Traffic Skills 101—the short-duration course that helps you develop skills to cycle Long Beach streets more safely—is offered only a handful of times each year. The course at CSULB Pyramid Annex is free, but advance registration is required. Click EDUCATION at the top of the longbeachcyclsts.com page for more information and to link to the CSULB web site to register. The next opportunities to take Traffic Skills 101 will be in June and July.
Pedestrian and Bike Safety Workshop for professionals
Attention transportation, planning, engineering and design professionals, (and others interested in gaining an insiders view of the latest bicycle and pedestrian design tools): Register before May 3rd for the MAY 17th training workshop called Designing for Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety.
Click on the image for details.
Cycling in Long Beach, in the LA Times
Check out the recent “Long Beach makes way for bicycles” article by Tony Barboza, published in the Los Angeles Times. You can link to the article here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-outthere26-2010jan26,0,3205517.story
Much has taken place since the article was published. And we know that many cycling events and activities during May 2010 will place Long Beach on the front page again.
If your bike’s tires need air and if your chain needs oil, NOW is a perfect week to get your bicycle into shape. The May 2010 calendar is sprinkled with lots to do, so you’ll want to have your bike in good shape so you can join us.
Barboza’s article can provide you with an overview of some cycling-friendly initiatives in the works. We already have Sharrows (the green lane) along Belmont Shore, and we have trial Bicycle Boxes. A Bicycle Box gives the cyclist at an intersection a designated place in front of motorists to wait until the signal light turns green.Â
Barboza also mentions plans for protected bikeways, traffic circles on less-traveled streets, and talk of creating ‘bike corrals’ to favor convenient bike parking near certain shops and restaurants. Barboza quotes Charlie Gandy: “We can fit 15 customers where we used to fit one.” That is, 15 parked bicycles occupy the same amount of space as one car. The idea is that ‘bike corrals’ can help ease parking congestion by encouraging larger numbers of local people to drive a bicycle rather than a motor vehicle.Â
Barboza also quotes experienced cyclists, motorists, and other City representatives. And he quotes Jennifer Klausner of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group that is something like Long Beach Cyclists’ regional cousin. Klausner says that Long Beach is looking for ways to make east-west and north-south corridors safer and more inviting for cyclists. Klausner suggests that Long Beach is ahead of Los Angeles in that respect.
Barboza reports that Long Beach has raised $17 million in grants that will be translated into traffic improvements, bike share programs, and education.
Although Barboza’s article does not mention Long Beach Cyclists, we’d like to toot our horn here by mentioning that LCI instructors offer Traffic Skills courses for cyclists. Click EDUCATION at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com web page to see the schedule of upcoming sessions and to link to the online registration process. It’s springtime, 2010. Be sure your bicycle is in shape, and be sure to take Traffic Skills 101 so that you can improve your skills cycling safely and legally on city streets.
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BMX cycling in North Long Beach—almost flying!
What kinds of cycling do YOU enjoy? Plenty of us commute to work or school. For many of us, a bicycle or trike is our only transportation. Plenty of us do our shopping on bicycles. And those with BMX bicycles can practically fly!
BMX jamming takes place Saturday, March 27th, at Houghton Park (near Jordan High School, close to Atlantic and Artesia Blvd. Click on the poster for more info.
Plenty of us like to work up a sweat, and plenty of us like to take our cycling easy. Some love heart-racing bike polo… and others enjoy a gentle cruise to the farmer’s market and back. Gold sprints racing to a clock… or a casual ride along the beach trail. Cycling is so many things!  It’s green, and it helps keep us healthy. Visit friends. Share the green ‘sharrow’ lane along Belmont Shore. Race in a team up and down the river trails or down the coast. Explore Los Angeles—part Metro, part bicycle.
Fixies… which means no gears, on a bicycle that feels nimble; very responsive! Vintage bikes and cruisers… with balloon tires and an easy pace. Cycle-campers, with racks, panniers, and stories of sleeping beneath a canopy of stars.
The bicycle is an amazing, efficient, delightful tool! Long Beach, which has few hills and great weather, is a great city for cycling.
Whatever kinds of cycling you do, we hope that when on city streets you’re always courteous to motorized traffic and pedestrians. Respect right of way. Stop at EVERY red light, always. By cycling predictably, others can anticipate where you intend to go, and they will wish you well.
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LBC Reading Group meets March 21
French women cycle racers evidently earned more money than male cycle racers in the late nineteenth century, according to an 1896 journal called The Hub.
We learn about this in one of the three readings that will be discussed at the next session of the Long Beach Cyclists Reading Group. You are welcome to join us in a lively discussion. We meet at Portfolio Coffeehouse (Fourth Street at Junipero) on Sunday, March 21st, 6:00-7:00 pm.
One of the three readings to be discussed this month is a study about cycling popularity as impacted by perceived safety, as well as topography and attractiveness and comfort—Barriers to Cycling.
Another reading looks at anxieties felt by people who are “automobilised.” Some people who are not happy that their car-centric way of life is threatened in turn may claim that cycling in urban areas is too dangerous. The author wonders if separate lanes marginalize cyclists. How might we as a society help more people overcome the emotional barrier that is ‘fear of cycling’?
And of course we will discuss women’s professional cycling in the late 1800s, perhaps contrasting that with our sense of women cyclists today.
By the way, just as there was a journal for cyclists in the late 1800s called The Hub, the Long Beach Cyclists newsletter is ALSO called The Hub. Folks in the 1890s beat us with a great name for a cyclists’ newsletter. (Who knew?!!! Perhaps both of us were first.)  What’s more, the fantastic Long Beach bike-repair cooperative that will hold its grand opening April 3rd, (run by Pedal Movement and friends, Long Beach Blvd. just south of PCH), is called… The H.U.B.  With periods. Graham, correctly, really IS first.
For Reading Group contact information and to see a map, click EVENTS at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com web page, then scroll to the LBC Reading Group entry.
Investing in Biking and Walking Could Save Lives says Report
States with the lowest levels of biking and walking have higher traffic fatalities and chronic disease
Read on…
Traffic Skills 101 for cyclists in mid-February
The next Traffic Skills 101 course taught by League-certified Cycling Instructors (LCI’s) is scheduled for February 17 and 20. You need to register in advance. The February course will meet at CSULB Pyramid Annex, (Atherton, between Bellflower and Palo Verde).
For details and to register online, click EDUCATION at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com web page.
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Reading Group discusses cycling issues Sunday, January 31
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.
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Bicycle Advisory Committee in Long Beach?
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! Â We miss you. We wish you continued safe travels and more wonderful adventures!
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Cycling Through Intersections
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.Â
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.,
