Bill shock

Too much cycling is bad for one’s health.

Chinese authorities have cracked down on university students bicycling 80 kilometers between the cities of Zhengzhou and Kaifeng the past several weeks. They deemed it unsafe for both the pedal pushers and motorists because the cyclists do it by the thousands, at night and on a highway.

Their reason for doing the nighttime ride was also flimsy. The riders were biking to Kaifeng to eat soup dumplings there, a trend sparked by a viral post.

The provincial police posted on Chinese social media on 9 November a notice that the road would be “closed to non-motorized vehicles” from 4 p.m. to midday the following day “due to its occupation by shared bikes,” Channel News Asia reports.

Bike sharing companies also refused bookings for rides on prohibited roads and areas.

Meanwhile, a cyclist in Oregon, USA got more than injuries in a bike mishap. William Hoesch, 71, was hit by an ambulance on a road corner in Rainier town, near the Columbia River, in October 2022.

The ambulance was making a right turn when it hit Hoesch, crushing him and his bike under its wheels. Photos of the bloodied cyclist and his destroyed bike appeared on the report on the accident by the New York Post (NYP).

It was the same ambulance that took him to the hospital for treatment. On 24 October, Hoesch sued the Columbia River Fire & Rescue, operator of the ambulance, for nearly $1 million over the $100,000 medical expense he incurred and the permanent injuries he suffered from the mishap.

In his lawsuit filed in Columbia County, Hoesch also claimed the ambulance driver left him with an outrageous bill of $1,862 for taking him to the hospital, according to NYP.