Cornflower Blue Skies

It's Friday the Thirteeeeeeeenth! The colossal winds have died down and it's another cloudless day in El Lay. The sky is a shade of blue you can only see here -- it must be a combination of chemicals, dust and humidity, or lack of -- somewhere between cornflower blue and Dodger blue. (Did you know that the cornflower is one of the few really blue flowers and that most "blue" flowers are really a shade of purple?)

It's been a good couple of days, despite being back in this city, despite never having enough time to get everything done, despite having to go get my mammogram yesterday. I finally got DVD Studio Pro to render my movie in its proper size and I finally got my little bike up and rolling.

At one time, back in Tokyo, I had three road bikes and one "mama-chari," one of those big boofy single speed clunkers that the moms all ride in Tokyo, loaded down with grocery backs and a toddler in a rickety seat in the back. (Maybe it's Tokyo's answer to California's SMV, Soccer Mom Vehicle. Let's see you shuttle your kid from practice to practice on one of those!) I gave one road bike away, got the "mama-chari" ripped off, sent one road bike up to the ranch and still have my best road bike in Tokyo, where it's THE only way to get around. Here in LA, Big Dog and I have matching Stridas. They are little bikes that fold down to something the size of a golf bag.

You can't expect too much from such a small bike, but it's still better than nothing, and although I was buffeted by the gusts and trying to maintain stability, it got me to the UCLA Medical Plaza in no time at all. I just wish LA were a more bike-friendly town.

No bike lanes on Wilshire means having to ride on the sidewalk, and even where they did have bike lanes near UCLA, some yahoo in a giant car yells at me to "use the sidewalk." "This is a BIKE LANE, you moron!" I shouted back but doubt he heard me.LA's not a smoker-friendly town, but now you can't smoke on the beaches either!