BikeTalk, on radio station KPFK-FM, December 29th

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.

KPFK 90.7fm logo

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.

2 Comments

MichaelB, December 28th 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Bicycle equipment/gear, Current News, Education, Featured, advocacy

Part 1: Cyclists Eye View

We’re ready for your questions and concerns, please ask!

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bmckeever, November 26th 2009 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Education

Forester… vehicular cycling… mutual respect

The following interesting tidbits were published recently in the Los Angeles Times:

latimes.com/features/health/la-he-biking2-2009nov02,0,2055848.story

A few highlights..

“Forester is the father of the “vehicular cycling” movement — a philosophy that views the bicycle as a form of transportation that belongs on the streets alongside cars.

According to Forester and others in the vehicular cycling camp, efforts to push bikes into separate lanes or bike paths reinforce the notion that bicycles don’t belong on the street and relegates them to separate and not-quite-equal status. Segregating cyclists to their own paths reinforces motorist resentment toward cyclists and may encourage drivers to view cyclists on the road as scofflaws unworthy of their courtesy, Forester says.”

and…

“Mutual respect is the key to safely coexisting in traffic, Blumenthal says. His group’s new slogan, “Bikes are on your side — we’re closer than you think,” is intended to create a common identity between motorists and cyclists.

“People on bikes aren’t out to get you or slow you down,” he says. “We also drive — and, in fact, we are you.”

Comments LB Cyclists?

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bmckeever, November 5th 2009 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Education, Featured, advocacy

Don’t Run Red Lights — (Duh!)

RED LIGHT : Biking Rules PSA

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ddougherty, September 29th 2009 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Education

Drive-Thrus becoming Bike-Thrus

From BikePortland.Org:

Responding to last month’s biking momma drive-thru debacle, Burgerville has announced that they’ll welcome people on bikes to each of their 37 drive-thrus (which are from this day forward known as cycle-thrus!).

The company also announced that they have already begun adding signs to “alert drivers and bicyclists to safety precautions for bicycle access”. Burgerville’s Chief Cultural Officer Jack Graves will also be on hand to discuss their “expanded bike policy”.

In other biking-in-drive-thru news, Portlander Brad Reber says he got refused at his bank today on liability grounds (the teller told him he “might get hit”). Will banks follow Burgerville’s lead on this issue? We hope and we’ll see.

It is true that bicycles are not vehicles, but those on them ARE drivers – the law says so.
Whilst driving a bicycle, you have all the rights and are subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle .

Wouldn’t not serving you be vehicle discrimination? Why not. I’m calling it.

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ddougherty, September 16th 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in advocacy

Are we Bike Friendly yet?

A recently received letter from a bike commuter in Long Beach:

On Sunday morning, I got on my bicycle to ride to the Farmer’s Market. I was riding down 2nd Street in Belmont Shore – in the right lane, in lane, with traffic – a right that is provided to me by California State Vehicle Code #21202 (and which also happens to be the safest place for a cyclist to travel) – when a moron of a man in a black SUV came up behind me honking, screaming and cursing me as if I was the devil incarnate and the root of all evil in the world.

Fuming over this encounter, I began to realize that the 20 or so other cyclists around me were riding on the sidewalk, in the gutter, in the wrong direction – or just about any of the other ways you could ride that would get you killed. And, it dawned on me that it’s no wonder this moron man in the SUV didn’t understand that I was riding where I was supposed to ride – because so few other people on bicycles ride in a correct and safe manner.

What’s the answer here? Let’s start with some education programs – for drivers AND cyclists. Let’s put in bicycle facilities that illustrate that cyclists belong in the street and that don’t continue to reinforce the mistaken notion that bikes be relegated to the sidewalk and beach path. Let’s stop pissing away people’s tax dollars on one-time festivals and actually do the hard work that it takes to make Long Beach the bicycle-friendly town that city representatives claim they want to create.

4 Comments

LBCyclists, April 27th 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Education, advocacy

Looking for Contributors

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

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LBCyclists, September 24th 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Current News, Featured, advocacy

What would you do with $330,000?

The City of Long Beach will receive a $330,000, three-year grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to hire a Mobility Coordinator and help plan and develop two “Bicycle Boulevards.”

“This grant will help us become the most bicycle-friendly city in the Untied (sic) States, while promoting a more healthy and active lifestyle throughout Long Beach,” City Manager Pat West said.

Read the rest here: http://www.longbeach.gov

“The most bicycle-friendly city in the US” sounds like a pretty bold statement especially with Long Beach so far behind in the race (Portland, Seattle, SF, etc.) But I am looking forward to some positive changes happening within the city.

Perhaps with the influx of this money tied in with the rise in gas prices, we’ll have a real chance to create transportation options within the city.

What would you do for Long Beach if you were being paid $110,000 a year?

5 Comments

LBCyclists, July 8th 2008 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Past News, advocacy

LBCyclists in the Downtown Gazette


There’s an article in an April 2008 edition of the Downtown Gazette on the Long Beach Cyclists that talks about some of our long-term goals and our upcoming projects. You can read the complete article here.
Here are some excerpts:

Long Beach Cyclists formed around 1994 with the intent of offering city staff feedback from actual cyclists as they tried to expand the city’s Bicycle Master Plan. But beyond hosting several community meetings, the city did very little to include cyclists in the policy planning process, explained Chris Quint, longtime member of Long Beach Cyclists. In fact, the city formed a committee to work on the plan that included members from Long Beach Transit, the police department, the school district and other agencies — but no cyclists, he said. 

…

The group’s ultimate goal is to become the organized bicycle group that city leaders come to when trying to make bike-friendly changes, he added. 

“We want to be involved on a real planning level,” said Roca, adding that public meetings tend to be the end of cyclists’ involvement in policy making. “Why are we depending on people who don’t ride bikes to design spaces for bikes?”

Ultimately, it is our wish as an organization to work closely with the city. We feel that it is only logical and reasonable that bicyclists have a say in decisions that will affect their lives in a very real and direct way.

As bicyclists we are equal but vulnerable road users. It is time that we are recognized not just as traffic problems to be solved, but valued members of the community, who through our simple actions are improving the city one pedal stroke at a time.

There is a lot of talk about “greening” Long Beach.

We’re doing that now.

We’re doing it every day.

Come join us.

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LBCyclists, April 29th 2008 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Past News, advocacy

Bicycle Education

Contact Long Beach Cyclists for updated Traffic Skills course information. The following was published in April of 2008:

As roadways and bike trails become increasingly complex and congested, do you know all you need to know to safely ride a bicycle? Do you feel you know enough to teach your children how to ride cautiously and conspicuously while on their own? When you drive your car, are you confident on how to share the road with bicyclists?

The Long Beach Cyclists, Bikestation and the League of American Bicyclists invite you to answer YES to the above questions after attending a two-part Bicycle Education Road 1 course.

Road 1a
Who: League Cycling Instructors Chris Quint and Dominic Dougherty
What: Bicycling Street Skills, Classroom Lecture
When: April 30th, 6pm-9:30pm – (plenty of breaks)
Where: Main Library Meeting room (50 people max)
101 Pacific Ave., Long Beach, CA 90822
Prerequisite: None
Cost: FREE

Day 1 will be a classroom lecture open to anyone consisting of a PowerPoint presentation, flip-charts, hands-on, videos and lots of Q&A.
If you wish to continue on to Day 2, please sign up at the end of the class.

Road 1b
Who: League Cycling Instructors Chris Quint and Dominic Dougherty
What: Bicycling Street Skills, Bicycle Handling and Vehicular Cycling
When: May 4th, 9am-3pm – (plenty of breaks)
Where: Bikestation (15 people max)
221 E. First St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Prerequisite: Road 1a
Cost: $15 each
Bring: A bicycle and a helmet.

Road 1b will consist of parking lot drills, bike handling techniques, emergency manuevers, vehicular cycling, and some testing.
At the end of the day, those that have successfully completed the course will be presented with a certificate from the League of American Bicyclists.

Able to attend Road 1a and not Road 1b? Don’t worry! We’ll be having a lot more classes in the future. Your Road 1a attendance is good for 6 months so you can attend a Road 1b later on.

On our roadways, bikes are treated as vehicles. Simply knowing how to ride a bike is not the same as knowing how to operate a bike safely and legally.

The Bike Ed program is a set of curricula for adults and children and the certified instructors that teach it. BikeEd classes are taught across the United States by certified League Cycling Instructors (LCI).

For more information, email ddougherty(at)bikestation(dot)org
or visit http://www.bikeleague.org

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LBCyclists, April 18th 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Education
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