Here I am, back in Eagle Rock for an extended break before the school year finishes up. Yesterday was my first day back and I would like to briefly share my means of getting around Eagle Rock during my visits.
Despite the name of this blog, I find Eagle Rock a much more bikeable community than a walkable one. While walking is the best way to experience the neighborhood – and I walked almost 5 miles around town yesterday – the bike is a little faster. Like walking, cycling also allows one to be aware of, and enjoy, their surroundings in more subtle detail.
Since the bike I normally use is in the East Bay at the moment, I use this old beach cruiser when visiting 90041.
There isn’t much to like about this bike. The gears are stuck, making it only suitable for flat streets. The tires are low on air and terribly out of true, making the ride slow and wobbly. The handle bars are loose and the frame of the bike is too small for me. The result? I feel like Disney’s Goofy when he rides a beater bike too small for him.
Still from Goofy – How to Ride a Bicycle
Surprisingly though, this bike is loads of fun to ride on. I won’t brave Colorado Boulevard too long when on this bike, but on Eagle Rock Boulevard, Yosemite Drive, and various residential streets this bike is great. Despite all the drawbacks, this bike allows me to get around town quickly when I need to. A trip I commonly make is from point A – Delevan Elementary – to point B – Yosemite Drive and Townsend Avenue. On this bike I can go from A to B in about 12 minutes. Even though the bike is not fitted or in proper shape, it is still a safe, fast, reliable way to get around town. But don’t take my word for it– if you have a bike collecting dust in your garage, take it out for a spin and see how easy and pleasant it can be to go places around town.
I have to take issue with your claim that bicycling is *safe*. That it is considerably more dangerous than driving a car is undoubtedly due to the cultural priority given the car, especially in car-centric LA. But the fact remains that unless bicycles can be sequestered from car traffic via physical barriers, bicycling will remain *much* more dangerous than driving a car.
My preference would be to eliminate most cars entirely from residential neighborhoods, replacing that transportation mode with walking, skating, and other zero-emission/human-scale- footprint transportation modes.
What say you, comrade?
Yes cyclists are more vulnerable. Yes mixing with fast car traffic is unpleasant but is cycling really that much more dangerous? I don’t think so. Riding on residential streets, which dominate many communities in LA riding is very safe.
It might not always be pleasant to ride with cars whizzing by or honking but cycling is more safe than people perceive it. The biggest reason people don’t ride is because they don’t feel safe. They will likely be physically safe much of the time but riding will be an unpleasant experience and that is why they don’t ride. If the cyclist rides predictably and visibly (not hiding in the far right swerving around parked cars) any danger would come from the car.
I would happily embrace the Dutch neighborhood street model where the residential areas are mostly cul-de-sacs for cars but through streets for pedestrians and cyclists. Or the streets are so curved and short that cars physically can’t exceed 10mph without crashing into a home.
Portland has the best model for what you describe. We need to push for traffic calming in residential areas and preferably Bike Boulevards.