Los Angeles is a special place

Most days I really enjoy my 9 mile round trip ride to work. Being on a bicycle somehow allows me to feel like I have a little more control in and a little deeper connection to Los Angeles. If you've spent time in LA you know how challenging it can be to whittle down the expanse of stimuli and filth into something manageable and meaningful and into which you can contribute.

Riding a bike does this for me for a couple reasons:

1. It automatically sets some limits. I can't get to west side parties in a reasonable time frame and I certainly can't get there clean and without that sweat smell . . . so I go to local places and contribute to the local economy of my neighborhood. Incidentally, I live in Westlake - a 2.7 sq mile area with an estimated population of about 120,000 people, 73.4% Latino, average household income just under $27K annually (all this according to the 2000 census of course, so take the stats for what they are worth).

2. Biking puts me face to face with more people whom I would not normally talk to, (e.g., people wandering around the streets of LA, homeless folks, kids walking to school, street vendors, small hole-in-the-wall shop owners, people on their way to work  just like me, my neighbors and fellow community members). My bike rides are my way of getting to know them.

3. I find myself caring, for the first time, about the quality of the roads and exactly how my tax paying dollars are contributing to the upkeep of the concrete jungle.

So - all this to say that along with the good there is bad. Sometimes it's a battle to get home without getting yelled at by angry drivers or almost run over by people who don't look left. Last night was something new though. I witnessed a pregnant woman get hit by a man on the street and then chase down a few of LAPDs finest on foot to ensure that they go rushing off after her assailant. I know nothing more about the incident, other than that it was a sad thing to witness and if I was in a car I would have driven by the whole thing, unaware. While I wish it didn't happen, I've never seen a woman run down a cop car before and I'll always think of her as a superwoman.