Bike tour in the city of cars
Yesterday I did a small bike tour. I rode through Jumilla Ave to Plummer St until De Soto Ave. Plummer St is interrupted there by the LA River (you might remember it from Terminator 2) and the railroad, so I headed De Soto Ave south to Nordhoff St and rode on this one west again until Chatsworth reservoir. On Google Maps this looks like a huge sea, but it’s just a huge dry area. Wikipedia says: “A distinctive feature in the Chatsworth Area is the mostly empty Chatsworth Reservoir. The property belongs to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power”. There was a fence around the area, so I even couldn’t enter it. From there I rode the Topanga Canyon Blvd north until the other part of the Plummer St. I rode there through some “smaller” streets until I found Lassen St, which I rembered from our breakfast at Delis. I ride the Lassen St back to east until Corbin Ave and from there it was just stone’s throw back to Superior St. You can check my route out at Google Maps.
Of course, LA isn’t the best place to ride a bike. On Plummer St. there is at least a bike lane, but only until Winnetka Ave. There is a sign asking the car drivers “Share the road”. I wasn’t in the mood to try out if they listen to the sign. From this point I rode my tiny, cute bicycle on the sidewalk, which is in a bad condition. The branches of the trees hang down, so I must duck from time to time to continue my way. Sometimes panels of the sidewalk soar, so I must ride around it to prevent the tires from damage. On some intersections the sidewalk wasn’t lowered and they are much higher here then in Europe (maybe up to 18cm high). But if I wasn’t on one of the main streets, there wasn’t much traffic and I had the street for me (on most of the smaller streets there isn’t a sidewalk).
It was the first time since ages I had a sunburn again. I put sunscreen on, but at the Chatsworth reservoir it was so hot I washed my face with water. Tada, no sunscreen on my face anymore. By chance I wasn’t heading west from this point anymore. Hot and water reminds me two other anecdotes: I was riding the bike only for 15 minutes and the water I took with me was really warm (maybe 20 degrees Celsius). And when I stopped at the reservoir and stand up from the saddle for two minutes to take pictures the saddle was very hot when I sat down again. The sun here is really … effective.
In California the cars are allowed turn right even when the traffic light is red. Of course, they must take care not to hit another car or person. But riding a bike here you must take much more care then at home. They didn’t expect pedestrians or cyclists. On one sidewalk there were three guys on my way. My bike doesn’t have a bell and I just said sorry and one of them saw me answered “Execuse me, bud”. I love this friendly language. I know it’s superficial, but it has it affects anyway. I prefer it instead a grumble.
After nearly one and a half hour I was back at home. And what is the best thing after a sweaty bike tour? Right, jumping in to the swimming pool.
