Scott S. Topiol

L.A. Times Spotlights Bicycle Commuting

This morning's L.A. Times features a spot on bicycle commuting in Los Angeles:

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-biking22may22,1,5315486.story?coll=la-headlines-health&ctrack=1&cset=true

posted at 10:43

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Another Week Cycling in L.A.

Last week marked another in my attempt to remain mostly car free in L.A. I did finally break down and do some heavy grocery shopping, which required the use of my car. Fortunately, however, the supermarket is only about 2 1/2 miles from home and required very little driving.

Last week was also national bike-to-work week (with May 18th being national bike-to-work day). Nicole decided to begin riding her bicycle to work instead of driving. She works near Cedar Sianai Hospital, a drive which normally takes her at least 30 minutes. On her first day commuting via bicycle she reported a total commute time (including time to locate bike parking and lock up) at 12 minutes. When she arrived home here TOTAL round-trip commute time came to 30 minutes and some seconds. We were both extremely surprised that bicycling had HALVED her commute time versus her car.


Not All Fun and Games

Unfortunately, the dangers of cycling in a large city remain a reality. Later in the week my father called me up to report that a cyclist had been struck by a car just outside of his place of business on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. The cyclist had been riding in the street near the parked cars when someone opened their door without looking. While swerving to avoid a collission with the car door, the cyclist entered the main flow of traffic and was struck by a vehicle. The cyclist suffered what appeared to be severe injuries to his arms and legs, with reportedly at least one open leg fracture. He was treated by L.A. County Paramedics on scene and taken to (presumably) Cedar Sinai hospital for further care.

Many motorists seem oblivious to the existence of cyclists on the roadways, while others are just plain rude. I believe that the benefits outweigh the risks and will continue to use my bicycle as a primary means of transportation (although today it is raining quite heavily so I may be forced to drive if the need for me to run any errands should arise). Nevertheless, the above stresses the importance of extremely defensive cycling and the use of sidewalks or alternate routes when traveling busy corridors. (In Los Angeles it is *legal* to ride on sidewalks so long as riding is not done in a manner that endangers property or pedestrians)

posted at 10:31

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Beautiful People Don't Ride Bikes

Nicole and I felt like having pizza for dinner this evening, so we both hopped on our bikes and rode down to Albano's on Melrose (if you order from them be sure to specify that you want your pizza well done or it comes out soggy for some reason). Of course, pizza isn't the point of tonight's entry (though it's always a delicious topic of discussion).

After dinner we decided to head to The Grove to catch a movie. As we approached the parking structure a sign directed us inside to bicycle parking. Nicole mentioned that she remembered seeing spaces for bicycles near the Fairfax Ave. entrance, so we headed through the parking structure in search of a place to lock up. Of course, what had once been bicycle parking was now, literally, red carpet.

Confused, we followed this carpet until we arrived upon a new-and-improved valet parking location. To our left was a carpeted area within the parking structure that featured leather couches where the well-to-do (or wannabe-well-to-do) could sit and wait as their cars were retrieved. To our right were hordes of people waiting in line (presumably to request their vehicles).

I told Nicole that I was going to ask one of the employees where the bike parking had gone. We got off our bikes and walked them over to an area that was clear of the lanes of traffic--an area that consisted of red industrial carpet that had been placed atop the road surface. I walked to an official-looking Grove employee donning a dark suit, shiny nametag, and two-way radio. Surely he would help me find a place to park.

No sooner had I come within ten paces of the man did he shoot me "the look". I knew what was coming. I kept walking. He began to speak.

"Hey! You need to--" I wasn't about to let him lecture me about stopping my bicycle on the precious red carpet. I interrupted him and asked my question, "Where do we park our bikes?"

"Past the ramp and to the left." He motioned toward the Stanley Ave. side of the parking structure where the main security office was located.

He began to speak. "You can't--" I interrupted him again. "Didn't there used to be bicycle parking over there?" I pointed to the area that we had just ridden through.

His reply was curt: "Can't you see? Things have changed."

I walked away. I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of completing his original thought.

As I headed back to where Nicole was waiting with our bikes, I couldn't help but feel like a third-class citizen. The more I thought about what had just happened, the more enraged I grew. I had stumbled into forbidden territory. I was riding a bicycle in Los Angeles; at The Grove nonetheless. The Grove: a place of fancy clothes and fancy cars...stereotypical L.A. And I....I was riding a bicycle.

If you ride a bike in Los Angeles then it must be because you are unable to afford a car. Certainly one wouldn't choose to ride a bicycle if they had other option. I had committed a cardinal sin. Not only had I dared to ride a bicycle to the prestigious Grove, I let The Beautiful People see me. I dared set foot on the red carpet, intruding upon a world of valet service and leather couches (all located INSIDE a parking structure). I did not use the proverbial service entrance.

It then occurred to me exactly why the additional bicycle parking had been removed. It was in the way of the red carpet.

posted at 01:17

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Some food for thought

Came across this interesting article regarding cycling in Los Angeles that I thought I'd share. Click here.

posted at 23:02

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"What better place to park than inside the store?" or, "got milk?"

I managed to survive another day in Los Angeles without driving. To be fair, I spent nearly the entire day at home (read: at the office). When I finally decided to head over to Trader Joe's on Santa Monica Blvd. around 6:00 p.m. I opted to walk rather than bike. While at the store Nicole and I couldn't resist buying some "all natural" ready-to-bake frozen chocolate chip cookie dough. mmm...cookies.

Of course, no sooner had the dough gone into the oven was I reminded that we were out of milk. How typical to have just returned from the store only to need to head back out for a forgotten item. With eight minutes left in the baking process, I decided to head down the street to 7-11 and pick up a half gallon of milk. It is a fact that there can be no cookie consumption without the all-important bovine elixir.

Arriving at 7-11 I immediately realized that there wasn't anyplace to lock up my bike. Not about to leave my new investment sitting outside unsecured, I decided that since the store wasn't busy anyway I would simply bring the bike inside with me.

A customer exiting the store was nice enough to hold the door for me while I pushed my bike inside. The clerk glanced at me as I entered. Hoping to avoid a confrontation (though prepared for one if it should arise), I avoided eye contact, walked directly to the fridge, grabbed the milk, and paid without incident.

Then, just as I was about to wheel my bike outside, the clerk began to speak. At this point I was ready for the confrontation, completely prepared to point out the lack of adequate bicycle parking and reommend the manager contact the city of West Hollywood to have a free bicycle parking space installed. However, much to my dismay, the clerk wasn't interested in reprimanding me for bringing the bike inside. Rather, it seemed that he was quite intrigued by my chosen mode of transportation.

The clerk asked me how much I had paid for the bike and if the headlight cost extra. I happily answered his questions and told him that despite the initial cost, I fully expected it to pay for itself shortly with gas approaching $3.50 a gallon in some nearby areas. The female clerk working alongside him commented that although it may be difficult for people who work to ride a bike rather than drive, cycling made perfect sense for short trips (such as an evening run to 7-11 for a half-gallon of milk). She was also quick to point out that cycling was also a good way to stay in shape.

I agreed with the female clerk but also pointed out that riding the bus with a bicycle is a generally painless experience and that some people might just find that such a bus/bike commute could serve as a favorable alternative to driving their own cars. She seemed to see the merit in what I had to say, and the male clerk asked a few more questions.

After discussing my bicycling habits for a few moments with the clerk, another customer entered and his attention was redirected. I decided that this would be a good time for me to depart without appearing rude (after all, I had fresh-baked cookies to enjoy!). I headed home.

Having been fully prepared for, and expecting to be reprimanded for bringing my bike inside the store, I was pleased that an act as seemingly insignificant as buying milk had resulted in a spontaneous dialogue regarding transportation alternatives. I was especially pleased that my presence appeared to spark a genuine interest in the clerk that handled my purchase.

posted at 20:20

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Freedom from High Gas Prices

About two weeks ago I became so fed up with the ever-increasing cost of gasoline in Los Angeles that decided to take action. In an act of sheer insanity fueled by a mixture of anger and frustration, I bought a bicycle. Then I shocked everyone by deciding that the bicycle would become my primary mode of transportation.

With the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline exceeding $3.40 near my house, I have cut out all non-essential driving. Since buying my bike on Sunday, April, 30, 2006, I have not driven my car any further than the amount necessary to move it from one side of the street to the other for the purposes of street sweeping.

I guess in a way this is my own little protest against the gas-guzzling SUV's that clog our roads and choke our skies, against the pilfering oil companies that (to their credit) openly admit that they take no issue with increasing their profit margin at the expense of consumers, and against all of the zombies who choose to sit for hours in their cars, crawling through life, rather than demanding alternatives (such as rail).

Of course, I have not been completely car-free during this time. I did have to drive to Fontana this past Saturday, though I opted to use my girlfriend's Honda Civic instead of my Chevrolet Monte Carlo in order to conserve fuel. I also gave Metrolink the first opportunity to facilitate the trip. Unfortunately, it turned out that the last returning train departed Fontana at 6:57 p.m., two hours before I needed to head home. It brought me great pain to endure bumper-to-bumper traffic while the tracks ran alongside me down the I-10 median.

Now before you decide to either praise me or simply brush me off as a "crazy hippie", you should know that I am only cutting out "non-essential" driving. I haven't taken a vow of vehicular chastity, though I do intend to limit my driving (especially while gas prices continue to rise daily) to tasks that absolutely require the use of an automobile. These are obvious tasks such as heavy grocery shopping, unavoidable long-distance trips that cannot be reasonably facilitated through the use of public mass transit, and situations where driving is simply more responsible than biking.

Confused yet? That last sentence might not make sense to some readers. Of course, let's be realistic here. We don't always go places alone (or with people who are willing or able to bike). If I'm going to go somewhere with several people and biking will force everyone to drive their own seperate cars, then a carpool makes a heck of a lot more sense than the bike.

So far I have managed to conduct all of my daily business, such as banking light grocery shopping, and going to the gym, without the use of a car. Of course, working primarily out of the house makes it a lot easier to live such a lifestyle. Nevertheless, I am convinced that--for a fair number of Los Angelinos--"bike" need not be just another four-letter word. (horrible cliché, I know)

All that said and done, I have decided to chronicle my experiences as a cyclist in Los Angeles and will use this website as the means for delivery. During the next several weeks I hope to prove that it is not only possible but feasible for an Angelino to cut the automotive umbilical cord and still lead a (more?) productive (and certainly healthier) lifestyle.

posted at 02:23

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FUCK YEAH!

posted by Anonymous : 03:35

 

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Updates? We don't need no stinkin' updates!

Could I get any more negligent of this site? I swear, I've had the best of intentions for keeping everything updated yet I've been doing a horrible job. I guess I'll give it yet another shot and hope that this time I can stay semi-frequent this time around.

Since my last update I have become formally self-employed, working primarily as a true programming consultant while holding onto a part-time job as a special event EMT. The goal of being a paramedic for LAFD is still there, though things have taken an unexpected detour. I am starting to get back on track with my goal (which is currently being held back solely by my lack of adequate physical training for the CPAT).

I've got tons of pics from my buddy Mark's visit back in April that I'll try to get posted as well as some photos from my dad's NASCAR driving experience this past weekend at California Speedway.

Nicole and I are pretty well settled in California now. It's hard to believe that we've been here for more than six months already. I feel like I just moved back. Time flies when you're having fun...right?

Stay tuned...

posted at 08:44

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