Cyclists Russ Roca and Laura Crawford—friends to many of us here in Long Beach—are now in Oregon. They recently concluded close to two and a half years of cycling adventures across the USA and as far as New Zealand.
Russ and Laura are starting a new chapter of their lives in the Portland area. We remember them fondly and wish them well.
Check out PathLessPedaled.com to find out what Russ and Laura are up to now, and to review entries of their many cycling travels, both as adventurers in the countryside, and as urban cyclists now familiar with many cities and towns.
Enjoy the huge number of beautiful photographs at PathLessPedaled.com documenting Russ and Laura’s travels and saluting friends met along the way. Also, be sure to review Russ and Laura’s equipment recommendations (as part of YOUR getting yourself prepared for your own grand adventures).
MichaelB, April 19th 2012 |
Tags: bike tours, cycling, fun, pathlesspedaled, Russ Roca
Posted in Bicycle equipment/gear, Featured
Meet at the Bikestation in downtown Long Beach (on Broadway just east of the Promenade) for easy, local rides. Women on Bikes, organized by Cali Bike Tours, is a women’s-only offering of safety clinics and fun rides… for free!
Choose Saturday morning, June 18th (9:00am-11:00am). Or choose Saturday noon, June 18th (noon-2:00pm). Or choose Tuesday evening, June 21st (6:00pm-8:00pm). Register at calibiketours@gmail.com or phone 562 334-2453.
Long Beach resident Elizabeth Williams is the founder of Cali Bike Tours, a local company that’s all about women and cycling. That’s Elizabeth in the photos above. Women on Bikes offers opportunities for women to connect with other women on beginning-level 5-10-mile bike rides. Participants during the free clinics this week will discuss basic riding skills, safety, bicyclist rights and responsibilities, and learn basics about bike maintenance and flat-tire repair. After the orientation, you’ll go on a gentle, local bike ride.
Click EVENTS at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com page and scroll the calender to read details about this week’s Women on Bikes activities.
MichaelB, June 16th 2011 |
Tags: bike tours, Cali Bike Tours, cycling, ride, women
Posted in advocacy, event, ride
Bill Freed and his friend Jim Park recently cycled the Pacific Coast. We know Bill as an urban cyclist and member of Long Beach Cyclists. Yet Bill’s photos and report tell us that the recumbent tricycle is a great way to travel long distances comfortably and in style. Click on each image to enlarge it.
Bill Freed writes:Â 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.
MichaelB, November 11th 2010 |
Tags: bike tours, Bill Freed, fun, recumbent, ride, routes, tricycle recumbent, trike
Posted in Featured
Our Travis is super friendly, a cyclist, a great bike mechanic, and a handsome guy with a lonnnnnnng beard. Saturday morning, 8 am, October 2nd, you can cycle with Travis to the Port Fest. The staging area for all interested people to cycle to the port is the downtown Promenade (Ocean Blvd. near Pine Avenue). Folks on bikes can enjoy a special cycling tour of interesting areas of the Port of Long Beach not usually seen by outsiders—that ride takes place at 8:00 am. People on bicycle who arrive at the Promenade later can nonetheless participate in escorted cycle rides to the Port Fest itself. Long Beach Cyclists will run a table at the Promenade Saturday morning, and will provide free bike valet at Port Fest (south of Queensway Bridge) all day long.
MichaelB, October 1st 2010 |
Tags: annual event, bike tours, bike valet, fun, Green Port Festival, Port of Long Beach, ride, routes
Posted in ride
Friends Laura and Russ departed Long Beach at the start of August of 2009 on an open-ended cycling adventure they call “Path Less Pedaled.” One year in, they are still cycling and exploring. Cheers Laura and Russ!
This week, Adventure Cycling dot org offers a clink of the wine glass, (or a ding of its bike bell, if you prefer), in honor of Laura and Russ—Pathlesspedaled dot com. They are being honored as ‘Link of the Week.’
Of course we can easily go directly to Laura and Russ’ website by typing in pathlesspedaled dot com… and of course we can easily go there by clicking on the words Path Less Pedaled in the column to the right. Well, this week—this week only—you can also link to Path Less Pedaled via Adventure Cycling dot org.
We at Long Beach Cyclists do not anticipate Adventure Cycling to feature Long Beach Cyclists dot com as an upcoming ‘link of the week’ anytime soon—even though living in Long Beach is its own kind of adventure.
We are not grumbling. They say that at this point you cannot get on the cover of the District Weekly at any price. Not even Laura and Russ can do that.
MichaelB, August 28th 2010 |
Tags: bike tours, fun, pathlesspedaled
Posted in Featured
Imagine an extensive, country-wide network of routes for cyclists. Such a network could identify routes of amazing beauty or interest, for example, and could identify routes that cyclists might prefer over other highways, taking into consideration traffic volume, topography, etc.
Lovers of cycling adventure are pushing for the creation of an extensive, nationwide, numbered route system. Back in 1976, during the Bicentennial, two numbered cycling routes were identified in the eastern U.S. Since then, Adventure Cycling Association has created maps identifying many dozens of suggested cyclist routes around the entire country. Go to its web site to learn about the project underway to fund further development of the U.S. Bicycle Route System.
Friends Laura and Russ lived in Long Beach, California until last August. Since then they have been on the road, on a cycling adventure they call pathlesspedaled.com. They are now in Tennessee. The amazing route Laura and Russ have cycled during the past twelve months does not have a number… yet.
At the same time, the City of Long Beach is implementing its own numbered system of recommended cycling routes. Some of the numbered Long Beach Bikeways will guide us along separated facilities, and others will suggest routes along existing roads that the cyclist may prefer. Much is happening these days—locally, nationally, and in many other parts of the world—as ever increasing numbers of people embrace cycling as a serious transportation option.
MichaelB, August 21st 2010 |
Tags: advocacy, bike tours, bikeway, routes
Posted in Featured
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!
bmckeever, May 16th 2010 |
Tags: bike tours, camping, gear, guide book, travel
Posted in Bicycle equipment/gear, Education, Featured
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!
LBCyclists, April 28th 2010 |
Tags: bike tours, fun, public transit, ride
Posted in Featured, ride
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.
LBCyclists, April 19th 2010 |
Tags: bike tours, ride
Posted in ride
