Biking has become a joy for me

At 8 weeks, this is now the longest I've gone without having a car since I've been able to drive 20 years ago.

A couple of weeks ago, I received the compensation from my insurance company for what happened (still waiting on the County of Los Angeles, hmmmm!). But instead of getting a car, the money is being put away for a later time.

When will I get a car? I'm not sure, really.

My lifestyle doesn't require having a car. It's not like my hometown area, where it was a must to have a car.

I don't feel the need to take on the burden of a car payment right now. Down the line, I'll say yes.

In place of driving, I've been cycling, and it's been a lot of fun.

During my first time living in Southern California (2007-10), I didn't bike around much despite having a bike. It felt like I had a bike to have a bike.

In the past few weeks, I've been going to as many places as possible. And it's not just going down the block to get a sandwich. It's going 10, 20, even 30 miles just to do it.

The only bad parts about cycling are the pedestrians on the track and the headwind. The headwind can't be avoided. The pedestrians are a nuisance when the path is clearly marked for bikes only.

In the middle of the month, I did a bike ride from Redondo Beach to the Santa Monica Pier, about 16 miles. The early part had so many ups and downs, I wondered whether I was going to have enough energy to get to the finish.

But by the time I got to Venice, energy wasn't an issue, because I was going so slow. There were so many people on the path -- allowed in many parts, sadfacez -- I had to slow down to make sure I wasn't going to run into anyone. Combine that with hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of other cyclists, and the traffic was as bad as The 405 on a workday.

That ride I probably will not do again.

Later in the month, I went from my apartment in downtown Long Beach to halfway up the Coyote Creek trail near La Palma. Round trip was almost 30 miles!

The ride had everything I wanted: peacefulness, a good breeze, no pedestrians, and a mostly flat path.

To start off August, I traveled part of the L.A. River, which I didn't think to do because there are a lot of transients and nomads who are in the area. But on the day I went, there were a lot of cyclists and runners getting in some exercise. Everyone was friendly, and the ride was smooth.

I'm setting a goal to do the whole San Gabriel Trail, which is 38 miles. It won't happen now, perhaps in a month when I spend more time on the bike doing sessions.

In addition, I probably will get a new bike. Yeah, I just got the current new one, but there's a reason why it cost $100. The cogs are already damaged, causing a shift delay in some gears.

While the damage doesn't prevent me from riding, it does signal that I should invest in a bicycle that can handle the work I will put it through.