It was such a beautiful and warm day today, I had to get out on my road bike to what has become one of my favorite places since I moved to Baldwin Hills - the Ballona Creek bike path. It's a scenic route that goes from central Culver City all the way down to Marina del Rey in under 6 miles. By the end, you are riding on a narrow strip of asphalt surrounded on both sides by water - the creek on one side, and the eastern edge of the marina on the other.

I finished a tough week (hours wise) yesterday, and getting out really brightened my day. Everyone was out on the marina and at the beach, just enjoying the sun. Sailboats glided by, one after one. The path was actually crowded today - the first time I have seen traffic on any bike path in LA. I just love the fact that I can make it out here, seemingly a world away, in what seems like no time at all.

My only complaint is how quickly I got tired - I guess all that sitting on my butt at work hardly helps. I think it's been a month since I took my bike out for a spin, and close to two months since I really went for a ride. A shame, because I really do enjoy it that much.

I was bored with the long weekend and all, so yesterday evening I biked down the LA river path again to see how far south I could go. Though the road is bumpy and not maintained south of Fletcher Dr. (roughly where the 5 Freeway hits the 2), that just makes it more interesting.


It's a scenic little path that takes you by a tiny neighborhood wedged in between Dodger Stadium/Elysian Park and the river. It ends right where the 5 merges onto the 110 South, near downtown. Foot traffic is diverse - strollers, dog walkers, fishermen (apparently, fish can survive here), river gazers. Most were Latino, but there were a surprising number of Asian people, as well as some black and white folk. A lady who looked very much like a gypsy had made her home in one of the alleys that extends out to the river.

But the real highlight was just past that point: a little cave area, created by the 5 freeway overpass, within eyeshot of San Fernando Road. It's deserted, filled with junk nobody wants -- and a tagger's paradise. Debris and empty spray cans littered the place, and colorful murals, mostly artist names, covered the walls. I ran into a lone Latino guy busy whiting out somebody else's art with a paint roller, presumably so he could replace it with some of his own. (I startled him a bit.) There's some fascinating junk down there, too -- like the rusted hulks of abandoned, 1970s-era cars. Those have been painted over as well.



Finding this place really made my day. A little manmade cave, an odd coming together of concrete pillars and California bedrock, is in a sense both literally and figuratively buried beneath the freeway - the core of the Los Angeles car culture. Forgotten by some, but not all.

With the day off for MLK, I hauled my road bike out of storage and decided to check out the Griffith Park bike path alongside the Los Angeles River. I had been meaning to check it out for a while, so this was as good of a chance as any. Unfortunately, since it was such a chilly afternoon, I didn't go far.. (that, and I realized I forgot to close the valve on my rear bike tire)! But I am definitely going back. It is immaculately paved, and remains open and lighted until 10 pm every night. What more could you ask for?

All in all, I'm pretty excited. To tell the truth, I've become quite dispirited since moving back to Los Angeles, because it really is not a bike-friendly city (unlike Palo Alto, or Frankfurt or Munich when I visited last summer.) I came to realize fairly early on that you don't bike through the streets of LA unless you are willing to go toe to toe with car traffic, a hazardous option in any case and even worse given my relative lack of bike-handling skills. Something to look forward to, for sure.

I might also get around to visiting Hollywood Pro Bicycles, which sounds like a pretty awesome bike shop that is right in my back yard.

I've got the day off and it's a beautiful 70 degrees outside. The smell of cool, moist, fragrant summer air that is wafting through my window. I want to go out on a bike ride to the nature preserves. I better hurry up and finish my studying so I can go!

UPDATE: I got tired after 5 miles out trying to climb Page Mill Road and had to turn back. I barely made it past Moody Rd., and it's still another 5 miles of straight out climb to get to Skyline, my original goal. I'm not good enough yet.

I got a road bike just over a month ago and have been able to take it out 5-6 times so far. It's really great and can really take you places that my feet aren't likely to reach! For instance, Page Mill Road and Alpine Road take you up to the rolling hillls behind Stanford, to the south. And to the north is the Baylands Preserve, a marshy area by the San Francisco Bay that you can reach via Bayshore Road, just alongside the 101:



I went there on Monday with my neighbor Julia (pictured) and her friend Andrew (photographer, not pictured.)

I learned how to ride a bike for the first time about a year ago, and have been biking to class regularly this year on a little old bike I inherited from my cousin Greg (who graduated from Stanford last year.) So I'm still a little new to this whole bike thing, and I really love it. My road bike is a Giant OCR 2, which is fairly awesome. The only problem so far is that I'm still afraid I am going to fall off.

I am still having trouble concentrating on Bar Review. Luckily, I am not behind or anything. I just need to be diligent, which may or may not be easy given that I am going to my friend Alice's wedding this Saturday in Las Vegas...