Bicycling "arrives" in car-crazy Los Angeles

From the Los Angeles Times, 01.02.07:

Bicycling is an expression of curiosity, (Monica) Howe (above) said: "the need to scrutinize and question the world around us."

Los Angeles on a bicycle is both a more intimate and a vaster place. Because the rider is exposed, and vulnerable, it is a more engaging landscape.

"To ride a bike in L.A. is to examine the accepted ways of doing things," she continued. "It's a way of stepping out and seeing things in a different way."

After all, the means of travel define a journey just as surely as its destination. (Read more.)

You know that something has "arrived" when it receives substantial sympathetic consideration in the mainstream media. This profile of Monica Howe, outreach coordinator of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is a nice feature for readers in traffic swamped L.A.

It reminds me of the extensive interview with David Snyder of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, published by the San Francisco Chronicle in August 1997 in the wake of that year's Critical Mass upsurge. That was a watershed year for San Francisco's bicycling community.

Perhaps this could be a landmark year for bicyclists in Los Angeles, already a city with a considerable bicycling community and host of Bike Summer 2005.

Image: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times
Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips