by The Editors on September 17, 2025
In a sadly misguided effort to curb problem e-bike riders, the City of Carlsbad’s Traffic Safety & Mobility Commission voted September 16, 2025, to recommend that the City Council adopt a minimum age of 12 for riding e-bikes and consider additional actions because, you know, e-bikes are the scourge of our peaceful hamlet by the sea.
We are not fans of e-bikes in general (just pedal your bike, you lazy sod), but ebikes are here, they are useful, they are reducing traffic on our streets and smog in our air, and more importantly, they are getting kids to school in a district that doesn’t believe getting kids to school is important enough to fund school buses.
There are problems, however, with those crazy kids wheelieing down the middle of the street or swerving in and out of traffic that’s stopped at a red light. But banning kids under 12 from riding e-bikes is not going to solve that problem because, as the city already knows, the problem kids are not under 12. The City also knows that the way to handle the problem kids is to have the Police Department enforce all the traffic laws we already have. We don’t need more laws for Carlsbad Police Department to enforce.
Why is a ban on under-12 riders bad? Because there are 8- to 11-year-old kids who need to get to school. Who may live too far away to ride pedal bikes in a reasonable time. This City always seems to forget about the kids who actually need to ride e-bikes to school. Not every kid in Carlsbad has a stay-at-home parent with a brand-new, American-flag-dragging, lifted monster golf cart to chauffeur them anywhere they want to go at all hours of the day or night. And making rules that limit the abilities of people who need to ride e-bikes simply because a few bad kids are causing havoc is missing the entire point.
But that’s what we think. For what the Carlsbad Traffic Safety & Mobility Commission thinks, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on June 10, 2023
The Carlsbad Unified School District is making it more difficult for students to get to school in 2023-24, as well as creating more costly bureaucratic headaches for itself thanks to a new bike and e-bike parking permit program. Next year, only bicycles or e-bikes that have been properly permitted and stickered will be allowed to park on CUSD school campuses.
Students riding a Bike or Ebike must complete an application and attend a Carlsbad Unified School District (CUSD) approved Bike & Ebike Safety Presentation. After completion of this application process, students will then receive a district-issued parking permit sticker (sticker) to be affixed to their Bike or Ebike. Stickers will be issued through each school office. Students who do not have a sticker visibly affixed to their Bike or Ebike will not be permitted to bring their Bike or Ebike onto any CUSD campus.
Bicycle safety education should be a part of Carlsbad school curriculum at every level, however, requiring permits and stickers for bicycles does nothing but make it more difficult for kids to ride a bike to school.
Yes, kids need to follow the rules and be safe on their way to school, but discouraging bicycling to school by adding unnecessary permitting is a huge step backwards for a community of students that is leading the nation in the adoption of alternative forms of transportation. For all the official details, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on March 25, 2022
The City of Carlsbad is apparently cracking down on the roving gangs of e-bikers who continually swerve through our city streets by adding some new rules of the road for the underage electric motorcycle riders.
What are these new rules? Well, things like “always ride with care,” no passengers “on handlebars,” don’t ride “on sidewalks,” and rather than scaring the bejeezus out of dog-walking pedestrians by blasting past them on the city’s trail systems, e-bikers must now “get off their e-bike on trails less than 5 feet wide when they’re within 50 feet of a pedestrian.” Get out your tape measures.
It will be interesting to see how the Carlsbad Police department will enforce these new rules. For the official word from the City along with a list of e-bike info sources, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on February 24, 2022
The City of Carlsbad is the next host city for the Love to Ride SD expo hosted by the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition this Saturday, Feb. 26 at The Island at Carlsbad at 5806 Van Allen Way in Carlsbad, California.
The community is invited to this free, family-friendly event that will have interactive activities for all ages including:
A guided family bike ride at 11 a.m.
Helmet fittings
Bike and scooter rodeo
Ebike test rides
Scooter test rides
Bike repair services
Live entertainment, food and drinks
Be sure to stop by the city’s booth to learn about electric bike rules of the road and other transportation resources for safely getting around town.
Love to Ride SD Expo – Free attendance
Saturday, Feb. 26
9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
The Island at Carlsbad
5806 Van Allen Way, Carlsbad
by The Editors on April 10, 2021
Velo Hangar, Carlsbad’s favorite bespoke bicycle boutique (which was located in a shipping container behind the Village Rock Shop at the corner of State and Beech Streets), is leaving the Village of Carlsbad for a new “temporary” workshop in the Palomar Forum Business Park off Lionshead, according to owner Gordon Yeager. Here’s the story from the man himself:
On Monday April 5th, I’ll be opening my new Workshop space in the Palomar Forum Business Park. Like all my spots have been, it’s off the beaten path… The Entrance & Parking is around back. If you find the “Lucidity” Sprinter you’re in the right place. I also will have new hours. Shop will be open Monday thru Friday 11ish to 6ish. . . This is my stepping stone. It’s a great opportunity that my friends from Lucidity Biz Development offered to me until my dream spot is found. So come on by, drop off your bike, enjoy the view, share a Beveridge & spread the love.
Velo Hangar is located at 3132 Tiger Run Ct, Suite 102, in Carlsbad.
[Link: Velo Hangar]
by The Editors on April 24, 2019
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has recently declared war on mountain bikers at Calavera a.k.a the Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve, but a group of Carlsbad locals are hoping to get the land approved for multi-use recreation so decades of trail access can continue in a legal, open, and patrolled way. They’re calling themselves the Calavera Trail Coalition and they’ve built a website to help speed the flow of communication in the community. Here’s their mission statement:
The mission of the Calavera Trails Coalition is to Preserve Calavera for multi use for generations to come. We encourage sustainable management, ecosystem management, multi use recreation and preservation of open space for all to enjoy. We recognize the needs of people including those who have limited abilities or are unable to walk on the land. We support hikers, bikers, adaptive athletes, trail runners, families and wildlife. Sustainable management with enjoyment for all will Preserve Calavera.
For more info on the Calavera and how you can help, please visit the Calavera Trail Coalition website by clicking the link.
[Link: Calavera Trail Coalition]
by The Editors on May 5, 2017
Ride Cyclery gave Carlsbad a good go, however, it seems they’ve decided that their location next to Bobby’s Hideaway Cafe on El Camino Real just North of Cannon wasn’t cutting it and announced that as of Friday, May 5, 2017 they are shutting the location down. Here’s how they pitched it:
Every good story has a beginning and an end. We had a good RIDE with RIDE Cyclery – Carlsbad, however today marks the end of the story for this particular shop. . . We would like to thank you for your support over the past few years! We made a ton of new friends, had fun playing in the dirt and are grateful for the things we learned through this venture.
Ride will still be servicing customers through their Encinitas and San Diego stores as well as their RIDE 2U Mobile Showroom and Service Van. It was nice having a great shop nearby and we will miss them, but we totally understand — that location was pretty much an invisible hole.
[Link: Ride Cyclery]
by The Editors on May 17, 2016
Carlsbad is on track to get a new top-end bike service shop in the heart of the Village when Velo Hangar’s Gordon Yeager turns his dream into a reality.
What I’m planning to create is a social spot — a spot where I can sell my VH branded merchandise, but most importantly create a place for all of us to gather, hang out, socialize,” Yeager says. ” That’s why I’m planning to build Velo Hangar SC. It’s part social, part service, it’s all you. Think patio, coffee, chill. Luckily I’ll be sharing space with a top notch locally owned coffee roaster on the premise. My space will be my own though. Solar powered, Eco-friendly, simple. I need help with the construction. The FF&E’s, the cargo container itself.. I will be starting construction in August of 2016. The spot has been secured.
Yeager is inviting everyone to buy in on the rebirth of Velo Hanger with a GoFundMe Campaign. Southern California cyclists have missed Yeager since he and his former business partner closed their popular Solana Beach location. And we’ve missed having a pro cycling mechanic in The Village since Carbon Connection closed last year. Now, with a little help from all of us, Velo Hangar can live again and right in the heart of Carlsbad. To help out, click the link.
[Link: Velo Hangar 3.0]
by The Editors on September 18, 2015
Want to spend a great day on your bike while rolling through Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, and Oceanside? Then the Tri-City Medical Center’s Bike The Coast on October 10, 2015 may just be that day.
Bike the Coast – Taste the Coast is a recreational bicycle ride offering a choice of 7, 15, 25, 50 and 100-mile rides starting and finishing with food, beer garden, sports expo and music at the Oceanside Pier on Saturday, October 10, 2015. The cycling courses include the San Luis Rey Bike Trail and San Diego’s North County beaches of Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar. Proceeds from the ride support the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition www.sdcbc.org — a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to making bicycling better in greater San Diego.
Follow the jump for all the official details. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on May 12, 2015
If you’re going to ride your bike to work one day this year (you should be doing it every day, of course) then make it Bike To Work Day (Friday, May 15, 2015) because the City of Carlsbad and the San Diego Association of Governments will hook you up with some free goodies, maybe even a T-shirt at their “pit stop” at triangle park aka Frazee Beach at Carlsbad Boulevard and Pine Avenue.
“The City of Carlsbad encourages those who live and work in and around the city to join neighbors, friends and coworkers in celebrating Bike to Work Day with us,” said Rachael Shay, special events supervisor for the city. “The many miles of bike-friendly transportation systems in our community and now a great campaign like Walk + Bike Carlsbad make it easy to take in Carlsbad from a different perspective.”
We’ll see you on the road. For the official word from the City of Carlsbad, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
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