One great big festering neon distraction

Daumantas and I made it into LA yesterday evening, after cycling for about 60 miles. We were planning to stay at our high-school friend Karolis's place in Pasadena. Unfortunately, we didn't have any plan how to get to Pasadena from Santa Monica, where we entered the city. We soon found out that there were no trains that could take us there, and we wouldn't be able to take our bikes on the buses.

To make matters worse, just before entering LA, I had my first accident when my toes hit my front fender causing the wheel to catch it. In a second, my front fender collapsed into an accordion, tearing the plastic out... Nothing that duct tape couldn't fix, but still annoying. Then just a few miles down, I realized that my front wheel had barely any air in it. I had been riding from Seattle for over 1,500 miles without a single flat, so this one was my first. It wasn't leaking air fast, so I put some air into the tube hoping to make it to the end of the day without having to replace or patch the tube.

We had enough sanity at that point not to even consider riding though the city, but after talking to a couple of friendly taxi drivers and a few cyclists on the beach, we were encouraged to attempt it. So we ended up taking Venice Blvd all the way to downtown LA, where we were able get our bikes on a train to Pasadena.

Riding through different neighborhoods of LA we were constantly followed by the eyes of people who seemed to never have seen a bike pass their streets. We heard unfriendly comments shouted our way like "that's some gay shit," "get off the street," "your a hazard on the road..." One sketchy looking guy even ran a few steps towards me angrily shouting and looking like he would grab me or spit on me. Luckily, I was cruising at about 18 miles an hour at that point hoping to hit a green light, so I never had to find out his exact intentions. When Daumantas and I finally made it into the Union station, we kept looking at each other and giggling like kids who got away with breaking a window, or doing something else you weren't supposed to do. I don't think we'll attempt crossing this city on bikes ever again, which makes it a bit troubling considering we still need to somehow get out of here tomorrow.

This town was not made for cyclists, it wasn't made for people either. The unending conglomeration of suburban neighborhoods, where you have to drive for a half an hour to get a cup of coffee, is stitched together by ugly streets filled with ugly SUV's, which are too big to fit on the road and should never be allowed to drive on it, driven by angry people shouting insults at fragile cyclists on the side of the road - not an appealing place at all. What a waste of beautiful land and climate. I wonder what will happen to this city when gas prices will prevent people from driving for 4 hours every day.

Either way, Daumantas and I ended our day at Karolis's place. It was nice to catch up with an old friend and have a glimpse into his life in LA, just a few days before he moves out to New York. After riding San Francisco to LA (about 480 miles) in only 6 days, we feel like we deserve a rest day of nothing but hanging out, eating some good food, drinking some good beer and reading some good books.