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.
BikeTalk can be heard any time by scrolling through the KPFK Pacifica Radio Audio Archives of recent, previously-aired programs and clicking BikeTalk.
Tune in Tuesday evening, December 29, 11pm, for the first live broadcast of BikeTalk on KPFK, 90.7 FM. Bike culture, politics, technology, sport and friendliness. BikeTalk has been a weekly internet show for several months already, and Tuesday evening will be its first on-air broadcast.
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BikeTalk celebrates bike rides, bicycle collectives, activists, artists, commuters, enthusiasts, professional cyclists, inventors and repairers, and, of course, the bicycle itself as an alternative human-powered mode of transportation. Hosted by Nick Richert and guests, including Jim C of Orange 20 Bikes, Steve Bowers, and Jim Bledsoe and Eric Potter of Bicycle Kitchen.
The first live broadcast is Tuesday evening, December 29, 11pm. You can hear BikeTalk live every Saturday, 10am-Noon, at www.killradio.org. And you can download all nineteen previously recorded shows at www.kpfk.org. Click Programs at the top of the page, then click Audio Archives, and scroll for BikeTalk. Or click List of Programs, All Programs in the left margin to find the BikeTalk general description and contact information. Click on Program Highlights this week to see the announcement and details about the December 29th broadcast.
In the city where “car-is-king”, being car-free can be difficult at times, but it is entirely possible, as photographer Diane Meyer shows. She gave up her car in 2008 and now gets around via public transit; always traveling with her camera, ready to document the lives of other car-free people she meets.
Through December 11th, the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica is hosting Diane’s great photo exhibit with accompanying narratives of 100 car-free Angelinos she has met in her daily adventures.
If you’re thinking of going car-light or car-free, or if you’ve been doing it for years; this is a great exhibit that shouldn’t be missed.
A great story comes through Streetsblog today about the 100th anniversary of paved roads.
For those unfamiliar with the history, cyclists were responsible for getting roads paved because the rutter dirt roads and cobblestones were causing crashes and sending cyclists tumbling down from their High-Wheelers.
Read more about the League of American Bicyclists and how they paved your roads.
In 1996, Long Beach became the birthplace of the first US bicycle transit center, Bikestation.
It was set up as a 6-month trial and given numorous extensions until it was established in a permanent facility in 2005.
Structures near the Transit Mall that used to house the Bikestation and the former Long Beach Transit Information Center have been turned into rubble.
The new Transit Information Center is located at the corner of Pine and First.
This August 4th 2009 image shows a huge tractor at work. Below the new earth, there used to be an amphitheater. The Promenade and adjacent areas are getting a new look.
The Bikestation is now once again in temporary housing, this time on Broadway between Pine and Long Beach Blvd.
This concept art shows what is in the works for the new Bikestation when it returns to the Transit Mall in 2010
Ever sit in traffic on 2nd street during the 4th of July or Grand Prix weekend and wonder what it would be like if everyone rode a bike or took public transit. This great picture shows the spatial relationship between a car, bus and bike.
Click on the picture to see the whole thing.
Another reason to promote to cycling in Long Beach. Less Traffic!
Do you have an opinion on cycling you’d like to get out there?
Want everyone to know about the pothole that just keeps getting bigger?
Have a piece of gear that you just love?
Have something to say to the city about bicycling?
Want to share your ride experience?
We are looking for contributor photographers (folks that want to write stuff and take pictures of things)
If you’d like to be able to add your two-cents to this blog, send us an email!
LBCyclists (at) Gmail (dot) com
What do you think of bicycles being used in advertising?
These two commercials show bicyclists in a postive role.
This one continues with the stigma that having ANY car is better than riding a bike:
There’s a Romano’s Macaroni Grill radio commercial that talks about saving money, “Have you noticed that prices are going up? Man I need to find a way to start saving money… get a better car or start riding a bike” Then it launches in to the restaurants huge-amounts-of-food-for-not-a-lot-of-money deal. And the voice actors are back with, “What a deal! I can eat great and save money without having to wear bike shorts”.
Of course!… because you can’t ride a bike without bike shorts – it’s nearly impossible.
Not counting the sidewalk riding, wrong way riding and whatever else is “wrong”, what do you think of bicycles being used in the media?
Your thoughts?
…At least that’s what a LA Times ad suggests.
This is an interesting ad because it brings up a few societal issues: 1) does your car make you cool, 2) does being cool matter?
Without reading too much into the ad, it seems to suggest that having ANY car is cooler than not having a car at all – too bad for the general population of NYC!
Is a 1989 GeoMetro cooler than my Xtracycle? Sure it gets 49mpg (which puts all these modern fuel economy cars to shame), but come on… look at it!
I guess I’m not really that cool because I don’t spend an average of $16,000 a year paying for something that I can never really own; something that will always need expensive maintenance, parts and fuel. Instead I choose to do entirely dorky things like take 3 week vacations at random, or buy stocks, or add to my 401(k).
There are so many fun ways to take this discussion, and if there are an psych majors out there, please comment on this with your thoughts. The coolests people need others’ opinions while the uncool stand on their own?
So you, the humble bike commuter, unconcerned with what other people think of you… you must actually be the coolest one of all. You don’t care what people think of your helmet, your neon green spandex suit, or the grease mark up the back of your leg… or the fact that you aren’t in a car!
Keep riding, and keep being cool! (if that’s what matters)
