My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.
After writing about Sunday’s fallen bicyclist in Hemet, my internet service went down at precisely 12:07 am as I was in the middle of writing what would have been yesterday’s post.
At which point, I wisely gave up and went to bed, after Spectrum finally stopped insisting there was no outage in my area, and admitted they wouldn’t be back online until 5 am, at best.
On the other hand, I am pleased to announce that our spokescorgi will be competing in the 2026 Winter Corgi Nationals at Santa Anita racetrack on February 15th.
She is easily the fastest corgi I know. But whether that energy can be directed towards running in a straight line remains to be seen.
And yes, I’m told the betting windows will be open. Although where they’ll find a jockey that small, I have no idea.
Feel free to open a crowdfunding page to fund matching team uniforms, along with a limo to deliver her to Arcadia in the style to which she’d like to become accustomed.
Or a decent bucket bike, anyway.
This is from last year’s Summer Corgi Nationals.
Now, we’ve got a lot to catch up on, so let’s get to it.
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A new study from Rice University says drivers just don’t understand us.
No, literally.
According to the research, drivers get hand signals when you point directly left or right in the direction you’re turning. But bending your left arm up to signify a right turn, or holding it down to indicate braking, not so much.
They’re also clueless when it comes to road positioning or body language to indicate your intentions on the road.
However, while the study doesn’t mention it, my personal research indicates drivers still understand the gesture most commonly used by bicyclists to signify displeasure.
Yes, that one.
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Um, okay.
Twenty-four-year old Italian Andrea Piccolo demonstrates his unusual career path from WorldTour cyclist, to banned bike doper, to OnlyFans model, to getting busted by the cops for counterfeiting.
Although it beats the career path of 64-year old Colombian Luis “Lucho” Herrera, who went from Vuelta winner to hiring death squads to kill his neighbors.
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Maybe it’s just me, but didn’t we see this same video last year?
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Now you, too, can replace your chain with a set of 3D-printed gears that look like they came out of a Lego set.
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A former member of the British Parliament inadvertently made the case for a protected bike lane with her “bonkers” video opposing it, as the video shows a taxi drifting into the existing painted bike lane.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Portland’s Unity Ride protest went from a “joyful” vibe when riders met up, to a full frontal assault on innocent people who were teargassed by federal officers outside the ICE headquarters.
No bias here. A Utah legislator is calling for Salt Lake City to “mitigate” the impacts of any traffic calming work, including “mitigating” lane removals by removing bus and bike lanes and restoring lanes for motor vehicles. Without digging out my old dust-covered Funk & Wagnalls, I’m not sure that’s what “mitigate” means, exactly.
Iowa bicyclists are decrying a so-called bicycle safety bill in the state legislature, which would ban bikes or any other personal conveyance from streets with speed limits above 25 mph, as well as all sidewalks; advocates call it the most anti-bicycling bill in the state’s history.
Horrible news from India, where a 40-year old man was chased down by two men and beaten to death in a petty road rage dispute, which started when the victim’s bicycle brushed a motorcycle owned by one of his attackers; police arrested men the next day, who claimed they were just drunk and the victim owed them money. Oh, well okay, then.
But sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
No bias here, either. Singapore commenters criticize a pair of bicyclists for sprinting and passing one another in the traffic lane, rather than riding in the bike lane, where they would have been mixing it up with kids and pedestrians at over 30 mph.
Aussies were suitably shocked and appalled by images of a bicyclist skitching by holding onto the back of a pickup traveling at high speed — if you consider the equivalent of 31 mph high speed. Although you’d think they would have been mollified by his helmet and hi-viz adjacent pink jersey.
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Local
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers a roundup of bike lane news, including approval of the Better Overland protected bike lane project, as well as protected bike lanes coming to Glendale’s La Crescenta Ave and Colorado Ave in Santa Monica.
Tres shock! Los Angeles has installed a new slightly buffered north-south bike lane on a half-mile stretch of Hobart Blvd in East Hollywood/Thai Town/Little Armenia.
LADOT has another survey about the Los Angeles River path, this time looking for connections to a new segment of the LARiverWay in the east San Fernando Valley. Here’s a thought. If they’re trying to build one continuous bikeway along the entire LA River, how about just picking one name for the whole damn thing and sticking with it?
Not everyone loves the shade of “Hollywood” green used to make the West Hollywood bike lanes more visible to drivers, while remaining sufficiently inoffensive to filmmakers. Personally, I’d say it’s more of a puke green, but I appreciate the effort.
Hats off to the Culver City Unified School District, which is redesigning the parking lot between Farragut Elementary and the Culver City Middle School and Culver City High School campus complex to improve bike parking, and build protected bike lanes leading to it.
State
Fullerton is the latest OC city to crack down on reckless ebike riders, including an extra-low 5 mph speed limit on city sidewalks. I’m not sure I could ride that slow on my road bike without falling over, let alone on an ebike.
Around a hundred people turned out for a memorial and ghost bike installation for six-year old Hudson O’Loughlin, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding with his family in Pacific Beach last month.
San Marcos is cracking down on ebikes by fining the parents of kids under 12.
Sad news from Milpitas, where a 69-year old man was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike in a pre-dawn collision. Although for one site, the most important thing seemed to be the traffic problems it caused.
San Mateo voted down a proposal to rip out the four-year old Humboldt Street bike lanes, at least for now, anyway, as they try to figure out a way to keep the bike lanes while restoring the 200 parking places removed to build them.
National
A writer for Bike Rumor says just because he rides an ebike — or lots of them — don’t assume he’s lazy.
While everyone else is cracking down on ebikes, Oregon goes the other way, lowering the minimum age to ride an ebike to 14.
A 35-year old Utah woman faces charges for being the ostensible getaway driver for a man who was fatally shot while trying to steal a bicycle.
A Massachusetts man returned home after a three and a half year, 46,000 mile bikepacking tour around the world, hitting six of the seven continents, leaving out only Antarctica.
If you want to ride New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare, watch out for ICE. No, not the immigration service, the stuff encasing the city’s bikeshare docks.
People For Bikes offers a delayed recap of how DC bike riders turned tragedy into action on November’s World Day of Remembrance, before segueing into a call to help pass the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act (HR2011/S944) to ensure more funding for bikeways.
Florida is taking a surprisingly rational approach to regulating ebikes, as a proposal to create a task force to prevent ebike injuries moves forward in the legislature.
A Florida bike club is in mourning after a 67-year old club member was killed when he was struck by a truck driver towing a trailer; others in the club said that no one was safer on a bike, or followed the rules more than he did. Which is a tragic reminder that you can do everything right, but your safety still depends on the people you share the road with.
International
Momentum asks if it’s ever too cold to bike to work. If you ask most Angelenos, that’s any time the temperature drops into the 60s. Or 70s if it’s overcast.
Road.cc recommends the best road bikes for under the equivalent of $2,700.
A writer for Canadian Cycling Magazine gets on his soapbox, and makes the case for why shouting “on your left!” is the worst thing a bike rider can do, aside from buzzing someone’s shoulder afterward, arguing that we should all just use our bells. Because evidently, every road and racing bike comes fully equipped with a bike bell, as any rider in the pro peloton could undoubtedly tell you.
A bikeshare system in the Scottish Highlands proves ebikes can boom outside of big cities, as users rode enough miles last year to go around the world three times.
He gets it. Lime Bikes UK policy director called for retiming the city’s traffic lights to create a Green Wave, enabling bike riders to get a wave of green lights so they don’t have to keep stopping.
A new report from Shimano shows the UK and Ireland have the lowest rate of bicycle ownership in Europe, calling it a wakeup call, as fewer than half of all homes have a bike.
If the Irish government approves a call to require bike helmets and hi-viz, it would apply to everyone on any type of bicycle, not just people on ebikes.
In a bizarre story, Polish adventurer Adam Boreiko was found dead in his Russian hotel room while attempting to ride the 570 miles from Yakutsk to Oymyakon in Siberia — the coldest spot outside Antarctica, at the coldest time of year; he’d already covered 250 miles, and appeared to be in perfect health when he stopped for the night, but was found dead the next morning. Has anyone checked him for polonium? Just asking.
China’s newest literary star can claim bike shop worker and bike courier on his extensive resume.
Competitive Cycling…
The founders of Formula Fixed discuss the hows and whys of their track Brakeless Cycling League.
American startup Modern Adventure Pro Cycling had a podium finish in the inaugural race, nearly winning the recent AlUla Tour, nee the Tour of Saudi Arabia.
Twenty-five year old Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay claimed his first stage win since 2024, winning the first stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in his first race for his new NSN Cycling team.
That feeling when some fool on an ebike ends up leading the breakaway at the Grand Prix La Marseillaise.
Finally…
Your next Ducati may not use gas — or even have an engine, for that matter. Your next gravel bike may have been born a mountain bike.
And no one ever said riding a tandem was supposed to be easy.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
