The traffic in LA makes me very angry. It almost discourages me from going anywhere, that’s how bad it is! I am really hoping that once the metro route is extended to the westside, traffic will lighten up….a lot.
So today after work, I spontaneously decided to ride my bike to this restaurant where I was planning to have dinner. It was only 4-5 miles away, so I thought it would be nice to ride my bike. The route I took wasn’t bad at all. There weren’t any hills, BUT there wasn’t a bike lane. So most of the time I rode on the sidewalks. I tried the streets when the sidewalks were too narrow but I think that would’ve been better off than the road with a bunch of LA drivers. It was a little frightening because a couple cars drove passed me as if I wasn’t on the road. What the hell! I definitely will try to take advantage of riding my bike to near by places, though. It felt really good to ride my bike to dinner. It wasn’t too bad. Just experienced a little fear, but fear schmear, right? Ha. 
Just the other day, I read online that someone in downtown LA got killed by a road raging driver while he was riding his bike. A couple months ago, my coworker got hit by his car while riding his bike home from work. He was out recovering for several months! Last year, my boyfriend was hit by a car while he was on a bike ride and the driver didn’t even stop!!! Yeah, it doesn’t sound so safe out there, huh?
So as much as I’d like to help out LA traffic and ride my bike to more destinations that are local to me, I only feel discouraged by the stories that I frequently hear. It’s scary out there. I wish more drivers were more careful about their surroundings and the other commuters who need to share the road. And I wish Los Angeles would provide a more bike-friendly environment for us.
I guess I can only wish, because just like the say ‘you can’t change a person’, I suppose you also can’t really change a city.
