I first learned to ride a bike at the ripe old age of 16.  Up to that point, I had been to afraid to try, as I didn't like the thought of falling off or getting scraped up or bruised.  But once my uncle had me try out one of the many bikes he kept in his yard for all of us kids to ride, showed me how to start, balance, and stop, I was hooked.  Biking lets you travel faster than walking, obviously, but you don't travel so fast that you don't have time to observe the world around you, like you do in a car.  It's being outdoors, in motion, and still being able to love nature.  It is almost the best of both worlds, if you ask bike enthusiasts.

I had thought about getting a bike for years when I finally purchased one a couple of years ago.   My enthusiasm for the purchase was renewed by going on a long bike ride with friends (on a borrowed bike) along the beach on a path that took us from the industrial southern end at Dockweiler Beach to the beautiful Ports at Marina Del Rey.  Riding a bike along the beach path is the ultimate California dream, and the warm spring day on which we completed the round trip inspired me to plan my purchase for sometime in the near future. I like walking (when it's not my ONLY mode of transportation), and being outside, but I also needed a form of non-weight bearing exercise since I had completely hosed my knees and lower back in separate incidents.  Even after I started doing research, asking friends for recommendations, and doing multiple internet searches looking for the perfect bicycle, it still took me a couple of years to purchase one.  Where money is concerned, I always at least TRY to be careful with large purchase, although I don't always succeed.  Money was part of it, but there are always other considerations.

First and foremost, where was I going to put it?  Although at the time I was still sharing a garage with a neighbor, the key was missing somewhere in our house, and I had yet to receive another key.  My daughter's bike was in the garage, and we could only get it when the neighbor went into the garage, which was inconvenient for my daughter because that meant she could only ride her bike when we got lucky enough to catch the neighbor.  I wanted to ride for exercise, which meant riding on a regular basis, not on whims.  If I was riding on a regular basis, when exactly was I going to do that?  There were some weeks when both my and the kids church activities ate whatever time I had after I left work, and weekends tend to live on busy.

Even with all of my concerns, I found my bike, the white beach cruiser above, within the price range I was looking for from a re-seller on Craigslist, made the purchase, found some strange way to cram the bike into my then small car, and brought it home.  I then spent a little more money with the bike shop a few blocks away making adjustments and repairs to the bike so that I could ride it without being in pain.  Then I sat there and stared at it for a few month, riding only occasionally.  Being a big woman, I was entirely intimidated by the thought of long street rides where people could actually, you know, SEE me.  That was a horror that had to be avoided at all costs.  No matter what your confidence level, having strange people yell rude things at you while you are trying to get healthy is... disconcerting at best, and completely demoralizing at worst.

That changed one Saturday morning when I decided that, rather than waste gas driving to a meeting that was only a few miles away, I would ride my bike there.  I would be riding early enough (and the route obscure enough) to not make me seriously noticeable, and the route I chose also took me around any heavy traffic (a particular talent in Los Angeles).  As I rode along side a small regional airport at the longest stretch of the ride, and I realized that it didn't matter what other people might think of what I looked like riding.  I was taking care of my health, at my own pace, and I got to look around and enjoy myself in the process.  It was a beautiful day outside, and I amazed the other ladies at the meeting by riding my bike there.  I rode home completely uplifted both by the meeting, and by accomplishing something I had wanted to do for quite sometime.  I came home planning longer rides, and thinking of purchasing a bike rack for my car so that my daughter and I could take our bikes to the beach, and she and I could ride on bike trails, completely undisturbed by cars, and with more than enough room for both us and walkers.  I had my ticket to ride, finally, and my ability to do so was only hampered by time and finances.

I put off the rack purchase for quite some time because life dictates that business be taken care of first.  Bills before extras, needs before wants, etc.  I would take longer rides when I could, and I allowed my son to use my bike, as he didn't have one, and it was quicker for him to get to school with it.  Our deal was that so long as he locked it up and took care of it, I had no issue with him using it.  And our deal held for six months, until he forgot to lock the bike to the railing outside my sitter's house one Friday evening, and the bike was stolen.

Earlier this year, I gave my son the money to purchase another bike for himself.  I have a car, and I didn't really need it to get around like he does. I walk around Downtown LA on my lunch breaks when I get the chance.  But it's not the same.  I honestly miss my bike.  I watch travel shows on tv, and see them taking lovely bike tours of other countries, and secretly long for my lost cruiser.  I drive along the beach, I see the bike trails, and I remember that warm spring day only a couple of years ago when I rode them, and I wish.  I wish to be back out there on two wheels, zipping along beach side, or planning a trip to see a City by bicycle.

One day, when I get caught up on bills (Song of the Single Parent!), there will be another bike.  Followed by the purchase of a bike rack so that my whole little family can go ride on the beach.  Then an actual vacation with a bicycle tour.  It'll happen.  Not immediately, as there are always other priorities, but I look at it this way.  Now not only do I have a specific goal to work towards, I have something to look forward to once I hit the goal.  Works for me.

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” 
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

I like to walk.

For me, so long as it's not too hot outside, whenever I needed to think, taking a walk was always my favorite option.  Strap on a pair of headphones, add music and go.  Somehow, those long walks, where I escape into my head, if only for a little while, would always soothe whatever doubts, fears or anxieties that were hanging from the day, and leave me prepared to take on whatever came next.  I dare say that these head clearing exercises also inspired a great deal of creativity as well.

The city isn't always the best place to go for a walk, though.  Cars and dogs can get downright territorial depending on where you are trying to walk.  It's difficult to get into your own head space when you are concentrating on avoiding getting hit or bit.  Los Angeles native that I am, especially in the inner city areas where I was raised, I am used to constant concrete, broken up by the occasional tree, or if someone is REALLY good, a nice lawn or garden.  The scenery doesn't change much.  But I still preferred being outside, and if I could catch even a small glimpse of the beauties of nature, it felt like a bonus.

A couple of years ago I became a fan of a show on PBS called Globe Trekker.  I am a perpetually broke single parent, so I have a tendency to travel vicariously through others.  This show is the perfect vehicle for that.  By watching this show (and Rick Steve's Europe), I have been able to view nature in all of it's beauty all over the world.  What really got my attention, especially in the Globe Trekker series, were the hikes.  Long walks through beautiful countryside in every corner of the earth.  Fields, meadows, trees, flowers and not a car or streetlight in sight.  I would look at my daughter laying next to me watching these shows, and we would agree (as she dropped off to sleep) that we needed to see more of these types of things.

I started looking for beginner hikes last year.  Trails I could work with my daughter since we were both new at this, and I am not in the best shape.  I wanted to be out in the open with other hikers (and just walkers), and see nature pretty much untouched except for the natural trail.  I found a simple one not far from our home, a easy walk along the cliffs overlooking Pacific Ocean just south of us.  We started out an a warm, late-spring day, and found a parking spot next to the trail head in just under 15 minutes.  It was pretty easy to work, only 2 miles end to end I think, and we both loved it.  My daughter is also discovering the joys of being outside, enjoying the scenery and just letting your mind wander.

We immediately planned our next hike.  This one was longer, 4 miles in and out, up through Eaton Canyon, and into the Angeles National Forest to a small natural waterfall.  Neither of us had ever seen a waterfall before, and for most of the time on the trail, she ran ahead of my sister and I.  Here is the beauty of taking a child out of the city, and into the natural world.  She was fascinated by everything she saw, because for the most part, she only got to see any of these things on TV.  Her oohs and aahs, and the looks of wonder on her face, will stay with me for a very long time.  She got to forget about daycare and neighbor kids for awhile and just enjoy the wonders and beauty of the Earth.  She was also ready for her first trip to a sleep-away camp, and was completely able to enjoy the experiences of hiking in the woods, and sleeping outside.  My sister and I got a good workout, and got to have a good, unhurried conversation while marveling at the landscape that surrounded us.  And although we started later than I thought we would, therefore it was extremely hot on the hike out, it was still a beautiful trek, although we agreed we would go back when It was cooler.

My first solo hike was to have been this past Friday.  A one mile round trip around a natural garden, up to a man-made lake, then back out again.  The heat got me again, before I got to the lake, but the beauty and solitude of the trails and surrounding gardens will draw me back again when it is cooler.  I also discovered that although solo hikes are nice when you need to clear your head, it's better to go with someone else.  I admit that I am still a city girl, and hearing things rustle in the surrounding brush startled me into a trot on more than one occasion on those isolated trails.  Having someone else there to take it all in with you makes for a great time of discovery with conversation and companionship to boot.  And of course there is space to sit and contemplate.

"I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear, that others may have fallen into it, and so help ed to keep it open. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. " - Henry David Thoreau - Walden


I live in the city, and as always I have to go home.  But a love of walks in the woods has been woken in me, and I have a list of hikes I am planning to attempt.  Short and longer, destination hikes, and looping trails, up into the mountains, and along the beaches.  There is great beauty in my own backyard, and I am just getting around to exploring it all.  No need to trek the globe.  Not yet anyway.  But I do hope to meet you on the trail someday.  Just lace up your shoes, grab a friend and take a walk.