Pedal Movement

I recently read an article called “The problem with bicycles”, by Nathan Lewis in which he states that a bicycle centric city would not be any better for people than a car centered city. He says:

However, in a properly designed Traditional City, most people don’t need bicycles. This is true even today. In cities where people often do not own a car, such as New York or Hong Kong or Paris, these non-car-owning people usually do not own a bicycle either.

A bike is best as a least-desirable option, for those trips that are too long to walk comfortably, and not convenient by either train or bus. Ideally, these would be as few as possible, as a well-designed city should be a place where you can easily walk or ride a train (a bus if you have to) just about everywhere.

This is a great idea and one of the reasons why I am enthusiastic about the potential of the bike to change how we live. I agree with him that a city where personal transport was not necessary would be an ideal living arrangement. Imagine living in a city where you could walk to the local market for your groceries. Walk to your friend’s house. Walk to work or the train station or the bar. That would be a great place to live, and as he states it would be a real place designed for people as opposed to for vehicles.

Mr. Lewis makes little distinction between cars, bikes or even horses. They are all part of what he calls the “My Personal Transportation Device fixation” where we must have access to a radically individualist means of transport. This idea goes back farther into American cultural history than most people are aware.

Again I agree with all this. The fact is you’re required by society to have a possession to be a full member of that society it is a bad thing. Today most people have to own a car to be a fully participatory member of society. Imagine someone living in the suburbs without one and think about how that would affect their life. There are alternatives but they’re not equal. They’re only used by people who are forced to by circumstance or by an ideology that compels them to.

I can imagine a world where most people can live without a car or even a bike. Where trolleys, buses and trains can bring you where you can’t walk. Where a bicycle is a recreational vehicle only to be used when someone wants to get outside and get some exercise.

I can imagine it but the stark reality is that 150 years into the suburban experiment that world is not going to be a reality anytime soon. We live in a world where our grocery stores are too far to walk and our friends are scattered around a region the size of Rhode Island. To say that the bicycle should not be a viable option is to ignore that fact that we can not create a new world out of nothing. We have to work with what we have. It would be great if we could somehow find enough land and resources to build a great city where people are not compelled to participate in activities they would not support otherwise. But we live in that world.

I would ask Mr. Lewis given his views on the organization of cities, which system is better? An auto-centric model or a bike centric model? There are a great many benefits that a bike centered city would bring over that of the car. Many of which are what he states as being the basis for his views on urban design. For him to dismiss the bicycle because it doesn’t fit into his perfect view of the urban form is counter productive in a world based on reality. Ultimately,  the bicycle is a better tool to base a city on than the car and it can allow us to retrofit the suburban model into something that is far more sustainable than it is now.

For those of you who couldn’t make it out to Cycles of Sound, here is a small snippet of the party! Don’t worry though, we are already working on our next one!

WIZARDS
SE PK RIPPER GOT JACKED YESTERDAY AROUND 3pm AT houghton skatepark! KEEP
AN EYE OUT! ITS A PROTOTYPE PK RIPPER 2011,

the tubing is much thicker
than the other pk’s so it is very noticeable even if painted!

Pedal Movement Stolen P.K. Ripper

Many of us know that bike theft is a major problem in Long Beach. Most have had a bike stolen or known someone who has. The Press-Telegram recently ran a story highlighting the extreme increase in reported bike thefts since 2008.

While other property crimes such as auto theft, petty theft and commercial burglary dropped, the number of bicycle thefts in Long Beach skyrocketed nearly 75 percent last year. An estimated 600 bicycles were reported stolen last year, up from 350 in 2008, according to statistics from the LBPD.

I think it’s great that the Press-Telegram is finding out that there are literally kids with wrenches patrolling the streets at night (and during the day) looking to steal anything not bolted down, and sometimes things that are.

But one of the major things missed in this story is that most bike thefts go unreported. Last year I had a bike stolen from outside my apartment. I didn’t call the police for two reasons 1) because it was a crappy bike and the best revenge I could take against him was to allow him to ride it 2) because I knew that there was no chance of it being recovered. I was also a little embarrassed because I hadn’t locked it up.

There was no chance of me ever getting it back because I didn’t register it with the city (which can be done at any fire department or at the Lakewood Mall Sheriff Station) and because I had no way of identifying the bike other than that it was a gold Free Spirit with a bent fork (I told you it sucked).

Had I called the police they wouldn’t have been able to do anything if it were found because it would be my word against whoever had stolen it.

Recently I realized that there is a higher purpose to reporting a bike stolen than simply getting it back. The police and the City really don’t consider bike theft to be that big of a deal when compared to all the other crimes they have to deal with. This is partially because of their attitudes towards bikes but it’s also my fault because I didn’t tell them that my bike was stolen.

The police don’t have unlimited resources and they are going to try to use those resources where they will make the most difference. Hypothetically, if only half of all bike thefts are reported then the police will think the problem is only half as bad as it is.

It’s our responsibility as bike owners to report crimes against our property. It does no one any good to passively accept these thefts. Whether your whole bike is stolen or just some components you should always call the police and report it. A stolen bike is a crime against the cycling community. If the police refuse to take a report get their badge number and call your city council member. The police aren’t going to take this problem seriously until we make them. So come on guys, I’m tired of walking to bars on the weekends because I don’t want my bike stolen outside of Fern’s.

Please post your stolen bike stories and your tips for protecting your bike while its parked on the street.

Benefit show for Graham Baden who was hit by a car while riding his BMX. He’s a great dude who always puts other people on higher priority than himself and its our turn to give back regardless if some of us dont know him.
Drums and Color
Moonshine and the Drugs
Copia
Jupilar
$10
ALL AGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Come party

Come join us under the sun for an amazing day of bikes, beats, live art, & food! Mass Current & Pedal Movement bring you Cycles of Sound. Come one come all, but don’t forget to ride your bike to get a discount on the entry donation. Starts at 2PM ends at 10PM!!! 18+

$7 at the door (if on a bicycle), $10 (if not)
Bike parking available!!! Conveniently located directly across from the PCH Blue Line Station.

-PERFORMING LIVE-

THAVIUS BECK
SHLOHMO
JONWAYNE
CO.FEE
DAK
MIKE GAO
ELAN
DJ POUND
0.
HARUTO
MIKE SOOPS
C. PABLO
DJ SPACE
03
JUSTODD
BISHOP

Hosted by Ashley Dominique!

Also celebrating P.U.D.G.E.’s Birthday with a special beat set by the one & only!!!

One of the largest lineups of future music this summer!!! NOT TO BE MISSED/NOT TO MENTION IT’S ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE…KEEP IT GREEN RIDE YOUR BIKE!

Join us July 10th as One Imagination Presents: Voices of our community, an album release party! Event runs from 7:30 – 10 PM at the HUB 1741 Long Beach Blvd, LB CA

So, even though you don’t know who I really am or where I learned anything about bikes, most of you take what I say without question. That’s never a good idea.

So why not introduce myself?

I’ve only been into this bike thing for a short time. I guess since I was about 20, so that makes only four years. My first bike was a rusty green beach cruiser. I’m serious here. I didn’t have a bicycle pretty much ever until I was 20 years old. I used my first bike to cruise up and down Long Beach Blvd to get to work. No big deal, 4 miles was fine for me on that rusty piece of crap. I called him “The Green Machine”.

Soon though, pushing The Green Machine started to get pretty tiring. Thankfully, I happened upon a beautiful white Univega 14 speed in my parents garage. She was beautiful. I learned so many things from her, how to wrap bars, tighten bolts, even tighten my breaks. Her name was “Lady Lightning”.

After a while, I started to learn more and more. Mostly because I got tired of paying the guys at Jax (no offense) to fix my bike for me. One day though, I hit a pot hole so hard that it made my front wheel go out of true enough to lock onto my front brake. I went up and over the bars and onto the street. Ouch.

So where does a cyclist go when he hates brakes? Well, this cyclist went into the world of the Fixed Gear. My old roommate Kyle was way into them and he had a feeling I’d dig ‘em too. So, I bought my bike at King’s for about a grand. Way more than you’d pay now, prices are a lot cheaper nowadays. My roommate taught me everything he knew and I owe him big. I learned just about everything you could learn about fixed gears, which is a fair amount.

I learned enough even that I was able to get my first job as a “real life” mechanic at Sport Chalet. Working at Sport Chalet was awesome and I learned so much. Another good friend, the lead mechanic there, taught me a ton about bikes. I learned about gears, headsets, hubs, you name it. Greg old buddy, I owe you too, you are a great teacher.

Soon enough, I felt like I was good enough to get a job at Jax. After getting hired though, I realized I was in no way ready! I was putting out as many repairs per day as I had done in an entire week at Sport Chalet. Through all that work I was only barely able to keep my cool. The only way I as able to was by learning from the fantastic mechanics around me. Anders, Bill, Ramiro, Mike, all the boys at Jax. I got my real education as a mechanic after I got my first real job as a mechanic.

So here I am a year later. I’m doing my best to teach you guys as much as I know. Because that’s how I learned. By learning from guys who were willing to teach me as much as they knew.

The path to becoming a “mechanic” is not complicated. It’s also not very difficult. All that is required is the understanding that everyone learned from somebody else and the eagerness to do some learning yourself. That’s it.

I guess it helps to have the right tools.

But that’s what the HUB is for.

not sure how this works.

Bicyclist dies after collision with pickup in Long Beach

A La Palma bicyclist who collided with a pickup truck late Friday in Long Beach has died, police said Saturday.

The 58-year-old man was riding his bike west on Carson Street at 11:50 p.m. when he collided with a truck being driven in the same direction by a 70-year-old man at Woodruff Avenue, Long Beach police said.

The victim, who has not been identified pending notification of his family, was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

The driver, who was not identified by police, was questioned and released.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at (562) 570-7355.

This makes it sound as though the cyclist ran into the truck and was killed. Completely at fault right? Well, apparently you have to go to the Press Telegram to get an accurate portrayal of the facts:

Bicyclist dies after being hit by pickup in Long Beach at Carson and Woodruff

LONG BEACH — A 58-year-old bicyclist from La Palma was fatally struck by a pickup truck in Long Beach, police said Saturday.

The crash occurred around 11:50 p.m. at Carson Street and Woodruff Avenue, according to the Long Beach Police Department.

Police said a 70-year-old Long Beach man driving a 2010 Ford F150 westbound on Carson Street just east of Woodruff Avenue when he crashed into the bicyclist, who was also traveling westbound on Carson Street.

The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

The driver of the truck was interviewed at the scene and released pending further investigation, police said.

Police asked anyone with information regarding this crash to contact Long Beach Police Department Accident Investigations Detective Sirilo Garcia at (562) 570-7355.

News stories like these are how most people are exposed to the death of a bike rider. If someone hasn’t been on a bike in years, or only rides along the beach path they are not going to understand how the road actually works. Neither of these articles have enough information to actually tell me what happened, which is also unfortunate.

The general tone of both these articles is that a cyclist was killed on the street because he was on the street. There is no attempt to actually question the circumstances surrounding the death of a person. Both articles are simply statements of facts. Yes, a cyclist was killed when he collided with a truck. Yes he was 58 years old. Was he riding in the street or on the sidewalk? Did he have lights on his bike?

The only thing that I take away from these reports is that you can hit and kill someone riding a bike and the police will let you go. Should the driver been detained or arrested? I don’t know, neither newspaper asked any questions so we don’t have the answers to these questions. All I know is that someone was killed and apparently no one really cares.