January 31st at 6:00 pm, join us at Portfolio Coffee House on Fourth at Junipero for an additional opportunity to discuss interesting ideas found in Jeff Mapes’ book Pedaling Revolution.
The Long Beach Cyclists Reading Group, organized by Kevin Flaherty, meets monthly to discuss books and news of interest to the local cycling community.
Click EVENTS at the top of the page, and scroll to the January 31st calendar entry to view a map pointing to Portfolio.
We’re about community, education and advocacy.
Click on MEMBERSHIP at the top of the page for more information and to print out a membership form.
Day trips on bicycle are easy and fun. Recently, Bernadette coordinated the recent ‘historical highlights’ tour and picnic. Travis dubbed it the P.A.L.B.I.F. Ride—(pack a lunch because it’s fun). We met up at Portfolio Coffee House on Junipero and Fourth.
The Drake Park neighborhood (Willmore City Historic District) is one of the oldest in Long Beach.
Docents from Long Beach Heritage awaited us at the Bembridge House near Drake Park. The Bembridge House was built in the early 1900s.
We made sure we didn’t scuff up the old, restored wooden floors.
A typewriter of sorts, that only types numbers.
Carlos is a cyclist and a pianist. He was given permission to play a tune on the old piano.
After the Bembridge House tour, we cycled north along the LA River trail. In places the river is very pretty. Decades ago, before levies were built to make the Los Angeles River run straight, all lowland areas were subject to seasonal flooding. The Bembridge House and other houses in Drake Park were built on high ground. The Bembridge House looked out over lowland areas that were considered ‘mud flats.’ Areas that were once ‘mud flats’ are now residential neighborhoods.
We get a great view of the Metro Blue Line as it crosses the river.
The river also includes a beautiful area where water can soak into the earth, to replenish our aquafers. You can see egrets, ducks and other wildlife here.
We enjoyed a rest, and picnic lunch, in a small park just off the river bike trail.
Many Long Beach Cyclists rides are for the entire family.
We cycled to Rancho Los Cerritos, which goes back to the first half of the 1800s—long before this area became known as Long Beach. You will want to visit Rancho Los Cerritos to learn about early California history. There were no bicycles in the early days… and of course no motor vehicles. Imagine how nice and quiet it was around here.
Rancho Los Cerritos was home to various families over many, many decades. Can we guess when this horse-shaped tricycle was new? Note that one operated this tricycle by hand, not with one’s legs. The hand pedals connect to a chain that runs to the rear axle.
A group photo in the Rancho Los Cerritos garden.
Long Beach Cyclists organizes or participates in group rides and other fun events throughout the year. Click EVENTS at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com web page to see our calendar of upcoming activities.
If you wish to see more photos of the Historic Highlights Ride and Picnic, which took place on January 10, 2010, additional photos by Michael Bos and Jacob Dickinson have been posted on Flickr. For Bos’ photos, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46493017@N04/sets/72157623267925108/
Additional photos by ride participant Jacob Dickinson are now posted at:
http://flickr.com/gp/jjldickinson/m2g76j
Happy cycling, Michael Bos / lbcyclists@gmail.com
Click on this must-read letter. It’s from Russ Roca. Russ writes to friends and to all those who look forward to Long Beach becoming an even better city than it already is.
Charles Gandy is the City of Long Beach Mobility Coordinator. Gandy is a nationally known cycling advocate who for the next year or two has made Long Beach home while contracted to assist the City of Long Beach in its efforts to make Long Beach a better, more livable city for all.
A League Certified Instructor (LCI) leads traffic skills courses for cyclists and other road users. Several members of Long Beach Cyclists are LCIs. Long Beach offers Traffic Skills 101 at CSULB Pyramid Annex. Click EDUCATION at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com web page for more details and to find out how to sign up for an upcoming course.
Russ Roca and Laura Crawford have been on a cross-country cycling adventure called Path Less Pedaled since August of 2009. They send us updates, this time from Arizona. For several years, Russ made a living here in Long Beach as the Eco-Friendly Bicycling Photographer. Daily, Russ was seen cycling here and there around Long Beach and beyond on his cargo bike—a long bike with an enormous rack to carry lots of specialized photo equipment. Many of Russ’ photographs have been featured in the District weekly and other publications. Both Russ and Laura were active participants in Long Beach Cyclists and cycling advocacy when they lived in Long Beach.
Russ and Laura, we send you a ‘hello’ from Long Beach, California! We miss you. We wish you continued safe travels and more wonderful adventures!
Family, friends and fellow cyclists remembered local cyclist Gustavo Ramirez. Numerous photos of the Gustavo Ramirez Memorial Ride, January 16, 2010, taken by Long Beach Cyclist member Lee Tracy, can be viewed at
http://gallery.mac.com/yoshiyahu#100312&bgcolor=black&view=grid
One type of potentially dangerous situation concerns right turns. Wherever motor vehicles make right turns, the cyclist needs to position himself/herself in a safe location, and be aware of appropriate, legal behaviors that can help avoid conflicts.
MAKE YOUR DESTINATION PREDICTABLE
The notion of destination lanes can be helpful. All road users are safer if they position themselves in a lane that makes clear their destination. A cyclist who wishes to continue straight ahead through an intersection should not drive in the right turn lane. It is safer, and more useful to motorists, for the cyclist to signal his/her intent to continue straight ahead by driving in the same lane that the motorist would also be expected to use to do the same maneuver. In that way, vehicles behind the cyclist can see and reasonably predict what the cyclist intends to do.
LANE POSITIONING COMMUNICATES YOUR INTENT
Note that in the ‘Incompatible Destinations’ image, a cyclist who drives in a right turn lane or bicycle lane who intends to continue straight ahead risks being struck by a right-turning motor vehicle. Traffic engineers are getting better at understanding how to design each lane to make them safer to use. The cyclist, for his/her part, needs to drive safely and predictably. The cyclist is safer if he or she is visible, driving safely, legally and predictably, and if his or her destination is made clear. Lane positioning is an effective way to communicate one’s intent.
SIDEWALK CYCLISTS ARE LESS VISIBLE, AND IN GREATER DANGER
A beginning cyclist may mistakenly believe that driving on a sidewalk makes him or her safer. A major problem of driving on a sidewalk, besides the fact that cycling on many sidewalks is illegal, is that the sidewalk cyclist is less visible to the motorist. This is critical at intersections. A right-turning motorist may not see the cyclist. The consequences of not being seen by a motorist can be disastrous.
Right turns are common vehicle maneuvers. The educated cyclist is safer when visible, when not swerving, and when his/her destination is clear to motorists approaching from behind.
The cyclist who positions himself/herself in the motorist’s ‘blind spot’—to the right, slightly to the rear, but not visible to the motorist through the right mirror—is unable to communicate anything to the motorist at that moment. As soon as practical, the aware cyclist should attempt to position himself/herself once again in a place where he/she is visible and can communicate as necessary with other road users.
The City of Long Beach, which is committed to helping Long Beach become increasingly bicycle friendly, will want to encourage traffic skills education of all road users—cyclists, motorists, pedestrians. Also, City engineers will want roads, lanes and intersections to be as well designed as possible.
Cycling Through Intersections text by Michael Bos. Thanks to Dan Gutierrez for forwarding us the CABO ‘Incompatible Destination Lanes’ graphic, copyright 2004-2007, www.DualChase.com.,
Funeral services and a memorial bicycle ride take place this week for Gustavo Ramirez, a 30-year-old cyclist who was killed January 5th in a tragic accident on Shoreline Drive. The Gustavo Ramirez Memorial Ride will take place Saturday morning, January 16th, starting at Lincoln Park (Pacific Avenue at First Street) in downtown Long Beach. Cyclists will meet at Lincoln Park at 8:00 am. Click EVENTS at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com web page, to view the January 16th calendar entry for more information.
///
$5… $15… $25… $30… $50… — Which amount fits your budget?
You become a ’501 Founding Member’ if you join Long Beach Cyclists by January 31, 2010. For details and to get to the membership form, first click on MEMBERSHIP at the top of the page or click the 501 icon in the right column—it’s easy. Long Beach Cyclists is about advocacy, education, and community. Join us!
Each month, Long Beach Cyclists organizes or participates in a ride worth highlighting. You will want to join us on an upcoming ride.
Recently, Long Beach Cyclists and students from CSULB toured Compton Creek. There is much to discover and learn about the local watershed. Urban drains and curbs channel water towards the Los Angeles River. Water that first trickles into curb drains in the city ultimately finds its way to the bay at Long Beach.
Light rail Metro trains (the Blue Line) connecting Long Beach to Los Angeles pass over Compton Creek many times each hour. It’s a pretty sight. How many of us have explored Compton Creek up close?
Alex Kenefick is passionate about the L.A. River watershed. Kenefick is the Lower Los Angeles River and Compton Creek Watershed Coordinator—an expert about local watershed issues. And he is an avid cyclist as well. What a great combination! Here, Kenefick describes how river water that flows into Long Beach Harbor starts upstream as mere puddles… trickles… rain run off. Upstream Compton Creek has been boxed into a concrete channel for many decades.
To get to the general area where Compton Creek has its humble origins, a group of Long Beach Cyclists and CSULB students took the Metro Blue Line light rail to 103rd Street Station. Bicycle travel on the Metro is fast, inexpensive, trouble free.
We have already acknowledged that Alex Kenefick knows a lot about the watershed that feeds the L.A. River. And we already said he is an avid cyclist. In truth… he is even more than that. Alex Kenefick used to serve as president of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.
Alex Kenefick pointed out interesting aspects of the creek and surrounding neighborhoods. Each quarter mile has its own, distinctive character. Upstream, the creek is tucked behind houses and buildings. Kenefick is knowledgeable and enthusiastic; he cycled with us to various places where we could view the creek and learn more about the watershed.
A bit downstream, there is a bike trail adjacent to the creek. The area is pleasant and quiet. There’s a pocket park and other surprises. Here, a grandfather strolls with his grandchildren.
Following a creek downstream makes for cycling at an easy, downstream pace. Life is good.
Lunch break at at 408 W. Alondra Blvd. Cliff’s is “home of the original twenty-two inch Texas-style cliff-hanger burrito”… which means… a meal as big as Texas!
Is it humanely possible for one man to eat a Cliff’s twenty-two inch burrito in one sitting?
Compton Creek at Artesia Blvd. begins to open up wide. There are ducks and much vegetation. We had seen earlier that the creek upstream is squeezed tightly between tall, concrete walls. Here the creek seems to want to break free.
Someday, a continuous bike trail along Compton Creek may run its entire distance without gaps. For now, the cyclist has to connect a few dots. It is likely this stretch will be improved for cyclists in the future. On the other hand, years from now we’ll probably cherish the memory of cycling along these railroad tracks!
There is a wide, smooth, signed bike route that runs adjacent to Compton Creek south of Artesia Blvd. Who else already knows about this lovely stretch? We observed that with minimal infrastructure adaptation, the Del Amo station of the Metro could someday become a stop that includes a nature center, walking paths, easy access to tumbling creek water and a good view of egrets and other river birds.
The bike route ends. What might we discover if we walk our bicycles beneath the 710 overpass and cycle beyond that?
This is great fun! Compton Creek now feeds into the L.A. River. We’re close to Long Beach… and we can enjoy it from a new perspective.
Now we have reached the L.A. River. From here we can cycle home. We extend thanks to Alex Kenefick and Kevin Flaherty for organizing this enjoyable, educational cycling excursion.
Slideshow by Michael Bos. There are more photos on Flickr at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46493017@N04/sets/72157623199255828/
Contact us at lbcyclists@gmail.com. Keep your eye on longbeachcyclists.com for announcements of upcoming rides in and around Long Beach, California.
Click for details. 
Click to the right for a simple map.
Click here 1.10.10 for an even more detailed map.
We leave Portfolio Coffeehouse at 10:00 am (sharp!) We will meander about the city, learn things, and have fun! Just under nine miles each way.
Long Beach Cyclists meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:17 pm. Hope to see you at our next meeting… and at any or all other events. Click EVENTS at the top of the page to view our calendar.
