Where'd They All Go?

In our most recent poll I asked you to pick one of three component manufacturers and up until the last few hours, it was a 3-way tie, but in the last hours, Campagnolo pulled ahead to win by 2 votes, leaving Shimano and SRAM to share 2nd (3rd?).

Being the youngest of 4 boys most of my bicycles were hand-me-downs, and several of them were compilations of several bikes and parts that survived wrecks. These bikes came equipped with Shimano, SunTour, Sachs-Huret, Sturmey-Archer, Falcon, TA, Sugino and maybe a few others. I can't remember owning a bike with Campagnolo until I bought one brand new this decade.

When a derailleur broke on one bike, we just grabbed the one off of the bike that wasn't getting used as much and stuck it on. We didn't buy new chains, we just pieced together ones from several bikes. Axles, freewheels, shifters, bottom brackets... they all worked together just fine. (I just remembered that in high school I had a Bianchi that had some Campy parts, but they never needed replacing. Ever.)

So what happened? Bikes used to come with different parts. There were options. If you were touring and you broke your X-Brand thingamajig, that was really no trouble. You just had to get in to town and the Y-Brand thingamajig would work just fine.

6 speed, 7 speed, 8, 9, 10 and now 11 speed chains, exist... and can't be used with other combinations, and only for that brand! X-Branded index shifting doesn't work with Y-Brand derailers. Even cables and housing matter now!

Talking about choices, sometimes there are just too many:
Square taper, ISIS, Ashtabula, OctaLink V1 and V2, Ultra Torque, Hollow Tech, Integrated, Power Spline (did I miss any?) are all different kinds of bottom brackets and none of them will work with the other (OctaLink V1 cranks might work on V2, but not the other way around). How is anybody supposed to keep up?

I give up. I'm getting a bus pass :)

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

Stoked for Spokes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11one

Mayor Bob Foster and Long Beach Cyclists invite local photographers of all levels of skill to participate in the first "Stoked for Spokes" photo exhibit. Photographers of all ages are asked to submit an original photo related to bicycles by Oct. 4 to Zephyr Vegetarian Café, 340 East 4th St.

The photo exhibit will run from Oct. 10 to Nov. 1 at Zephyr Vegetarian Café. Mayor Foster will kick off the exhibit with an opening reception on Fri., Oct. 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the restaurant.

Registration Details

Or read this same blog on the City Website

University by the Sea

University by the Sea—the community-wide arts and culture festival that
filled Downtown Long Beach with kinetic energy last fall—is back and
greener than ever!



On October 5, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., local artists, musicians, educators and activists will flood the transformed downtown streets with
creativity and insight. Restaurants will open their doors to host classes
ranging from sushi making to wine tasting to ballet. You can even witness
Mayor Bob Foster in a toga-talk, as he educates you on the History of the
Roman Republic.

And everything will be eco-conscious—right down to the carbon
dioxide-eating main stage, where Schooled in Song II will unleash Long
Beach’s most anticipated music line-up of the year.

Sponsored in part by the City of Long Beach, U-Sea is guaranteed for
success because it combines this city’s two most important assets—its
downtown and its university—into one, stellar, sustainable event. It’s no
secret that, “Great universities build great cities and vice versa,” as
Cal State Long Beach President F. King Alexander said. But U-Sea embraces
that slogan wholeheartedly.

One of U-Sea’s masterminds, Rachel Potucek, reminisced about the
festival’s premise: “We decided to show what we like about Long Beach,”
she said, “and it turned out to be an indescribable mix. It worked—it
still works—because this city is different, and people crave the
authenticity of that.”

So satisfy your craving for something new, different, smart and fun. Have
a pint at the Backyard Beer Garden. Plant a tree on “The Street of
Tomorrow” and take in the new ideas on transportation and smart city
planning. Stroll through the Cargo Container Goods Art Gallery, made
entirely out of recycles shipping containers. But don’t be late for class!
For ticket purchases and information, check out the website at http://www.universitybythesea.com

And some Dam Picnic it was...

Last Saturday was our Dam Picnic Ride. If you went, you knew what fun it was!

This is my review:

About a 50 mile round trip on the tandem. Our first longer ride in a while and our first longer ride on the tandem...and it was a success! We not only made it there, but we made it back, too! On our way there we saw tons of squirrels, a coyote and lots of people in flashy spandex.

After a slight detour, we found a guy on the side of the road selling fresh fruit...and after that 25 mile up the San Gabriel, it seemed like a wise decision to buy some. It was pretty great treat for us.

Once we got to Legg Lake, there were multiple places to set up shop and have our picnic, but we decided to take a ride around and scope out the best spot.

The view from our table, far better than any 5 star restaurant...and free!:

We manage to turn all of our rides into an adventure some way or another. Legg Lake was beautiful and there weren't a lot of people, especially for it being a Saturday afternoon and the ride was a lot of fun.

Bike Commercials

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?

University by the Sea...Planning Meeting...bring beer!

Dear loyal readers, we're having a planning meeting Tuesday (September 9th) at 8pm at a secret location (well, email us and we'll tell you).

The plan of the planning meeting is to gear up for University by the Sea! Those of you who helped during Bike to Work Day and had fun with the experience. Cruise on by. We'll be discussing what we should do and how we should do it.

Nuts and bolts.

Action!

If you want to get involved in making Long Beach a bike-friendly/cyclist-friendly city, this would be a good one to attend.

Dress is casual. Food is potluck style. Beer is micro and craft (Belgians, IPAs and Stouts welcome).

When: Tuesday, September 9th, 8:00pm
Where: Email us and we'll tell you (it's in Belmont Heights...easy to get to.)

Email us at lbcyclists(at)gmail(dot)com for the super secret fun meeting location.

Hey, What do you guys do in those policy meetings?

Long Beach Cyclists is working to become a 501(c)3 not-for-profit Organization.
Why? To be eligible for grants and public funding so that we can better serve cyclists in our community. Our monthly general meetings are open to the public and we welcome all, but this past meeting the question came up about what is going on behind-the-scenes. Well, this is what we've been up to:

Our Organization By-Laws is a 19 page, 11,685 word document that is being combed through so that there are no hitches in our giddy-up once we get the ball rollin'.
Once that is finalized, we can start on the paperwork to form our full-fledged 501(c)3 Organization.

Somewhere between here and there, we need to hash and decide upon policies and goals. We're all for having fun on bikes, but as an advocacy organization, we need to decide which battles we're going to fight, and how far we're going to go on issues that are important to us.

It's a long, slow process that usually involves 6 people sitting around a table spending 20 minutes wording one sentence so that it's satisfactory to all.

Here's a preview of what we've been up to:

A. Promote and protect the road rights of bicyclists.
1. Clean up city laws.
2. Law enforcement education.
3. Support state law reforms.

B. Inclusively advocate for the interests of the full spectrum of bicyclists.
1. Support all of the different types of lawful cyclists.
2. City actions and facility designs must not benefit one group of bicyclists over another.

C. Support bicycling education and awareness.
1. Promote Bike Ed for adults and children.
2. All other arenas: civic/decision makers, legal/law enforcement, public transit, educators, advocates, adults cyclists and the media.

D. Promote bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation.
1. Social rides, events, bicycle valet parking.
2. Organize and conduct fun rides and bicycling events.
3. Create and expand “end of trip” facilities throughout the city.
4. Integrate bicycling into public transit.

E. Promote societal acceptance of bicyclists as equal road users.
1. Awareness campaigns.
2. Signage.
3. Positive portrayal of bicyclists.
4. Encourage city entities to promote a “bicycle friendly” status through policies and practices.

Upcoming Event: University by the Sea

October 5th: University by the Sea transforms downtown Long Beach into a ‘university for a day:’ Restaurants double as ‘classrooms’ where experts, officials and professors lead lectures and workshops. The streets become ‘plazas’ packed with music, dance, food and art.

This year, University by the Sea is 'going green' with native landscaping and composting classes, organic garden tours, free bicycle valet, mass-transit incentives, solar-powered rental equipment, 100% post-consumer biodegradable food containers, tree plantings, and much, much more.

Long Beach Cyclists needs your input!

We have been given several booths and need help staffing the bike valet.
There is a planning meeting Tuesday, Sept 9th, 8pm in Belmont Heights.

If you would like to help out either with ideas or the event itself, PLEASE attend this planning meeting. Email us for directions!

LBCyclists (at) Gmail (dot) com