LA: Can't we just get along?

From LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-biking2-2009nov02,0,2055848.story

I'm not a vehicularist. I believe in as much separation as possible. But there are times to be assertive. It's hard to explain.

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A much-awaited link in the Riverwalk has been opened, allowing me to bike along the canal on the way to the post office. Saved me 1.5 miles of baking sidewalk and traffic.

Biking myth #1: China

Some cycling advocates are fond of saying what a biking Shangri-La China is supposed to be, but things I'm reading suggest it's not true any more. The reason bikes were so big there is that there weren't many cars until the 1990s. Now, the growing economy is putting more automobiles on the streets, and the government is accommodating them by in some cases banning bicycles from certain downtown areas. FYI.

Bike luv 4 U

2nd Annual Bike Love 2/23/08 8 p.m. at Asheville, NC's Wedge Gallery (River Arts District). Bands and stuff. Benefits Asheville on Bikes. COSTS $12. I'd like to go but it would be ironic to drive 100 miles to get there wouldn't it?

Inspired by bike bloggers of yore. . .

I decided to get on my bike and ride, as Queen implored, after surfing the cyclecybersphere. It was good to get out, and I remembered the feeling of accomplishment and community I somehow get navigating my errands via two wheels.

Pretty soon drivers intrude with their---ugliness? or is it mere carelessness. I often ride on the sidewalk around here because I'm chickenshit and the concrete is typically in horrible condition, resulting in a battering ride for the bigass batteries bouncing about in the bike bag. The effect is accentuated by the hard, skinny hybrid tires someone gave me; I only have installed one, in the rear, but I can feel a difference.

I made a conscious effort to pedal more, which made it feel more like biking of yesteryear (I assembled my e-bike last fall). I have biked these streets for several years, with a few years off in the middle, and they seem familiar.

On the way back from the grocery store, I was reminded how dirty and low one can feel with the utilitarian biking experience, grocery bags dangling from one's Hard Rock. I seem to feel people looking down on me as if I am some kind of omega male, which I may well be.

At a stoplight I recognized my neighbor and waved her on, but she did not seem to recognize me, and turned away, perhaps embarrassed. I guess I look different with the helmet on and a sack of frozen food hanging from the handlebars.