Check out this FREE comprehensive guide to bicycle touring. I haven’t glanced at it yet, but it looks pretty good from reviews and comments. Let us know what you think, well oiled bike tourists out there in LB!
Hey, New bike Tourists!
Metrolink to the Desert
Our hats and sunglasses off to Allan and friends who participated in the recent Metrolink to the Desert ride! We’re talking the Burro Schmidt Tunnel Camping Trip.
Allan, Thaddeus and Gabriel love city cycling… yet they also love a larger-than-life camping adventure. You will want to click on these photos, and check out more great photos of their recent weekend cycling trip in the Mojave Desert.
They traveled by Metro light rail and Metrolink train to get out of the L.A. area. That was perhaps the only easy part of the journey. They headed out to the Burro Schmidt Tunnel, and met the caretaker at Bickel Camp. They pushed their bicycles through sand when the dirt roads became sandy roads. They enjoyed some tail winds, and they laughed through some head winds as well. A comfy campfire at night.
While the cycling and road conditions were challenging, they had a GREAT time. We know this, because Allan is already planning his next cycling adventure. Allan calls his next great ride the Ridge Route.
On our bicycles, we feel at home everywhere… in the bustle of downtown Long Beach… also along quiet residential streets… and also out in faraway places where few folks wander… where the silence is stunning. The bicycle! What a great invention!
Cycle-Camp SLO to Santa Barbara—April 23-25
Local cyclist Shaun H. cycled with us during our recent cycle-camping adventure to Montaña de Oro and Lopez Lake. It was so much fun that he wants more! Now Shaun is organizing his own cycle-camp adventure… from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara. Click the map on the left to view it enlarged.
If you are considering participating and wish to contact Shaun, click EVENTS at the top of the page and scroll to the April 23rd cycle camping entry for further details.
A Weekend of Touring Through San Luis Obispo
Yummy food, wine tasting, picnics, new friends, sun tan, a heck of a head wind, ‘Carlos’, t-shirts and shorts, ‘Milk Shakes’, fishing…
This was a huge success for Long Beach Cyclists; our first group bike tour! Â Thank you to everyone who put in their time and energy to get the trip planned and successfully executed. Â Now, when is the next one?
More Images?…Â come to our bike meeting on Wednesday night April 7th!
Michael, Laura, Oscar (aka Carlos) and Shawn at Lopez Lake
Laura and Russ of Long Beach… now in Austin, Texas
Have you been following the cycling adventures of Laura and Russ?
Laura and Russ lived here in Long Beach, but since August have been off on a cycling-life adventure they call Path Less Pedaled. On March 13, 2010, they report that they have cycled into Austin, Texas!
You can see many dozens of photos and read plenty about people Laura and Russ meet and what they are learning. Read their blog at www.pathlesspedaled.com.
Tucson, Arizona is home of the Bicas cooperative. (It’s great that here in Long Beach our own bike-repair cooperative, the H.U.B., will celebrate its grand opening soon!)
Back in November, Laura and Russ passed through Yosemite, and before that San Francisco and redwood country.
One of the ways they can afford to travel so long is by working… on the road. Laura makes handmade jewelry. Russ is a photographer familiar to many people here in Long Beach.
Early in the trip, Russ and Laura traveled as far as the Canadian border, and they visited Laura’s mom in Oregon.
Jenny and Katie saw them off at the start of their journey. That was a sad-happy moment in front of Denny’s on Long Beach Blvd… August, 2009.
Could YOU set out on a long-distance cycling adventure? Â Before leaving, Laura and Russ boxed and sold off many of their worldly possessions, with all the emotions that doing that entails. The apartment on Appleton was cleaned out; no more rent.
Many friends in Long Beach spent time with Laura and Russ before they departed. Perhaps our hugs and best wishes help them along their way.
What kinds of adventures are YOU making out of YOUR life?
Cycling in Long Beach—Check out the calendar!
Long Beach Cyclists First Board Meeting & Election — Tuesday, March 9th
Ladies Night at Jax — Wednesday, March 10th
Many things related to cycling are happening these days. Click EVENTS at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com page to help plan your week. Rides. Meetings. Places to go for fun. Areas where you can pitch in.
The first official Long Beach Cyclists board meeting and election will be held March 9th. We are taking steps to complete our transition to tax-exempt, nonprofit corporate status.
Ladies Night at Jax Bicycles (March 10th) includes free workshops, and perhaps some wine and cheese. Life is good!
The folks who organized the recent Metro Station Bicycle and Pedestrian Access Audit invite you to look at the audit summary, provide feedback and give additional input. Meet them at Sipology on March 17th.
Participants in the ‘Bike-Camp-Train’ ride around San Luis Obispo are making preparations this week. And Long Beach Cyclists will do a ‘Fools Ride’ under the full moon at the end of the month.
CSULB Cyclists and Pedal Movement organize rides weekly. Meeting dates are also posted on the calendar. Allan leads a monthly Port Tour ride, and Cyclone Coaster does a monthly vintage ride. Local restaurants offer monthly discounts for cyclists on first fridays. The H.U.B. (the bike-repair cooperative and community space run by Pedal Movement) is getting ready for its grand opening on April 3rd; now is a great time to help. Race practices for beginners and advanced cyclists take place weekly at Douglas Park and at El Dorado Park. The Los Angeles Street Summit 2010 is scheduled for March 20th. Preparations are underway for the Long Beach Bike Fest and for Bike-to-Work Day, both scheduled for May.
And more! Â Bike polo, sprints, fixies. Lightning Velo and Velo Allegro rides. What else? Â Pitch in. Join us. Get YOUR event listed on the calendar. Happy cycling!
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March Weekend Cycle-Camping Tour
Amanda and several cycling friends are planning a special Long Beach Cyclists event that will take place to and from (and in and around) San Luis Obispo.
Drop whatever you’re doing right now, and click to the page where Amanda tells us all about it: Â www.bikecamptrain.blogspot.com.
Bike… Camp… Trains! Â In mid-March, cyclists from Long Beach will travel by train to and from San Luis Obispo for a weekend of cycling and camping in the beautiful SLO countryside. To participate, you are asked to RSVP by February 26. The ride itself will take place March 26-28.
To RSVP and to communicate with Amanda, (and to view and click on the poster), click on the above blogspot link.
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LBC Meeting at Jax Jan 6, 7:17 pm
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.
Dec 2 meeting at JAX Bicycles was productive and fun
Long Beach Cyclists met at Jax Bicycles on Bellflower Blvd Wednesday evening, December 2nd. Thank you, Jax Bicycles. And thanks to the 30-some people who were present. Our next monthly meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan 6th.
Much that is of interest to the cycling community will take place before then, of course. There is the Compton Creek Ride, Metro Audits, the Cyclone Coaster vintage bike ride, bike polo, various holiday events, a Bike-In Movie, and more. Check out the calendar by clicking EVENTS at the top of this page.
A highlight of the December 2nd meeting was talking with Russ and Laura—friends who have been living on their bicycles since August. They call their adventure “path less pedaled”  www.pathlesspedaled.com and so far have cycled as far north as the Seattle area of Washington State. Imagine all the amazing countryside and the many interesting people they have met so far. They meet many, many people who love and live cycling. What is it like to live on your bicycle rather than in a house or in an apartment?  Where will Russ and Laura go after visiting us here in Long Beach?  Because Russ is an excellent photographer, we were treated to an exciting presentation. Russ and Laura also shared observations about cyclists and the cycling climate observed in other cities.
During the December 2nd meeting, we participated in a brief advocacy activity aimed at helping Long Beach become more bike friendly. Also, we talked about options for the shirts we will soon have for Long Beach Cyclists members. Now that Long Beach Cyclists has a tax ID number and is this close to 501(c)3 non profit legal status, we are staged to do great things in the year 2010. If you aren’t a member yet, consider joining us. There’s still time to qualify as a Founding Member.
After the meeting, a large number of us cycled home—for many of us a cross-town  trip—at an hour when city streets were calming, the air was brisk because it is early December, and the night was well lit because of an almost full moon. We created a long, mostly single-file parade of twinkling bike lights, laughter and conversation among friends. It doesn’t get much better than this!
Green Port Festival and LB Cyclists—a successful relationship!
Over the weekend Long Beach Cyclists gathered for a day of Bike Tours in and out of the Harbor and hosted Bike Valet!
Green Port Festival is a giant outdoor event that attracts about 10,000 people! The purpose is an all free open house of the Port. This year they invited us to go green with them and involve bikes. What better way to be green!
Two months prior to GPF we worked closely with the port team brainstorming, organizing and implementing the bike plan. Led by Matt Goldman and Ryan Gregnano (POLB’s Bike Guys) we pulled it off! We transited over 100 people to the GPF via six tours through out the day from The Promenade at Ocean and First St. over the Queensway bridge and into the Port where we than parked bikes in the Bike Valet area of Harbor Way (a total of 160 bikes were parked!)
While in the port, we led bike tours out to pier “J” via the route along the water’s edge and around the Queen Mary. Great views and warm weather greeted us while we toured the proposed Inner Harbor Bike Trail that could be implemented soon with the help of the POLB commissioners and City of Long Beach’s Transportation Department. If you feel inclined (and we hope you do) write some letters to these VIP’s encouraging them to get the ball rollin’! The route would complement well the already scenic and most always empty bike path that exists there, taking the cyclists around the Spruce Goose dome and all the way out to Pier ‘J’.
This was an incredible success for LB Cyclists! Thank you to all my lovely hardworking volunteers: Shawn, Josh, Stacie, Travis, Nate, Jenny, Michael, Donald, Tom and Cindy.
