CycLAvia is about celebrating Los Angeles in a non-motorized way. A route of city streets that runs past Los Angeles City Hall is closed to motorized traffic for five hours. Many tens of thousands of cyclists and joggers and walkers enjoy the pleasant quiet of city streets that every other day are noisy and dusty from all the cars, trucks and buses. Don’t miss the next CycLAvia… scheduled for April 12th, 2012.

Thank you Donald and Sarah for sharing the following photos.

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At the October 8th Tour de Fat event in Los Angeles, Jessica was honored for having responded to Tour de Fat’s call for someone to step up and donate a car in exchange for a new bike. Jessica said yes she would make the trade… and she DID.

Check out the YouTube clip to enjoy Tour de Fat’s delightful celebration on Jessica’s behalf. Also, read about Jessica at TradeMyCarForABike and at the Factory blog “Life According to Chelsea.”

In coming months, Jessica will have lots to tell us about CAR-FREE LIFE in LONG BEACH, California. For that, check out Jessica’s blog—Of Bikes and Beers.

Sally and I just returned to Long Beach from a wonderful vacation in Washington D C.  Fourth of July fireworks there were by far the most spectacular and beautiful display we have ever seen.  D.C. has recently been rated as the best city to live in the USA.  With its many cultural attractions, museums, parks, and varied neighborhoods (and its bike friendliness), the high rating is not surprising.

To and from the airport, Sally and I took a shuttle. We also took one taxi ride—a mistake, as I think the driver took us the long way. And we took the Metro once. Other than those trips, Sally and I went everywhere around D.C. using the public bike rental system known as Capital Bikeshare.

D.C.’s bike rental system is very similar to the one called Sevici that Sally and I used last year in Sevilla, Spain. (I reported about the Sevilla system April 11th, 2010 on this website. Click the blue Sevici tag at the bottom of this post to then quickly scroll down to “Cyclists From Long Beach Visit Spain.”)

The first thirty minutes of any Capital Bikeshare rental is free. The next thirty minutes is $3.00. On the first day, Sally and I each bought a 5-day Bikeshare “membership” for $15. You obtain “membership” with a swipe of your credit card at the unmanned payment kiosk at any of the many Capital Bikeshare stations. $15 was all it cost us to use bikes two to six times a day for the rest of our stay.

Each time we rented a bike, I would swipe my credit card, check the “Are you over 18?” box—yes, I am still over 18, just like last time—and I would receive a code that for the next fifteen minutes would allow me to release any one bike I might select from its docking station.

Rental bikes and Capital Bikeshare stations look new, with no signs of wear. Sally said that the bikes did not appear to be the same bikes she saw when she was in D.C. several months ago.

The Capital Bikeshare website states that 1,100 bikes are available for rental at 110 stations. Like the bike rental system in Sevilla, Spain, the D.C. bikes are heavy. They are designed for circus bears or worse.

The D.C. bikes have step-through frames, a 3-speed internal geared hub for pulling stumps, a luggage rack on the handlebars, dyno lights that function on whenever the bike is moving, chain guards, and fenders. The bikes seem well designed for their intended purpose. Other than the fact that the bikes are very heavy, I note that the bikes do not have rear-view mirrors, their brakes seem mediocre, and their lights quit when stopping at intersections. I felt that their gearing was too low; I easily climbed hills in any gear. Maybe Capital Bikeshare bikes were geared for typically overweight American tourists.

If a bike was not working properly, (they always did work flawlessly for us), you could depress a button at a bike’s dock with an icon of a wrench. (I believe this marks that bike as ‘out of order’ until repaired by a Bikeshare mechanic.)

There were usually enough bikes at each Bikeshare station, and there was usually an empty dock to park yours when you were through, though not always. If there were no empty docks, you could phone the ‘help’ line and get 15 additional minutes (free) to find another nearby dock. I actually used this number… and a real live person answered my call… and was very helpful! No, I am not kidding!

The iPhone App that I downloaded before my trip to D.C. that would help me locate Capital Bikeshare stations never worked—that was a problem. Fortunately, at each station there is a large map indicating the locations of all 110 stations.

The system seems to get a great deal of use. About one third of the very numerous bike riders we saw cycling around D.C. were riding Bikeshare bikes. Using the Bikeshare system seemed to be as fast a way to get around as using the Metro, buses, a taxi, or at times even using a private car.

There appeared to be many more bike riders in D.C. than in Long Beach. Car drivers, even taxi drivers, seemed much more mild-mannered and respectful of bikes and of each other. D.C. has numerous bike paths, though driving attitude seems to make the biggest difference.

There is a nice, two-way bike lane down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue that keeps cyclists separated from motor traffic lanes. There are bollards at intersections. However, we saw that at intersections the cyclist can turn either left or right. Without caution, one could cause a ‘right hook’ impact with a fellow biker.

I did not see any recumbents in D.C. on this trip.

Overall, I would give Washington D C an ‘A’ for bikability. It’s hard to imagine how cycling could be any better in such a busy, bustling city center. For more information, go to www.capitalbikeshare.com.

Donald Moore, secretary of Long Beach Cyclists.

The Bikestation’s new home is located along First Street between Long Beach Blvd. and Pine Avenue. It is an integral part of the downtown transit hub.

Bikestation is about day-use and long-term safe bike parking for commuters, and it is about rental bikes. Also, staff mechanics can fix your flat tire or do a bike tune up. Bikestation is run by Mobis Transportation Alternatives, Inc., a firm specialized in multimodal transportation systems. Mobis runs Bikestations in a growing number of cities, including Washington, D.C.  The very first Bikestation was here in Long Beach, California.

The following images trace Bikestation as it has moved four times over the past fifteen-some years.

Back in the mid 1990s, Bikestation Long Beach was a brand new idea. The first temporary Bikestation structure was placed on what had been an empty plot of land along First Street immediately west of the Promenade. (Since then, a multi-level condominium with first-floor commercial spaces was built on that parcel.)

East Village artist Anna Wooten created the following drawing, celebrating the Bikestation in its first Long Beach home.

In 2000′s, the Bikestation moved several hundred feet east into a second temporary structure.

In 2009, that second structure was demolished.

Between 2009 and July, 2011, Bikestation was housed on Broadway, one block to the north.

On July 27, 2011, Bikestation moves into its new, permanent, two-story facility on First Street east of the Promenade.

Go to www.mobisinc.com for more information about multimodal transportation system projects in planning and underway in many cities. Also, check out www.bikestation.com.

To learn about projects coordinated by the City of Long Beach to help make our city a great place for cycling safely on city streets, check out bikelongbeach.org.

Also, you are encouraged to participate and support the activities of the various cycling groups in the region… most of us operating on little more than shoestrings and enthusiasm.

get your CicLAvia route info HERE
there’s a full-page flier for handing out HERE
find all the info you want/need on the CicLAvia webpages

also! join a number of cyclists trying to show the popularity of this event (and possibly get the route extended) in South LA. (facebook event here)
they’re meeting at Exposition Park’s Olympic swim stadium at 8.30am.

Thanks to a grant from the City of Long Beach and Waste Management, the above organizations will receive $20 for each bicycle collected (up to 150) and donated in turn to the H.U.B.—the Long Beach bicycle repair cooperative.

The H.U.B. is run by volunteers. The H.U.B. has bike stands and tools which you can use under the guidance of experienced bike mechanics. Used parts are available at low cost. Local youth learn how to make adjustments and simple repairs on donated bikes.

To donate a reusable bike at a time and location convenient to you, contact Meals on Wheels at (562) 438-6215, or contact Boy Scout Troup 29 at (310) 238-7011, or contact Food Finders at (562) 598-3003.

The Long Beach ‘Bicycle Roundup’ is an initiative of the City of Long Beach and Waste Management to support cycling in Long Beach and to assist the H.U.B. bike coop. The H.U.B. is open Sunday and Monday afternoons. It is located on Long Beach Blvd. just south of PCH.

Bill Freed writes: This is a short summary of our trike ride from Canada to almost the Mexican border. Our great adventure began for myself and my good friend Jim Park on June 28th when we met in Seal Beach and rode to San Diego to complete the first part of our trip. We had intended to go to the Mexican border… but got lost in San Diego, falling short of our goal by a few miles.

The next part of our ride began on July 9th after a friend dropped us and our trikes off at Anacordes, Washington State. From there we took ferries to the Orcas and San Juan Islands, and then cycles on to Victoria, B.C., Canada. We rode in each of these locations, then took a ferry to Port Angeles, from where we began our southbound journey down the Olympic Peninsula. Eventually we returned to the coast near Long Beach, Washington.

We crossed the Columbia River into Astoria, Oregon. From there on we remained on the coast (mostly along 101 or Hwy 1) the rest of  the way to our homes in Southern California.

Here are a few statistics about the trip. Miles covered by region: Canada 20, Washington 318, Oregon 365, California 704. Total cycling distance: 1407 miles. We were on the road for about a month and a half. We averaged between 40 to 45 miles per day. All things considered, it was a great trip, and believe it or not we had no flat tires, we had no rain, and we only had to deal with a couple of minor mechanical problems.

You can hear Allan and Stephen Vallavaso of CicLAvia talk about the recent “Street for Feet” project that took place in Hollywood. (It is clear that no neighborhood is too far away for urban cyclists!) Click CicLAvia… to see the September 19th post about Streets4Feet, and to link to the YouTube video. And keep your eyes open for Allan. Where will we see him next?!!!

Of course, Mr Thacker also drinks two glasses of wine a day. Maybe THAT’s the secret. Who knows? Just read the article and see for yourself.

Read the Treehugger story!

Photo courtesy of Kristin Rule