Bike to Work Day 2009

Thanks to all the volunteers and the cyclists that stopped by at the Long Beach Cyclists hosted pit-stop. Special thanks to Portfolio Coffeehouse and Noah's Bagels for their donations, feeding scores of cyclists this morning.

Check out more pics here.

Open Response to Tim Grobaty

Responding to Tim Grobaty's piece on Bike to Work Day, where in I give him some writing tips to make a sexy cycling story.

Dear Tim,
Well, the offer to give you a personally guided bike ride around the city still stands. An enjoyable bike ride of the "oh look at the birdie" sort probably would make an uninteresting piece. But maybe one where we dispel the myths of how difficult and dangerous it is (see above comments) would be more interesting.

Or perhaps a piece on how cyclists have the the same rights on the road but are treated as 2nd class road users would be more interesting. Or more interesting still, how about the fact that the police in our city aren't aware that bikes can ride lawfully on the street and ticket cyclists for a right that is clearly spelled out in the California Vehicle Code. Or how they ride on the sidewalk and against traffic violating the CVC, while lawful and educated cyclists get harangued for trying to do a little good.

Or perhaps you could frame the piece in such a way that it points out the fact that the plight of the urban cyclist is a transporation civil rights issue (+1 for historical references), where a group of people going about their lawful business are constantly harassed, illegally ticketed and besmirched in the media.

That wouldn't be SO boring and closer to the mark, no? So let's take Orangey for a ride.

Russ

"We" try to ride a bike again

Tim Grobaty is at it again. This mornings' paper features an editorial on biking.

We don't hate bikes, we don't mind bike-riding, it's just that we're not a big fan of going to work in the first place and we feel there's no sense in throwing additional hurdles between our home and the workplace. Plus, while it's nice to dawdle en route to the plant, we're generally in a big, 65-mph hurry to get home.

Continues Roca: "I and some people from the bicycle advocacy group I am a part of would love to ride your commute with you and perhaps show you some tips and techniques to make it more enjoyable."

Thanks, Russ, but an enjoyable bike ride makes for a lousy column.

To read more: Press-Telegram

Traffic Skills 101

Please sign up for traffic skills 101. The next class will be held on 5/20, 6 PM in the Pyramid Annex at the CSULB campus (right next door to the pyramid and parking structure), 5/30 for the riding portion.

Bike Counts at CSULB

We will be conducting Bike counts on the CSULB campus on Tuesday the 12th. We need counters for two hour window- 7:00am - 9:00am, 9:00am- 11:00am, and 4:00pm- 6:00pm.

All volunteers will be entered to win a $50 cafe piccolo gift certificate. www.cafepiccolo.com
Cafe Piccolo is owned and run by an avid cyclist and alumni.

First 18 people that volunteer get a $10 in beach bucks!!

Please contact Allyson Clark at allysonc42@yahoo.ca - 562-682-3895

Photos of what a Lawful cyclist looks like...

To read more, go here.

Have you been unlawfully cited? Email us!

Let me begin by saying that there are legitimate reasons for getting tickets on a bike. If you blow through a red light, if you're riding the wrong way in traffic, if you're on the sidewalk, if you're under 18 and you're not wearing a helmet. Those are ticketable offenses.

If, however, you were given a ticket or had some interaction with a police officer for doing nothing other than LAWFUL bicycling, we want to know! We want to build a case for why the police must be included in making Long Beach bike friendly and we need your stories. Please provide as many details as you can such as intersections, citation numbers and badge numbers. Email us.

A bike friendly city is one where your most basic and fundamental right to ride in travel lanes that serve your destination are understood and respected. What good are thousands of miles of bike lanes if the second you leave a bike lane you feel like open prey or that you're going to be cited for doing nothing than exercising your right to ride in the street?

Bike the power! Email us.

Spotted in Long Beach...

Pedersen bicycles are rare enough, but to find one ironically juxtaposed with another truss design is just too good to pass up!

See more at: http://www.pedersenbicycles.com/index.htm

Smells Like a Bike Lane...

This morning on my way to work I noticed some funny markings along 2nd Street from Junipero (say: "who-knee-pair-oh") to Alamitos, and the same markings were discovered on First St. on my way home.

It looks like a bike lane, but more than 80% of the space would have a cyclist riding in the door zone. Clearly the City wouldn't do anything like that - not being as Bike-Friendly as it is; so I decided that the dashed lines all the way down the street were actually the markings for a gas line or water pipe. Though it would be nice to imagine that this was the markings for the center of a series of sharrows, because it IS in a pretty darn safe spot.

Let's take a look...


See that funny little symbol in the middle? The one that looks like a bicycle?
Could this be a bike lane that encourages cyclists to ride in the door zone? Nah.
It's probably just the markings of a sewer pipe. Right?



That little spray paint marking that says "STOP", just before the intersection limit-line must be where the gas line stops. I know the City wouldn't allow a bike lane to be this much in the door zone.

Open Letter to Chief Batts

I received an email from Chief Batts to call the office and describe the incident. After doing so, I wrote this email to the Chief:

Dear Chief Batts,
I called and spoke with a Sergeant regarding the citation and he is looking into it. With regards to your incident, I don't think that is the same "gentleman" we're talking about. This incident occurred on Anaheim as he was commuting to work. He is also a trained cycling safety instructor.

What I hope to come from all this is the start of a dialogue between the bicycle community and the police. I know that there are many lawless cyclists out there and they SHOULD be ticketed. Cyclists riding the wrong way. Cyclists blowing through red lights. Cyclists on the sidewalk. Cyclists under 18 riding with no brakes and a helmet. They should be ticketed. I think we have so many with an utter disregard of the law because there is NOT ENOUGH enforcement.

That said, the police should also be sensitized to identify what is lawful and safe riding. Riding as far to the right as you can is NOT safe. Riding closer to the middle of the lane IS safe, it increases visibility, lets the rider avoid the door zone, etc., The phrasing in 21202 allows for this, cyclists only have to ride to the right as long as it is "practicable" (a big difference from "possible"). "Practicable" allows us to claim the lane when we deem it unsafe to ride to the right. Many cities make this point clear with signs that say "BIcyclists allowed full use of the lane."

I believe that the police is one of the most important keys to making Long Beach bicycle friendly. Without proper enforcement we will just see a rise in unlawful cyclists and more hostile interactions between motorists and cyclists that will escalate into violence (there are many incidents of this happening in Los Angeles right now). That is why it is paramount that officers on your force that work in areas with a high concentration of cyclists (downtown, Belmont Shore, CSULB) should receive training to differentiate when a cyclist is lawfully riding in the street (claiming the middle of the lane when need be) and when they are putting themselves and others in danger. Further, I would also like to see the bicycle mounted police follow the CVC. It is very difficult for me to defend my rights to a motorist who is yelling at me to "get on the sidewalk" or "you don't belong here", when the bicycle mounted police can often be seen riding on the sidewalk, against traffic or in the door zone.

If you are willing, the bicycle advocacy group I work with, The Long Beach Cyclists, has trained bicycle safety educators from the League of American Bicyclists. We would very much like to set up a program with the police department to slowly train the force with issues regards to bicycles in traffic. The League offers a curriculum specially tailored to law enforcement. I think this would more quickly and efficiently make Long Beach more bicycle friendly than any thing else we can do.

Thank you once again for responding to me personally. I hope you will seriously consider bicycle training for some of your force.

Sincerely,
Russ Roca

Storm City Hall?

The photo is from "Storm the Bastille" when cyclists went to Van Nuys City Hall to voice their discontent over how police officers treated an incident where a Hummer hit a cyclist then fled the scene, but not before running over the bikes of several others. The police were on the scene, but then let the Hummer driver GO and berated the cyclists.

Is this what we're going to have to do to make Long Beach truly bicycle friendly by educating our police officers? It isn't a new idea. In fact it was published in the Press Telegram many weeks ago.

I applaud the city's interest in making Long Beach bicycle friendly, but there are also lots of very simple, inexpensive ways in which this could be quickly accomplished that I think are being overlooked.

It is no mystery that a lot of conflict that occurs between cyclists and motorists stem from a misunderstanding of where it is bikes belong. Hence motorists incorrectly yelling at cyclists to "get on the sidewalk" and that "roads are for cars." In the California Vehicle Code, it is stated that bicycles have all the rights and responsibilities of other roadway users.

Simply put: Bicycles have the right to be on the road.

Truly bicycle friendly cities support this basic right from the TOP down and make it clear in unequivocal terms that bicycles are an accepted and valued roadway users.

What does this mean for Long Beach? I would like a statement from Chief Batts that he has his officers understand and will help protect this right of cyclists. I would like to see similar statements from other community leaders and this newspaper that bikes unequivocally have rights to the road that should be respected.

Why is this important?

While the occasional new bicycle lane or bicycle facility when well designed is welcomed, that improvement affects only that very specific area. It does nothing for the cyclists in other parts of the city who may never encounter the new improvements. However, a powerful blanket statement from our top brass and an aggressive bicycles belong campaign makes every mile of Long Beach more bicycle friendly, not just those select few blocks.

The challenge of making a city bicycle friendly is not just an infrastructure one, but also a cultural one. In this way, bicycle rights parallel civil rights. Though cyclists have all the rights of other roadway users, they are marginalized and treated as 2nd class citizens. They are verbally harassed and threatened everyday on the streets, yet there are no actions to stymie this sort of behavior.

My fear is that if the city promotes these separated facilities, WITHOUT simultaneously asserting the rights of cyclists on ALL streets, it will give the impression that cyclists must only use these facilities and are not legitimate roadway users. This happens now at Hartwell Park where there is a cycle path near a roadway. I have ridden there and have been harassed and told to use the path, even though it doesn't serve where I want to go.

I'd like to challenge the city to not only look in terms of infrastructure but roadway culture as well, when they take on the task of making Long Beach cyclist friendly.

E is for Educating Enforcement

LBCyclist member and his experience with educating enforcement.

Middle of the day. Hardly any traffic and I just got pulled over for not riding on the "right side." I'm no racer but 15mph on 2nd Street isn't going that much slower than car traffic through there.

I tried to explain to the officer that any closer and I would be in the "door zone." He seemed nonplussed.

I cited the vehicle code and told him that it said I was to ride to the right as "practicable" which is a big difference than "possible", because it was up to me to determine if there were any hazards. He didn't seem to care.

I told him that I was riding exactly where the new sharrows would be on 2nd street in a few months. The new wha? I don't see them now.

I was holding him up. Although I was on the right travel lane and he was on the left and he wanted me to know about it.

I'm about as law biding a cyclist as you can get in Long Beach. I ride in the correct direction of traffic. I don't ride on the sidewalk. One of the first things I keep trying to advocate for is that we have to educate the enforcement on the laws regarding bicycling. Maybe NOW might be a good time to start.

For those that are curious, the CVC as pertaining to bicycles is the following. I was exercising my right (3) because I was avoiding the rather unpleasant "fixed object"...aka door, but also because when I ride as far as the right as practical, I always get buzzed too close. Hence, riding more "practicable."

21202. (a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
(1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
(2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
(3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a "substandard width lane" is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

Russ

Bike to Work Day - Thursday May 14th

Bike to Work Day - Thursday, May 14th
There are 3 locations for Bike to Work Day. Each pit stop will have free beverages and snacks for cyclists participating!!! Also there will be raffles and giveaways.

Belmont Shore Pier - 7:00 am - 11:00 am

CSULB - Brotman Hall - 7:00am - 11:00 am

CSULB - Palo Verde Ave - In front of University Police Station - 6:00am - 9:00am