Well, it was a lot of fun, once again. There was a huge turn out, and pretty much perfect weather for it (not the extreme heat of a week or two ago, for example). I was not part of a group this time, and so I was able to explore with a fair amount of random abandon this time, starting at MacArthur Park metro stop, heading downtown and then all the way to Exposition Park, where I stopped at USC to print something out at my office (a long report I need to read), then head back up to downtown, through the City Hall (and new Grand Park) area into Chinatown. That got me thinking about baked buns, and so having returned back past City Hall, stopping briefly at Grand Park to look at one of the many places where there were concerts, I made my way to Little Tokyo to this place I like to find red bean buns and had one during a short stop in a square.
It was nice to sit and listen to all the conversations, and look at all the people (in family groups, friend groups, solo, etc) enjoying the city. Just as I was leaving to head to the East LA leg a fellow came over with his two sons (on a bike with a tralier for one of them, if I recall) and asked if I was a scientist. I wondered for a moment what gave it away – was I making measurements and doing calculations in public again!? – but it turned out that he wanted to say hello and let me know that he and his boys love watching The Universe. I thanked him for watching and encouraged him to look out for new episodes (apparently half the ones we did last year are yet to be aired), and then set off again to East LA, going over the elegant fourth street bridge, up Boyle to Mariachi Plaza, on to the end, and then back again. My camera’s batteries ran out just before I got back to MacArthur, but you can see most of the trip in the timelape film I made for you, below. Oh, one great piece of news: I saw very many Bromptons this time. Several new ones. I think that more and more people are buying them and using them… and there were several folding bikes in general. I met a group all kitted out with folders (no Bromptons) on Expo park and chatted for a while, and later on chatted with others about Bromptons and folding bikes in general. Overheard comments about mine were also interesting in tone: People seem to know about folders more these days, and rather than think of them as weird-looking or simply novel oddities, consider them a very useful machine to have in the city… this is great to hear if it will get more people out of their cars, using their bikes on the roads, public transport, parks, etc…
-cvj
