Pedaling Revolution with Jeff Mapes in Long Beach

Last Spring a Portland-based journalist named Jeff Mapes published a book called Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities, an overview of the growing bike movement. The book has made the rounds of the bike world, earning a review by David Byrne in the New York Times and attention around the web.

Mapes visited LA to promote his book in June, and last week he returned, this time giving a marathon three talks in one day in our Portland-sized cousin to the southwest, Long Beach. A few cicLAvia people attended his last talk at the Long Beach Museum of Art, and got to witness yet again the admirable collaboration between city government and bike advocates there.

We chatted with Mapes and the Long Beach bike team, which includes planner Sumire Gant, bike movement figure Charlie Gandy (who plays himself in Mapes’ book), and professional racer Tony Cruz, about cicLAvia. The Long Beach folks are planning to have their own ciclovía in the next year.

At the end of Mapes’ talk, Gandy presented him with a special award from Long Beach, which is now billing itself as the most bike-friendly city in the U.S.