Also, on the last Saturday of each month, the free Velo Caravan ride (slightly faster pace, calling together ‘classic’ bikes and others) departs from the Bicycle Stand bike shop (1824 E. Broadway, one block west of Bixby Park), at 10:00 am.

In addition, the month of May is packed with special events. Click to the right to see events scheduled by Bike Long Beach.

Long Beach is a wonderful city. The bicycle is a fantastic way to get around!

And keep in mind that many cafés and restaurants now offer ‘Bike Saturday’ discounts to customers who show up on bike.

There will be $5,000 in prizes given away during May. Go to BikeLongBeach dot org to register and for more information.

May 11th — Free, second Wednesdays, 11:00 am-1:00 pm, you are encouraged to take advantage of free Bike Safety Checks at CSULB, courtesy of Jax Bicycles.

May 13th — Free, the Family Fun Fest will take place Friday, 5:00-9:00 pm in the lawn area of the Pike at Rainbow Harbor. This includes live music, cycling stunts, a fixed gear competition, and vendors.

May 14th — Preregistration is required for the Tour of Long Beach (that benefits Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach). Three rides: A 9:00 am, 4-mile family fun ride at Marina Green Park (540 E. Shoreline Drive)… also a 31-mile leisurely circuit around the entire city… also a 61-mile Metric Century.

May 14th — Free, the Finish Line Festival, 9:00 am-4:00 pm. in the Rainbow Harbor area. Children’s activity area, bike safety and education booths, live music, food, and vendors.

May 18th — Free, Traffic Skills 101 at CSULB, Wednesday evening class session, 6:00-8:00 pm. Followed by the free 3-hour Saturday morning on-road training session. Preregistration required. Click EDUCATION at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com page for more information, or click here.

May 19th — Free, Thursday morning Bike-to-Work-Day Pit Stops, one at CSULB, the other at Long Beach City Hall Civic Center Plaza. Refreshments, freebies and bike safety checks.

Long Beach will inaugurate two separated bikeways—one along Broadway, the other along 3rd Street—designed to provide a pleasant, new way for the entire family to cycle when in downtown Long Beach.

The official ceremony will be held at noon.

Click to enlarge the map. Click to enlarge the Grand Opening poster for more details.

The event is free, but you’ll need to RSVP by Wednesday evening, April 6th.

For details, click on the postage stamp to the right. To RSVP, contact Allan Crawford at allancrawford@bikeablecommunities.org.

Then, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, also at Bixby Park, join the community workshop to update the Long Beach Bicycle Master Plan. Your suggestions and observations will be noted by staff of the Department of Public Works.

Bixby Park is located between Cherry and Junipero, and between Ocean Blvd. and Broadway.

If the opportunity to participate in a fun bike ride and to provide City planners with your input about cycling infrastructure isn’t incentive enough… here’s one more goodie to sweeten the pot: There will be free Mc’Coffee.

It occurs to us that this Saturday you could enjoy a particularly Buzzy Day in a coffee-tasting way. We suggest that you buy various cups of coffee at several of our favorite local cafés (including coffee from Hot Java and from the Park Pantry—both across the street from Bixby Park—and from Portfolio Coffeehouse on Fourth at Junipero)… and then enjoy some free McCoffee as part of the community workshop. After the workshop, you could then cycle over to Sipology #2 on Broadway at Temple… and then cycle around the rest of the day to a dozen other great, locally-owned cafés. No… wait… you should NOT sip that much coffee in one day. Better to do your coffee tasting little by little. So… scratch the Buzzy Day idea. This Saturday, would you care for some McCoffee?

The final Bicycle Master Plan Update community meeting will take place at the Mark Twain Library (1401 E. Anaheim), Wednesday, March 23rd, 6:00-8:00 pm.

The City has scheduled nine public sessions to request input during January, February and March. Also, the City will sponsor free bike rides prior to five of those public meetings.

To view details (dates, times, locations) about meetings 1-5, click on the LEFT. (Bicycle Master Plan workshops at Lowell Elementary School, First Congregational Church, Silverado Park, Coolidge Park and Los Altos Library.)

To view details (dates, times, locations) about meetings 6-9, click on the RIGHT. (Bicycle Master Plan workshops at El Dorado Park, Bixby Knolls, Bixby Park and Mark Twain Library.)

To view details about free bike rides starting at Lowell Elementary School and Silverado Park, click on the LEFT.

To view details about free bike rides starting at El Dorado Park, Bixby Knolls and Bixby Park, click on the RIGHT.

For more information, contact Courtney Aguirre at (562) 570-6667.

Courtney.Aguirre@LongBeach.Gov.

You need to sign up online in advance. Go to EDUCATION at the top of the longbeachcyclists.com web page for details, for schedule, and for the registration link. The next in-class session is Wednesday, December 15th at 6:00 pm.

There are many good reasons to take the Traffic Skills 101 course. It’s smart to know your road rights and responsibilities, and to always cycle safely and legally. Another great reason to take the course is that it is a prerequesite for serving as a board member of Long Beach Cyclists—you are encouraged to consider becoming one of the organization’s leaders in coming months. Our first board was elected in March of 2010; soon perhaps a new group of individuals will want to lead our organization. Step up and make it happen.

Like Long Beach, Huntington Beach has been awarded the ‘bronze level’ for bicycle friendliness by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) in Washington D.C.  The LAB recognizes that significant bicycle-friendly improvements are in place or are underway in both Long Beach and in Huntington Beach. 

Is it too much to hope that more and more cities across California chose to make themselves increasingly supportive of safe, vehicular cycling as a transportation choice?

Upcoming HuBBA activities serving the Huntington Beach area include Street Cycling Skills classes at the end of October. (Like our monthly Traffic Skills 101 program taught at CSULB Pyramid Annex, the HuBBA program follows the vehicular cycling curriculum promoted by the League of American Bicyclists in Washington D.C.). Go to HuBBA Bike News, or click EDUCATION at the top of the Long Beach Cyclists dot com page and see dates, times, and the how-to to enroll in an upcoming, two-part cycling safety course—now either in Long Beach or in Huntington Beach.

On October 2, 2010 we will be hosting several bike related activities at Green Port Festival.  The festival is an open house for Long Beach residents to see what goes on within the Port.  Exhibits, displays, train, bike and boat tours, plus food and entertainment will be in store for attendants! and it’s all FREE!  To be as ‘green’ as possible, POLB is asking everyone to walk, bike or bus into the event.  That’s we we come in!  We will be offering bike tours into the port from the Promenade near ocean and Pine , we will also be guides for the inner port tour and offering free bike valet once you are ready to park it for a while!  Join us!

The System is a humorous and insightful series of panels often dealing with cycling issues—especially as they relate to urban cycling and commuting to work—and to traffic-related issues in general, and to the work place, and to other aspects of contemporary life.

To see more of Rosscott’s work, go to www.rosscottinc.com.

To be sure, NO cyclist should ever run a red light. We encourage all cyclists to cycle safely, legally and responsibly. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to take the free Traffic Safety 101 course, taught at CSULB Pyramid Annex (with follow-up practice time on Long Beach streets to put vehicular cycling concepts into practice). Click EDUCATION at the top of the page for fall semester dates and sign-up information.