DISQUS

Residents First,
Your comments are WHY the sharrow markings are exactly where they are and why it is safest to ride in the center of the lane in 2nd Street.

"Personally, we have seen 3 riders get a door opened into their path, and get launched like Super Man .......up up and away ....."

I participated in the bike count on 2nd Street a few weeks ago. We counted 1200 cyclists over three days at a frequency of about one cyclist every 3 minutes.

An majority of the riders who rode on the street were riding TOO far to the right and in the door zone. This is exactly what the markings are meant to prevent. They are there to make it SAFER for cyclist that are going to choose to ride on the street.

I don't quite see how you can argue that it isn't safe when its design is intended to get cyclist away from getting doored (like the 3 you witnessed), which is one of the most dangerous kind of collisions for a cyclist.

The most RARE kind of collision statistically is getting hit from behind, which is what I suspect you are most concerned about.

I ride 8000 miles per year in traffic in Long Beach and neighboring cities and I can personally testify that kind of riding is the safest way to approach narrow streets. If you don't believe it, you can call up the League of American Bicyclists, the oldest advocacy group in the country and who has developed the national bike safety classes. Ask one of their instructors where its safest to ride.

If you still don't believe it, I invite you to come out to Polly's Coffee House on Saturday 10am and I'll ride with you on the green stripe and show you why it's safe (I'll have the big orange cargo bicycle that's hard to miss).

I'd suggest actually trying it out before you continue with your misplaced fears. I rode the sharrows today East and West several times. On one such pass from one end of 2nd Street to other I was riding a blistering 10mph. There are a large volume of cars but they move SLOW. So slow in fact, that bicycles generally have no problem keeping up with traffic. So if it's the case that over a 3 day period 1200 cyclists rode through the Shore, let's keep them safe and start training them good bicycling habits.

Russ

Dear Residents First,
"Kinda scary" is how ignorant you are of bicycling safety and the California Vehicle code.

First some facts as oppose to fear mongering.

1)Bikes have the LEGAL RIGHT to ride in the road and can occupy the center of the lane when it is hazardous. (CVC 21202b)

2)Riding off to the right puts cyclists in danger of getting hit by an opening car door (as you noted in your negligent example) and encourages unsafe close passing of motor vehicles. It is safer to be in the center of the lane when the lane is narrow (i.e. 2nd Street).

"A recent Negligence case, settled for 1.3 Million, because a driver, opened his door into the path of a cyclist. There was no bicycle lane involved, and a much wider road bed, and margin of safety. Several forsee problems, let's hope not."

3)It is ILLEGAL to throw your car door open safely in traffic. It's already in the California Vehicle Code (CVC 22517), it's not the result of some crazy litigious cyclist. It's the LAW.

"The cyclists tend to veer left, to avoid the parked cars, and they are already flirting with your right front fender. Kind of scary."

That's why the sharrow is in the CENTER of the lane so there is no veering. They're just in the middle.

Now some FACTS about sharrows.

1)Sharrows do not confer any special rights to cyclists. They merely make it painfully obvious that cyclists can ride in the road and in the center if need be (CVC 21202b)

2)Sharrows are not bike lanes. They don't restrict cars from driving in the lane with the sharrow, they merely remind them that bikes will be present and if they're riding in the middle it is within their LEGAL RIGHT to do so.

3)If a cyclist is in front of you and is riding in the middle, use the adjacent lane to pass. This is just simple common sense and common courtesy.

4)A sharrow lane is not some crazy avant-garde engineering feat from outer space. It is a road marking that reminds motorists and cyclists that it is perfectly OK for a cyclist to ride in the middle of the street.

R

1. LA County is dropping bike registration because it is ineffective and is used more for profiling than it is to recover bikes. Long Beach should follow suit and strike this useless municipal code.

2. I don't know what rules of the road you refer to, but they are certainly not the ones in the California Vehicle Code. As such, I'm not aware of any "get of my way if you can't keep the speed limit" rule. I do know that bikes have the right to ride in traffic lanes and use the full lane if needed for their safety. If they're slow, treat them as you would any other slow vehicle and wait to safely pass.

I shot Gandy's portrait and have talked to him about cycling - and I think he's the real deal. Long Beach is very lucky to have him. That said, he's got an uphill battle and it involves a lot more than just riding a bike around the city. He has to juggle several interests, he has to mediate between groups that don't always get along, he has to deal with traffic engineers that have no clue how to design a livable city, he has to show the leadership that there is an alternative to just pushing people through the city in cars at 50mph.

A city that is bike friendly is pedestrian friendly as well and is more livable than one where we feel like we're living in between freeways.

It was a blast! It should be noted that DW contributor Jenny Stockdale was present and kicked some butt climbing Pine Mountain!

For those interested...

Rough Map of the Trip
http://epicureancyclist.com/?p=548

How to Carry 2 Gallons of Water on Your Bike
http://epicureancyclist.com/?p=536

Photos of me getting a ticket...

http://russroca.blogspot.com/2009/05/indignity-...

I wrote a letter to Chief Batts after talking to a staff Sergeant about the incident (see below). To be clear, I have no particular vendetta against the ticketing officer or the PD. I think it's more a weakness in the city's bike friendliness initiative to not include, inform and educate our law enforcement from the very beginning. They are the ones that adjudicate over motorist/cyclist interactions and they should be better informed!

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

Firstly, if you ride a bike in Long Beach, watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU4nKKq02BU

The right hand travel lane that goes through 2nd street is (as described by the CVC) a substandard width lane, meaning that "it is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane."

The narrow strip which Mr. Ruehle mentions is known as the "door zone" in bicycling parlance. If you're on a bike, you shouldn't be there. The safest place you can be is in the middle of the lane and you have every right to be there as per the CVC because 1)it is not a lane that can be safely shared with a motor vehicle 2)it puts you in the door zone, a fixed object "that makes it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge."

There are many supposed dangers with regards to bicycling. Some real. Many imagined.

The least common but most feared type of accident is getting hit from behind (ie "being run over by speeding cars.") The reason why people ride on the sidewalk.

However, most accidents (the real and not the imagined ones) happen at intersections. All those people riding on sidewalks entering intersections at speed are putting themselves in danger of getting hit by cars. Seriously. Sit down and get some coffee at Peets, Aroma di Roma or Starbucks and you'll see it almost happen half a dozen times an hour.

People should feel uncomfortable riding in that narrow strip between speeding cars and parked cars because that's the WORST place to be! Not only are you in the "door zone" but that is when you get buzzed. Your lane position will dictate what the car behind you will do. Too close to the right and you'll get buzzed. In the middle of the lane, they'll pass to your left.

You should ride in the lane. You are visible. You don't have to worry about hitting an opening car door. You are more visible to cars at approaching intersections. Period.

I would argue that many sidewalk riders are in greater danger than just riding on the street. Not so much from hitting pedestrians, but getting into collisions with cars at intersections (drive ways, alleys, crosswalks). So, I would argue that by riding in the street (and I do a lot of it...like 7000 miles a year) I am in less danger of being in a collision.

I wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun or if it was so dangerous that I felt like I was risking life and limb every day. I'm not stupid.

You can ride safely in the street without being a racer or super fast (take the traffic skills class that the Long Beach Cyclists offer monthly..www.lbcyclists.org).

However, it IS apparent, that being knowledgeable about the law and your rights won't protect you from getting a totally bogus ticket.

Upon closer inspection of the ticket...it looks like I even got cited for the WRONG thing...

21201. (a) No person shall operate a bicycle on a roadway unless it is equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make one braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement.

But the description was "Must right on right of roadway."

I clearly had a brake (2 in fact!). I don't even own a fixed gear. Is there a case of fixed gear profiling going on in Long Beach? Maybe the cops are familiar with THAT law, but not the basic ones that govern lawful riding?

I'm still bent that Terry's Camera closed and they very unceremoniously 'dozed the building.

As someone that rides a lot for transportation, I'd like to chime in. I'm excited that there is excitement in the city! Yay! I do wish that there was a lot more going towards education and awareness however.

I've only been riding a bike for the last couple of years. I think the first time I rode on the street I was 26 or 27. So I am by no means an elite cyclist or have one of those "cycling all my life" stories. I started out riding on the beach path, then sought out bike lanes and now I'm fairly comfortable riding on the street. The point is, in the great spectrum of cycling, I'm fairly average. When I'm carrying all my gear, breaking 15mph on the flats is a fast day. Where I am perhaps different, is that I know where the real dangers are when riding (getting doored, cars pulling out of driveways, riding on the sidewalk, riding against the flow of traffic, hugging the curb when riding, etc.,) and I have learned how to avoid them through experience (and by taking a road skills class offered monthly by LBCyclists.org...shameless plug).

I believe that a truly "bicycle friendly city" is one where people in bikes and people in cars get along even if there's no stripe or separated facility. Education/Awareness isn't as sexy as miles of bike lanes or cycle tracks, but I think it's as or MORE important. The reality is that we're not going to have bike lanes and cycle tracks criss-crossing the city, so it's important that motorists and cyclists know how to interact safely when the facilities suddenly disappear beneath you (everyone has experienced the "suddenly disappearing bike lane" phenom). Despite this, I think there has been little done to educate the public outside of childrens bike rodeos.

Case in point, I still encounter people that don't know that bikes have a legal right to be on the road ("Get on the sidewalk! Roads are for cars! You're not a car!" etc.,) and can control the whole lane if they need to. I think that is where a lot of animosity comes from. I know many drivers that don't know what to do when there is a bike in front of them (wait for a safe time to pass and pass with at least 3 feet of distance...even if that means going into the adjacent lane....just like you would do with any other vehicle),

Frankly, I think we should start the education with the LBPD. I've been pulled over for riding in the street (which is perfectly legal according the CVC, btw) by police that didn't know the laws regarding bicycles. I've also almost been hit by police on bikes going the wrong way on a one way street. Further, they're always riding on the sidewalk. What kind of message does that send to motorists and to other cyclists?

As for bike facilities, I'm okay with them...IF they are done well. There are good bike lanes and there are bad bike lanes. We've all probably experienced bike lanes that put us in the path of opening car doors, or bike lanes that suddenly disappear at bridges, or bike lanes where half the lane is in the gutter of the street, putting your tire right in the seam of the street. A poor bike lane, I think, can do more harm than good.

A bike lane or a cycle path, by its very nature, calls out to riders and gives them a sense that it is safe and that it is well thought out. However, in my experience, many facilities aren't designed by cyclists. Nor are they even ever ridden by the people that plan them. I would personally like to take whoever is in charge of putting pen to paper on bike designs in the city out on a bike ride of the designs during rush hour traffic. If they're not willing to do that, how good/safe can the designs be? Is it unreasonable to ask that the people that plan bike facilities actually ride them?

So my whole long-winded point is that yes, I'm excited about the new enthusiasm for bicycles in the city. However, if they have as a real long term goal making Long Beach bike-friendly, they should start looking at educating the public as well paving paths. And for the paths they pave, there should be strong evaluation periods and input from riders (and would it kill them if we could have someone from traffic actually ride it during rush hour? well...it might).

Nice one Dave.

I had a funny moment when I was shooting the portrait. I walked in and I realized I had been at VIPs over a decade ago when I was in college. I had never been to Long Beach back then, but I was a huge fan of the Pharcyde and they were doing an in-store signing there.

So some friends and I made the trek to the LBC. I stood in line for about an hour, bought a CD (Labcabincalifornia) and got a poster and booklet signed. It was the only time I had ever gone to get something autographed.

I told Kelvin about it and thanked him for having the Pharcyde there (ten years later). That put a smile on his face.

The Long Beach Cyclists:
Our mission is to promote cycling as a fun, valued and sustainable transportation choice in Long Beach through community, advocacy and education.

We're planning events to raise awareness of cycling issues and to get people on their bikes! Currently we're looking for volunteers to help with "Bike-In Movie Night" at the Art Theater, where we'll offer secure valet bike parking one evening a month. Other projects will include Bike to Work Day, community safety and bike commuting classes.

Good news, but I think another wine tasting joint is a little dime a dozen these days. How about tapping (no pun intended) into the big craft brew resurgence!

For once, I'd like to see a joint that doesn't consider Heineken or Fat Tire to be fancy exotic imported beer (not that Fatty is necessarily bad..but there's soooo much better beer).

Someone please end the rule of Pabst and Corona in Long Beach and get some decent beer in this town, like Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach which has the reputation for being one of the best places to get beer in all of So. Cal. Ever see the lines at Beachwood during the weekend?!

Geez, the first place that specializes in good craft beer in Long Beach is going to have build a barricade to keep the thirsty out.

hey, how about a freedom of information request to see if anyone has submitted or proposed any developments for that area?

roadrunner....hmmm...i don't think i was going for "mean old monastic tired and beat down"

I was going for something respectful but slightly surreal and ethereal. Maybe a little ambiguity. It's about a missing tortoise, how can it be anything but surreal?!

Ever try to make an interesting photograph of something when that "something " you're photographing isn't there? Try it sometime. It's a fun challenge.

I wanted it a bit dramatic, so I used some lighting. If you saw the actual room, sans lighting, it was interesting but a bit flat looking photographically.

That outside shot was in a small garden that had a large bamboo tree. Nothing special. You'd think it was an overgrown bush. I set up a light and tried to make that ordinary looking garden look like a mysterious forest or the garden of olives (the biblical one, not the one with the buffet and all you can eat pasta)...

I wanted some god-like light coming down shining down on the woman so I set up a light, put on a snoot, gelled it and did the other stuff that I do to make pictures...

Are the photos beautiful in the way a glamour shot or headshot is flattering and beautiful. No. I wasn't there to shoot an ad for Roxy. I was trying to make an image that captures the strangeness and ambiguity of the situation. Something mysterious, captivating, alluring and terrifying all at once in a single instant.

thank you...sweet jesus....GOOD beer without having to drive south to San Diego or north to Portland....if you're gonna spend $4.75 on beer, spend it on something good and spend it here

I'm going to miss it....I think it's one of the nicest looking coffee shops in all of LB with a great open space floor plan....I think the hard truth is that all businesses in that area are struggling with lack of parking and foot traffic. Not even a few blocks away from Pine and it's practically a ghost town most of the week...you wouldn't know it was the city's Arts District at all if you were a tourist and just casually driving by...sad to see it go, but sadder still to see not enough efforts to boost the traffic in the area

Long Beach wouldn't know unique/cultural/historical if it dressed up in drag put on make-up and bit it in the ass.

I think someone should start recording these sessions so there is no question about what questions are being asked, what "nuances" are getting lost....

When I saw that on the transcript of Foster's address my jaw dropped. I don't know what the CVB did to pull it off but even I'm impressed and excited!

TED is like the Nobel Prize/Superbowl/MTV Music Awards all rolled into one. Like the organizer said in the documentary, "It's like the party you wish you could always have." Past TED participants have been Al Gore, David Foster Wallace, Larry Brilliant (credited with ending polio), Bono, etc.,

Not only are there great ideas at TED, but there's lots of dough to make these great ideas happen.

I'm still bent about Terry's Camera :(

I had a similar experience with a meeting concerning proposed bike improvements in the city. The meeting held at Bixby Park was hardly publicized to one of the concerned parties...the cyclists. If it were not for some cylists that heard about it through the grape-vine and posted it on craigslist and myspace, there would have been no cycling presence at all, and it would have been a very one sided meeting and yet another missed opportunity.

I can't tell if it is willful negligence or a complete lack of media savvy. I would hope it would be the latter because it is less sinister, but then again, the thought a city that can't communicate important issues to its public doesn't provide that much more comfort.

I can tell you as the photographer that took the portrait of Brian at that strange intersection, I was fearing for the safety of my gear and myself. Primarily, that strange lane that allows cars to merge from Alamitos to MLK. For a car to do that successfully, they have to wait for oncoming traffic from Alamitos to be clear as well as gauge the incoming traffic from MLK across the concrete barrier. We were there for a total of 20 minutes and I couldn't wait to leave.