HELLO, world

"Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia." 
-H.G. Wells



Awful public transit, smog, high crime, overpopulation, traffic, artificiality & pretentiousness of its population - the list can go on when describing the negative parts of the city of 9.8 million, the city of Angels. And I doubt Thomas More's idea of his Utopia equates to this city of Los Angeles I find myself living and biking in. Nonetheless, here I am, and I've got to say, although cycle tracks, or more appropriately, bike lanes, number only 481 miles of the 6,400 miles of surface streets in Los Angeles, just from my own experience, bikers are slowly taking over this "cartopia" we live in.


So what makes my experience as a biker in LA more unique than others, or at least a legitimate source in this issue?  Well, for the past 8 years, I've been a runner, and let me explain. Running in the San Fernando Valley for 3 years was one thing, and it at least made me understand the streets of a quiet and safe suburb, as well as trails deep in the Santa Monica mountains. It was when I began running in the heart of Downtown L.A. that I really got a taste of the "real" streets. In both the suburbs and in the city, drivers don't give a shit about you if you're not in 4,000lb machine. Needless to say, once I began biking, I learned this the hard way.


It was my 18th birthday, and all I wanted was a bike. Hours of convincing and $800 later, I finally got my first bike, a Trek model 1.1. 4 months later, I got t-boned by a car going 45mph on Topanga Canyon Blvd in West Hills. 1 month later, I got my second bike, a Specialized Allez, which I've been able to keep in one piece ever since. 


As a Triathlete I had plenty of rides all over the San Fernando Valley, Ventura County, Malibu (PCH rides especially), Los Angeles, and all along the coast. As a college student, I commute from Mar Vista to USC every day, a 10-mile ride down Venice Blvd. (its this commute that has inspired to start this blog). 


Riding 20-miles total every day from the West side to Downtown and back for the past 3 years has opened my eyes to the bike culture that is alive and active here in Los Angeles. I will use this blog to share my experience, along with having a dialogue with other cyclists in LA about the difficulties we face as a tiny but fierce minority. I just hope that one day, bike lanes will abound here in LA. It may not exactly be a Utopia, but it sure is one hell of a city nonetheless.