Cyclists Hope to Exercise Their Political Muscles : * Riders are starting to organize in hopes of making the county’s streets safer. Coalition’s first target is a Caltrans Coast Highway project.

The politicization of Orange County’s bicycling community continues. . . . Mountain bikers, in an attempt to clean up their rough-riding image and maintain a place on backcountry trails, have been active for several years in Crystal Cove and Chino Hills state parks.

Now, road riders are starting to organize in hopes of protecting their own interests: making the county’s roads safer for cyclists.

The Orange County Bicycle Coalition is getting set for its third monthly meeting since forming in August. The group is largely an outgrowth of opposition to Caltrans plans to restripe Pacific Coast Highway between Golden West Street and Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach, eliminating parking along the stretch of highway and creating three lanes in each direction instead of two.

Newport Beach resident Don Harvey bikes along that stretch daily as he commutes to and from his workplace in Huntington Beach. Currently, the curb lane is 24 feet wide; allowing 8 1/2 feet for parking, more than 15 feet remains for bikers and motorists to share.

“Right now, it’s really great for cyclists, better than it’s ever been,” says Harvey. But that’s due to change as Caltrans moves the parking off the street and restripes for three lanes, the nearest to the curb being 14 feet, which Harvey terms “bad and unacceptable.”

That includes a plan to pave over part of the concrete gutter, ostensibly to provide more maneuvering room for cyclists. But Harvey says he has spoken to a number of traffic engineers who tell him the asphalt will eventually crack and buckle at the point where it passes over the edge of the concrete, creating a bigger danger for cyclists.

Back in February, the issue led Harvey to urge bike riders to make a showing at a public hearing on the project. “Enough cyclists showed up so that it was standing-room only,” Harvey says.

In organizing the show of strength, Harvey got help from the county’s two biggest recreational biking groups, the Bicycle Club of Irvine and the Orange County Wheelmen. But he and other cyclists concluded that a separate advocacy group would better serve the needs of the cycling community.

“I think the objective, really, is overall to speak for cyclists . . . so that public agencies will know who to go to if they want any input from the cycling community,” Harvey says.

The group is still in its infancy--about 30 people attended each of the first two meetings--and so far Harvey hasn’t detected any measurable rise in political clout. “I haven’t seen any sign that we’re recognized yet,” Harvey says. “I don’t know whether it’s too early.”

Nationally, a figure of 10% has been given as a goal for the percentage of commuters traveling by bicycle, Harvey says. He believes that in Orange County, with its largely flat terrain and temperate weather, the figure could reach 20%.

Right now, he guesses, the figure is about 1%.

Part of the challenge is that cyclists feel unsafe in many regions of the county. Harvey says, “The problems are the places where cars and bikes have to compete for the same regions of the road.”

Harvey, who was instrumental in forming the coalition but missed the first two meetings (once because he was cycling in Europe, once because he was ill), says one of his main goals is to make sure biking commuters are considered in the planning process.

While much of the early focus has been on the situation in Huntington Beach, the coalition will take on broader issues as it continues to coalesce.

“The cities and counties have to provide safe places to ride, and that’s what we’re after in the coalition,” he says.

The next Orange County Bicycle Coalition meeting will be held Monday at the employee lobby of McDonnell Douglas, 1801 E. St. Andrew’s Place in Santa Ana. For information, call Harvey at (714) 896-3321.