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A few days ago, anyone inclined to doing any sort of traveling outside of a car in Los Angeles scored a victory for their future selves. Known as Mobility Plan 2035, the policy approved by Los Angeles City Council makes way for hundreds of miles of bike lanes, bus-only lanes, and pedestrian only areas.

Because the car is king here, the response from readers of the Los Angeles Times has primarily viewed this as tyranny of the minority. Comments from the article:

Bicycle lanes will never work, in terms of providing a transit alternative which will be used by sufficient numbers of people to actually make a detectable difference in either traffic congestion or pollution — for a half dozen obvious reasons, including past experience. Los Angeles will have the best mass transit system in the world, with the advent and perfection of autonomous cars. Our current wide roads and extensive freeway system are a priceless infrastructure for this future. We should look to the future when prioritizing our transit expenditures. – Larry Weisenthal, Huntington Beach CA

How about people just moving CLOSER TO THEIR JOBS?? – jamwha57

Liberal fascism. – Max Plank

A totally corrupt city doing wasteful and stupid things. Corruption is institutionalized and accepted. Rarely reported and then only the small stuff. It shows. – LongieDude

This needs to be put to a vote for Los Angeles community – I know that nobody I voted for in city council every brought this up as something they would discuss, let alone vote for. Personally, I am against it — they just took away one car lane near my office in Woodland Hills to add a dedicated bike lane — for the three cyclists who use it! – aimkira

This is the worst idea ever to deal with the congestion in LA, which is already one of the worst in the world… Take away MORE car lanes???? They actually did this last year to a main street, which used to be a fantastic alternative to the most congested streets. What used to be an easy drive up/down the street is now a clogged nightmare – with hundreds of cars gridlocked, while maybe 5 bikes cruise by. Great tradeoff. We need to tell the council members to stop kowtowing to the bicyclist activist minority. – xooey25

At the time of writing, the article has over 500 comments.

It’s undisputed that most folks in Los Angeles do not travel any substantial distance by foot or by bicycle. Moreover, anyone getting to any place by means of alternative transportation will be seen as alien or poor, because obviously, they couldn’t afford a car. I’ve been bike commuting in different cities on and off for severals years now, and I’ve recently picked up bike commuting again in Los Angeles after deciding to work out of a co-working space called Opodz in Little Tokyo.

The first time I did any form of bike commuting was in San Diego from the neighborhood of South Park to Downtown for school (6 miles).

In San Francisco in 2008, I covered more than half the length of the city from the Inner Richmond to the Embarcadero (4 miles). At the time, I would describe the experience of riding in San Francisco as if I had moved to the city for the second time, because movement through the city was experienced no longer on a bus or car, but by momentum provided by the physical exertion fueled by the glycogen from your muscles. In doing so, you hear, see, and experience so much more than you would otherwise.

The following year, when I found myself in Orange County without a car, I bike commuted from Santa Ana to southern Irvine to start work at a law firm (12 miles). The partners thought I was crazy, and jokingly said that they’re paying me enough now.

Obviously, this was doable in the “smaller” cities, but what would it be like to do it in Los Angeles? This is a city that’s about 500 square miles and car centric after all.

When I moved to Los Angeles in 2012, my bike commute was from the neighborhood of Palms to Culver city (5 miles) – a straight shot on Venice – easy. The real test was when I moved to the Arts District that abutted the bridge to Boyle Heights over the Los Angeles River (12 miles).

The first day riding was challenging, with the most difficult part getting onto Venice Boulevard. But getting onto Venice Boulevard guarantees essentially a bike lane to the ocean. As I started riding more, I discovered other routes that were more suitable for the different moves – Pico, Jefferson, and Exposition are pretty decent streets for biking into the city core.

The most important take away from doing this commute was the discovery that this was possible, and moreover, going by bike was just as fast or if not faster than car during peak commute times. My roommate would leave about the same time in the morning, and I’d arrive in Culver City on time for a breakfast burrito. Also, biking in this city gets you into an experience most others will never have – the ability to view the different profiles of neighborhoods unlike a disjointed town of towns, like so many transplants like to describe Los Angeles.





My favorite experience biking in Los Angeles so far as been one late fall evening on Pico passing through Mid-City. As I made it up a nub, a kitchen plume emanated from a traditional Mexican-American short order diner filled the night sky blowing south. I’d pass the Zumba classes and mini places of worship lined up along the street where taco stands were starting up for the evening. Then as I got closer into downtown, I’d pass no less than two CrossFit gyms with one by Angels Flight before getting back to the Factory as people were settling into their evening routines.

Now that I live in Glendale for the time being, I wondered how difficult it would be to reach Little Tokyo in Downtown.

It turns out that there are some relatively difficult parts, but it’s primarily a straight shot down the Los Angeles River (It’s reported that Frank Gehry will make over the river).

The first difficult part is getting onto the river trail near Griffith Park. From this perspective, you’re supposed to get from the left side to the right where the transformers are, avoiding those who are trying to get on the 5 North, and those exiting to go West on Riverside from both the park and 5 South.

This is what it looks like around 6PM. Mornings are lighter, but much, much faster.

But once you’re in, it looks like this.



Once you’re off the trail, you’re expected to make it across the train tracks where you’ll proceed toward Lincoln Heights/Cypress Park on Riverside drive. There’s a bike marking on Riverside, but it’s unrealistic to go up that hill without pissing off drivers. The sidewalk on the left remains open. A bird’s eye view of the segment.

Once you make it off Riverside, you’ll have to go down Avenue 26 to get back on Broadway to get across the river once again – really?

After that, it’s really just a matter of going down hill from Chinatown to Alameda where you’ll pass Philippe on the right, and Union Station on the left before reaching Little Tokyo.

The commute is about 50 minutes, and it has been pretty nice to ride before work.

Coming back, you’ll find some hidden gems like the Spoke Cafe, which serves drinks and snacks for the cyclist/commuter. It’s along on the trail, and you won’t miss it if it’s open.

A lot of these photos don’t do the ride justice, but I’ll come back to this post with some more later.

My thought about the bicycle as a real form of transportation in Los Angeles is that it’s absolutely possible and ideal in many instances. Trips have to be planned, but that’s not unlike car trips here in the city anyway. Meaning, you wouldn’t go across town twice to do errands in a single run.

Folks at the Los Angeles Bike Coalition, The Los Angeles Metro, LA DOT, and law makers will have a bit of work cut out for them, but I can only see Los Angeles being a better and more “real” of a city when it implements the slated transportation plans.

So if you live in Los Angeles, and want to start bike commuting, know that it’s possible, and there are lots of people doing it already. Give it a try! A decent road/hybrid bike should do, and you’ll need a messenger bag or backpack to carry your belongings like a change of clothes. I can’t believe it, but I use a Chrome Messenger Bag I got nearly 10 years ago when I started commuting in San Diego. One plastic clip is gone, but those bags are virtually indestructible. Biking with a helmet should be a thing – I only had one real major accident (in San Francisco), but if it wasn’t for the helmet, I would have sustained some more major injuries to the head. They’re all safe and cheap these days and can be picked up on Amazon.

The Bike

The KHS Road bike up top is the one I use to do the commute.

Most bikes will be capable, but If I were to suggest a price range you should spend on a more “serious” commuter, it should be no less than $300. I bought a fixed single speed on the bottom after I had to retire an 80s steel frame Raleigh for about $300. I used it to go from Koreatown to the Westside where it was all pretty flat for over a year.

Helpful Accessories

I’ve found it useful to have most if not all the things with you while riding:

Personal Load

When working out of a space, I usually bring the following:

Laptop

Mouse

Cables

Change of Clothes

Shoes

Having all of this stuff probably adds about 15 pounds to your load. You can store things at your desk at work that won’t need to move like shoes, a couple pair of jeans, or even a full on suit for things like court appearances. I’ve found doing this made things easier and lighter. My laptop is probably the single most heavy item.

In the past, when I’ve done grocery shopping on the bike, having panniers helped, but it’s probably the most efficient to affix a milk basket on top of your rear rack.

If you’re relatively new to biking, and want to start commuting in Los Angeles, there are LA Bike Trains that should help with the process – you can learn the ropes and the route with others going the same general direction.



