I Miss my Bike

As I continue to feel a bit untethered during my transition back to LA, I feel intense longing for my Birdy almost the one does a lover.

Just me and my birdy...

When I first visited Berlin in 2006, I never thought I’d find myself 5 years later, biking through the city’s streets at night with friends and alone, for meetings parties, dinners, openings, or just because. My best biking moments were when I was alone; who would have ever thought that I would ever know how to get around Berlin, by myself, at night, by bike??? That sense of independence was delicious. Being raised in New York can be such a handicap sometimes, because are sense of direction is lazily honed: If the street numbers rise, you’re going North, and you can figure out South, East and West easily from there. You don’t need to rely on landmarks or anything else really. Just chronological order. Seeing how I learned a new city over time, and could maneuver on my own, made me feel like an adult. More than anything, biking the city helped me learn it better, and hence, deepened my connection to it.

I am missing this sense of independence and connection in LA. In LA, you need a car, and I finally am succumbing to buying one. I’ll regain my sense of independence of navigating space, the way I am used to in New York and Berlin. But connection to the city? I am not so sure. When you are in your car driving around in LA, your vision becomes a bit myopic. There is no time to really take in the neighborhood around you, and enjoy the sights, because you are just trying to get from point A to point B. You don’t feel, hear, smell or see the city in your car.

I hope this year to get a better sense from my Angeleno friends, and East Coast friends who have made the West Coast home, exactly what makes them feel connect to this city and love it. Is it family? The weather? Family and friends I can understand, but love it as I do, I don’t think the weather would be enough to make me love or stay in a place. So, am I saying that I’d take cold miserable weather rather than a disconnected sense of place, space and time? I guess so, for now. I miss my bike!