ask and you shall receive

well, with the cost of gas being a million dollars a gallon. my need to get a bit more exercise in with this crazy summer school schedule, i broke my bike out of storage and decided to ride it to school.

however, school is 5.5 miles away and the "good" roads have fairly high speed limits. speed limits that scare me with my limited knowledge of commuter biking and i need to avoid them.

so i started looking around on the internet today and found a website, Long Beach Cyclists they seemed fairly "in the know" about LB, so I emailed and asked if they would find me a route. If you click on the link above you'll see he found me three! I then confessed my utter and undying love to him.

So I've decided on this option. I will ride the 1/3 mile to the bus stop, pay 90 cents and take the bus directly to school. I then will take the leisurely route home on the bike path along the bay and LA river. It makes it a 10-mile trip home, but it is much safer and prettier than going on all those grungy streets, plus 10 miles is a good workout when I haul all my stuff with me. I don't have to worry about being sweaty or smelling when I get to school (well anymore than usual.) So horray for LB cyclists.

I also found a really cool thing in LB for cyclists called bike station. It's a non-profit bike shop, storage facility, cycling & commuting class place. I haven't been there yet, but I can't wait to go. Apparently if they know a part is cheaper somewhere else, they'll tell you. They also teach you how to fix your own bike, how cool!

I am really hoping that I get into this biking thing. It's sooo good for the environment and it's just healthy for me to be outside and exercising. It will help with my newfound crazy anxiety...sigh.. well, you win some, you lose some.