Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

How to ride a bike in City Heights

With lights and the flow of traffic, for starters

El Cajon Boulevard, University Avenue, and Euclid Avenue are cited as frequent crash sites
El Cajon Boulevard, University Avenue, and Euclid Avenue are cited as frequent crash sites

About a dozen City Heights kids and parents took a class in safe bicycling on Saturday (May 14) that included a ride through the streets. They were extra-safe on this ride, with the president of the California Association of Bicycling Organizations at the front and three San Diego police officers from the Mid-City bike team in the rear.

"It's really valuable for us," said one mom, who brought her pre-teen kids. "I want to start riding with my kids but I don't feel confident about safety — and I worry about them."

The free four-hour class is a condensed version of a two-day class that Jim Baross and Michelle Luellen of the San Diego Bike Coalition have given a dozen times but which requires 14 hours to complete. The classes are funded through a grant with the state Office of Traffic Safety.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"This class is very specific to City Heights," Luellen said. "It's related to Vision Zero, where we looked at data to identify the places where pedestrians and bicycles are most often in crashes."

The coalition has identified El Cajon Boulevard, University Avenue, and Euclid Avenue as frequent crash sites and identified the causes of those crashes from police reports and their own observations. The coalition also teaches a class specific to Logan Heights and Southeast San Diego, where Market Street and Imperial Avenue have high incidences of crashes.

"More crashes happen from wrong-way riding than any other cause," Baross said. "You can't see a stop sign if you come up behind it; drivers can't see you crossing from the wrong side, and they don't expect to see you there."

At the heart of how to ride safely is the notion that bicyclists need to consider what drivers are expecting to see them do, Baross said.

The instructors also emphasized lights and safety gear and gave away red lights for the rear of the bike and white LED lights for the front.

"We stop people all the time for not having a light," Officer Norcia said. "We usually issue warning tickets — I don't want to have to come pick you up off the asphalt because you didn't have a light.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”
Next Article

Victorian Christmas Tours, Jingle Bell Cruises

Events December 22-December 25, 2024
El Cajon Boulevard, University Avenue, and Euclid Avenue are cited as frequent crash sites
El Cajon Boulevard, University Avenue, and Euclid Avenue are cited as frequent crash sites

About a dozen City Heights kids and parents took a class in safe bicycling on Saturday (May 14) that included a ride through the streets. They were extra-safe on this ride, with the president of the California Association of Bicycling Organizations at the front and three San Diego police officers from the Mid-City bike team in the rear.

"It's really valuable for us," said one mom, who brought her pre-teen kids. "I want to start riding with my kids but I don't feel confident about safety — and I worry about them."

The free four-hour class is a condensed version of a two-day class that Jim Baross and Michelle Luellen of the San Diego Bike Coalition have given a dozen times but which requires 14 hours to complete. The classes are funded through a grant with the state Office of Traffic Safety.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"This class is very specific to City Heights," Luellen said. "It's related to Vision Zero, where we looked at data to identify the places where pedestrians and bicycles are most often in crashes."

The coalition has identified El Cajon Boulevard, University Avenue, and Euclid Avenue as frequent crash sites and identified the causes of those crashes from police reports and their own observations. The coalition also teaches a class specific to Logan Heights and Southeast San Diego, where Market Street and Imperial Avenue have high incidences of crashes.

"More crashes happen from wrong-way riding than any other cause," Baross said. "You can't see a stop sign if you come up behind it; drivers can't see you crossing from the wrong side, and they don't expect to see you there."

At the heart of how to ride safely is the notion that bicyclists need to consider what drivers are expecting to see them do, Baross said.

The instructors also emphasized lights and safety gear and gave away red lights for the rear of the bike and white LED lights for the front.

"We stop people all the time for not having a light," Officer Norcia said. "We usually issue warning tickets — I don't want to have to come pick you up off the asphalt because you didn't have a light.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Next Article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader