After the Storm

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12/25/2010: "After the Storm"

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The clarity of the scene pictured, in this photo I made yesterday, belies the severity of the storms that preceded it. The snow, however, which wasn't there a week ago, tells the tale. Eight inches of rain downtown Los Angeles in just a few days! Yer editor was, as regular readers of this blog know, riding in much of it encased in rain cape and thick sweater. Though I enjoy rain riding most of the time (torrents can be a bit wearying), it is nice to ride with a little less clothing on!

I wasn't the only one out in the wet, but obviously most LA riders, unaccustomed to rain and unequipped for it (few bikes even having fenders), were biding their time till clear weather came and were out in force yesterday.

Still, if we're going to make LA a real cycling city, we have to get used to the rain, rarely though it falls here. It isn't very hard to do--and that's not just my own idiosyncratic opinion: worldwide the cities with the most cycling are often the wettest. Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing. Even here in the US, the top cycling cities are Portland (of course), Minneapolis, and San Francisco.

A lot of my friends went on commuting right through the storms. We'll catch up with those other burgs. After all, it's only water. It isn't even cold when it rains here. Come on, LA, buy some capes and fenders and learn how sweet the city can be on a fresh, wet day!