If you visit Long Beach, California, you may notice bicycles everywhere. One day we parked our car on 2nd Street between Pacific Coast Highway and Belmont Shore, waiting about 20 minutes in the car as a pizza was being cooked to take home. Within that 20 minutes, a constant stream of bicyclists road by heading toward PCH. Where in the world were they all heading?

Long Beach has aggressively spent several decades building a public transportation system and for more than 10 years has focused on the role of bicycles to transport people in and about the city. Bicycle racks with cute shapes, green stripes on one of two lanes each direction on Belmont Shore's 2nd Street, and bicycle lockers in downtown Long Beach for commuters catching the MetroRail Blue Line into Los Angeles, have all helped in the effort to gain title as Bicycle City.

One other California city has claimed that title for many, may years. Davis, home to the University of California, Davis, has limited parking, and says it has more bikes per capita than any other city in the U.S.

For pleasure cruising, Long Beach has approx. 5 miles of ocean front bike lanes shared with pedestrian traffic. You can rent bicycles at several concessions during the summer months, or bring your own and ride.

One of the most exciting developments announced was the addition of a bicycle lane to a bridge being built over the Port of Long Beach & Los Angeles. Through the efforts of many forward-thinkers, the lane will allow bicyclist their own, dedicated space to access San Pedro, thus connecting major cities of Los Angeles County for true bicyclists who ride many miles to work each day, and have found a coastal bike disconnect around the port area.

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