Rusted vintage, prewar relics and glinting chrome cruisers lined downtown Long Beach streets Saturday—but this was no car show.
The Downtown Long Beach Associates teamed up with multiple organizations to present the second annual Bike Fest in Long Beach’s East Village Arts District.
The aim of the event was to get more people out of their cars and onto bikes, said Brian Addison, the communications manager for the Downtown Long Beach Associates.
“We want to promote the idea that it’s really an accessible hobby and way of alternative transportation to help alleviate some of the overcrowding and congestion that Long Beach suffers from,” Addison said.
When it comes to expanding bike infrastructure, the city has embraced a hare-like philosophy. The momentum has ridden on the pegs of bikeway expansions, which more than doubled from 120 miles in 2001 to 275 miles in 2014.
The additions have not gone unnoticed. A Los Angeles Times analysis found that citywide ridership in 2014 increased by nearly 30 percent since 2008.
While Long Beach cyclists have much to celebrate, the event also aimed to further the bike-ification of the city’s streets.
Badria Kateregga, a California State University, Long Beach graduate, was volunteering at the Bikeable Communities booth, an organization that has helped implement downtown Long Beach’s protected bike lanes, as well as helping to launch Bike Fest and the Tour of Long Beach.
“We want to continue making the streets of Long Beach safer and friendlier for bikes while fostering communication between municipalities to extend the network of safe bike paths outside of Long Beach,” Kateregga said.
True to its commitment to expand bicycle infrastructure, in March the city of Long Beach hired German company Nextbike to install 250 stations for 2,500 bikes by April 2017. If everything goes according to plan, Long Beach will be the first city the Los Angeles County to implement such a program.
Friends on fixed-gear bicycles converse in front of the beer garden and main stage.
Apart from increasing accessibility for cyclists, the city has worked to increase bike safety. Sharrows, marked by stenciled chevrons that designate a shared lane between bicycles and vehicles, have been added to high traffic areas such as 2nd Street in Belmont Shore to increase road sharing awareness.
Some of the credit for these measures can be attributed to cyclist advocacy groups such as Andy’s Law. The organization’s founder, Mario Gastelum, made his presence known at the Long Beach Bike Festival by handing out free lemonade and passing around an iPad, asking attendees to sign a petition to impose harsher consequences for hit and runs
“We work with Wolfpack Hustle and Finish the Ride to lobby politicians to promote awareness and responsibility for both drivers and riders,” the Google engineer said. Gastelum founded Andy’s Law after his nephew, Luis “Andy” Garcia, was struck fatally by a drunk driver in 2013.
The Bike Fest encompassed kids’ races, a short city cross bike course, fixed gear competitions, vendors, a beer garden, and even live music. Thousands of competitors, fans, bicycle enthusiasts, and curious passers-by poured through the streets of Downtown Long Beach to enjoy the spectacle.
CSULB’s own CSULB Cycling Club was also well-represented at the event. President Elaina Alvarez and other members, including senior civil engineering major David Ayala, showed up to compete and support Long Beach cycling.
“I do think that Long Beach is very bike friendly, and it’s beautiful to ride around, especially at night,” Ayala said.