updated bike map: mar vista to koreatown

Will made some helpful points about the first version of the bike route between Mar Vista and Koreatown:

I tried Cochran recently going south all the way to Venice. Not bad, but it’s a bit crowded/narrow in parts.

I’ve also used Cochran to 8th to Fairfax to Venice going south (and vice versa going north) and find that a good option.

Redondo and Crescent Heights are still my faves, and thanks for the tip about Wilton. I had a feeling it was bad but I had never ventured much below Wilshire on it.

The interesting part about Redondo coming back north is not to take it all the way up to La Brea, but instead to make a right from Redondo on Edgewood Place and cross La Brea. A couple blocks on the other side Edgewood meets up with Highland and that’s OK to ride, at least up to Wilshire where the cars get crowdy/angry.

It’s funny, looking at that zig-zagging cut through I do between La Cienega and Venice makes it seem like so much extra work, but I’d do just about anything to avoid La Cienega, especially where there are freeway on and off ramps involved.

All good points, and I tried to take a couple of them and update the map a little. You can see it below or find it here.

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rollin’ deep in the ‘210

Beverly Hills gets kind of a bad rap: Rude drivers, expensive cars, a complete lack of marked bike lanes, more expensive cars, stupid people, dark streets, the list goes on. But I was thinking a little bit on the ride home tonight that I actually really like my stretch of ride through that strange little city. Sure, the stretch on Santa Monica South feels a little perilous, but Burton Way more than evens the score (and for the map of this ride, see here). Buttery-smooth pavement, empty shoulders (because everyone in Beverly Hills has their own driveway), lights timed that you can just roll on green if you’re hustling. When the wind is right, you can smell the steak at Morton’s while you’re waiting for the light at La Cienega to change.

And as for rollin’ deep: It was no critical mass (Did anyone ride that the other day? How did it go?), but I passed a guy holding steady on a blue cruiser in traffic: iPod in, lepoard-print Vans, lights front and back. We waited a light cycle at Wilshire, and he caught me at the next couple reds. Didn’t do much more than nod, but for a moment, Beverly Hills felt pretty bike-friendly after all.