Traffic Shmaffic – Biking in Los Angeles
About two weeks ago I moved from provincial San Diego to the big, bad city of Los Angeles. I took a job as a “Digital Producer” on the Dr.Phil Show. The job includes: writing for his website (which has a media partnership with Huffington Post), and posting the Tweets of Dr.Phil’s super-fans into his teleprompter, so he can read what his fans are Tweeting about the show.
I moved to an apartment 3.3 miles from Paramount Studios, where the Dr.Phil Show tapes. I wanted to live someplace close enough to bike. Yup. I said bike to work. And that’s exactly what I’ve started doing.
You’re probably thinking I’m out of my mind. Who bikes in L.A.? You’re thinking, isn’t it dangerous? Aren’t the drivers overly-aggressive raging maniacs, driving around in their super-expensive cars, honking at everyone, and treating yellow lights as if they were simply a suggestion to yield? All of that is true. BUT…I found (thanks to Google Maps), a beautiful path, using actual marked bike lanes.
Every morning I leave my apt around 7:00 am and ride along tree-lined streets, with beautiful houses landscaped to within an inch of their lives, looking as if they were created as a “suburban” street set on a Hollywood studio lot–perfect.
I decided to begin biking to work for a three reasons.
One: I couldn’t help but appreciate the irony of defying everyone’s biggest complaint about living in L.A.–the traffic. I have no traffic woes.
Two: I’ve gained a shit-ton of weight in the last three years, and I need to lose it before I have a heart attack and drop dead before signing a lease on my own perfect house in Hollywood, complete with a view of the iconic sign.
Three: It’s really hard to feel like you’re less than nothing at work because no one knows you and basically ignores you, AFTER biking almost three and a half miles. You’re in the zone. Sweaty and happy. Focused and legs burning.
Additionally, I bike to Trader Joe’s, City Target, Whole Foods, CVS, the Grove, and the Beverly Center. Part of my work-path was even listed by LAIST as one of the top ten paths in the city.
When the time changes, and it starts getting dark super-early, my rides may end, but for now, I’m finding my zen in LA-LA land, and God knows you need it here.
