The City of Long Beach has begun to put a new biking initiative in place that will increase awareness, make the city more bike-friendly, and speak to other cities about ways to embrace biking as a clean and healthy form of transportation. 

Mayor Foster and other city officials took a ride around town last week to highlight the plan and draw attention to a biking-themed photo gallery at Zephyr Vegetarian Cafe on 4th Street.  The gallery features more than one dozen amateur photographs and remains on display.

So who will lead this new biking plan that many Long Beach residents have been requesting for years?  The commission will run under the City Manager’s office and likely be overseen by professional rider and Long Beach resident Tony Cruz, a well-decorated racer who competes in worldwide tours including the AMGEN Tour of California as well as Tours of Spain, Italy and France.

This weekend, Cruz and others involved in the campaign are at a conference in San Luis Obispo to speak of the virtues of making the bike-friendly transition, and a website is in the works as plans for the initiative continue to form.  Currently, City employees are even being offered free bikes to use to ride around town during breaks.  More details will come as the plan is formalized and announced in the coming weeks.

Mayor Foster and Tony Cruz after their ride to Zephyr.

The biking-themed photos displayed inside Zephyr Vegetarian Cafe.
   
Photos and story by Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor