Coasting: Coronado – Cyclists’ mecca a smooth cruise

Two-wheeled travel a way of life in Coronado Even in Coronado, a town teeming with bicycles, resident Ted Gibbon cuts an unusual figure as he pedals around. People stop him several times a week to take photos of two pint-size pooches, Rickie and Lucie, that poke out of a wicker basket on the front of his electric-blue bike. Gibbon rides about 10 miles a day, crisscrossing this so-called Crown City and stopping at the ferry landing so he can chat with old-timers over coffee and crossword puzzles. “When I was a young lad here, I weeded yards, mowed lawns and rode my bike around town,” said Gibbon, 68. “Now that I am retired, I ride my bike around town, weed my yard and mow my lawn. I have come full circle.” Biking is part of the seaside life in communities from Oceanside to the U.S.-Mexico border, but it reaches a crescendo in Coronado. Look almost anywhere in this city and you’ll see bicycles of every make and model, often resting unchained against benches, trees and signposts. There are beach cruisers with surfboard racks, high-performance racers, tricycles, four-wheeled surreys with canopies, even a bike made mostly of bamboo. Year-round, commuters pedal to and from the mainland — with help from the ferry to carry them across San Diego Bay. Summer brings loads of tourists to bike-rental shops in the city’s downtown and at the Coronado Ferry Landing. Coronado’s appeal to cyclists is obvious. Read the entire Union Tribune article here.