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Huntington Beach bicyclists need to know the rules
of the road to stay safe and secure. The
traffic does move fast and the spate of SUV's that
"rule the road" offer additional dangers from their
sheer size and mass. Bicycles must follow the same
regulations that cars follow and are generally
provided a bike lane to ride in. Our favorite place
to ride a bike is on the paved bike path along the
beach, a place where you ride parallel to the cars
along Pacific Coast Highway, yet far enough from the
cars that you have extra safety.
If you imagine
yourself peddling along on a beach cruiser, cell
phone in hand and your baby strapped in a safety
seat in the back, you could be a mom or dad shown in
one photo above, riding along the strand in
Huntington Beach. 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 in Huntington Beach.
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.
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.
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