces that promote public health, community connection, and environmental benefits:

  • Nearly 50% of first-time attendees said they would have otherwise stayed home or been sedentary.
  • A Preventive Medicine study found CicLAvia delivers measurable public-health benefits.
  • Harmful air pollution (PM 2.5) drops by almost 50% along the route on event days, and by 12% in surrounding neighborhoods.

Yet while event costs continue to rise, Metro’s Open Streets funding has not kept pace. Concentrating funds only around major international events undermines proven, community-based programs that already advance Metro’s mission of improving mobility, public health, and sustainability. Metro invests more than $600 million annually in freeway projects. We urge the agency to fully fund monthly CicLAvias, modest investments with outsized returns for public health, clean air, and community well-being.

TELL METRO TO FUND CICLAVIA [CUSTOMIZE THE BOTTOM]

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Funny how bike lanes are always the problem when it’s the cars that are getting bigger.

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:tr4cft75d5yyfurquqoctgug/post/3m4tlsntvj22n

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

Bike lane haters keep losing at the ballot box in Massachusetts, despite misleading comments that bike lanes cause traffic congestion. Hint: It’s actually too many cars.

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

Apparently, a mass World Naked Bike Ride is okay, but riding naked by yourself along a New Zealand waterfront isn’t. Although most of the story is hidden behind a damn paywall, unfortunately.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Orange County cities are playing catch-up to the massive boom in ebike popularity. Although once again, most of the problems come from people on often-illegal electric motorbikes, rather than ped-assist bicycles.

With a form of Doublespeak that would make Orwell proud, Encinitas is considering removing safety features on Santa Fe Drive to improve safety.

Sad news from Bakersfield, where a 32-year old man was killed by a driver while riding his bike

Healdsburg’s BiblioBike mobile bicycle library was honored by a national group for Excellence in Book Bike Outreach Programming.

 

National

A 69-year old Las Vegas man faces charges after he told police he killed a 77-year old man riding a bicycle after using marijuana and drinking an “unknown quantity of beers” before the crash; officers described him as “belligerently impaired” after the crash, and before he was taken away in an ambulance.

Voters in my bike-friendly Colorado hometown lived up to their reputation, approving plans to replace the former college football stadium with a shiny new bike park. And yes, that was the same stadium where I used to smuggle bourbon and rum inside my Sousaphone for the marching band.

Bike lanes on a busy Jacksonville, Florida street have gotten a new coat of green paint, although at least some bicyclists say it’s not enough to keep cars out and improve safety.

 

International

Momentum says London, New York and Paris rank at the top of the newest list of the world’s best cities — in that order — and what they have is common is they all put people first.

They get it. An English town is planning to spend the equivalent of $654,000 to upgrade the city’s main separated bike lane to keep delivery drivers from bypassing the widely spaced car-tickler plastic posts to park in it.

In the US, people have protested competitions that allow trans women to compete, but in the UK, several women turned down nominations to Cycling UK’s annual 100 Women in Cycling award because it excluded trans women and non-binary people from consideration.

You can add bikepacking along the Rhine River from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea to your bike bucket list, taking you from “Swiss mountain air to German castles, French Alsace flavors and Dutch windmills.”

Hundreds of people are expected to turn out next month with their bicycles festooned in twinkling lights and creative decorations for The Hague’s fifth annual Haagse Fietslichtjesparade.

 

Competitive Cycling

Good news for LA cycling fans, because multi-time former national champ Justin Williams is getting the band back together, reforming the L39ION of Los Angeles Continental-level cycling team with his brother Cory; the team dominated elite US racing until it was disbanded a few years ago.

Belgian pro Wout van Aert says it feels “pretty weird” to have a fanbase in the US, as he visits Laguna Beach. As if American cycling fans somehow don’t appreciate greatness. 

 

Finally…

The manifold joys of drinking out of a garden hose on an ultra-endurance ride.

And a bet’s a bet.

Although it would have been nice to see Karen Bass on that bikeshare bike. Even if, as Steven put it in an email to me, Bass “would have had a prepared, pothole free, debris free, inconvenience free, (What? Stop at red lights????) route with a large security entourage.”

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Update: Bike-riding mom killed Sunday in apparent collateral damage crash in Lake Forest

June 14, 2023 / / 7 comments

This news from this past weekend just keeps getting worse.

Longtime Orange County bike advocate Bill Sellin has forwarded news that a woman was killed while riding her bike in Lake Forest Sunday morning, apparently the victim of an out-of-control driver.

While the initial reports appeared on Nextdoor, which is not always the most reliable source, the Orange County Sheriff’s department confirms a crash occurred just before 8 am on El Toro Road at Normandale Drive.

Sellin confirmed with Lake Forest officials that the victim of the crash was killed.

Meanwhile, a woman identifying herself as the victim’s daughter reports that the crash occurred when a driver apparently lost control, jumping a curb and hitting a light pole on one side of the street, then ricocheting across the street to hit the victim before crashing into another light pole on the opposite side of the street.

All of which implies the driver may have been traveling at an extreme rate of speed, even given the irrational 55 mph speed limit on the roadway.

Photos from the scene taken from Nextdoor show the mangled bike resting on the sidewalk in front of the smashed pickup; Sellin reports the location of the victim’s body was marked in front of her bike.

There’s no word on the victim’s name or age, though we can surmise her last name from her daughter’s post.

A person identifying themselves as her neighbor reports the victim was a mother of three.

There has been nothing in the news yet, and no official confirmation from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols Lake Forest, or the Coroner’s office; unfortunately, the OC Coroner no longer posts death notices online.

This is at least the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Orange County.

Update: The victim’s daughter has identified her as Sara Wheaton; sadly, she turned 49 the day she died. 

According to the daughter, Wheaton’s body was thrown 20 feet from her bike by the force of the impact. And neighbors who heard the crash don’t recall the sound of braking. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Sara Wheaton and all her family and loved ones. 

Thanks to Bill Sellin for doing all the legwork and tracking down the information for this story. 

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

Update: 42-year old woman killed in Lake Forest bicycling crash; 15th Orange County bike rider killed this year, equalling LA County

November 16, 2020 / / 3 comments

A 42-year old woman was killed riding a bike in Lake Forest Sunday afternoon, just hours after another Orange County bike rider lost his life.

According to the Orange County Register, Orange resident Hanna Tran was somehow struck by a motorist around 4 pm at Santiago Canyon Road and Modjeska Grade Road.

She was taken to Mission Hospital, where she was pronounced dead an hour later.

Once again, there is no word on how the crash happened. And the only mention of the driver is that he or she remained at the scene.

Orange County sheriff’s investigators report that there’s no evidence either the victim or the driver was under the influence; however, the investigation is ongoing.

The crash occurred just two and a half hours, and 32 miles away, from where Ho Cheong was killed riding his bike in La Palma.

This is at least the 58th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th that I’m aware of in Orange County.

That equals the total in LA County, with over three times the population.

Update: The Orange County Bicycle Coalition reports that Tran may have been killed as a result of road work on Santiago Canyon, which had greatly reduced lanes on the popular riding route, without any provision to keep bicyclists safe during the construction. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Hanna Tran and his loved ones.

Thanks to Bill Sellin and Victor Bale for the update.

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

Killer hit-and-run driver who hid in bushes faces six years; swift justice in Monrovia

January 13, 2012 / / 2 comments

The bike justice beat goes on.

It wasn’t that long ago that drivers who killed or maimed cyclists seemed to drive off with barely a slap on the wrist. But lately, there seems to be a steady drumbeat of convictions, even if some drivers still get off far too easy.

Maybe that speaks to the pressure we’ve been applying in our demands for justice.

Or maybe it just speaks to the unacceptably high number of serious cycling cases currently clogging the courts. Or the sheer idiocity of those behind the wheel.

Case in point, Julianne Elyse Thompson was convicted after pleading guilty in a bizarre case in which she ran down and killed 64-year old Arthur John Jacobs in Carlsbad. Then fled the scene at high speed, only to be discovered hiding in the bushes across from an apartment complex where she’d abandoned her car.

Thompson plead guilty to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run causing death. Her blood alcohol level was measured at 0.25 after her arrest — over three times the legal limit, and approaching the level that can cause death.

She is expected to be sentenced to a well-deserved six years in state prison.

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In a case of remarkably swift justice, a driver has already been convicted in a Monrovia hit-and-run that occurred just this past Monday.

Yes, Monday.

Jason Travers was arrested about an hour after a 5:42 pm hit-and-run that left a cyclist with non-life threatening injuries. The 25-year old rider, identified as Paul Tetu, was hit from behind while attempting to make a left turn, and thrown 20 feet through the air.

In a sign of the sheer stupidity demonstrated by some drivers — especially those foolish enough to flee the scene of a collision — Travers called police to report he may have been in a collision, after apparently seeing the story on the news. But swore he wasn’t the one who hit the cyclist.

Needless to say, police investigators found evidence connecting him to the crime. Which they may never have found if Travers hadn’t attempted to craft a case of implausible deniability.

He showed much better judgement at his arraignment on Wednesday, entering a plea of No Contest to the hit-and-run charge; sentencing will take place next month.

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Finally, Orange County deputies stopped cars in an effort to find the hit-and-run killer of Randy Isaacs, as his family pleads for justice.

Isaacs was killed after putting his children to bed at his parents house, while riding his son’s bike a few blocks to the room he was renting after separating from his wife.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Injuries and Fatalities, Legal Cases / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
 
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