Just east of you on Pacific Coast Highway three racing cyclist zip by with their bike attire, heading down the coast from Long Beach to San Clemente. Such is life on a bike at the beach.

In a given day you'll see thousands of bikes pass along the sand on the HB highways and strand. Some use their bicycles for transportation to work and others use their bikes simply to work out.

Throughout the year you can ride a bike. When 2006 - 2007 experienced one of its driest years to date with hardly an inch or two of rain, the riding was good most every day and cyclists didn't miss a beat.

When visiting the beaches and city, you'll notice bike lanes created for riders. But we've seen a trend of less and less cyclists riding the busy roads. There are so many accidents and sadly, a few deaths each year, that a swipe from an SUV hardly gives a rider a chance.

For tourists on vacation, we recommend you stick to the paths separated from the car traffic. There's one on that goes 8.5 miles in Huntington Beach, and extends south a ways into Newport Beach, or veers inland at the Santa Ana River Trail at Brookhurst Street on Pacific Coast Highway. That trail offers an additional 30+ miles of riding one way. 

The Orange County Transit Association (OCTA) is the public bus system that uses bike racks in the front of the bus to hook your bike up and get around for a couple bucks. It's another option to avoid the busy streets and roads on your journey.

In Huntington Beach, bicyclist on two lane paths stay to the right and must follow signs posted with speed limits at the beach. Lots of kids and pedestrian traffic crosses the bike path, so you just look and slow down when you see someone coming across.

For rental, you can rent a beach bicycle at Zacks Beach Concessions next to the Huntington Beach Pier. Zacks offers tandems, buggies, bikes, cruisers and the gear you'll need such as helmets to get you out on wheels so you can see the beach.  While you can't rent one of these bikes at Zack's, you may get a kick out of the big wheeler bicycle this guy is riding in Huntington Beach.

When you want to buy a bicycle in Huntington Beach, we've purchased one of our hybrid bikes at the Springdale Bike Shop at Springdale and Edinger. But for a great downtown shop where they're always helping cyclists with free air, Jax Bikes on Main Street has been around for a long time and offers the coolest bikes that are fashionable or functional.