LA By Train: Trips 2 & 3

Wednesday, July 30, 2003, at 07:37AM

By Eric Richardson

I got lazy Monday night and didn't post anything then, so this covers my Monday return and coming in this morning. The return trip was indeed a lot easier, though there was still some uphill involved (you never notice the little downhills on the way in). Trip time for each was 1:30, which is right about where I'd expect it to stay. I'm not riding fast right now, just slow and steady while I get my legs into shape. Eventually I think I can shave at least 10 minutes off my one-way time.

I love that people are at least a little social on trains. On Monday afternoon there was a lady who got on to the Red Line and wanted to sit in the front so that she could see out through the driver's cab. This got her and the guy across the aisle from her talking about riding trains, and her interest got him talking about Gold Line, telling her she had to ride it (he said he'd been riding just for fun). She was asking about specific destinations, and I happened to have the Gold Line timetables they had been handing out, so I was able to give her that (and the map it had on it). People were happy, and that makes the commute so much more personal than it is in a car, seeing only the exterior of others.

Today on the way in I took Holly to Fair Oaks, and that up across the 210. Then I jogged left a tad and got on Lincoln (which was designated a bike route). Lincoln took me all the way to Figueroa, which took me to Windsor, and the JPL East Gate. I think this is probably the best route, avoiding any excess climbing. My legs came through pretty well, though they're definitely feeling the miles. My left knee was very sore yesterday, so I didn't ride then. It held up fine today.

The return trip wasn't any faster on Monday, which surprised me. I think that might still have been an aboration. I would expect the ride down to Pasadena to run closer to 20 - 25 minutes, instead of 30.

I still need to pick up a helmet and paniers. Not having a backpack on would be great.

I'm still ironing out the kinks with where to position my bike on Gold Line. It needs to be in the rear of a car to not block an aisle or the drivers compartment, but at Union Station the rear of the train fills up first (since it's closer to the platform entrance). On the way back it's no problem, though, since the rear is on the opposite end and more empty.

I think that's all for now. My cellphone antenna broke today, so I'm going to take off a little earlier and stop the Cingular shop at 7th & Fig on my way back. Then I'll probably just bike from downtown back to the apartment, so that'll change my timing a bit.