8 ms·

Exactly - it really depends on where you live/work, but LA's a surprisingly nice city for cycling in. It almost never rains, the Bus's all have bicycle carriers

by neffy 10y ago

Exactly - it really depends on where you live/work, but LA's a surprisingly nice city for cycling in. It almost never rains, the Bus's all have bicycle carriers for emergency punctures/Hollywood, and the cars are rarely going fast enough to be a problem. The bicycle theft problem is also much less than usual, since not that many know how to ride a bicycle.

nicky0 10y ago
> Bus's all have bicycle carriers for emergency punctures/Hollywood Can you elaborate on the Hollywood part?
- darkr 10y ago
  Hills I guess?
- neffy 10y ago
  As darkr says. Most of LA is really flat, and perfect for cycling, but those hills were just annoying. Fun coming back though.
  - cardiffspaceman 10y ago
    Hollywood is hillier than Van Nuys, which brings me to ask, what is it like exactly to go over the hill (i.e. go between Downtown LA and The Valley) on a bike?
    - harmmonica 10y ago
      If you ride a bike regularly for exercise the ride itself wouldn't be too extreme because the hills are not that steep for a fit cyclist, but for those of us who only ride in the flats it'd be a brutal ride over the hills. That said even if you're fit, the main roads that go over the hills are not particularly bicycle friendly because usually it's either cars sitting in traffic or cars driving aggressively because there's a break in the traffic or cars driving aggressively trying to beat the traffic. There are a few less-trafficked routes but those are windy with Waze drivers driving, you guessed it, aggressively. If you go west of the major LA hills to Topanga and above Malibu there is a vibrant weekend cyclist community that only has to deal with... aggressive drivers in fashionable cars out joy riding (I jest somewhat but that area is one of the most popular with serious and casual cyclists (lotta spandex up in that piece!)).
- rcpt 10y ago
  Busy roads with no shoulder and aggressive Land Rovers.
andrenotgiant 10y ago
I live in a Jersey suburb of NYC, it's a relatively poor area but everyone has a car and drives everywhere. I ride a bike, I dont have to lock it up because no one is interested. (Doesnt hurt that it's not new/no brand names on it.)
Fiahil 10y ago
> [...] since not that many know how to ride a bicycle. Come on, seriously? It gives a pretty poor image of the average american. Manual transmission? Don't know how to use that. Bicycle? What is that thing?
- rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
  Average American in a Norman Rockwell painting, maybe. A lot of kids grow up these days without learning how to ride a bike. We just learn to drive early. And I've never encountered a non-smug argument against automatic transmission.
  - revelation 10y ago
    I have, because just recently someone tried to convince me it's just plain impossible to go at slow speeds (<10mph) in a car. And apparently that's very difficult when you don't have the clutch to moderate speed, or so I was told. It might just be that American drivers aren't used to going in any sense slow at all. (But those damn bikers, always zipping by! By the cries, you must think cyclists in America have some magic potion that makes them go 50mph instead of, you know, <=20mph peak)
    - kwhitefoot 10y ago
      Strange idea. My 1999 Rover 75 has an automatic transmission and I have no trouble driving slowly (if I must). Never had any trouble driving cars in the US either (many visits over the last 20 years) and quite a lot of that was pretty slow (freeway from Raleigh to RDU on a Friday afternoon can be pretty much walking speed sometimes).
    - thaumasiotes 10y ago
      My 2002 automatic Corolla moved forward very slowly when in drive with no application of the accelerator at all. Obviously, it's possible. > It might just be that American drivers aren't used to going in any sense slow at all. We have traffic jams here too. They are a huge percentage of time spent driving. (Since they're so slow.)
amluto 10y ago
You must live in a different part of LA than I did. I spent a summer bike-commuting from Santa Monica along Wilshire Blvd to UCLA. It sucked. The cars were mostly going 50, the right lane was dangerous because of the 405 on-ramp and off-ramp, and the sidewalk was a slalom course of lamp posts. The only real alternate route was to wind through Brentwood and around the VA cemetery. It was long, slow, and had its own hazard: there was a plant by the cemetery that made little spiky seeds that would deflate tires. The Big Blue Bus was decent, but somehow longtime Angelenos in the early 2000s didn't believe that people who owned cars belonged on the bus.

by neffy 10y ago

nicky0 10y ago

> Bus's all have bicycle carriers for emergency punctures/Hollywood Can you elaborate on the Hollywood part?

darkr 10y ago
Hills I guess?
neffy 10y ago
As darkr says. Most of LA is really flat, and perfect for cycling, but those hills were just annoying. Fun coming back though.
- cardiffspaceman 10y ago
  Hollywood is hillier than Van Nuys, which brings me to ask, what is it like exactly to go over the hill (i.e. go between Downtown LA and The Valley) on a bike?
  - harmmonica 10y ago
    If you ride a bike regularly for exercise the ride itself wouldn't be too extreme because the hills are not that steep for a fit cyclist, but for those of us who only ride in the flats it'd be a brutal ride over the hills. That said even if you're fit, the main roads that go over the hills are not particularly bicycle friendly because usually it's either cars sitting in traffic or cars driving aggressively because there's a break in the traffic or cars driving aggressively trying to beat the traffic. There are a few less-trafficked routes but those are windy with Waze drivers driving, you guessed it, aggressively. If you go west of the major LA hills to Topanga and above Malibu there is a vibrant weekend cyclist community that only has to deal with... aggressive drivers in fashionable cars out joy riding (I jest somewhat but that area is one of the most popular with serious and casual cyclists (lotta spandex up in that piece!)).
rcpt 10y ago
Busy roads with no shoulder and aggressive Land Rovers.

andrenotgiant 10y ago

I live in a Jersey suburb of NYC, it's a relatively poor area but everyone has a car and drives everywhere. I ride a bike, I dont have to lock it up because no one is interested. (Doesnt hurt that it's not new/no brand names on it.)

Fiahil 10y ago

> [...] since not that many know how to ride a bicycle. Come on, seriously? It gives a pretty poor image of the average american. Manual transmission? Don't know how to use that. Bicycle? What is that thing?

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
Average American in a Norman Rockwell painting, maybe. A lot of kids grow up these days without learning how to ride a bike. We just learn to drive early. And I've never encountered a non-smug argument against automatic transmission.
- revelation 10y ago
  I have, because just recently someone tried to convince me it's just plain impossible to go at slow speeds (<10mph) in a car. And apparently that's very difficult when you don't have the clutch to moderate speed, or so I was told. It might just be that American drivers aren't used to going in any sense slow at all. (But those damn bikers, always zipping by! By the cries, you must think cyclists in America have some magic potion that makes them go 50mph instead of, you know, <=20mph peak)
  - kwhitefoot 10y ago
    Strange idea. My 1999 Rover 75 has an automatic transmission and I have no trouble driving slowly (if I must). Never had any trouble driving cars in the US either (many visits over the last 20 years) and quite a lot of that was pretty slow (freeway from Raleigh to RDU on a Friday afternoon can be pretty much walking speed sometimes).
  - thaumasiotes 10y ago
    My 2002 automatic Corolla moved forward very slowly when in drive with no application of the accelerator at all. Obviously, it's possible. > It might just be that American drivers aren't used to going in any sense slow at all. We have traffic jams here too. They are a huge percentage of time spent driving. (Since they're so slow.)

amluto 10y ago

You must live in a different part of LA than I did. I spent a summer bike-commuting from Santa Monica along Wilshire Blvd to UCLA. It sucked. The cars were mostly going 50, the right lane was dangerous because of the 405 on-ramp and off-ramp, and the sidewalk was a slalom course of lamp posts. The only real alternate route was to wind through Brentwood and around the VA cemetery. It was long, slow, and had its own hazard: there was a plant by the cemetery that made little spiky seeds that would deflate tires. The Big Blue Bus was decent, but somehow longtime Angelenos in the early 2000s didn't believe that people who owned cars belonged on the bus.