You may have heard, but I no longer live in Los Angeles. And I no longer survive on merely "two wheels." Last month, my partner/wife (depends on state) and I packed up our cat and our household and high-tailed it across the country to Waterville, Maine where I will be a Postdoctoral Fellow of Non-Western Music at Colby College starting September 1. While I'm grateful for the job at such a nice educational institution, some very basic things about my life have fundamentally changed.
I now live in rural New England. I live in a state with around 1 million residents and a city with around 12,000 people. Everyone knows that I am not from around here. Mainers have an expression to describe people like me – "from away." And that isn't necessarily a good thing. In the campaign to preserve the right for same-sex couples to marry, the opposition is quick to inform voters that the other campaign is using dollars and personnel "from away." (Technically, both sides are doing this but no matter.)
The climate and food politics are really different here. The locavore movement has been huge in this region for quite some time, which specialty license plates saying "support local agriculture" and the Hannaford's supermarkets featuring "local produce" alongside produce from Mexico and California. Also, many restaurants proudly support local agriculture. I often hear, "Maine was local before it was trendy." All of this local agriculture is really different from what I am used to. When I go to Farmers' Markets, I will encounter produce that is about 6 months off from what we used to get in our CSA box in Los Angeles. We are still eating a lot of chard, kale, and squash. It also means that I'm more likely to encounter blueberries and goat's milk products than I ever thought possible. Unfortunately because Maine has been trapped in unseasonal rainfall and a nasty bit of blight invading crops, it means that all produce is much more expensive here.
The rain also means that I am riding my bike significantly less than I used to. At first the rain was completely discouraging, but now I am of the opinion that unless the forecast predicts a 50 percent chance of rain or more, I will ride if possible. But thunder storms (and flood warnings) happen, and I'm still not riding as much as I'd like. Whereas a typical week in LA had me riding between 150-250 miles a week, here I'm lucky if I can hit 90 miles. It's quite depressing. Sure there are cycling clubs and groups in my area, but people here are content to do 30 miles maximum. They all think I'm a little intense in my desire to go long.
And cycling is really different here. The air is clean. There are no major climbs. There are significantly fewer cars on the roads. Cyclists ride two-three-four abreast. And there are cows and wild turkeys alongside the roads. Often when I ride around, I never have to stop at a traffic signal. There is less of a need to fight about cycling etiquette because there is so much more space. Whenever I talk about my collisions with cars in Los Angeles, people just don't understand. Cycling culture shock is not something I expected in the least, but there it is.
Rural New England also means that I am now the proud(?) owner of a car. I try to avoid using it whenever possible, but I'm driving much more than I want to be. A few weekends ago, we drove to a camp site with our bikes in tow and went for a nice ride around a Maine peninsula. It was beautiful and vastly different from what I am used to. We'll see how I continue to adjust in the coming months.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Notes on Transitions
So the ALC was great (except for the rain on Day 6). I returned and almost immediately graduated from UCLA and proceeded to pack up my life for a big move. In 3 days I will board a plane with my partner, my mom, and my cat for Maine where I will begin a postdoctoral fellowship in non-western music at Colby College. Big news and big changes!
The huge contrast between riding my bike everyday for the AIDS/LifeCycle and temporarily returning to life in LA has been a little rough. I did a couple of nice and long rides before all of the huge changes got under way, but I have mostly been living a very different lifestyle than I would prefer. For the last week I have lived life in LA without my bike or my scooter and have instead been using a variety of buses to get around town (and the occasional car use). As a result, I have been cranky and extremely sad about seeing the incredible disfunction of the city. Why, for example are major roads like Beverly and Pico so poorly maintained? Why is the city cutting back on the 704 line (the rapid line that runs along Santa Monica Blvd.) when ridership is so consistently high? But I suppose I will have to let go of all of these LA specific problems along with the sad condition of my home state once I board that plane on Tuesday.
I have been fretting for the last few weeks about the fate of this blog. What will happen to my thoughts on urban life on two wheels when I will be living in a small town and once again be a car-owner? What will happen when I am forced by cold weather to stay off my bike saddle for months at a time? Honestly, I haven't been a very good blogger since I started the home stretch of my dissertation. But now that I have more time to contemplate bigger ideas, I have decided to use this blog for a slightly different purpose than it was originally intended to do. The theme of this blog will shift to a more general contemplation of sound studies, urban studies and social media. The specificity of LA, and more broadly southern California, will disappear almost entirely in place of my contemplations of living my pro-bicycle lifestyle in a very different environment.
In coming posts, expect to see my thoughts on my fall and spring courses at Colby College. Fun times!
The huge contrast between riding my bike everyday for the AIDS/LifeCycle and temporarily returning to life in LA has been a little rough. I did a couple of nice and long rides before all of the huge changes got under way, but I have mostly been living a very different lifestyle than I would prefer. For the last week I have lived life in LA without my bike or my scooter and have instead been using a variety of buses to get around town (and the occasional car use). As a result, I have been cranky and extremely sad about seeing the incredible disfunction of the city. Why, for example are major roads like Beverly and Pico so poorly maintained? Why is the city cutting back on the 704 line (the rapid line that runs along Santa Monica Blvd.) when ridership is so consistently high? But I suppose I will have to let go of all of these LA specific problems along with the sad condition of my home state once I board that plane on Tuesday.
I have been fretting for the last few weeks about the fate of this blog. What will happen to my thoughts on urban life on two wheels when I will be living in a small town and once again be a car-owner? What will happen when I am forced by cold weather to stay off my bike saddle for months at a time? Honestly, I haven't been a very good blogger since I started the home stretch of my dissertation. But now that I have more time to contemplate bigger ideas, I have decided to use this blog for a slightly different purpose than it was originally intended to do. The theme of this blog will shift to a more general contemplation of sound studies, urban studies and social media. The specificity of LA, and more broadly southern California, will disappear almost entirely in place of my contemplations of living my pro-bicycle lifestyle in a very different environment.
In coming posts, expect to see my thoughts on my fall and spring courses at Colby College. Fun times!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Stops, Starts, and the Dangers of Hesitation
Warning! Snarky Post Below
In honor of Bike to Work Day, I must register the following complaint about cyclist - motorist relations. And no, I do not wish to address the infamous Hummer v. Cyclist incident (check this for LAPD's horrifying response at a recent City Council meeting). Rather, I want to discuss something much more fundamental.
You know you have seen them. You are stopped at an intersection and just within eyeshot you see a cyclist riding in tiny circles just behind the limit line. If you are a driver, you probably tried to ignore this strange behavior. After all, who in their right mind would ride in tiny circles in the middle of a busy intersection? Better yet, you may remember that cyclist with clipless pedals frantically trying to keep from falling with quick jerks, tiny slides forward, or what have you (what I call "a failed track stand").
Fixed-gear cyclists and wannabe track racers listen up: it's ok to put your foot down when you are stopped at a major intersection. In fact, it's probably a much safer option than riding in tiny circles. I've seen this ridiculous behavior more and more on my daily rides through town, and it is almost completely exclusive to commuters who don't wear helmets (itself a sign of the wisdom of the rider). At it's worst, those "circle riders" (is that a good name for them?) selfishly endanger other cyclists by hogging the most visible area of an intersection. It also inconveniences pedestrians (you know, the people who ALWAYS have the right of way?) by not allowing them to cross the street. As someone who can't do a track stand, I respect those cyclists who can effectively come to a complete stop, balance, and restart without putting their foot down. But the circles? Please. You aren't that cool and you look like a fool and only irritate everyone else around you.
Another problem I've recently noticed on my rides around town are the overly courteous drivers. You know who they are. They obviously have the right of way, yet they don't take it because they see a bicycle and assume the cyclist will do something unpredictable and stupid. The whole chain of events is incredibly disruptive to the flow of traffic and only aggravates everyone involved. When I signal that I will make a left turn, I normally stop to yield to oncoming traffic. Once my foot is down, that's it. Any excessive courtesy doesn't help me because I have to restart from a stop anyway. I've gotten to the point lately where I have to signal to oncoming traffic to please, for the love of god, take your right of way! I fully realize that some of my less well-mannered fellow cyclists might be perpetuating this behavior, but I really wish social norms were much more clearly established. However, it should not be so difficult for me to negotiate a left-turn into campus...
I'm a person who likes ambiguities. I am a humanities scholar after all. But in social contexts like traffic, hesitation and ambiguity only cause problems. People fail driver's exams for not being decisive. This is why all drivers have to pass tests about the rules. Simple things like stops, starts, and yielding to oncoming traffic should not be difficult negotiations. C'mon people. There are bigger things to worry about. So let's get out there and ride safely and predictably.
In honor of Bike to Work Day, I must register the following complaint about cyclist - motorist relations. And no, I do not wish to address the infamous Hummer v. Cyclist incident (check this for LAPD's horrifying response at a recent City Council meeting). Rather, I want to discuss something much more fundamental.
You know you have seen them. You are stopped at an intersection and just within eyeshot you see a cyclist riding in tiny circles just behind the limit line. If you are a driver, you probably tried to ignore this strange behavior. After all, who in their right mind would ride in tiny circles in the middle of a busy intersection? Better yet, you may remember that cyclist with clipless pedals frantically trying to keep from falling with quick jerks, tiny slides forward, or what have you (what I call "a failed track stand").
Fixed-gear cyclists and wannabe track racers listen up: it's ok to put your foot down when you are stopped at a major intersection. In fact, it's probably a much safer option than riding in tiny circles. I've seen this ridiculous behavior more and more on my daily rides through town, and it is almost completely exclusive to commuters who don't wear helmets (itself a sign of the wisdom of the rider). At it's worst, those "circle riders" (is that a good name for them?) selfishly endanger other cyclists by hogging the most visible area of an intersection. It also inconveniences pedestrians (you know, the people who ALWAYS have the right of way?) by not allowing them to cross the street. As someone who can't do a track stand, I respect those cyclists who can effectively come to a complete stop, balance, and restart without putting their foot down. But the circles? Please. You aren't that cool and you look like a fool and only irritate everyone else around you.
Another problem I've recently noticed on my rides around town are the overly courteous drivers. You know who they are. They obviously have the right of way, yet they don't take it because they see a bicycle and assume the cyclist will do something unpredictable and stupid. The whole chain of events is incredibly disruptive to the flow of traffic and only aggravates everyone involved. When I signal that I will make a left turn, I normally stop to yield to oncoming traffic. Once my foot is down, that's it. Any excessive courtesy doesn't help me because I have to restart from a stop anyway. I've gotten to the point lately where I have to signal to oncoming traffic to please, for the love of god, take your right of way! I fully realize that some of my less well-mannered fellow cyclists might be perpetuating this behavior, but I really wish social norms were much more clearly established. However, it should not be so difficult for me to negotiate a left-turn into campus...
I'm a person who likes ambiguities. I am a humanities scholar after all. But in social contexts like traffic, hesitation and ambiguity only cause problems. People fail driver's exams for not being decisive. This is why all drivers have to pass tests about the rules. Simple things like stops, starts, and yielding to oncoming traffic should not be difficult negotiations. C'mon people. There are bigger things to worry about. So let's get out there and ride safely and predictably.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
that 30-30
I owe the readers of this blog a real blow-by-blow of what happened from days 16-30. But since time and patience are limited commodities, I must sum up.
How did I fare in my crazy training schedule?
For all days but one I rode the minimum of 30 miles. The one day I rode fewer miles was the night before my weekend of riding over 90 miles two days in a row. I think the excess of what followed justified a little leniency. I discovered that weekend that I am getting much faster in my cycling. On day 20 (96 miles), I rode through heavy headwinds and still finished in the top ten percent of riders. On day 21 (93 miles), I finished in the top five percent. There is something to be said for the kind of long-term endurance over many days that I now have. It's great.
Any Injuries?
In the last ten days of my 30-30, my recoveries got longer. Often, I felt fatigued for the first ten or fifteen miles each day. It took me until Thursday (day 25) before I felt good again, and even then I felt like I was always edging close to an injury. My final weekend of longer rides was scary. Clearly, pushing it into my threshold would have resulted in injuries to either my ankles or knees (hello I-T band!). Nothing happened, but the last few days were scary.
Fundraising?
I finished my 30-30 incredibly close to my fundraising goal. I did not make it, though, and I will likely not raise enough money to earn a fancy AIDS / LifeCycle jersey.
In other news, I have joined Team Marriage Equality (although my name is not on the team page yet), a Life Cycle team that aims to draw attention to marriage equality rights for gay and lesbian couples. I'm not sure if we are going to order team jerseys or anything, but I am very excited about this.
** Next post: Bike to Work Week!
How did I fare in my crazy training schedule?
For all days but one I rode the minimum of 30 miles. The one day I rode fewer miles was the night before my weekend of riding over 90 miles two days in a row. I think the excess of what followed justified a little leniency. I discovered that weekend that I am getting much faster in my cycling. On day 20 (96 miles), I rode through heavy headwinds and still finished in the top ten percent of riders. On day 21 (93 miles), I finished in the top five percent. There is something to be said for the kind of long-term endurance over many days that I now have. It's great.
Any Injuries?
In the last ten days of my 30-30, my recoveries got longer. Often, I felt fatigued for the first ten or fifteen miles each day. It took me until Thursday (day 25) before I felt good again, and even then I felt like I was always edging close to an injury. My final weekend of longer rides was scary. Clearly, pushing it into my threshold would have resulted in injuries to either my ankles or knees (hello I-T band!). Nothing happened, but the last few days were scary.
Fundraising?
I finished my 30-30 incredibly close to my fundraising goal. I did not make it, though, and I will likely not raise enough money to earn a fancy AIDS / LifeCycle jersey.
In other news, I have joined Team Marriage Equality (although my name is not on the team page yet), a Life Cycle team that aims to draw attention to marriage equality rights for gay and lesbian couples. I'm not sure if we are going to order team jerseys or anything, but I am very excited about this.
** Next post: Bike to Work Week!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Days 14 and 15: Hot fun!
Day 14: I did a short ride up Nichols Canyon to Mulholland Drive and down Sepulveda with Lauren S. on the warmest Sunday in recent memory. Lauren doesn't normally climb hills and considering the intensity and heat of this particular route (ahem... 15% grade on Woodrow Wilson Drive), I was impressed with her good attitude. At one point during the rolling hills on Mulholland, Lauren and I met some of the LA Wheelmen. What a good natured cycling club! I need to remember them when I want to have a good ride at a chill pace (or a crazy 400-miler... who does that?!). Good times! We also saw the Shifting Gears crew on Sepulveda. What a cruel climb to do in the heat since there is no shade... Poor gears! Total miles: 35.
Day 15: PCH / Latigo / the valley / Topanga Canyon
Chad and I had this crazy idea of doing a long, hill-intensive ride on Monday. What we didn't anticipate was that it would be a blazingly hot day. Even though we left Santa Monica at 7AM, it got really hot by 8:30AM (smack-dab in the middle of our 7-mile ascent on Latigo). It was so hot, in fact, that we decided to trim the route when we reached Kanan-Pt. Dume. Our trip to the valley was hot and uneventful. All of the major corridors between the valley and malibu always astound me. Cars move at such high speeds even though they often only get two lane roads. The temperatures in Agoura Hills and Calabasis were awful and made me wish we were back on Latigo Canyon... Our return ride up Topanga Canyon featured some very rude cars (why honk when the cyclist is as far to the right as possible?) and extremely warm gusts on our decent back to PCH. (Hint: cyclists are not supposed to work that hard on downhills.) Ironically, the riding was easy once we got to PCH and both of us felt fine. Wind is such a strange mistress... We ended our day with a lunch stop in Santa Monica. here's the route. Total miles: 66
Day 15: PCH / Latigo / the valley / Topanga Canyon
Chad and I had this crazy idea of doing a long, hill-intensive ride on Monday. What we didn't anticipate was that it would be a blazingly hot day. Even though we left Santa Monica at 7AM, it got really hot by 8:30AM (smack-dab in the middle of our 7-mile ascent on Latigo). It was so hot, in fact, that we decided to trim the route when we reached Kanan-Pt. Dume. Our trip to the valley was hot and uneventful. All of the major corridors between the valley and malibu always astound me. Cars move at such high speeds even though they often only get two lane roads. The temperatures in Agoura Hills and Calabasis were awful and made me wish we were back on Latigo Canyon... Our return ride up Topanga Canyon featured some very rude cars (why honk when the cyclist is as far to the right as possible?) and extremely warm gusts on our decent back to PCH. (Hint: cyclists are not supposed to work that hard on downhills.) Ironically, the riding was easy once we got to PCH and both of us felt fine. Wind is such a strange mistress... We ended our day with a lunch stop in Santa Monica. here's the route. Total miles: 66
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Day 13: ALC Day on the Ride
For today's training ride, I went out with hundreds of LA area ALC riders for the "Day on the Ride," a 65-mile simulation of the LifeCycle experience. I was determined to not get caught in the hoards of riders (I hate cycling crowds. Who knew?) so I rode out with the fast Training Ride Leader (TRL in these parts) who also happened to be ex-child star Chad Allen. BTW, he is really good humored about his past as a teeny bopper. I informed him that my sister used to have his picture on her wall and he laughed about it and said "it was an interesting way to grow up." So much fun! All of the faster riders (including Dario, David, Melissa, Tom, Chad and the other members of the team "Funky Monkey") played cycle-tag throughout the day and traded off who was in the lead. I felt completely challenged by riding with such great athletes. Also, Dario had a minor spill (complete with bike flip) when he hit a crack in the road just was we were turning onto Westmont from Gaffey. It was an elegant spill yielding only minor scratches on his arms and legs. If you are going to fall, that's how you want to do it... I was afraid that we was really hurt, but he did just fine.
Day on the Ride is never an "easy" ride. The ALC planners always try to set us up with a challenging, yet doable, route through the South Bay area. We had the big climb up the north side of the peninsula early on and another slow climb after lunch. Predictably, I had some difficulty on those rollers. They are a challenging set of hills. And with the temperature edging up to the high 80s and sand all along the beach bike path (NO!), it was a challenging day. I rolled across the finish line around 1:30.
Day on the Ride is never an "easy" ride. The ALC planners always try to set us up with a challenging, yet doable, route through the South Bay area. We had the big climb up the north side of the peninsula early on and another slow climb after lunch. Predictably, I had some difficulty on those rollers. They are a challenging set of hills. And with the temperature edging up to the high 80s and sand all along the beach bike path (NO!), it was a challenging day. I rolled across the finish line around 1:30.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Days 11 and 12
As part of my preparations for a long weekend of riding, I have limited my riding for the last couple of days to the closest imaginable neighborhoods.
Day 11: I rolled out of my apartment at 5:50 AM to meet up with riding buddy Chad for a morning spin down to the Marina. It was somewhat celebratory as I recently heard some good news. We also stopped by Groundworks Coffee on Main Street for some hot morning beverages. It was fabulous. Also, I made it to work with plenty of time to prepare for my TA duties. 6AM it is! For those interested, here's my (abbreviated) morning route to the Marina. Total miles (with commute): just shy of 32.
Day 12: Afternoon rides are never very fun, but today it was just downright irritating. Maybe I should shift my Friday strategy? It is a little tough to do otherwise since I teach in the morning, and I normally need those morning hours to prep for section. Today, it was windy as an added bonus, numerous things happened to me to make this ride less than pleasant. Much of this had to do with bad luck and poorly chosen route. I elaborate below:
• I got lost in the Palisades two times.
• I neglected to bring enough liquids for a warmer-weather ride and had to stop after 15 miles to get more.
• A truck knock a tree on Upper Mandeville Boulevard blocking traffic in both directions. I helped with its removal as much as I could in my cycling cleats.
• A fellow cyclist flagged me down to help him with his flat tire.
On the plus side, I had friendly conversation with everyone I encountered on my ride. Also, the actual riding was great. I felt really strong on Mandeville's slow ascent and had no trouble going full strength on the last, tough grade increase. Lesson learned: leave the house by 1PM on Fridays to avoid weekend traffic. Total miles: 31 (though it felt longer)
Day 11: I rolled out of my apartment at 5:50 AM to meet up with riding buddy Chad for a morning spin down to the Marina. It was somewhat celebratory as I recently heard some good news. We also stopped by Groundworks Coffee on Main Street for some hot morning beverages. It was fabulous. Also, I made it to work with plenty of time to prepare for my TA duties. 6AM it is! For those interested, here's my (abbreviated) morning route to the Marina. Total miles (with commute): just shy of 32.
Day 12: Afternoon rides are never very fun, but today it was just downright irritating. Maybe I should shift my Friday strategy? It is a little tough to do otherwise since I teach in the morning, and I normally need those morning hours to prep for section. Today, it was windy as an added bonus, numerous things happened to me to make this ride less than pleasant. Much of this had to do with bad luck and poorly chosen route. I elaborate below:
• I got lost in the Palisades two times.
• I neglected to bring enough liquids for a warmer-weather ride and had to stop after 15 miles to get more.
• A truck knock a tree on Upper Mandeville Boulevard blocking traffic in both directions. I helped with its removal as much as I could in my cycling cleats.
• A fellow cyclist flagged me down to help him with his flat tire.
On the plus side, I had friendly conversation with everyone I encountered on my ride. Also, the actual riding was great. I felt really strong on Mandeville's slow ascent and had no trouble going full strength on the last, tough grade increase. Lesson learned: leave the house by 1PM on Fridays to avoid weekend traffic. Total miles: 31 (though it felt longer)
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