Bicycle Fixation Weblog
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11/20/2006: "In the Night"
Blazing hot days in this odd Los Angeles autumn, followed by clear, warm nights of dry air flowing easily over skin as you pedal homeward...tonight I was gratified to encounter at least ten other bicycle commuters on my way home, all sorts of folk: from restaurant workers grinding home on undersized department-store mountain bikes, to a couple of fellows sailing along bolt upright on hybrids, to the guy with the full-on touring bike...even another fixie rider, grinning hugely as he he held a trackstand at a red light. Almost every one of them running headlamps and taillamps and carrying knapsacks or messenger bags or panniers.It's not many, it's not enough, but compared to just a few years ago it's a grand improvement. Every week I see a few more as I ride my different routes home, or wander about taking care of chores.
Bikes filtering through traffic jams, crowded buses bunched up at the curbs, symphonies of knees and elbows swelling out of the Metro stations...slowly, we're starting to make sense. This species might just grow up, after all.
