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.