Ride On!

In 2000 I lost my job, my marriage and my home. Then, in November of that year,  following a traumatic brain injury resulting from an accident that left me with a broken jaw and a subdural hematoma, I lost my will to live.

I credit cycling and a return to an active lifestyle with helping me to recover all the things I'd lost. In 2005, I bought a hybrid bicycle at a small independent store in Van Nuys and rode it all the way home to my apartment in Silver Lake. It's scary riding on city streets, many of which do not have bike lanes. Nevertheless, I decided to sell my car and rely on my bicycle and public transportation to get to and from work. As a freelance writer and teacher, my work sites are sometimes only a few miles away, but sometimes as far as 20 miles. Using trial and error, I have learned which streets bring me into the least amount of contact with cars and buses.

In 2008, I joined the sport of triathlon and stepped up my activity level. After pushing me and my little hybrid bike with platform pedals up and over Angeles Crest Highway as part of an L.A. County Bicycle Coalition event (a midnight ride from Union Station to Palmdale in April, 2009), I added a road bike to my garage.

I credit cycling and the other physical activities in which I engage (hiking, running, swimming) with restoring me to the health and vitality I enjoy today.

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