BikeSD Biking Around Town - Sunset Cliffs
San Diego is a beautiful place to live and there are many great places to go for a bicycle ride. I often ride with my kids and have used an excellent Burley trailer for the past few years but they are getting to large for that so I recently purchased a Taglong attachment for my bike to allow my young kids to bike with me.
A Tagalong basically turns a regular bicycle into a tandem bicycle for one adult and one child. The kids have loved being able to peddle when we bike together, and they can see much more since they're sitting up higher. Here's a photo of what the Tagalong looks like hooked up to my bicycle in front of the Ocean Beach Pier.
I've mostly been biking around my neighborhood in North Park with the kids but had been wanting to go somewhere more scenic and with a longer route to enjoy. Since we often visit the beach in Ocean Beach it seemed like Sunset Cliffs would be a great choice - mostly flat, great views, and easy to bike to from the Ocean Beach Pier.
We headed south from the Pier and meandered along Ocean Front Street which is an alley-like street that weaves along the coast and then jumped onto Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at Point Loma Avenue, which is where the Sunset Cliffs Coastal Trail starts. We continued on Sunset Cliffs to where it ends at Ladera Street and then returned on the same route. Along the way I stopped to take a few photos to give a sense of the route and views.
Sunset Cliffs is very popular for biking, walking, and jogging. Due to erosion of the cliffs there is not a consistent running path or bicycle path - there are some portions that have a dedicated space and others that do not. It would be great to see a wider running and bicycle path in this area, perhaps a future improvement that would be well used given the popularity of the area.
I recorded our ride on my phone using the Strava app and you can join BikeSD members and supporters on Strava to share routes and connect with others. Join us at: https://www.strava.com/clubs/bikesd
Below is an image of our route and some statistics from Strava, a total of 4.82 miles we rode in 28 minutes. If you're looking for a fun, relaxed ride with awesome views check out Sunset Cliffs sometime. And enjoy your ride!
County Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Cox Supports Protected Bicycle Facilities on Nimitz Boulevard
BikeSD Board member and Ocean Beach resident, Nicole Burgess, has been steadily advocating to transform Nimitz Boulevard from its current sorry state to a world-class greenway that provides a safe passage for all its users, especially its bicycle riders. Burgess leads Ocean Beach's bike train to school on a daily basis and traversing the high speed sections of Nimitz Boulevard doesn't make for a very pleasant riding environment for either adults or children.
Burgess has engaged her local Councilmember, Kevin Faulconer in her advocacy efforts and now her efforts have gotten the support from the County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Greg Cox. Below is a copy of the letter Cox sent to Caltrans Transportation Planner, Connery Cepeda stating his support for a Class 1 bike facility on Nimitz Boulevard. The SANDAG Regional Bike Plan calls for cycletracks to be built on Nimitz Boulevard as part of its early action projects and we hope that this letter of support from Chairman Cox speeds up the design and construction process so more children in Ocean Beach can ride in comfort to their schools on a safe, comfortable and inviting bicycle facility.
Tonight: District 2 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee Meeting; Thursday: Ride with Councilmember Faulconer
This month's District 2 bicycle/pedestrian advisory committee meeting will be held at St. Peter's Church on Sunset Cliffs Blvd. at 7pm. The embedded map below marks the boundaries of District 2 in San Diego and also marks the meeting location. If you live within the District boundaries*, you are encouraged to attend to discuss how District 2 can become more bicycle friendly.
View District 2 (San Diego) in a larger map
This Thursday (October 18th) District 2 Councilmember Kevin Faulconer and his representative, Michael Patton, will join District 2 residents on a bicycle ride. According to Nicole Burgess who heads the District 2 bicycle/pedestrian advisory committee, the purpose of the ride will be to bring awareness for the need of safer bike routes to and from schools. The ride meeting location is at 1pm by the Dana Middle School bike racks. The ride will head to People's and Roberto's for lunch.
* the map will be effective in December 2012 after the election.
Support Freeride Famosa's Proposal to Bring a Bike Park to the Peninsula Community
The moment to make a difference in the Peninsula Community is around the corner and our friends over at Freeride Famosa need as many supporters to show up this Thursday, April 19th, to speak up in support of the bike park that was cruelly destroyed nearly two months ago.
Help bring a bike park (back) to the Peninsula Community
Where: Point Loma/Hervey Branch Library - 3701 Voltaire Street, San Diego, CA
When: Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 6:30 PM
Why: Request the PCPB change the community plan to designate the land to be used as a community park
At the group's March meeting with city officials, Councilman Kevin Faulconer requested the group ask the PCPB (the community planning group that makes decisions that affect land use designations in the Peninsula Community) to support changing the land designation in the community plan from "multi-family housing" to "public park".
Freeride Famosa needs all the help they can get to help promoting this event! Please download their full page flyer and quarter page handouts and distribute them to your friends.
UPDATE: The old flyer raised some concerns on our Facebook page about the message it seemed to unintentionally convey. I asked Scott Irwin to clarify and he responded as follows,
I believe you are referring to the original version of the April 19 meeting flyer. I agree the comment Paul references can be misleading since it could be interpreted as being opposed to community members who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Nothing could be further from the truth and that is why we had already asked our flyer designer to address our concern. Please see attached for the current copy of the April 19 meeting flyer.
The origin of the wording comes from the purpose of the April 19 meeting.
During this meeting we will ask the Peninsula Community Planning Board to support changing the designation for Site 428 (the corner of Famosa and Nimitz) from "multi-family housing" to "community park". The word "low income" comes from the fact that the land is currently owned by the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) - who's goal is to develop low-income housing.
The original idea behind the flyer was to let community members know we are advocating for a change in the land designation. Unfortunately the way it was worded could imply our group was also in opposition to the SDHC's attempts to develop housing. This type of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) philosophy is not supported by our group and it is the main reason why we made a change to our documents.
We are not opposed to providing opportunities to members of our community regardless of their socioeconomic background.
Thank you for asking for clarification. Please feel free to forward or post as necessary.
Would you like to make District 2 more bike friendly?
Biking mom extraordinaire, Nicole Burgess has taken the initiative to make bicycling in District 2 more friendly and safer to ride in. Burgess who leads one of the City's bike trains started a pedestrian/bicycle advisory committee for the benefit of District 2:
Are you interested in making your community more bicycle-friendly?
If so, please join us for a Pedestrian/Bicycle Advisory Committee for District 2.
Tuesday, April 106:30pmDistrict 2 includes Downtown, Little Italy, Bankers Hill, Mission Hills, Old Town, Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Mt. Soledad, and soon Bay Park Area.Please come collaborate with others and help create a safer and healthier community for all.
For more information contact:Nicole Burgess at nicole23@cox.netPlease feel free to invite others that may be interested in participating. I am also looking for High School Advocates that would like to become involved.Best Regards and Happy Riding.