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.

This month LBC meets in the East Village—at Utopia Restaurant (First Street and Linden Avenue). We meet at 7:17 p.m. In addition to addressing various items on the LBC agenda (advocacy, education and community), we will be present to celebrate the inauguration of our city’s first bike corral. You’ll have an opportunity to say ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ to Charlie Gandy, Sumire Gant, Courtney Aguirre and other behind-the-scenes City representatives who have helped turn this idea into reality.

What IS a bike corral, you say? A bike corral means that a stall formerly used to park ONE car is converted into an area that now can accommodate MANY parked bicycles. From the point of view of local business owners, it is an adjustment to existing parking infrastructure which allows MORE potential customers to find a nearby space.

Utopia Restaurant, the Village Grind Café, City Grounds LBFG (the fixed-gear bike shop), and other businesses near the intersection of First Street and Linden Avenue stand to benefit from the construction of this bike corral. If Long Beach’s first bike corral proves popular with cyclists and with local businesses, it is possible that City planners may duplicate or adapt the model in other business districts.

So… be sure to join us for our regular monthly meeting—held this month at Utopia’s—and you will automatically be at the right time and right place to join in the festivities of the bike corral inauguration.

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. 

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. 

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.

Sevilla is a Spanish city that is rich in history, yet is also very modern in its cycling infrastructure. Citizens and visitors can rent bicycles (free for the first 30 minutes) at any of 250 bike parking facilities. Long Beach, take note!

The program is called “Sevici,” which is the city’s name, Sevilla, combined with the Spanish word for bicycle, “bicicleta,” affectionately also known as “bici”. Spaniards pronounce the letters ‘ci‘ with a lisp—‘seh-VEETH-ee’.

Each “Sevici” rental bicycle has water-spatter protection, a handy basket and lock, and a walkthrough design for ease of use—folks dressed in expensive skirts or suits will not soil their clothing.

Long Beach Cyclists member Donald Moore recently visited several cities in Spain, accompanied by his family, and he files the following report:

Biking in Spain, by Donald E. Moore

My family and I spent three weeks, from Christmas until January 14, 2010, sightseeing and visiting a friend in Spain. It was great fun. Among other things, I noted biking conditions in the cities we visited.

Seville is about 300 miles south of the Spanish capital, Madrid. Like most Spanish cities, Seville is built along a river and offers a lot to see. It has an extensive system of bike paths, is very bike friendly and has a public bike rental program.  According to Wikipedia, Seville has 250 bike stations, inaugurated in April of 2007, with 2,500 bikes.

My family used the short-term, one week membership that costs 5 euros, (about US$7.50). The first half hour is free, the next hour costs 1 euro (about US$1.50), and subsequent hours cost 2 euros each, (US$3.00). You can use any credit card to purchase membership at the control pane located at each of the 250 locking stations. A deposit of 150 euros (US$225) is taken from your card to deter theft and is returned when the bike is locked up again at any station.

Obviously, the Seville municipality wants you to ride a bike to the station nearest your destination and leave it there for the next rider. Locking stations are spaced about two city blocks apart.

As you can see in the photos, Sevici bikes have a step-through frame, upright bars, effective fenders and a chain guard and medium-width tires. A Sevici rental bike has a very good dynamo lighting system that is always turned on, front and rear. It has a three-speed internal hub transmission, and a built-in cable lock for locking the bike when away from a locking station. Sevici bicycles must have originally been designed for circus bears as they weigh about fifty pounds; their brakes could be a disaster on a long, steep hill! Fortunately, the neighborhoods where I rode are almost flat.

Sally and I had a great time riding our Sevici bicycles on the many separated bike paths and along the river path. Seville drivers were courteous. The city is very bicycle friendly.

Other cities we visited include Madrid and Salamanca.

Spain’s capital is “sunny” Madrid. When we visited, there was as much snow as sun.

Madrid has a great deal of history and culture. Our friend Ramón says that Madrid has a “beltway” of paths around the city and is building “spokes” into the center.  Although Ramón walks to work, he does not commute by bike because he does not feel it is safe.  With the narrow streets, buses and taxis there, I do not blame him. Madrid is less bike friendly than Long Beach. In downtown Madrid there seem to be more motor scooters and motorcycles than cars. I did not find a public bike rental system there. As in other parts of Spain, about one half of all bikes are folders—probably due to small living spaces.

The next city we visited was Salamanca, about 76 miles northwest of Madrid. Salamanca is much smaller than Madrid. It is more bike-able and has a very nice bike path along the river and elsewhere. Salamanca is a beautiful little city, with a university, cathedrals and museums. Although Salamanca has no public bike rental system, I would say it is very bike friendly. The lack of a bike and rain there kept us from enjoying the bike paths.

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The author of this report, Donald E. Moore, was recently elected Long Beach Cyclists board secretary. Don, congratulations!

Mapes is the author of Pedaling Revolution—How Cyclists are Changing American Cities. Mapes has much to say about making Long Beach streets more ‘livable.’ With humor and insight, Pedaling Revolution looks at vehicular cycling, and examines road use and various kinds of separate facilities. Mapes looks at what other cities are doing and provides us with many ideas and considerations that we might incorporate or adapt here in Long Beach.

Bicycle with flag illustration by David Drummond.

On November 19th, Jeff Mapes will meet locally at three locations, first at lunch time, then in the afternoon, and then in the early evening.

At noon, Mapes will be downtown for a brown bag lunch, and will talk with a ‘professional’ focus—How is Long Beach measuring up to its goal of becoming the best bike city in America. (Click on EVENTS at the top of the Long Beach Cyclists web page to view the calendar for location and specifics.)

At 2:30 PM, Mapes will be at CSULB (see EVENTS for specifics), and will participate in a lively discussion with an ‘academic’ focus—Social and political changes, and how cyclists are reshaping American cities.

At 6:00 PM, Mapes will be at the Long Beach Museum of Art, and will meet with the public with a ‘community’ focus—What works, what are our concerns, how might we get there.

“In a world of growing traffic congestion, expensive oil, and threats of cataclysmic climate change, a grassroots movement is carving out a niche for bicycles on the streets of urban cityscapes. In Pedaling Revolution, Jeff Mapes explores the growing urban bike culture that is changing the look and feel of cities across the U.S.”

This past Monday, Slate, posted an article about bicycle parking and how it could change America (the rest of the world is pretty much on onboard already). I encourage you to read it, think about it, mull it over… and pass it along. Don’t just pass it along to your friends, but send it to your city representatives and mayor as well.

If you want more reading on the topic, I encourage you to pick up a copy of
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do also by Tom Vanderbilt

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

Warm Planet Bikes offers great amenities for bicycle commuters such as retail and repairs…and I’m sure they could tell you how to get wherever you want to go since they’re located at a Caltrain Station.

Warm Planet Bikes offer a variety of folding bikes for sale (Bike Friday and Dahon just to name a couple) and multiple accessories for commuters. They even have awesome hours! They’re open from 7 a.m. to 8:05 p.m., and if your train is late, give them a call and they’ll wait for you, sounds like great service to me.

Best of all? Parking is FREE. Yes, FREE. WPB relies on purchases to fund their parking, so get a light, some gloves, an inner tube or whatever and that will keep up the FREE parking and great service.

Warm Planet Bikes
311 Townsend St. @ 4th
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 974-6440
warmplanet@warmplanetbikes.com

You can just roll up on your ride and be given rockstar treatment. No circling around the block. No parking in a residential space five blocks away. We’ll watch your bikes and make sure they are safe and sound while you enjoy the flick. So stay tuned for more!