Hazards of Urban Bicycling

Re “Get Off the Street” (Nov. 17), I have been bicycling for about 35 years and gave up commuting in the past because so many of my bikes were stolen. I resumed bicycle commuting several years ago after the advent of the Kryptonite-type security locks, and for the past year I have not been in a car at all, even as a passenger. I also do the grocery shopping for a family of three on my touring bike.

In the last three years, I have been yelled at a total of three times, always by arrogant twentysomething males, and I have twice been egged by teen-agers in cars. In contrast, I have had kindnesses shown me by motorists at least three or four times a day, every day. My “territory” covers Hollywood, the Westside, the South Bay, the Valley, Pasadena and parts of South-Central and Inglewood, and I commute through the heart of Hollywood (one of the highest crime areas of the city) twice a day for my job. Riding about 500 miles a month, day and night, rain or shine, I would say I have every opportunity to encounter bad treatment from motorists--yet I rarely do.

RICHARD RISEMBERG

Los Angeles

I am an avid cyclist and have had the misfortune of running into the overzealous motorist.

Cyclists are forced (for their own safety) to ride as close to the curb as possible. But, because of all the discarded trash, and this is where the majority of road repairing is needed, we can’t always comply.

Solution: Push for the proposed bike pathway from Pasadena to Downtown Los Angeles. It’s a start and after people see the results, pathways will definitely be expanded to cover all congested roadways.

BOB SHUPPER

Glendale

Having bicycled 12,000 miles on Los Angeles’ streets in the last five years, I was hoping the article would include a few sentences on the all-too-important, but often-unknown bicyclists’ rights and responsibilities of the road, such as the fact that bicyclists are supposed to ride on the street, not sidewalks and that they can legally make a left turn from a left-turn lane.

MARIA MARTENS

Venice