I do have to get out of bed at 4:30 AM but that's not much of a down once I got used to it. Riding the streets of suburban Los Angeles (Whittier, La Mirada, Santa Fe Springs, Norwalk) is a down since there are no bike lanes or MUP trails I can take.

The Up is that I have mostly adequate room, riding AFRAP and the truck drivers give me plenty of room and/or warning. Other cycling commuters are a non-issue since the vast majority either ride on the sidewalks, are salmon or both.

I ride the Metro train from Norwalk into Los Angeles and that's usually neutral, neither up nor down. Or . . . up when there's plenty of room, down when it's crowded. The other UP about the train is it gets me over (instead of in) bad neighborhoods like Compton and Watts. And, it's only .75 each way with my senior TAP (Transit Access Pass) card.

Two big ups are that my commutes (Mon./Wed./Fri.) are easy recovery rides after my training and endurance rides on other days and the 2nd big up is that it keeps mo out of my car, which would be going 15 mph on L.A.'s lovely over-crowded freeways.

Oh, another down is that the "scenery" is not scenic at all and overall a fairly ugly ride. No wonder I head for the mountains on the weekends!

Rick / OCRR