Coffeeneuring 2016-0.1: Playa Vista

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October 9th – Illicit Ride #1: Warming Up with the New Urbanism Film Festival Folks

Last year, a friend I’d met through the wonderful world wide network of all things bike offered me her pass to the New Urbanism Film Festival in which one of her films from the Velo Visionaries series was being shown. Kristin lives in San Francisco, and was unable to make to L.A. for the festival that year. At first, I thought I was just getting a pass to see her film, and when I saw what else was showing at the festival, I bought a ticket to see one of the feature films. Then I decided I wanted to go back and see some more, and was delighted to realize that my pass would get me in to all of the films.

This year, when I saw the 2016 New Urbanism Film Festival was gearing up for the first weekend in October, I knew I had to buy a festival pass. Kristin had two more of her Velo Visionaries films in the festival and was featured in one of the post-film panel discussions. In addition to enjoying films about topics ranging from the community-building that grew out of art projects in the aftermath of an earthquake that devastated the downtown center of Christchurch New Zealand, to following a woman who got rid of her car and explored what it would mean to live car-free in Los Angeles, to discovering the magic of the historic core of Pittsburgh, plus short films about active transportation and urban planning, there was a group BIKE RIDE. So I signed up for the ride to Playa Vista along the Ballona Creek Bike Path.

The group heads west on the Ballona Creek Bike Path.

This was also the opening weekend of the Coffeeneuring Challenge. I had thought about trying to squeeze a special coffeeneuring expedition into my already-packed weekend, but it made more sense to squeeze the coffeeneuring into a bike ride I had already planned. I have been aware of the Playa Vista development that sprang up in the methane-rich swamp land between Marina del Rey and Westchester, but had never been inside. I only knew that the development project had a history of controversy and some start-and-stop before the high-density live-and-work area materialized. I was curious to see the inside.

I knew this ride wouldn’t really count toward the coffeeneuring challenge, as organized rides are not permitted (although there appears to be a certain fuzziness to this rule). I decided to embrace this as an opportunity to warm up for the official challenge rides.

Hardly looks like an organized ride, if you ask me.

After a fun jaunt along the Ballona Creek Bike Path, we rode through Playa Vista, passing some contemporary office/work buildings and then entering some very hiply designed residential buildings that made me feel we were riding through a slick brochure. We stopped to gather at a park that had the feel of a town square, sort of.

A park in a central part of Playa Vista.

We had the good fortune to be given an introduction and walking tour by Stefanos Polyzoides, an urban designer who had been involved in the early stages of the development. He described for us the features that make for great cities and communities, including building heights in certain places (such as around a town square), inviting entryways, walkable streets. He explained all the challenges facing the original project, including city rules that required street widths that encouraged speeding cars rather than cultivating community feel that invites pedestrians to stroll. After years of back-and-forth encouraging the developer to consider opportunities for design and planning that would optimize the community created and getting the city on board, the developer ended up selling the land and, much to the chagrin of urban designers, sold it without preserving any requirements for how the parcels would be developed to coordinate the dreamt-of urban utopia. Here’s an article that gives the back story on that.

Some parts of the Playa Vista development are attractive and inviting. (Others, not so much.)

The walking tour was educational. I enjoyed learning about the difference between “starchitects” and “marketects”, and came to appreciate the thought that goes into (or sadly sometimes doesn’t go into) the placement of garage entrances, mechanical vents, parking spaces, and doorways. Playa Vista has many things done right, and sadly, several not so great. At the end of our tour, the group was eager to head on back to Culver City for the final screenings and awards for the film festival. A friend and I were both desperate for a beverage and snack, so we dashed into the nearby Coffee Bean for a quick fix. I had a cafe au lait with hazelnut that I was able to drink during the return trip.

Total mileage: 12.1

Bike: Gazelle Tour Populaire

Destination: Coffee Bean, Playa Vista

Beverage: Cafe au Lait with Hazelnut

Women + Bikes + Coffee

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Saturday morning a group of six women met for coffee, but this was no ordinary coffee gathering. We knew this was the beginning of something. What is it about women who share a love of bicycling that makes it feel so special when we get together?

I have loved following the facebook group “Women & Bicycles”, created and curated by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). The WABA group now has 4,781 members and recently changed its name to “Women & Bicycles: Washington DC Region”, perhaps to clarify that it is focused on the DC region. But I am not the only outsider who follows the group. Their discussions of all things bike-related, in the confines of a group open only to women, are the best. I get great tips from that group on gear, city cycling etiquette, you  name it. I also like staying in the know on what’s happening in DC, as sometimes they have an event going on while I will be out there on business. As I’ve shared in my coffeeneuring posts on this blog, I have attended a few of their coffee meet ups.

Which brings me back to Saturday. It started when I saw a post in the Women & Bicycles group from someone who was going to be in Los Angeles on business for a couple of weeks, and she was wondering if anyone knew of a coffee group meet up while she was here. I told her we don’t have a coffee group, but we can start one now! I knew just the place to propose for our first coffee meeting.

I have been following a new coffee shop on social media for the last several months, and have wanted to pay them a visit. It’s called The Wheelhouse, and all I really knew about it was that it was a coffee shop in the arts district and had a bike theme to it, which of course was plenty to motivate me to check it out. So I created a facebook event for 9am Saturday at The Wheelhouse and started inviting women. I also contacted The Wheelhouse to let them know we would be meeting there and got a wonderful reply from Tami, the owner.

I rode the 5 miles to The Wheelhouse early, wanting to be sure I got there well ahead of the others so I could check the place out. It really is in the warehouse zone. The address is on 6th street, just east of the fashion district and produce row, but you can’t see it from the street. There are signs to guide you, but it’s sort of in the middle between 6th & Factory Place, maybe a little closer to Factory Place. Of course, there’s bike parking out front, so I locked up my Gazelle and walked up the ramp to go inside.

Parking for bikes (& cars) in front of The Wheelhouse. A ramp makes it easy to bring your bike inside.

What a treat for the eyes! The shop is beautifully designed. It really is a coffee shop and a bike shop, as in: you can buy a bike, buy gear for your bike, and/or get your bike serviced, and have coffee while you wait. There’s a sign by the repair stand offering an espresso & flat repair for $20 – great idea.

Lots of fun & colorful bike gear, for every kind of rider.

The space is wonderfully inviting. There are two large tables that are great for groups and/or for folks needing a work space. There’s a more casual & comfy couch area, a less comfy but cool-looking seating area, and some tables and chairs out on the deck. Another design element I loved was the menu board, which looks like an old-fashioned train depot schedule. The best design feature of all, though, is the variety of bikes, all painted black, but ranging from cruiser to road bike to folder, emerging from a concrete wall.

The menu reads like a train schedule.

I ordered a mocha and an almond croissant, both of which turned out to be excellent, and sat at one of the big tables, where Tami was working at her laptop. I learned that Tami is responsible for all of these beautiful design features – interior design being one of her specialties. I enjoyed hearing her story: Tami came to L.A. from Chicago, where she lived car-free and enjoyed getting around by walking. She initially settled in West Hollywood, which she loved for its walkability and how, being out on the sidewalks, made you feel so much more like a part of the city. Later, when she met Chase, now her husband and business partner, he was in downtown L.A., and found biking worked well for him there. When she and Chase met, she was very into coffee, and he was very into bikes, and they shared their passions with each other. He helped her find her way to get comfortable biking in L.A., and fixed up a vintage bike for her, which bike is now on display in the shop.

Tami’s vintage bike, on display in the shop.

Tami noticed that the local bike shops were not very oriented to city riding. Instead, the bike culture here seemed focused on road biking out on places like PCH and Mulholland. Tami told me the shop reflects their combined passions for coffee and bicycles, and a mission to foster community and to inspire people who might not relate to the road bikes or mountain bikes on display at other bike shops. This is a place where the bike-curious can discover a bike that expresses their own personal style. In this collaboration, her husband, she says, is the bike person, and she is the coffee & pastries person.

Tami Spenst co-owns The Wheelhouse with her husband, Chase. Her interior design skills are on display.

Soon enough, other women began to arrive. I knew all too well that the flake-rate can be high for an event like this, where group camaraderie has yet to be created, so it was a relief to see that it wouldn’t be just me. We ended up with six women total, two of whom were visiting from DC and are regulars of the coffee club out there. It turns out our second DC guest happens to be from the L.A. area, and just happened to be in town this weekend for her sister’s birthday celebration.

Jennifer showed up beautifully styled in her Bikie Girl Bloomers Hitchable Flounce Skirt & Crazy Daisy Pettipants.
Liz & Kristi, representing the DC Women & Bicycles Coffee Club.

We chatted for two hours, discovering common interests and sharing news of upcoming events. It became quite evident that this could not be just a one-off thing. We knew right then and there that (1) we need to have more coffee gatherings, and (2) we need to form our own Women & Bicycles group for Los Angeles. That very day, I started our new facebook group and invited all the local bicycling women I could think of.

Women & Bicycles Coffee Club, L.A. style.

Some of us are planning to participate in the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition‘s next Sunday Funday ride on May 1st in Northeast L.A. Care to join us? Check out our group page here (you can request to join – we will keep the group closed to ensure it stays a women’s group).

Coffeeneuring: The Afterglow

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This last week, the most exciting piece of mail arrived: my official Coffeeneuring patch! It arrived straight from the Chief Coffeeneur herself, all official-like and very classy. I do not yet have the slightest idea where to place it for its long-term home, but I knew I had to snap a photo. I laid my new patch against the solid brown skirt I was wearing, and realized that it coordinates quite nicely with the Blue Bandana Bloomers I had underneath. Naturally, I arranged it all to capture the pleasing compilation of complementary pieces. These things make me happy.

Lest anyone be misled into believing that I’m only one to go coffeeneuring when in the midst of official coffeeneuring season, be it known that I did in fact go on just such an excursion this past Sunday. My youngest son, who just turned 21, was in town for a week before returning to college for his Spring semester. He likes to bike, so long as it’s not too far nor too hilly. He has a Public bike that is well-suited for city transportation, and he has no interest in road bikes, wearing special spandex bike clothing, or exerting himself to take on a grueling challenge. I proposed a loop around Silver Lake, followed by breakfast at one of the many dining establishments that can be found along Sunset Boulevard.

I decided to take my Gazelle out for this ride, to better match the style of bike my son was riding. I’ve done the Silver Lake loop a few times, but only on my road bike. I knew we could avoid the fun hill on Hyperion, but I wasn’t sure if we would encounter any other hills that might be a bit much for this occasion. After all, Silver Lake is a very hilly area. As it turned out, we had just enough hill action to give us a little exercise, but nothing too discouraging or beyond the capabilities of our 7-8 speed bikes.

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We were able to lock our bikes together around a signpost right in front of the outside seating area at Sunset Junction Coffee Shop. We were very happy with this choice of dining establishment. Noah had the Breakfast Quesadilla, and I had the Sunset omelet. I don’t usually go for omelets, but this one begged me to try it: bacon, sausage, mushrooms, cheese, and avocado. The bonus treat was the biscuit that came with it: one of the best I’ve had.

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All in all, it was an excellent excursion. Noah was very pleased with the length and mild hills of our 14 mile route. We had perfect cycling weather (mid-sixties, light clouds). We had bike lanes and/or bike-friendly streets the entire way. And I got to spend some quality time with my son!

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We may not have burned as many calories as we consumed, but we burned more than if we hadn’t done the ride at all!

And I enjoyed breezing through Silver Lake in one of my favorite styles from the Bikie Girl Bloomers collection:

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Hitchable Flounce Skirt in black, fluttering over my Red Hot Aqua Dot Bloomers, with matching Jambu Mary Janes on my feet.

Coffeeneuring 2015: The Recap

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This is the quick and dirty summary of my first experience of the Coffeeneuring Challenge. Listed below are the seven qualifying rides of my series. In addition to meeting the rule of going to a different coffee shop for each ride, I made a point of going to a different part of the Los Angeles area (or even farther in the case of #4). I also added a theme within the theme: wearing a different pair of Bikie Girl Bloomers for each ride.

What’s with the bloomers, you ask? This is a line of cute, comfortable, lightweight bike shorts I started once I realized this would be the perfect thing to wear under skirts and dresses when biking around town. If you are curious to try them out, please help yourself to a discount as my expression of love to all fans of coffeeneuring (voyeurs included). Use the code COFFEENEUR at check out and get 15% off any purchase of $50 or more at the Bikie Girl Bloomers online store.

Oh, yes, back to my listing of the official coffeeneuring rides. I’ve linked to the corresponding blog posts (click on the date) to make it easy to get more detail on each ride.

  1. October 4, 2015: Cognoscenti Coffee, Culver City, California
    • Distance: 12.85 miles
    • Beverage/eats: Cortado & almond croissant
    • Bike-friendliness: Good
    • Bloomers: Crazy Daisy
  2. October 11, 2015: Intelligentsia Coffee, Silver Lake, California
    • Distance: 13.9 miles
    • Beverages/eats: Kairebu single brew & croissant
    • Bike-friendliness: Excellent (discount for cyclists)
    • Bloomers: Blue Denim
  3. October 18, 2015: Verve Coffee, Downtown Los Angeles, California
    • Distance: 17.7 miles
    • Beverages/eats: mocha & almond croissant
    • Bike-friendliness: Good
    • Bloomers: Red Hot Aqua Dot
  4. October 24, 2015: PAUL, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
  5. November 1, 2015: Espresso Cielo, Santa Monica, California
    • Distance: 27.6 miles
    • Beverage/eats: Cafe au lait
    • Bike-friendliness: Good (sorta; crappy bike parking, but invited me to bring the bike inside)
    • Bloomers: Blue Bandana
  6. November 8, 2015: Coffee Commissary, Burbank, California
    • Distance: 41.77 miles
    •  Beverage/eats: Vanilla Latte & Croque Madame
    • Bike-friendliness: Not So Much
    • Bloomers: Wick-It Black
  7. November 14, 2015: Blue Bottle Coffee, Mid-City, Los Angeles, California
    • Distance: 10.9 miles
    • Beverage/eats: Cappuccino & Ginger Molasses cookie
    • Bike-friendliness: Good
    • Bloomers: Hot Pink Zebra Stripes
  8. (Unofficial Bonus Ride – on a weekday) October 21, 2015: Compass Coffee, Washington, D.C.
    • Distance: 5.6 miles
    • Beverage/eats: Cafe au lait & almond croissant
    • Bike-friendliness: Very Good
    • Bloomers: Pinka Dot Black

       

Coffeeneuring the Seventh: Blue Bottle Coffee in Mid-City

Posted on by bikiegirl

Official Coffeeneur Log

Entry No. 7

Date: November 14, 2015

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Destination: Blue Bottle Coffee, Los Angeles, California

Weather conditions: Sunny & mild on the outbound leg; cool and dark on the return

Distance (complete trip): 10.9 miles

Qualifying Beverage & Bonus edible(s): Cappuccino & Ginger Molasses Cookie (the latter served in a coffee filter)

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Bloomers of the day: Hot Pink Zebra Stripes (my route for this final ride may have been tame, but not my bloomers!)

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Bike-friendliness: Accessible via bike-friendly streets. Sidewalk bike parking visible from both indoor and outdoor table areas. I had brought along my heavy duty locks, knowing that my bike could be vulnerable in this area, but visibility of the spot I got made me feel the extra lock was unnecessary.

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Route map:

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Notes:

As much as I would have loved to go out with an epic journey, my full schedule for the weekend just would not allow for a lengthy ride. I decided instead that it would be good to select a coffee shop in a part of town not yet covered in my prior coffeeneuring outings. I rather like that I have covered a fairly decent selection of places in different parts of the Los Angeles area, and it would be a shame not to include something from the mid-city area.

I was only going 5 miles from my home, so I made sure to at least vary my outbound and return routes, forming a loop of sorts. I started out heading west out of Country Club Park, then north into Hancock Park. This is a route I take for my morning commute. It’s a longer way to get to work, and well worth it because the streets are wide, and the big historic homes are beautiful.

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My route this late afternoon differed from my commute in that I turned west instead of east when I got to 4th Street. This is a designated bike route that was supposed to be L.A.’s first bicycle boulevard/greenway. Although the street improvements have yet to be installed, and the pavement is in poor shape in many places, it does have sharrows and gets lots of bicycle traffic, without too many motorists. At 4th & La Brea, I snapped this photo of the statue of Lenin’s Head that is always a source of mild amusement.

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I continued on past Park La Brea, crossing Fairfax, and then heading north into the area between the Fairfax Farmer’s Market and Beverly Center, to the corner of Beverly & Sweetzer.

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Blue Bottle Coffee is described on Google Maps as a “hip café for gourmet coffee and pastries”, which seems in line with the vibe of the place. The counter area is quite designer-esque.

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And near the entrance is an impressive display of gadgetry for the connoisseur seeking to perfect their home brew.

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I like asking the barista what drink they recommend for someone trying their coffee shop for the first time. This one suggested I try the cappuccino, so I did. I also couldn’t resist trying one of the ginger molasses cookies on display.

Even the cup and saucer were artsy-cute. And my cookie was presented to me inside a coffee filter. Both the cappuccino and the cookie were delicious.

It was dark when I left, and I went further north one block to take Oakwood back east, all the way to McCadden, where I went south until I got back to the good ole 4th Street bikeway, which took me back into my neighborhood. The wide streets of Hancock Park are also pleasant for night riding. It’s dark, but there’s little traffic and the wide streets make it easy for what cars do come along to pass safely.

I arrived home feeling both a little sad, and a little proud, about completing my first coffeeneuring challenge. I look forward to doing it again next year.

Coffeeneuring the Sixth: Tour de Burbank

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Official Coffeeneur Log

Entry No. 6

Date: November 8, 2015

Destination: Coffee Commissary, Burbank, California

Weather conditions: Sunny & mild (In November?!)

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Distance (complete trip): 41.7 miles

Qualifying Beverage & Bonus edible(s): Vanilla Latte (excellent) & Croque Madame (absolutely fantastic)

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Bloomers of the day: Wick-It Black (under a nuu-muu dress, with my knitting in my lap)

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Bike-friendliness: Not so much. No bike racks on sidewalk or in parking lot. There was one awkwardly placed parking signpost, to which I was able to lock my bike.

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Route map:

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Notes:

I was curious to try Coffee Commissary, and its location in Burbank had the appeal of taking me into a different part of the L.A. area. Its proximity to Griffith Park made it tempting to simply do one of my routine Sunday morning rides up to Griffith Observatory (an excellent hill climb for keeping one’s ticker in shape with bonus views of the city), and then just head over to Burbank afterward. But a big part of what drew me to coffeeneuring was exploring new places, and feeling a touch of adventure, so I couldn’t go with that plan. Besides, I felt a craving for a little more distance for this weekend’s ride. I’d had to put in a lot of extra hours at work this week, and I needed a substantial ride to work off all that stress.

I consulted my handy guidebook, Cycling Los Angeles, which has 85 bike rides throughout the L.A. area. Wouldn’t you know it, Ride #36 is the “Burbank Bikeway”. The suggested route is a 14.8 mile loop that tours the periphery of Burbank, mostly on bike-friendly streets that go past parks and, most appealing to me, along the foothills below the Verdugo Mountains. Now I had my substance, and a convincing reason to bike to a Burbank coffee shop.

To turn it into a complete trip, I tried to work out a blend of Google Maps’ directions for getting from my house to Coffee Commissary, which is near the southern edge of the Burbank loop, combined with the route map from my book. Unfortunately, the book does not provide a convenient cue sheet, so I made a photocopy of the route map, and had to stop frequently to figure out where my next turn should be. It more or less worked, but I did not quite follow the book’s route the whole way. It was just too hard to keep going back to the map, as I could only read it if I stopped and pulled it off my handlebars to really study it.

First, I had to get onto the LA River Bike Path. It was rather disconcerting to find the gate closed and taped off when I got to the entrance. There were no signs explaining what was going on, so instead of entering at the gate and using this cool bike bridge to cross the many lanes of insane car traffic, I waited at a light to cross the street at the surface, and found an entrance to the bike path that was easy to use, despite being sort of taped off as well.

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Turned out there was a half marathon in progress on the bike path. I only had to proceed with caution, dodging a few runners who were not looking at the path in front of them, and before I knew it, I was already turning onto Riverside Drive, entering Burbank. Riverside Drive has a nice bike lane, and is well-designed for sharing the road, not just between cars and bikes, but also with horses.

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They even have special buttons at horserider height to activate a crossing light.

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As you approach each intersection, the bike lane splits at a median, with a separated horse lane to the right.

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I turned off Riverside, and rode past some studios. Lots of TV shows are made in Burbank.

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Mostly I rode along quiet, residential streets, lined with unimaginative post-war tract homes. But then I saw this:

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It appeared to be a fenced-off empty lot that someone had made a little more interesting. Many who live in this area work in the entertainment industry, so perhaps this is how these creative types deal with properties that would otherwise be just an eyesore.

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I love rolling hills on a bike ride, and I was pleased that my route took me into and along the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains.

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There were bike-friendly roads throughout this part of the ride. Then I rode back toward downtown Burbank, at which point I switched to using Google maps to guide me to Coffee Commissary. That got odd when the Google kept telling me to turn left off of Front Street in an area that had absolutely no cross streets. Finally, I realized that the Google wanted me to go up this crazy ramp to a bridge overhead.

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It was a little dicey when I got to the top, as I had to ride the sidewalk, which at the base of the bridge, fed me straight into oncoming motor traffic. I turned off that scary-busy street at my first opportunity, and within a few blocks, I’d made it to Coffee Commissary, where I enjoyed my vanilla latte and lunched on the best Croque Madame of my life. I took my time, filled my water bottle and hydrated while knitting on the lovely back patio. The patio space is attractive and allowed me to keep a close eye on my bike, which was squeezed into position between a bollard and a parking sign, the latter being the only structure I could find to which I could lock my bike.

After a delightful repast, I made my way back to Riverside Drive, and enjoyed seeing a side of Griffith Park I never see from the L.A. side.

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Soon I was back on the LA River Bike Path. Of course, in Los Angeles, we line our rivers with concrete:

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But that doesn’t mean we don’t get any wild life. These ducks seemed to be having a good time.

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The downtown skyline was visible in the distance as I rode south.

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My entire journey was five hours. The San Fernando Valley doesn’t usually interest me much, but to explore it by bike was fun. It made for a most satisfying ride!

 

Coffeeneuring the Fifth: Day of the Dead in Santa Monica

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Official Coffeeneur Log

Entry No. 5

Date: November 1, 2015

Destination: Espresso Cielo, Santa Monica, California

Espresso Cielo

Distance (complete trip): 27.6 miles

Qualifying Beverage & Bonus edible(s): Café au Lait

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Bloomers of the day: Blue Bandana (seemed like a good fit for Day of the Dead)

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Bike-friendliness: Not so much. Very bike-friendly area, but this particular shop only has a silly non-usable bike rack out front. It’s more of a style piece, as it looks cute, but you can barely get a front tire into it because it’s too close to the wall. And if you do park a bike there, your bike will block the sidewalk. Inside, however, the woman at the counter told me that most cyclists just bring their bikes inside.

Not a bike rack

Route map:

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Notes:

For this week’s ride, I decided to work a coffee shop into a trip to Santa Monica for a 6:00 p.m. remembrance vespers service being held at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church for Day of the Dead. We had just turned our clocks back, so it really was an evening ride. It was already twilight when I began, despite leaving the house at 4:15 p.m. It takes about an hour to bike to Santa Monica from my home in the Koreatown area, so I had to give myself plenty of time. I’m not one to drink coffee in the evening, but it was rather exciting to break from the usual morning approach to coffeeneuring. I chose Espresso Cielo because it was just under 3 miles from there to the UU church, and an easy route from my house.

I took the Venice Boulevard bike lane for 9 miles, all the way from Mid-City to Abbot Kinney.

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In the last year, they added a huge buffer zone by removing a traffic lane from the section of Venice Boulevard between Crenshaw & West, where motorists tend to drive 15-20 MPH over the posted 35 MPH speed limit. That extra space makes it feel much safer than it used to. Then all of a sudden it gets a little weird in the zone where many cars are angling over to veer right onto San Vicente. The most dangerous stretch is the part where the bike lane just isn’t, and you really have to watch out for fast-moving cars crossing over to the right lane.

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But that’s just a brief part. It’s still nice to have a long stretch with a bike lane for getting over to the west side. You can take this all the way to the beach. I turned off in Venice at Abbot Kinney, though, and was agape at all the trendy shops, restaurants and bars that line this cute street that angles over from Venice Boulevard to Main Street. I realized as I rode into Santa Monica that it has been a couple of years since the last time I rode a bike on Main Street, and the bike infrastructure has really grown, as has the number of cyclists you see here. That said, when I got to Espresso Cielo, realistic bike parking did not seem to be available. Instead, I found the odd little bike rack that isn’t really a bike rack out front. I moved the bike inside after ordering my cafe au lait.

Not a bike rack

The cafe au lait was dreamy in a milky-good sort of way (I get disappointed when a cafe au lait tastes like someone thought they should hold back on the milk – it’s all about the lait), which made it nice for an evening hot beverage. I had to gulp it down rather quickly, though, as I needed to hurry on my way in order to catch the 6 pm vespers service.

I managed to get there at 6:01, so by the time I’d parked my bike and went inside, the music had begun. It was a a double choir, the combined choirs of the UU Community Church of Santa Monica and First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles in Koreatown (I joined the Santa Monica church in 1998, when I was living on the west side, and then joined First Church after moving to Koreatown, so I’ve got ties to both places).

They sang Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in C-minor, interspersed with some prayers, readings, candle-lighting, and most moving of all, the singing of names. We had been invited to provide names of loved ones who died during the past year. A few soloists stepped forward and took turns singing the names. After each person’s name was sung, the choir followed with “you are not forgotten”. Just at the point when I started kicking myself for not remembering to submit my brother’s name, the soloist sang: “Craig Canady” and the choir sang “you are not forgotten”. It was beautiful. The tears felt beautiful rolling down my cheeks. Maybe I had remembered to submit his name. I know it would mean a lot to Craig to be remembered like this. Exactly 11 months after he died. Exactly two weeks before his birthday. Craig would have noted those details.

It was after the singing of the names that we had our opportunity to step up and light candles to acknowledge our memories, our grief. I wanted to light so many candles, as there have been so many deaths to grieve. I lit three, one for each of the three I’ve been grieving the most this past year: my brother Craig, my first cousin once removed Bill, and my friend Adriane. I really should have brought more tissues with me.

Emerging from that beautiful service, after having a good cry, it felt great to be in the fresh night air, feeling the breeze as I biked my way back home. I took a different way back, heading straight east from the church into Westwood, then Century City, through Beverly Hills, into Mid-City and home again. How lucky I am to be not just alive, but really living, breathing, feeling my body move as I pedal my way through my city.

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Craig, in his youth, in his element (at a family gathering). He was always the best at bringing family together, staying in touch with each of us, no matter where we were, and remembering all the details of what happened on what date.

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Cuz Bill, in his later years, but still plenty spunky. He taught me to write limericks. He exemplified a tasteful classiness, punctuated by a clever wit.

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Adriane, standing next to her favorite painting. She would rarely allow herself to be photographed. I got away with it this time only because I wanted a picture of her in the cowl I had knitted for her.

Coffeeneuring the Fourth: The Georgetown Quest

Posted on by bikiegirl

Official Coffeeneur Log

Entry No. 4

Date: October 24, 2015

Destination: Baked and Wired, Starbucks, PAUL, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

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Distance (complete trip): 6.4 miles (includes some walking)

Qualifying Beverage & Bonus edible(s): Hot chocolate & praline croissant (both phenomenally good!)

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Bloomers of the day: Purple/blue leopard print

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Bike-friendliness: General area has lots of bike parking, and is easy to access by bike, but nothing particularly bike-oriented about this shop. There is a Captial Bikeshare docking station a very short walk down the street.

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Route map:

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Notes:

A gorgeous morning, albeit a bit cold! Had to stop shortly after I began to adjust the seat of my Capital Bikeshare bike. It continued to give me trouble, so I stopped at the next docking station I passed and switched for another bike. I started out heading south out of Adams Morgan, hoping to make my route a loop.

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I enjoyed riding in the protected bike lane on M Street, and making use of the bike box.

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I parked the bike at a docking station that appeared to be the closest one to Baked and Wired, my intended destination. It’s tucked along near the canal, making for a beautiful walk to get there.

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Alas, I found the highly-recommended Baked and Wired, but only to see an incredibly long line inside. I just didn’t have the time for that kind of wait!

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I was sure that couldn’t be the only coffee shop in the area, so I started walking farther along the canal.

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Walked along the main drag through Georgetown, and considered breaking my no-coffeeneuring-to-Starbucks rule, but this place also had a super long line!

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So I enjoyed the architecture and activity along the way.

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I love the old Farmers and Merchants Bank buildings, like this one:

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I decided to turn down a street that would take me to a bikeshare station, thinking I would abandon my coffeeneuring effort for today, and just head on back to Woodley Park. That’s when I was delighted to discover PAUL. Charming on the outside, and full of delectable treats on the inside.

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After finishing my hot chocolate & croissant, I got myself a bike and rode down to the waterfront. It was absolutely gorgeous at the Waterfront Park.

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The colors were spectacular.

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I had some trouble finding my way onto the Rock Creek Bike Trail, so stopped to review map details on my phone. Then I looked up, and realized that I recognize this building:

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Some passersby helped me find my way to the trail entrance I’d missed. No pics from the ride on the trail, but it was so very beautiful. At the end of my ride, I had to climb up to Calvert Street on that beast of a bikeshare bike. I had figured I could always hop off and walk it up the hill if it was too hard, but I did it! That felt good.

Rulebreaker Ride in the Nation’s Captiol

Posted on by bikiegirl

UNOfficial Coffeeneur Log

Entry No. 3.5 (Bonus Ride: Doesn’t count toward the official coffeeneur challenge)

Date: October 21, 2015 (A Wednesday, outside the rules!)

Destination: Compass Coffee, Shaw, Washington, D.C.

Distance (complete trip): 5.6 miles (plus about a mile of walking)

Qualifying Beverage & Bonus edible(s): Cafe au lait & Almond croissant

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Bloomers of the day: Pink dots on black

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Bike-friendliness: Large bike rack right in front and visible from seating area. Within a block or two of Capital Bikeshare stations (in two different directions).

Route map:

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I left the app in tracking mode while wandering on foot between miles 2.5 and 4+, as I searched for an available bikeshare bike. Note the squiggly lines during the walking time.

Notes:

Why the rulebreaker ride? Well, I was in Washington, D.C., for a conference from Wednesday through Saturday this particular week. I often travel to D.C. for meetings, and I love having an excuse to get around using Capital Bikeshare. I always like exploring cities I visit by bike, and there’s something extra special about doing so in our nation’s capitol. I had been hoping to be able to get a coffeeneuring ride in on Saturday, but knew it was dicey, given that I did not want to miss the program scheduled for 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, and it would be hard to get up super early after an evening of receptions the night before. Wednesday I did not have to be anywhere until 10:00, so I had already begun planning a coffeeneuring trip when I saw on Facebook that the Women & Bicycles group was planning a coffee meetup that very same Wednesday morning! (That’s Ashley, who organized the meetup, in the photo above.) Last year, I had joined one of the group’s Wednesday morning meetups, even braving some heavy rain to get there. This time the weather was looking quite good, and the destination very doable from where I was staying.

I walked from my Woodley Park B&B to the Capital Bikeshare station at the Duke Ellington Bridge on Calvert. This pic was taken looking back at the bridge as I headed in to Adams Morgan.

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I very much enjoyed this opportunity to see the Fall colors – a treat for this L.A. gal.

It was easy enough to stop and park the bike at a docking station near my destination:

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But when I came back to this station, and another a couple blocks away, and another a several more blocks away, I kept finding this:

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Note to self: it can be hard to find a bike at 9 a.m. on a weekday! I also learned to ditch the bikeshare app I had been using, as it had seriously misled me about the availability of bikes at these stations, and so I got a new app called spotcycle. I like that this one can be used in a variety of cities, and it gave me good info as I continued my quest for a bike. For example, spotcycle said no bikes were available at this station, and I thought maybe it was wrong, but alas, both bikes at this one were out of order (note one had its saddle turned around – a signal that the bike needs service):

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Eventually, I found a bike on Massachusetts Ave, which wouldn’t have been so bad, had I walked straight there instead of meandering all over. I did make it back to Woodley Park, but ended up being late for my 10:00 meeting.

Of course, I could have made it on time, had I simply given up and taken Metro back, but I can be stubborn that way. Besides, being late for that particular meeting wasn’t a serious problem, and I enjoyed my little quest.

Coffeeneuring the Third: Verve in Downtown L.A./CicLAvia

Posted on by bikiegirl

Official Coffeeneur Log

Entry No. 3

Date: October 18, 2015

Weather conditions: Drizzle turned to sunny & mild

Destination: Verve Coffee, Downtown Los Angeles, California

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Distance (complete trip): 17.7 miles

Qualifying Beverage & Bonus Edible(s): Mocha & Almond Croissant

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Bike-friendliness: Bike rack right in front of sidewalk adjacent tables, and visible from indoor seating areas. Not enough racks for all the bikes there that day, but many were simply parking their bikes at the sidewalk tables.

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Bloomers of the day: Red Hot Aqua Dot

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Route map:

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Notes:

This trip coincided with CicLAvia, an open streets event L.A. has 3-4 times a year, each time featuring a different part of the Los Angeles area. From 9 am to 4 pm, several miles of streets are closed to cars, and open to bicyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders, strollers, and other non-motorized conveyances. This particular one was celebrating the 5th anniversary of the very first CicLAvia (held on 10/10/10), and so featured the “Heart of L.A.” route, extending from downtown in three directions. I started at the MacArthur Park leg. But first I attended the Sunday morning service at my church, First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, which happens to be in the MacArthur Park area. This pic shows the banner out front that proclaims, in both Spanish and English, that no human being is illegal.

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I was delighted to see my friend Alice had come to church ready for CicLAvia, wearing her Crazy Daisy Bloomers!

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In the foreground, you can see the bike rodeo set up for little kids in the street adjacent to MacArthur Park.

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The downtown skyscrapers are visible in the distance.

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The lake at MacArthur Park is the site of a public & civic art project called that features colorful spheres floating. You can see the fountain shooting up in the center of the lake.

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CicLAvia attracts thousands of Angelenos, mostly on bikes, so I had plenty of company for my ride.

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Getting to Verve required a very short detour from the CicLAvia route. I headed south a couple of blocks on Spring Street so I could explore this Santa Cruz based coffee shop that is featured on lists of best coffee shops in L.A. After waiting in line, I placed my order with the too-hip-for-newcomers barista, and checked out the laptop crowd seated inside.

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I then got back on my bike, and explored the rest of the CicLAvia route. After passing by City Hall, I headed into Little Tokyo, where I noticed an impressive group of cruisers had parked.

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When I stopped to snap that photo, along came Santa Claus.

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The route then continued over the 4th street bridge, a popular photo op, and into Boyle Heights.

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There are so many beautiful murals in the Arts District, I had to nab a selfie at one of my favs.

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I then passed by City Hall and Grand Park.

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I always run into someone I know at CicLAvia, and this time I ran into Kristin, who lives in San Francisco and was in town for a wedding. Kristin makes bike-themed films that she films by bike: The Spinster and Velo Visionaries – Chris Carlsson are two that I have seen. (She’s quite good!)

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The third and final leg of the route went into Chinatown.

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I ended my experience of the CicLAvia route back at the MacArthur Park hub.

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By this time, the graffiti truck (which makes an appearance at each event) had been rather thoroughly covered.

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