Bike Mojo

All my bike stuff is off the in waiting.  All the Ortlieb panniers are mostly empty but not entirely.

In the handlebar pannier I have a small ziplock baggie with little bits of mojo in it.  Now, I don't really believe in mojo per se, but let's just call them little bits of sentiment.  Mostly small notes of encouragement from friends and supporters.  Then there are the theater tickets - from seeing the Nation Theater version of Frankenstein to seeing The Imitation Game last night.  And there's also a picture of my family that I cut out of my parents' 2014 Christmas letter.  It's a picture taken from their 60th wedding anniversary this past June.  Marty Bear isn't mounted on the bike at the moment, but he's another piece of bike mojo, and that's really it for the mojo.

I tried to explain to a friend yesterday that my journey is not just a trip across the USA.  I am not bound anymore by a job or an apartment.  I am not bound by the bills others pay.  I am not tied to possessions in a storage unit.  No, I gave almost everything away.  What else I have is stored privately.

I can start and stop my journey as often as I want.  If I need to stop and work for a bit, I can do that.  If I need to move on, I can do that.  I can go where I want, when I want.  I can see what I want.  I don't have to be anywhere.  I am not on anyone's timetable.

My only timetable is right now... that I have through Feb. 28, 2015 to stay here.  If I am to stay here longer, God will need to open a door for that to happen.  Right now I'm not seeing any leads for that.  I am, however, among dearest friends, and I would hate to leave them.

West Hollywood cycling adventures

It seems to me that if there are multiple lanes in each direction, the far right lane should at very minimum be marked with sharrows if there is no bike lane. And if there is only one lane in each direction, automatic sharrows. Period. That being said, bikes have the right to the full lane. We don't have to ride so far to the right that we are in the gutter or in peril of being doored by some fool who doesn't look. And that right side usually has some of the worst potholes and road debris anyhow - which is no problem for a car but for a cyclist can be deadly. I take the full lane when I go down the length of Orlando/Gale in WeHo to Gregory Way. The street is narrow with parking on both sides but cars can have a lane in each direction. So if the cars have to wait behind me, too bad. There's a stop sign at every block anyhow so that can't get up much speed to begin with.