Riding a bike in Los Angeles sounds like such a terrible idea. Think of all the cars driving (and speeding) right next to you! A little off balance and you might end up in their lane. Yet I still ended up on a bike tour in LA, thanks to Handlebar Bike Tours!
We met our tour guide Jen at the entrance to Grand Central Market. She’s a high school English teacher who does bike tours on the side. She was inspired by her travels to places like Europe where bike tours are very popular. What a great way to get some exercise and make some money!
The tour can host up to 8 people, but it was just the two of us plus Jen today. The other two people who signed up to the tour did not show up on time (unfortunately!) so we left without them. The tour includes a bike and helmet, and the bike has a small little pouch in the front if you want to put something small. *Spoiler alert* There’s a sticker inside the pouch! I wish Jen had told us at the beginning of the trip – I would have taken photos with the sticker too.
I was afraid the bike would not be the right size for me, but it ended up feeling pretty good. I wasn’t used to the handlebars though – they seemed a bit curved compared to the bikes I’ve ridden before. I was also very glad that the helmet fit. I’ve always had uncomfortable experiences with helmets, but this one fit just right!
We walked our bikes out of the parking garage, and off we went! We had to stay in a single file line – I was last. I had to try so hard to keep a good distance from the biker in front of me. I was already just cruising! It was not too sunny (although I forgot to apply sunscreen to my ears so they got slightly sunburnt) and I liked feeling the breeze as you pedal down the street. Jen had a small microphone on her so that she can talk while riding, and was also great at giving directions and signaling to us the path to take. We made stops along the way and Jen would explain in more detail the artwork and history. The route was just under 7 miles, and we passed by a lot of murals!
The highlight was the Sixth Street Bridge. There was a slight incline which left us all sweaty, but it was so fun riding down the spiral to get to the other side of the bridge! I wish we spent more time on the bridge. We also stopped by the Hauser & Wirth Gallery, which was unfortunately not open. This was the longest stop where we actually parked our bikes and were able to take a restroom break and walk around a bit. There was a matcha shop nearby, so of course we grabbed a matcha latte!
On the way back, Jen took a detour to show us one of the breweries she likes. After that, we headed back toward Grand Central Market.
Riding a bike on the streets felt a lot safer than I imagined. The cars seemed a lot calmer, and especially after getting out of the Grand Central Market and Little Tokyo area, there weren’t that many cars. A lot of it was definitely because Jen was signaling to cars that we were about to turn too, and the cars were pretty nice in general. On a day with so many pedestrians, the cars could also only go so fast. You definitely do need to be somewhat comfortable on a bike to keep up though for this tour. I was surprised that I survived since the last time I rode a bike was quite a few years ago. Overall, this was a fun experience! Next time, I would want to try and record the journey and also capture more photos! And now…it’s time to look into getting a new bike and helmet.
C’s Notes:
- I should take more photos next time.
- Put on sunscreen everywhere.
- Bring a smaller water bottle.
- Bring something that makes pulling out my phone easier for photos.
- Invest in a GoPro, or something similar.
- Make note of all the restaurants that look good on the way.