Watsonville police sergeant rides fixed

Watsonville, CA police sergeant Henry Robles rides a fixed gear bicycle.

Watsonville police sgt Henry Robles with his blue and gold fixed gear bike

In this story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about a fixie-riding teen who was seriously injured after crossing into an Acura, I saw this photo of Sgt Robles with his blue and gold fixie.

A teen in Watsonville was riding his brakeless fixie west on Green Valley Road when he turned left into the path of a 93 Acura. The teen was airlifted to a trauma center in Santa Clara county. Watsonville police Lieutenant Michael Ridgeway told the Sentinel, “The kids love ’em and they’re fun to ride, but they strip them down. They take everything off the bike. It’s a dangerous trend, and I recommend that parents take a role in what their kids are riding.”

It’s pretty cool the local police seem to understand and participate in the local fixie culture to some degree.

Sgt. Henry Robles said he understood teens’ recent fascination with fixies. He too rides a blue and gold fixie – with brakes – yet he heard of recent complaints of packs of fixie-riding teens on sidewalks.

“We hope to educate these riders a little bit more,” Robles said.

He said he liked that youths were spending time with bikes rather than getting in trouble with gangs. He just wanted them to follow the rules of the road.

Watsonville is an agricultural city at the south end of Santa Cruz County, right on the border of Monterey County. The largest businesses include Driscoll’s Strawberries, Martinelli’s Juice Company, California Giant Berry Farms, Monterey Mushrooms. Fox Racing (yes, that Fox Racing that makes shocks for motorcycles and mountain bikes) is the largest non-government employer in Watsonville. Easy Racer recumbent bikes are also manufactured in Watsonville.

2 Comments

  1. I have frequent typos so thanks for pointing it out, but “crossing” is the intended word here because that’s what the cyclist did: turned left into the path of the car.

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