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Valley Village, California
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Published On: Oct 19, 2008 11:36 PM
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Published On: Oct 19, 2008 11:36 PM
Lilith and Silver Dragon's Excellent Adventure.
I went on a long bike ride today -- partly just for
the hell of it, partly because I stopped riding when I caught bronchitis --
what? Two, three weeks ago? -- and wanted to force myself back into thinking of
biking, and partly because I wanted to see if a pure bicycle commute from North
Hollywood to Pasadena was even practical. I used Google Maps to plan a route
(using their "walking" option) and set out at 2:10 pm, armed with 40 oz. of Diet
Rite Cola and three bus tokens.
The first part of the route -- through North Hollywood, Toluca Lake and Burbank -- was easy enough: pretty flat, with the slightest downhill grade, following more or less the path of the Los Angeles River. I found myself crossing into the northwestern corner of Glendale at about 2:40, and reflected that a 30 minute ride put me in range of the L.A. Zoo (a favorite destination) and the shops and movie theaters of Beautiful Downtown Burbank. This is MUCH faster than a bus would get me to either place (the MTA #96 route is slow, riddled with stops every two blocks, and incredibly convoluted; as the only eastbound MTA local through Burbank, it makes a point of passing every major employer and every public building... it took me an hour to reach downtown Burbank on it, and 90 minutes to get to the Zoo. Bleh.)
In Glendale, things got tougher. The northwest is the Industrial Armpit of Glendale; and Google Maps is not aware that Air Way and Kellogg Ave. don't go through (they enter the Glendale DWP and don't emerge.) I backtracked to Grandview, and got onto San Fernando Road going south along the railroad tracks, which is where Google Maps wanted to put me.
San Fernando Road is an ancient highway (as ancient as they get in Los Angeles County; it was part of the original Camino Real connecting the missions.) Worse, it traverses the intersection of Interstate 5, California 134, the Los Angeles River, and a significant tributary creek I can't find the name of. There are few routes that cross all these hazards -- and San Fernando road itself was under construction right at the bottleneck. One lane of cars was getting through each way. No room for bikes, sidewalks closed.
Well, crap. Fool that I am, I'd not gotten a map of that area from Google, so I noodled around the twisting residential streets east of San Fernando road until I found Concord Ave., which had a bridge over the creek and an underpass under the 134. South on Concord, I rejoined the Google route, turning east at Broadway.
By this time it was about 3:10 pm and I needed to be back in NoHo to be able to get to my recovery group meeting. So I gave it up and found the 780 Rapid bus stop, taking it and the Red Line train home.
I am so happy with Lilith! (Dahon Vitesse HG7). Not only is her gearing perfect for the trip, but getting her home on the bus and subway is a delight. Just put her in the bus bike rack for the bus leg, then roll her into the station and fold her for the subway ride. Unfold her and ride her home, slick as a whistle and getting admiring glances everywhere I go.
Off to that recovery meeting -- by car (pout.)
Update 10:06 PM:
I've concluded that a pure bike commute to Pasadena is NOT practical. Just past downtown Glendale (where I gave up today) the route joins Colorado Blvd. (AKA Historic Route 66). Colorado winds into the foothills of the San Gabriels, going uphill with a LOT of up-and-downhill riding. And Colorado has one of the few bridges over Arroyo Seco. There is no other practical route to Pasadena without going south and adding five miles to the ride. I was biking for an hour and twenty minutes, and although I covered two-thirds of the distance, I suspect that more than half the journey was ahead of me in terms of time (or vertical distance!) Even allowing for the 15 or so minutes I spent lost in Glendale, that puts it at about 2 hours one-way, unless I suddenly become amazingly more fit, or Lilith equally amazingly more speedy. Four hours of biking on top of a full work day is not in the Silver Dragon's plans. So, back to "bike to the Commuter Express stop, bus to Pasadena, then bike to office." Cheaper than driving, not cursed with perky carpool buddies, and a third the time of biking, it seems the sanest option when I don't need to go to class or tutor a student after work.
Now I just need to start DOING it again!
The first part of the route -- through North Hollywood, Toluca Lake and Burbank -- was easy enough: pretty flat, with the slightest downhill grade, following more or less the path of the Los Angeles River. I found myself crossing into the northwestern corner of Glendale at about 2:40, and reflected that a 30 minute ride put me in range of the L.A. Zoo (a favorite destination) and the shops and movie theaters of Beautiful Downtown Burbank. This is MUCH faster than a bus would get me to either place (the MTA #96 route is slow, riddled with stops every two blocks, and incredibly convoluted; as the only eastbound MTA local through Burbank, it makes a point of passing every major employer and every public building... it took me an hour to reach downtown Burbank on it, and 90 minutes to get to the Zoo. Bleh.)
In Glendale, things got tougher. The northwest is the Industrial Armpit of Glendale; and Google Maps is not aware that Air Way and Kellogg Ave. don't go through (they enter the Glendale DWP and don't emerge.) I backtracked to Grandview, and got onto San Fernando Road going south along the railroad tracks, which is where Google Maps wanted to put me.
San Fernando Road is an ancient highway (as ancient as they get in Los Angeles County; it was part of the original Camino Real connecting the missions.) Worse, it traverses the intersection of Interstate 5, California 134, the Los Angeles River, and a significant tributary creek I can't find the name of. There are few routes that cross all these hazards -- and San Fernando road itself was under construction right at the bottleneck. One lane of cars was getting through each way. No room for bikes, sidewalks closed.
Well, crap. Fool that I am, I'd not gotten a map of that area from Google, so I noodled around the twisting residential streets east of San Fernando road until I found Concord Ave., which had a bridge over the creek and an underpass under the 134. South on Concord, I rejoined the Google route, turning east at Broadway.
By this time it was about 3:10 pm and I needed to be back in NoHo to be able to get to my recovery group meeting. So I gave it up and found the 780 Rapid bus stop, taking it and the Red Line train home.
I am so happy with Lilith! (Dahon Vitesse HG7). Not only is her gearing perfect for the trip, but getting her home on the bus and subway is a delight. Just put her in the bus bike rack for the bus leg, then roll her into the station and fold her for the subway ride. Unfold her and ride her home, slick as a whistle and getting admiring glances everywhere I go.
Off to that recovery meeting -- by car (pout.)
Update 10:06 PM:
I've concluded that a pure bike commute to Pasadena is NOT practical. Just past downtown Glendale (where I gave up today) the route joins Colorado Blvd. (AKA Historic Route 66). Colorado winds into the foothills of the San Gabriels, going uphill with a LOT of up-and-downhill riding. And Colorado has one of the few bridges over Arroyo Seco. There is no other practical route to Pasadena without going south and adding five miles to the ride. I was biking for an hour and twenty minutes, and although I covered two-thirds of the distance, I suspect that more than half the journey was ahead of me in terms of time (or vertical distance!) Even allowing for the 15 or so minutes I spent lost in Glendale, that puts it at about 2 hours one-way, unless I suddenly become amazingly more fit, or Lilith equally amazingly more speedy. Four hours of biking on top of a full work day is not in the Silver Dragon's plans. So, back to "bike to the Commuter Express stop, bus to Pasadena, then bike to office." Cheaper than driving, not cursed with perky carpool buddies, and a third the time of biking, it seems the sanest option when I don't need to go to class or tutor a student after work.
Now I just need to start DOING it again!
Posted: Sun - October 19, 2008 at 05:39 PM | | | | |