Cycling where and when no one cycles

I live in a “nice” part of the San Fernando Valley, where few people bike. You wouldn’t think that – there are bike lanes, it’s a good neighborhood, and things are close. But people still don’t bike. There are a few cyclists – all men and mostly on the sidewalks. And people drive crazy. Crazy fast. I guess it’s a cultural thing.

Anyways, yesterday afternoon I decided to bike to Studio City to have a bite and do some reading at the Laurel Tavern, which is kind of my new favorite place. I put on some decent Friday night apparel, and hit the road. It was nice, going there. Sure, I got a lot of stares, and only a few semi-scary experiences, but it was worth it. It takes less than 20 minutes. It’s rides like that which make me wonder why more people don’t bike in the area.

I enjoyed a few hours at the tavern, and then hit the road to go home. The doorman at the Tavern said to me “there’s just something wrong with this picture”. He was referring to the fact that I was kind of dressed up (I had on a semi-nice green shorts romper and 3 inch Rene Caovilla slingback pumps). It’s hard for me not to respond harshly to those sort of comments, but I refrained, because I knew he was thinking that it is hard to bike in any heel. I responded “maybe to you, but it’s actually easier to bike in these things compared to walking in them, much easier”. He still was strangely put off by the whole scene, unfortunately, and told me to bike home safely.

And I did. I had a really nice bike ride home last night. A lone cyclist on a Friday night, just enjoying the simple pleasure of transporting oneself cheaply, ecologically, and healthily in a place so nonconducive to doing exactly that.