If you met me about 3 years ago I would have told you my goal at that point in time was to save up enough money to buy my own house. I accomplished that late 2008. The next step would have been to upgrade my car to a fancy European sports car and replace my motorcycle with an updated version. Flash-forward to present day and my priorities in life has changed. Instead of keeping up with “the Jones”, I do not own a motorcycle and as of January 19th, do not own a car in Los Angeles! After having my car posted on several online sites for about 2 months, it finally got a response when I dropped the price down to $4500. Although I won’t say how much I got for the car, I was thoroughly happy to see it off with the new owners. I told people I felt like getting a 3,000 lb gorilla off my back. It even felt better to make the call to my insurance agent to cancel my auto insurance the next day.
Ironically enough the week I sell my car would have been the week that I would have needed it the most. We endured 7 straight days of rain in Southern California and I got to ride out in it for 3 of the 7 days. I lucked out 2 of those 3 days and successfully avoided rain. But on the last day, I was finally doused. Even though it would have been comfortable just to hop in the car and drive back and forth to work without getting wet, I still enjoyed riding in the rain. It’s just a matter of being prepared and ready for that situation.
Now that I moved forward with my life without a car, I feel a bit anxious. After months of rarely using it, this is completely different from before because I just lost the option to use my car now. I really should think of it as I’ve gained the freedom to not be tied to auto repairs, payments to the insurance company, and visits to gas stations. I’ve also gained free time to enjoy my books and podcast if I decide to take public transportation. I am no longer burdened with the stress of driving or having to pay what I call the “car tax”. All these things outweighs the fact that I don’t have a car.
Let’s see where this journey will take me. Wish me luck!
Great video featuring a Critical Mass-like ride through LA. I think bicycling is getting it’s mainstream recognition now! Hopefully this video will get more people to ride.
On December 6th, I set out to help the LA Greensters on a toy ride for the St. Anne’s Women & Children Social Services Organization. The organization has been around for 100 years and are helping young mothers become self sufficient single parent. Our ride started out at the Vermont and Santa Monica Redline Metro station. Jeremy, our ride coordinator, graciously provided participants (and some passersby) homemade tomato and cheese pizza on the back of his Xtracycle. I got there early to talk to Jeremy about our bike camping trip after Christmas. This event attracted a few fixed gear riders who just happened to be in the neighborhood and wanted to join in on the action.
Jeremy already brought along 2 huge B.O.B. bags worth of toys and dental hygiene packages. His load was definitely something to be amazed about. I believe he said that the load was about 80lbs. He rode with the load like a pro and at times cutting it really close to parked cars as we casually meandered down Santa Monica Blvd. There were about 15 riders, 3 of which were Xtracycles. I was hauling my Timbuk2 bag, my 2 wooden dinosaur toy, and some beverages in my Xtracycle. We rode out to the 99 cent store to pick up some more toys for the kids.
At the store all of us cyclists easily found spots to park our bikes. Some of us went in to shop while others opted to stand guard our bikes while we were away. I picked up a few more gifts, notably hula hoops and a huge pen. While we were waiting outside of the parking lot, we were witnessing mayhem in the 99 cent store parking lot. People were honking. They were angry and frustrated while we watched on. It just didn’t make sense why they were in such a bad mood for a quick trip to the store. Come on, get on your bikes and you can leave all this BS behind. The still don’t get it.
Eventually, we regrouped and rode East toward St. Anne’s. It was a mellow ride as we navigated through side streets and hills through-out Los Angeles. We finally made it our at St. Anne’s parking lot at 4:30. We were greeted by the gracious staff there who were happy to see the amount of riders come through hauling toys. We all eventually unloaded our loot on a cart / dolly. A few folks toured the facility as we talked it up about what they did at St. Anne’s. We snapped a few photos before everyone decided to head back to where we started. I followed the group until a minor incident with a harassing motorist separated us from the main group. As temper settled, we bravely joined traffic back on Vermont. We once again separated by a traffic light and I was riding with Aubrey Provost, the 8th Council District representative who had hosted the previous Crenshaw Crush ride. We soon met up with the rest of the group at the train station, said our good byes and left for home. On my way home, I was assured by 2 fellow riders, Mark & Dale that my newly purchased warning triangle is doing it’s job!
So I got a tweet from the LA Times of last night’s Light Festival and the third picture of the set is a picture of the Griffith Observatory with me riding by. I know it’s me because the silhouette clearly shows an Xtracycle and I was the only one riding an Xtracycle last night.
The much anticipated ride for this week was for LADWP’s Festival of Lights bike ride that was held on Thursday, December 3rd. I got out of work a bit late and raced over to Griffith Park. Luckily I made it there before they started lighting the displays so I was able to cruise through to the south entrance of the park where the ranger station was suppose to be. It was quite pleasant to ride through the street without any cars since they had already started diverting car traffic away from this area. In fact, I was the only bike since everyone was waiting near the Zoo entrance.
I made plans on Twitter earlier in the week to meet up with a few folks. @FunctionalCycle and @LACycleChic showed up with their daughter around 5:30PM. A few minutes later, JHarv from the Bike Oven showed up and we began our ride through the light display.
It was nice to cruise through the lit displays with Christmas music blaring from speakers that was strategically placed throughout the course. The music certainly helped bring out the feeling of Christmas! One of my favorite display was an animated sequence that resembled LAX airport with a plane taking off from a blue landing strip. Our other favorite thing was riding through the 2 huge tunnel of lights. Here are a few shots of the tunnel.
It was a very short ride to the other side where we ran into more folks from Twitter, @dudeonabike and later @danceralamode joined us when we rode through the displays the second time around. People really got into it by decorating their bikes with lights and colorful props and outfits.
Besides the evening being very chilly, we were dodging wobbly bicycle riders and people scattered all over the street. Not really the best situation when you mix pedestrian and bicycle in an area. Everyone seemed to handle it very well. I wished it was ALL bikes and no foot traffic. I have to say I don’t know how people can see this through their cars? Sitting in long lines of traffic stretching out to the 5 freeway every year. Sucking in carbon monoxide while people are rolling through display to display at snail pace. On bikes, folks can still stop and enjoy each display without ever impeding traffic and smell nothing but maybe your occasion funk from the skunk. If you haven’t been through this I encourage you to go but the remaining nights are car free w/pedestrian and shuttle until December 17th. The rest of the month after that will require you to drive.
Enjoy the 6 minute video I shot with my digital camera while riding my bike. Not the best quality but you get the idea.
For those of you who need a jump start in your holiday spirit go out and participate the first night of Los Angeles Departmenet of Water and Power’s 14th Annual Festival of Lights at Griffith Park this Thursday, December 3rd. Apparently this is the only night you can ride your bike to view each of the displays. After that, you’ll have to hop on a shuttle to see the display from December 4th until December 17th. From December 18th until December 30th is for car traffic.
I’ve only been there by car in previous years and never by bike so this will be an exciting experience. I think out of the 3 choices, this would be the best way to see the display since you dictate the pace and can stop and go as you please without impeding traffic. It’s ironic how LADWP is touting that they are going green when they only have one night dedicated to bicycle traffic and 13 nights for cars. Having car free nights with the shuttle is a good step but it could be better. Perhaps powering each light display like how folks at Copenhagen is doing it for their Christmas tree might be better?
I remember about 2 years ago I was oblivious to the Metro network in and around Los Angeles. I was chained to the day to day grind of driving back and forth to work from my parent’s home. Ever since I started riding my bike, I slowly found that not only is bicycling great but the Metro network of buses and trains are an enjoyable way to travel around town. I am still picking up new routes even to this day. Combine both the Metro and bicycling, you can practically get anywhere in Los Angeles. That is why I am excited that the Metro Gold Line will be opening up the expanded route from Union Station into East LA on November 15th.
If you had told me 2 years ago that this was happening, I would have easily dismissed this as anything significant. Why would I care about an expansion of a Metro train? I would not have realized that this opens up a way of getting to a part of LA in which I would not have gone in any other circumstances. This was true about a year ago when I took the Gold Line from South Pasadena to Highland Park. I definitely wouldn’t have been comfortable going there in previous scenarios. I now hang out at that area more frequently than my own town. This new expansion means more business to each of the local communities that is fortunate to have a train stop at their neighborhood. It allows people to be able to mobilize easily between East LA to Pasadena which connects multiple cultures, a multitude of different wealth class, and open up opportunities for the people in the communities that line up against the path of this train track.
Today marks the one year anniversary of when my escrow closed for my home purchase. I remembered how nervous I was. “How am I going to pay this mortgage?”, was what I had thought that day. It was tough at first but here I am 12 payments later. I am able to pay my mortgage without a hitch.
I also knew that I wouldn’t be going out too much but I think I still enjoyed myself this year. Tax benefits certainly made it easier. I know I haven’t been hanging out with friends too much. Not sure why. Perhaps I like staying at home whenever I can. There’s nothing like having no where to go and enjoying whatever is on tv or Hulu.
The place still looks pretty much the same as I had it sine I’ve moved in. I’ve only added a bed, washer, dryer, tv and a tv stand. Everything else was given to me by friends and family. Still using those furniture. Perhaps I’ll get to buy some bedroom furniture and then some living room furniture. Definitely no rush since I don’t need anything at this point. Besides, I’m trying not to add more clutter in my life. I’m trying not to over consume.
To kick off this momentous occasion I decided to do my planned ride to Santa Monica this morning. I rode out around 8:30 am after I made a PBJ sandwich and loaded up with some energy drink and water. It was a chilly morning so I brought a light riding jacket. I rode east on Burbank Blvd to Sepulveda Blvd. A Harley rider pulls up to me on one of the stop and asks if I wanted to race for pinks. I laughed and said my bike don’t have pinks. He smiled and we went our separate ways.
I road the unfamiliar road down Sepulveda until I reached Wilshire. On Wilshire I went Northwest onto San Vicente into Brentwood. Brentwood was a scarier place to ride than any other neighborhood I’ve been today. People don’t know how to react with a bicycle on the road. I was able to signal a car to slow down on a right turn because a man was making his way slowly across the sidewalk. That was my good deed.
I followed San Vicente until it turned into Ocean. That was my destination and I pulled off into the park lined street to catch my breathe and eat my sandwich and rest up. After a few minutes of relaxing, I proceeded home. Going up Arizona. They closed the street on Second for a farmers market. I walked through the market and got back on my bike and road all the way to Barry Ave and turned right. I made my way to end of the street on Ohio and road up until that street ended. It brought me to Thayer and I made a right and ended up on Santa Monica Blvd. From SM Blvd I was on the bike lane until Avenue of the Stars. I then took the ramp down to Olympic Blvd. Took Olympic all the way to Rimpau. Turned left and the right onto 4th St. I took 4th all the way until it ended on Hoover. That was where I got lost. I somehow ended up on Sunset. I overshot where I wanted to be. I then rode back down Sunset towards Hollywood. Looked for Griffith Park Blvd. I was again held up a bit by another farmers market. Walked through that and proceeded to ride up to Los Feliz on GP Blvd. From there I took Los Feliz Blvd till the LA River Bike Path. I was finally at a place I had rode before. Went north on the path until I reached the end at Victory. I decided to take a more scenic path on Riverside Drive. I also decided to take a series of Bike Routes of Burbank. Until I couldn’t go further North. That lead me out to Buena Vista Blvd one block before the railroad track south of Empire Blvd.
All that took about 3 and a half hours and stretched out to about 55 miles. LA streets are pretty bad. Cracks and holes line almost all the streets that jarred the heck out of my poor bike as well as doing a number on my body. I’m a exhausted now but I’m glad I finally did this ride. Planned it for quite some time. Now I know what the journey looks like visually.
On October 8th, I had the pleasure to attend a fundraising event that was hosted by Junior Achievement of Southern California. It was held at the Sports Museum of Los Angeles. First of all, I didn’t even know we had a sports museum here. Apparently the museum is not opened to the public. As we approached the building, it was a huge building located on the corner of Washington and Main. The entrance and parking lot was gated away from the hustle and bustle of the people traveling on the Blue Line Metro train tracks. In bright red letter it read, “Sports Museum”. For a place that was closed to the public, I find it ironic to have a bright red sign telling everyone outside that this was a sports museum.
I carpooled with Ron and as soon as we parked our car at the abundant parking spaces, we were greeted by a friendly gentleman who guided us to the registration table. We were given the option to sign-in or drop off a business card. I quickly dropped off my card so I can start exploring the 32,000 sq/ft of heaven at the world’s largest private collection of sports memorabilia. We walked right into an area where there was a complete gym set with antique equipment. We then perused around all the century old bikes on display. Obviously that was my favorite area of the entire place. There were bikes there that I’ve been reading about as well as bikes that I’ve only seen as drawings. It was incredible and impressive.
We couldn’t believe that this collection was from 1 person. My impression prior to this event was thinking that this would have been something that wasn’t going to be so expansive as it was. He’s got so many different sports highlighted through-out the facility. The owner, Gary Cypress, was an avid collector who focused on the evolution of sports. You can tell by the pieces he collected. For example, he had versions of footballs through the years.
Besides the free food provided by ESPN Zone for the event, we got to see the display of where his Honus Wagner tobacco baseball card would have been. This multi-million dollar card was not available that evening. We saw uniforms from Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Sandy Kofax, and other famous baseball heroes. He also have an extensive version of Los Angeles Rams jersey. Not to mention my favorite sport of basketball was on display with old school basketball rims and old basketball used back in the days.
Gary explained that he is opening this for private tours and charity events and may open it next year to the public. If that happens, I’m planning to go again for a closer look and spend time at each section. I’m sure I may have glanced over a few of the 10,000 collectibles and not notice their significance. See the remaining photos by clicking on the image below.
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