badger: Biking in LA

I just got back from Los Angeles, actually Irvine, where my daughter is living and working....for the time being. She just accepted an amazing offer as a digital traffic manager at Ogilvy in Culver City, a pretty darn neat advertising agency with offices in New York, London and of course, West LA.

Ogilvy, Culver City

I was amazed to see lots of road bikers out on the roads Saturday. Seems like team rides are popular down here. A quick google search turned up Southern California Cycling web page, listing all the clubs along with info about group rides.

Sunday we drove into LA, our first destination, breakfast at Square One, a popular restaurant in the Little Armenia section.

We drove around Little Armenia and then up to Silver Lake, where Andy eventually wants to live. I was amazed to see lots of bikers; from groups of riders on road bikes, to a large group of about 50 venturing out on upright cruisers. Apparently, LA had they had their Bike Film Festival last fall and a quick search on the net revealed some interesting info, including a blog by an Oregonian who moved to Hollywood, Hollywood Newbie.

This place reminds me a bit of inner SE Portland with patrons to match, but .....what's with all the bikes? Turns out this Sunday was a ciclovias, first started in Bogotá, Colombia where streets are closed down every Sunday. In LA, they call them, of course, CicLAvia and 10 miles of streets are car free from 10 am to 1 pm, no small feat for this populated city. April 14th was LA's fourth and I was lucky enough to see some riders. Mostly cruisers in Little Armenia, but lots of road bikers elsewhere. Hey, even Mexico City has a version, called Muevete en Bici. Close to where we ate in Little Armenia, and a few blocks south there is a section deemed Bike District, off Melrose and Heliotrope.

I wanted to go over to Bicycle Kitchen, a non-profit repair educational organization, but we still had scouting to do. Check out their cool website. Reminds me of Portland's Community Cycling Center on Alberta where VA volunteers every Tuesday night.

Want more LA bike info? Go to LADOT Bicycle Services for more than you want to know about bikes and LA.

Back to Sunday breakfast - We met a charming young couple who lived down the street, originally from Coos Bay, Oregon. Occupations; she is a dancer, trying to get established, he an accomplished pianist. Both work different jobs to support themselves while pursuing their dreams. Nice kids.