I'd ridden in on Thursday for the first time. Normally I ride a bike to the bus stop and catch the freeway bus. Trip is from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles, roughly 18 miles one way.
I decided, pretty much on a whim, to ride in again today. Door-to-door time the usual bus way is about an hour; by bike, it's 1:10. I left the house at 0505. Light and Motion Seca 700 headlight, DiNotte 400R taillight on a Turner 5-Spot with WTB Velociraptor front and Weirwolf rear. Yes, I should have changed to the Hemispheres but I forgot.
On Thursday I'd discovered that Pico Boulevard works well, Two traffic lanes, plus a parking lane, and light traffic. Today there was more traffic but still no problem. Not much to see; it's all just city. I'd prefer to ride in the mountains and listen to the owls, but this at least keeps me in condition for mountains.
Previously I'd ridden Pico all the way to Main Street and then turned north. Bad signal timing on that route led me to try Figueroa to 6th Street to Main. 6th is one-way so I expected better progression. Well, that's true... and everyone else uses it for the same reason. To avoid getting trapped by buses, trucks and cars turning to avoid the buses and trucks, I just had to hammer it and stay with traffic. Not fun. I was glad when I could make the turn onto Main. My nerves were still jangled when I got to the shop. Elapsed time was 1:15 this time due to some bad signals, and not being so energetic.
Still... I'm glad I rode.