Bicycles

When he used to own a Balboa Peninsula bike shop, Don DiCostanzo started making his own custom electric bikes for customers after he couldn’t find any he liked. Now he hopes that Pedego, the bike company he started in 2007 with a college friend, will become the industry standard for electric bikes. “In e-biking, there isn’t anything in terms of a brand like the Blackberry or iPod yet, and that’s what we hope to be,” DiCostanzo said. DiCostanzo’s electric beach cruisers are catching on in Newport Beach as an environmentally friendly way to avoid beach traffic and parking, said Bethany Lee, director of operations for Newport Fun Tours, 2122 Newport Blvd.

Two avid cyclists and members of Transition Laguna's Mobility Group are finding ways to make biking around town feasible for more Lagunans. Residents Michael Hoag and Les Miklosy recently adopted the "bicycle recycle plan" from green cities around world; they repair and refurbish unwanted bikes and then donate them to people who want them. "Our goal is to solve the transportation problem in a town that is automobile-centric," Miklosy said. "We are repairing these bikes to encourage people to ride them."

Two Santa Ana teenagers were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of burglary in Costa Mesa after a woman came home and found them leaving her house, police said. Alfredo Pacheco, 19, and Kevin Mejia, 18, were arrested in connection with the burglary that occurred at 10:39 a.m. Wednesday in the 1200 block of Londonderry Street, said Police Department Sgt. Matt Grimmond. The men allegedly took about $3,600 in electronics, cash and jewelry before the victim came home. She said she saw the two throw their backpacks and bicycles over the wall of her backyard into nearby Gisler Park, Grimmond said.

Lolita Harper Summer heat with a cool ocean breeze not only provides the perfect atmosphere for a relaxing afternoon in the sun, but for a heart-thumping one also. From a bike ride on the boardwalk to a pickup game of basketball, Newport Beach offers countless activities for those who want to break a sweat. Boardwalk Sports offers a wide variety of rentals, such as bicycles, fishing poles, surfboards, wetsuits, chairs, umbrellas and Boogie boards.

With gas prices setting a state record, Orange County commuters are encouraged to swap their automobiles for bicycles this week, as the Orange County Transportation Authority ? joined by the Island Hotel in Newport Beach ? sponsors Bike to Work Week, running now through Friday. "It's a great form of exercise, it's a great way to beat the gas prices ? which continue to rise ? it's good for the environment and, more importantly, it's just a healthy alternative for getting to work," said transportation authority spokesman Joel Zlotnik, adding that bicycles can be accommodated on its buses and Metrolink rail services.

COSTA MESA Federal Avenue: Roving thieves on bicycles paid a visit to a home in the 1900 block at about 1 p.m. Aug. 31. A pair of young men swooped in, snatched a Skil saw and two drills that were left unattended and made a quick escape. This is apparently not their only crime; suspects matching their description have also been seen "stealing Razor scooters, skateboards and bicycles," according the police report. Baker Street: An unknown thief treated the owner of a BMW to a taste of the stereotypical Orange County burglary the evening of Aug. 30. While the owner of the car hung around at Shooter's in the 700 block, the thief perused the contents of the unlocked car and selected a Nokia cellular phone to take home.

In my opinion, the Daily Pilot should caution its readers about the risks of "swapping their automobiles for bicycles" to go to work, as enticed (irresponsibly, I think) by the Orange County Transportation Authority's Joel Zlotnik ("Keep body, environment healthy by biking to work," May 16). It is deplorable that, instead of improving its services, the transportation authority urges citizens to risk their lives and limbs by opting for bicycles on the highways. The suggestion that "it's just a healthy alternative for getting to work" is false, (the auto exhausts are definitely not healthy, and the chances of being hit by cars are high)

A boardwalk safety committee was formed to study the oceanfront boardwalk and bike trail on the Balboa Peninsula. One of the decisions made was that the four-wheel vehicles, known as surreys, should not be allowed on the boardwalk. The reason that the surreys are being singled out is not clear. Some say they are too fast. Some say they are too slow. Some say they are too wide and yet they are 4 feet wide from pedal to pedal. Two adults walking side by side allowing for 6 inches between the two people could use the same amount of space.

Newport Beach is considering partnering with a local foundation to bring a bike sharing program to the city that would allow users to borrow bicycles from solar-powered kiosks around the city for a small fee. The bike-sharing system, called BIXI, a combination of the words bicycle and taxi, has just been unveiled in the Montreal. The Canadian city unveiled its BIXI bike sharing program in May, with 3,000 bikes available at 300 pay stations. The bike sharing program is designed for users to park their cars or use public transportation and then borrow a bike for a short period of time, returning it to another station near their destination.

Two years ago, Kevin Ansel noticed a lot of bicycles wasting away on campus, their seats rotting in the sun as they stood tethered to bike racks. When students leave UC Irvine, they sometimes abandon their bikes ? believing it's not worth the effort to haul them home. Ansel, a UCI student-affairs director and an avid cyclist who logged 3,400 miles on his bike last year, couldn't bear the thought of perfectly good bikes being discarded. "These bikes were going to waste, and I knew people could use them," he says.

Two Santa Ana teenagers were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of burglary in Costa Mesa after a woman came home and found them leaving her house, police said. Alfredo Pacheco, 19, and Kevin Mejia, 18, were arrested in connection with the burglary that occurred at 10:39 a.m. Wednesday in the 1200 block of Londonderry Street, said Police Department Sgt. Matt Grimmond. The men allegedly took about $3,600 in electronics, cash and jewelry before the victim came home. She said she saw the two throw their backpacks and bicycles over the wall of her backyard into nearby Gisler Park, Grimmond said.

COSTA MESA — California Elementary School recognized three students Friday for selling the most raffle tickets, in an effort to raise enough money for every student to go to sixth-grade science camp. Sixth-graders Lexi Osso, Lelani Acuna and Matthew Sullivan were given gift bags and honored in front of the whole school in the multi-purpose room for a rainy day flag deck. "These kids went over and above," said parent Maureen Sullivan, who organized the raffle with her husband, Bob Sullivan.

NEWPORT BEACH — The City Council will consider whether to approve a new striping and sign template for bicycle lanes that would be applied at "free" right-turn locations, according to a staff report included in Tuesday's meeting agenda. If the council approves the templates, the first location where they would be implemented would be along East Coast Highway from MacArthur Boulevard to Irvine Terrace, the staff report states. In May, members of the city's Bicycle Safety Committee targeted the Coast Highway-MacArthur free right turn as particularly dangerous to cyclists because motorists heading westbound onto Coast Highway often move quickly to the far-left lane and cut over the cyclists' ride-through lane.

If you're a regular Starbucks customer in Corona del Mar, you might notice a few missing seats at the counter. After a resident expressed concern, city officials investigated and asked that seats be removed at Starbucks at 2801 E. Coast Hwy. to make sure the coffee shop is in compliance with its permit. "The conditional use permit limited inside seating to a maximum of 21 seats," said Mary Locey, a city spokeswoman. "It was determined that additional seating was added, and they have been asked to bring the seating into compliance by our Code Enforcement Division.

Three people were arrested in connection with bicycle thefts in Newport Beach, police said Monday. Jonathan Robert McBeth, 19, of Huntington Beach, and two 17-year-old boys from Santa Ana were arrested for stealing bicycles Friday and Saturday, Newport Beach police said in a news release. A citizen detained McBeth near Sixth Street and West Bay Avenue on Friday after being spotted by a man who saw McBeth trying to take off with his bicycle, police said. Early Saturday, police were called out to 39th Street and Seashore Drive, where the two Santa Ana teens were seen trying to break the lock off a bicycle.

Four local police agencies, including the Newport Beach Police Department, will join forces to conduct a Bicycle Safety Enforcement Operation on Feb. 19 and Feb. 24, police announced. "Extra officers will be on duty patrolling areas frequented by bicyclists and vehicles," according to a police news release. "Officers will be addressing traffic violations made by all vehicle operators, bicyclists, and other vehicle drivers that lead to bicycle vs. vehicle collisions, injuries and fatalities.

A landscaper accused of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter related to a fatal Newport Beach bicycle crash over the summer will be back in court Monday to stand trial. Jose Luis Huerta Mundo, 38, pleaded guilty Tuesday to driving without a license, but chose to take the manslaughter charge to a jury. Opening statements in the trial were Wednesday, with more proceedings scheduled for next week. Police said Mundo was driving his landscaping truck on Spyglass Hill Road on July 15 when he made an illegal left turn, blocking the right lanes off a blind curve that cyclists were riding downhill.

NEWPORT BEACH — In the shadow of three cycling deaths since 2009, Newport Beach city crews on Friday added an extra reminder along one stretch of highway that drivers need to share the road with bicyclists. On Bayside Drive, between El Paseo Drive and Carnation Avenue, city staff added sharrows — painted markings on the street that depict two white arrows and a bicycle. The city is including the markings only on this stretch of two-lane road, about three-quarters of a mile long, as a test-run before possibly adding sharrows to other parts of the city.

NEWPORT BEACH –— The Newport Beach City Council bowed to a wave of public opinion Tuesday when it asked its parks commissioners to reevaluate expanding the hours that people can walk their dogs on the beach. About 50 people packed the Council Chambers to advocate for expanded hours or protest against dog-related nuisances. Some believe dog regulations limit quality time with a beloved member of the family, while others want strict rules so they don't step in dog waste or have to deal with snarling canines.

On the heels of the third fatal bicycle accident in a year, the Newport Beach City Council is looking to create a permanent bicycle safety committee to oversee cycling routes, safety and education. The council will take up the issue at Tuesday's meeting. The committee would start where the city's bicycle safety task force left off: putting into motion a series of recommendations to make Newport Beach more bicycle-friendly among vehicle traffic. A task force on cycling safety issued its report to the council in May, recommending that officials create more bike lanes, a map of cycling routes in the city and raise public awareness of bicycle laws in regards to vehicle traffic.