Rebel without a car: On his first...

Rebel without a car: On his first day of work in downtown L.A., Paul Tay pedaled in from Hollywood, then pushed his overloaded bicycle through the corridors of City Hall, looking for his office.

Tay, 30, is the city’s first bicycle coordinator.

“I’m not going to put another car on the road in L.A.,” vowed Tay after he settled into his office and removed his helmet. He is also a mass-transit fan--when he moved here from Florida he left the driving to Greyhound.

Although almost as many people surf to work in Kansas City as bicycle to work in L.A., Tay is optimistic. He hopes to add more bike lanes, push construction of the proposed West L.A. Veloway (it would be the nation’s first bicycle freeway) and, not least, have a street-pavement survey made.

His first commute left him with a near case of whiplash. “There are,” he said, “an incredible number of potholes here.”

Ghost freeways in the sky: If it makes Tay feel any better, there would hardly have been room for any bicycles in L.A. if the state’s freeway master plan of the 1950s had been completed.

As the accompanying map indicates, the Harbor Freeway alone would have been paralleled by the Pacific Coast, Venice, Hawthorne, Whitnall and Industrial freeways.

Even Reseda was in the plan. It currently has no freeway, except in song--Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin.’ ” (“It’s a long day living in Reseda. There’s a freeway running through the yard.”)

Also on the drawing boards was a Beverly Hills Freeway with, we assume, a diamond jewelry lane.

Can you imagine all the airborne traffic reporters that would have been needed? Heavens to Bill Keene!

List of the Day: The latest report from our corps of proofreaders:

* Del Harral of Monrovia sent along a page from the Department of Motor Vehicles handbook, which has a chapter titled, “Availability of Public Information.” Only public is missing one crucial letter.

* Gary Brandt of Ontario didn’t realize how tough the job market was until he spotted an opening in a local paper for a commercial loan officer with “305 years experience.”

* And, finally, Alfred Egendorf of Rancho Bernardo wonders if the headline, “For Men Only!” was really necessary on an ad about a “penile expansion procedure.”

“Goin’ to Kansas City” isn’t eligible: To inspire the rebuild-L.A. effort, the Musicians Institute is offering $30,000 in prizes to songwriters who come up with tunes that “inspire a sense of unification” among Angelenos. Deadline is April 26.

And we’re not even counting the L.A. Lambs: When you think about it, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim is in keeping with the penchant of Southland teams to adopt un-macho nicknames. The Ducks should feel right at home among such competitors as the Angels of California, the Poets of Whittier College, the Anteaters of UC Irvine and the Artists of Laguna High.

We’re excited about the Ducks and plan to cruise down to see them play. It’s just a short hop on the Venice Freeway for us.

miscelLAny:

Realtor innovation No. 1,522 of the recession: Home shoppers in the Lexington Hills development of Camarillo can take free test rides through the community--on horseback.