Day 295 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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You’re invited to the Upside Down next month, after Netflix purchased full sponsorship of the year’s last CicLAvia for a Stranger Things themed open streets event.
Los Angeles, do you copy?
On Sunday, November 23, fans are invited to join the Netflix x CicLAvia—Melrose Ave: Stranger Things 5 One Last Ride – an epic event bringing fans together to bike, skate, or stroll along a car-free stretch of Melrose Ave in celebration of the cultural phenomenon’s fifth and final season.
For one day only, fans will step into the world of Stranger Things with immersive photo ops, pedal-powered activations, live entertainment, merch, giveaways, and an exclusive content drop – all taking place just days before Volume 1 hits Netflix on November 26th at 5pm PT.
We’re going full 1980s, and you’re invited to join the fun: show up as your favorite Hawkins character or monster of the Upside Down, or channel peak ‘80s vibes with neon, leg warmers, windbreakers, or any retro fit.
If that’s not enough for you, fans can also choose to take part in a special quest along the route. Rack up pins by completing various activities on our quest map to unlock additional surprises.
The event is open to all and no RSVP will be needed. Just grab your bike, board, skates, sneakers… even your stroller, and head on out to Melrose Avenue for a day of fun, community, and adventure.
Meanwhile, Active Streets will beat CicLAvia to the punch with the five-mile Corazón de Valle on November 2nd, which is the perfect opportunity to bust out your best Dia de Los Muertos outfit.
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BikeLA, the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, will hold their annual Bike Fest fundraiser at Highland Park Brewery on Saturday, November 2nd.
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Apparently, it pays to encourage people to ride a bike.
According to a new report, the UK’s bike to work program contributes the equivalent of $766 million to the British economy.
According to ebike website Cycling Electric,
Work commissioned by the Cycle to Work Alliance has found the economic benefit of the cycle to work scheme to be worth £573 million ‘across retail, productivity, health, and household savings.’
The research found that participants in the scheme saved £1,262 per year by switching out their commute from a car to a cycle, or e-bike and the incentive results in 38% of participants commuting by bike for the very first time.
That works out to $1,689 per person per year, just by ditching their car for a bicycle.
The way it works is you pick out the bicycle and safety gear you want, and your employer buys it for you. Then you pay it back through a monthly salary deduction.
So depending on the price of the bicycle and the payment period, you could turn a profit in the first year. Or pay it off quicker, and turn a profit every year after that.
Cycling Electric calls the program imperfect, because anyone who is unemployed or self-employed is left out, among other issues.
But it still beats the hell out of any bike to work program I know of in this country.
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Streetsblog takes a look at the new Toronto barrier on the 3rd Street bike lane in DTLA.
What do you think of LADOT’s #TorontoBarrier bike lane pilot in #DTLA? Located on 3rd between Spring and Main
— Streetsblog L.A. (@streetsblogla.bsky.social) 2025-10-20T21:15:15.680Z
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
The mean streets of America are getting meaner.
A Portland driver was caught on video repeatedly ramming his SUV into a bike rider protecting a “No Kings” protest rally, yet the cops refused to even cite the driver because they said the victim shouldn’t have been blocking the street in the first place. Which is kinda like saying you can punch someone in the face if they’re jaywalking.
An Arlington, Virginia driver was arrested for intentionally ramming his car into a man on a bicycle, after the two men argued in a parking lot.
A Florida university professor faces an assault charge for knocking a teenager’s bike helmet off, after yelling at him to “slow down” while riding on a sidewalk; meanwhile, another Florida driver was busted for swerving towards a couple kids on ebikes for the crime of riding too fast.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
An 18-year old ebike rider received a formal trespassing warning after knocking a woman over — while riding inside a Folsom, CA Walmart.
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Local
Streets For All wants you to back their proposed Los Angeles City Charter reforms at today’s 4 pm Planning and Infrastructure Committee meeting.
Downtown Los Angeles News profiles LA’s Roadrunner Bags, which are handmade in DTLA “by cyclists, for cyclists.”
Culver City will hold a ribbon cutting today for the new Robertson Blvd bus/bike lanes.
Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a 20-year old at-risk man who went missing on a bike ride in Rosemead on Sunday.
State
Irvine-based e-truck maker Rivian continues to tease its new ebike — if you can call showing a full photo “teasing.”
A travel website says Stockton is America’s most dangerous city for bicyclists, with a jaw-dropping fatality rate six times the US average.
Berkeley-based travel company Backroads took its staff to Spain’s Costa Blanca to ride bikes just to get a taste of what the area has to offer.
A San Francisco bike ride next month will honor the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday, or Ghoton, in the Tibetan language.
The bike lanes on the Bay Area’s Richmond-San Rafael bridge will now only be open to bicycles on Thursday evenings through Sunday, serving as a breakdown lane for cars the rest of the week. Because apparently, cars only break down on weekdays, and people only bike on weekends.
Calbike will host the next California Bike Summit in Sacramento next April.
National
Rapha is partnering with USA Cycling in hopes of reversing its eighth consecutive year of red ink. Sure, they may be losing money on every sale, but they make it up in volume.
A Las Vegas letter writer says the driver who killed a 12-year old riding a bike was at fault for not giving her a safe passing distance, but so was the person who illegally parked their SUV in the bike lane, forcing her out into traffic.
Um, okay. A Salt Lake City TV station says a pedestrian was killed in a collision while riding his bicycle across a street. Aside from the obvious tragedy, isn’t that like saying a pedestrian was killed while driving his car?
Horrible news from Colorado, where a man was found guilty of fatally shooting a 10-year old girl in the back after her father mistakenly confronted him about the girl’s stolen bike, firing several shots at the family’s car as they tried to drive away.
A Minnesota man is hoping to get his collection of rare BMX bikes back after someone stole four bikes valued at ten grand from his garage, though he says the sentimental value is worth more than the price tag.
Tragic news from upstate New York, where a 62-year old man was killed when he crashed his bicycle into someone he was riding with. Unfortunately, most of the story is hidden behind a paywall.
They get it. New York Streetsblog says the problem with ebikes isn’t the relatively sedate ped-assist bikes, it’s the super-fast illegal ones.
A 71-year old North Carolina man was critically injured when he was struck by a driver after swerving into the car’s path — which actually seems to be the case for a change, since the crash was caught on a doorbell cam. The usual warning applies, so be sure you want to see it before you click on the link, because you can’t unsee it afterwards.
International
Cycling Electric considers the year’s best long-range ebikes.
Bike Radar looks at the ten most controversial changes in road-cycling tech from the past century. I mean, who knew that derailleurs were controversial?
A pair of English teenagers were sentenced to three-and-a-half and four years, respectively, for a series of “well-planned,” violent attacks targeting people attempting to buy bicycles through Facebook Marketplace.
British Parliament members published a report calling for lifetime driving bans and stricter mobile phone laws to address a justice system they say is failing families of people killed by drivers.
An inquest ruled that a popular parish priest on the Isle of Wight died of injuries from a bike crash, a full 14 years after he was paralyzed falling off his bicycle.
A group of Dutch tourists learned the hard way to avoid local protests, when their bike tour took them into Valencia, Spain’s Old Town and they were surrounded by angry anti-tourism demonstrators yelling “Fuera, fuera!” (“Out, out”).
Competitive Cycling
Cyclist looks at the winners and losers in pro cycling’s new relegation system, as two French teams got the heave-ho.
The 2028 Tour de France has been bumped up to June to avoid a conflict with the ’28 Los Angeles Olympics, as Luxembourg and Prague contendi for the early Grand Départ.
Finally…
Surely, you joust. Now you, too, can give your bike a Diwali glow-up. If you’re going to dare the cops to come get you, try not to fall off your bicycle as you ride away.
And just another sumo wrestler on a bikeshare bike.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
