On an absolutely beautiful Sunday morning, friends of de LaB gathered in Long Beach for a tour of the city's bike-friendly design improvements hosted by bicycle advocate Charlie Gandy.
Attendees came from all over the region, some driving, some biking, some riding the train. Architect Gwynne Pugh and his friend rode all the way down to Long Beach from Santa Monica!
First stop were some of the incredible dedicated bike lanes that zip through Long Beach's downtown—the first to be installed in Southern California.
The group got a brief tour of Bikestation, the first facility of its kind in the U.S. Here you can park, store, or fix your bike in a gorgeous new facility designed by Fernando Vazquez.
Long Beach has some incredible bike infrastructure, including bike corrals that can park a dozen bikes in the same space as a car.
We then headed through some gorgeous Craftsman neighborhoods, which looked even prettier all decked out for the holidays.
Gandy talked about how certain neighborhoods, like Belmont Shore, asked the city to install bike lanes because they knew it would increase foot traffic.
One of the most exciting bike improvements is the Vista Bike Boulevard, where roundabouts have been installed to calm traffic and make streets safer for cyclists.
Finally, we heard from April Economides about Long Beach's bike-friendly business districts in Retro Row, where two parklets are planned to be installed.
And what would biking be without beer? We were delighted to be among the first people to experience the new outdoor patio at Beachwood BBQ, a fantastic barbecue and craft beer joint in downtown Long Beach.
Thanks again to Charlie Gandy, Melissa Balmer, April Economides and Bikestation for taking the time to visit with us, as well as the City of Long Beach for providing us free bike rentals for the day! You can check out more photos here.
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