Bike Commuting to Work in Los Angeles | Hacker News Reader

Bike Commuting to Work in Los Angeles

williamha.com

I rode my bike to work 365 days a year in Whitehorse, Yukon, as do many other people.

The best I saw biking was -46C (-50.8F) - though my commute was only ~15 minutes. My roommate would do 45 mins, so he'd have to start off wearing many more layers than I, and stop half way to de-layer.

It's amazing how much more resistance a bike has when it's that cold, and how many plastics will just snap when you touch them (like the cheap covering on most bike chains)

Did you have to do anything special when maintaining your bike?

E.g. last time in did winter biking (in Pittsburgh, so not nearly as crazy as you, maybe 10 F / -12 C) the ratchet mechanism in the freehub would often skip and I'd find myself spinning pedals. I'm guessing you did something about the grease/lubricant in your case?

When winter biking in Pittsburgh, I found the road "salt" rapidly corroded everything it touched on the bike, except my aluminum frame. Perhaps the road salt screwed up your freewheel moreso than the cold.

Possibly, though it got better with warmer weather, so my first guess was grease viscosity. shrug I hear you on road salt though. I had to be pretty religious about oiling my chain to keep it happy and unrusted.

Viscosity is a good guess. Whereas the grease will normally flow well enough to let the ratchet teeth settle into their spots and turn the wheel, in cold weather the lubricant can thicken enough to fill in the notches and the the teeth just slide right over the thick lubricant and don't grip anything. Meaning you freewheel both directions, similar to what you mention.

Maybe if parent is tough enough to ride in Whitehorse in the winter, they're tough enough for a fixie. :-) (Whitehorse proper isn't all that hilly.)

> Did you have to do anything special when maintaining your bike?

I didn't, but I probably should have. I would get that freewheel thing too on on really cold days, the trick is to just not stop pedaling, and if you do, stop the bike before you start again.

I also installed my own studs every year, which was easy and worked very well. - like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-fR2tXR_8

Great attitude: "I Am A Winter Cyclist" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiBuh74wHHk Beyond risky: "I Want To See The World (The North)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0wAPztOO2U

I lived in LA for quite some time, and had a car for only about 20% of that time .. I walked everywhere, otherwise. And despite the myth, its quite possible to live and work in LA without a car .. you just have to realize that LA is a big city-of-cities, and recognize the paths connecting those cities. Of course, things got a lot easier when the LA rail lines were built (alas, not to their original design) .. this certainly made it possible to commute to downtown easily enough, from any one of a number of desirable living neighborhoods.. and for everything else, the bus lines were perfectly usable. You just have to disregard the cultural programming that only 'poor people and other lower classes' use public transportation.

Your "city of cities" comment is right on, but I'd argue about the bus lines being perfectly usable. I tried to go from Pasadena to the Getty Museum once. It took 3 hours due to the wheel-spoke setup of the bus lines -- I had to go downtown first and then back out. Six hours on the bus for 1.5 hours at the museum.

6 hours on the bus? Okay that is pretty harsh. I lived in the LA/Silverlake area, and had lots of good times on the subway, buses in that area, etc. What a pity the rail never made it out to Pasadena .. that would've been world class if it had.

This must have been some time ago? Not only does the Gold Line have stops all through Pasadena, but within months it will go all the way to Azusa.

Yeah, I left LA in 2002 and moved to Germany. I have a faint recollection that they were working on the line to Pasadena then, I guess its finished and long since operational. The few times I've been back though, it just hasn't been as cool to take the subway .. German trains really spoiled me. In fact, only the Japanese have been able to match the experience so far..

Anyway, glad to hear Pasadena got its rail. I'll take it next time I'm out there.

Gold line to red then orange then 734 might have been quicker, but that is a difficult journey even by car.

For cycling in an area one doesn't know, the Strava heatmap is also quite useful. It shows the routes that other cyclists take and can be helpful in finding good cycleable routes.

http://labs.strava.com/heatmap

Wow. I live in rural Japan. I used to use Strava when I was in the UK, but I really didn't think that it would be so popular here. I was wrong. And it turns out all my best routes are also quite popular. I'm going to have to start using Strava again.

For anyone who's considering the bike commute but thinking "I will sweat so much!" do check out panniers. The OP says he only likes panniers for grocery shopping, and it's true a lot of panniers are basically buckets you strap to the back of your bike. But Arkel, a Canadian company, makes:

* a pannier that turns into a backpack

* a pannier that turns into a briefcase (though their new design isn't as conservative as the old one)

* panniers that actually works as shopping bags with handles

as well as a full line of touring and camping panniers. And their customer service is good -- over the last 12 years I had a zipper and a strap repaired on them.

I like commuting a lot more when I don't have stuff on my back -- it feels like it makes me more agile on the bike.

Panniers are very luxurious for the reason you cited. Where they fail me is when trying to combine a bicycle leg with one by bus or subway - the backpack wins in these cases because I don't need to remove/re-attach my Ortlieb pannier (which gets to be really annoying even despite Ortlieb's really nice quick release mechanism on their urban models).

why would i want a pannier that turns into a backpack? that is like asking to get grease/drity on your back everytime.

Our office is in Venice, close to Rose & Main. My commute is from Mar Vista, and have to take Rose at the end.

So my biggest complain about cyclists are that some are completely irresponsible about their lives, and possibly others.

I would see at least 1 or 2 people every week riding in the opposite direction. Stopped once to tell them that they should be riding in the opposite direction, but felt like I've been the asshole this time around.

There are some crazy dudes with bicycles that seems to be the local attraction or so, like one riding with a wood log on his head (wtf?) - I mean he looks he has it all in control, but roads are not circus arenas.

Then the whole issue (which seems hits France and other countries too) is whether cyclists should follow the same rules as cars. For example stopping on STOP/STOP-ALL signs, at least for the most time they respect the traffic lights.

And I was thinking of cycling from home to work, but after commuting for almost a year, I think it's just not safe. Though we have plenty of people that bike everyday to work, and the benefits are good - always good parking space (no need to use the valet), and some money back for not using the parking structure. Also we have showers at work :)

I am not a regular cyclist but I think we really should go a bit easier on the bicyclists. When you see a cyclist commuting to work, that means there's one less car on the road. Also add to the fact that cycling is a lot of fun, so I can understand you want to go fast and jump around a bit.

As far as stop signs are concerned, let's be more focused on asking the cyclists to stay safe and maybe talk to one of them if they seemed to be endangering their own lives. Remember these are soft targets, and sometimes it's actually safer to ride more aggressively than too passively. I know this since I am a motorcyclist, so it's fairly similar.

I used to commute by bike every day and I heard this complaint a lot by non-bike riders. I think the main reason for bikers do behave "irresponsible" is to maintain the speed.

Like most other modes of transportation, riding a bike means that the most energy is exerted to go from zero to commute-speed. Maintaining the speed requires a lot less energy. Unlike most other modes of transportation that energy comes from your own muscles so you are painfully aware of how much energy each stop costs.

I read that in Copenhagen, Denmark, they have designated blue bike lanes and if the rider goes >25kph they will never see a red light, the cars will stop instead. I think that sounds like a perfect solution!

the LA startup scene makes it very hard to bike. half the places are on rose&main, the other half on playa vista. between the two you have the venice canal, which has only 3 places to cross near the beach. and two of them are 2 car lanes, without even a side walk!

I enjoyed this article! The quote from the person who was upset about a car lane being replaced with a bike lane sadly expresses a common sentiment with the populous.

I'm a year-round commuter in Phoenix AZ USA. Gets really hot here for 4ish months. For the working commuter, finding a way you can grab a shower by the time you get to work can be the biggest hurdle!

Happy safe riding all you other nerds on 2 wheels!

I enjoyed bicycle commuting in LA. I was based in Korea Town and alternatively biked to Glendale (via Griffith Park) or unicycled to Beverly Hills (via Hancock Park). Those were mostly lovely routes. Unicycle is ideal for Hancock Park because it plays nicely with frequent stop signs.

I used to ride through Hancock Park/Windsor Square when living in Korea Town. That area is very rideable. Unicycle, very cool!

He mentions the commute takes him about 50 minutes. I wonder how much it could be shortened by riding an electric bicycle?

If I had an electric/motorized bike, I think it would cut the commute by about 15-20 minutes with most of the gain being on the trail. The perk of biking for me at least, is the exercise though.

An electric bike will be less exercise but it's not like it's no exercise. Sure on a flat surface you can go full electric but climbing hills can still give you a decent workout.

the biggest problem with that crazy Glendale-downtown route: LA have days with 105F. with no wind past Santa Monica.

It is good to cycle with no wind, because it is possible to cycle in any direction and be cooled. Sometimes I need to do about 1 hour trip in wind direction in summer — and it is very hard for heart.

"Hills make you strong; wind makes you mean." Not sure where I first heard this, but I always think of it when facing a headwind.

In Houston it's pretty miserable too...best thing is to:

  a. Pick routes that go through shade and trees.

  b. Take advantage of public transport where available.

  c. Always bring an iced water bottle.

  d. Always wear super breathy clothes (change at office).

L.A. has no shades :)

it's all low houses and tall palm trees.

> no wind

Good for those with a bike commute given the phrase, "cyclists understand gravity, but not wind resistance"

> "cyclists understand gravity, but not wind resistance"

I can assure you that cyclists very much do understand wind resistance.

it's more or less a joke, where hills are praised but wind is cursed

I missed the joke :(

Hills are more rewarding, I suppose because they end and you get to come down them for almost no effort. There's that other joke about getting a headwind on the outward journey, which is still a headwind when you come back. When you are lucky enough to get a tailwind, it's an amazing feeling.

I live in an area with prevailing winds from the northeast in the morning and southwestish in the evening. Headwinds both ways are my life :(

Fremantle Doctor?

Not as significant as the doctor. (i was in perth for LCA last year. that change was amazing.)

Over in melbourne.

I hate the wind when I cycle because the hill is just there, it's not going away, whereas the wind is fighting me when it might not be there.

about 10 months a year that's not a problem.

I found that the worst parts of bike commuting around the west side of LA were crossing under the 405 and any time I needed to travel along Sunset Blvd. Also, the beach near Santa Monica pier during summer tends to be worse than the streets.

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