California Dreamin'

I've mentioned a few times in the last couple of weeks that I'm about to go on a trip.  Well, it's true.  I'm about to go on a trip.  On Monday, James and I will be travelling halfway around the world (or thereabouts) to Los Angeles on a mixed business and pleasure trip.  We'll actually be spending the first few days in San Diego, as we're flying into LAX but then immediately taking the Pacific Surfliner train down the coast, almost all the way to Mexico.  James is speaking at a conference in San Diego and I'm going to be doing some business development and having some precious R&R time.  Then we're back to LA to stay with my Uncle Simon (he of washing machine motorbike fame) while James attends another conference and I spend some time with my colleagues in our LA office, potentially interspersed with a little Disney magic.

One of the things I want to do while I'm in Southern California is see how many people cycle and also how they cycle - I'm anticipating that they're not going to be commuting along the 6-lane highways of LA in rush hour, but do people just see cycling as a leisure activity, or do they actually use bikes to get around?  While the cities themselves are as frantic as any others, they are also very close to some of the most beautiful national and state parks around - which are also reasonably mountainous, which I guess might put some people off!

I've equipped myself with a couple of guide books for the trip and grew slightly concerned when my Eyewitness Travel "Top 10 San Diego" didn't have cycling in its top ten ways to get around San Diego.  However, on a closer inspection, it transpires that cycling is the number one outdoor activity, largely on the grounds that there are over 300 miles of bikeways and the city is described as "very cycle-friendly".  In fact, the book has details of a bike ride in the district of Coronado, and the ferry to Coronado is only for people and bicycles.

The other book, Lonely Planet's "Coastal California" reinforces San Diego's cycle-friendliness with a listing for a cycle tour company and, to my surprise, goes even further, with references to several other cycle routes, including the 22 mile South Bay Bicycle Trail in LA, which parallels the famous Santa Monica and Venice beaches, and listings for cycle hire shops and a section on the rules of the road for cyclists (i.e. you can cycle pretty much anywhere except where it says you can't, even on freeways).

It's a good job, if I am going to do any cycling in the US, that I know where the hire shops are, of course, as I won't be taking the Beeblemobile with me.  I could, though.  I was very surprised to learn that Virgin Atlantic permit passengers to transport sports equipment for free, in addition to normal baggage allowances, so long as the equipment doesn't weigh more than 23kg.  I could also take the bike on the Surfliner in a special cycle rack they have on the train.

All in all, it sounds like where I'm going could be great for a cyclist - will the land of the car prove to also be the land of the bike?