Loving LA

Thanks to an unplanned opportunity to take a week in February off work, we decided to visit LA County in Southern California. We lived here from 1976 to 1992; mostly in Redondo Beach. In many ways, the place hasn't changed much. In other ways, it is completely different.

First off, I'm amazed at how much more cycling there is than there was even a decade ago. We saw cyclists every where. Perhaps the warm weather contributed, but cyclists were hard to miss. It was not that way not so long ago.

Second, I was somewhat amazed to see just how HORRIBLE some of the cycling facilities were. A two-foot wide door zone bike lane on a street with speeds of 40-50mph?

Third, while I have not observed a lot of safe and assertive cycling any place I have been, only in LA (actually Torrance) have I observed people riding on sidewalks, against traffic, with no hands, while lighting a cigarette. Yes, there were pedestrians about.

Finally, it is nice to see old neighborhoods and how things have changed - or remained constant.