Re: "Driving on the L.A.'s Westside"

Dear Editor,

I wanted to follow up with readers of the Times on a point made by Ms.
Glueck about her attempts to bicycle as a means for avoiding traffic.
In my opinion it is excellent that she made the effort.  Especially
with kids in tow, however, shifting to a bicycle-based transportation
on the west side can be intimidating.  Her reasons for abandoning the
efforts, and reverting to automobile transportation were also
reasonable: she felt that cars were "too scary," especially as they
pulled in and out of driveways.

I can offer a connection to the many readers who have similar desires
to bicycle, but also share the fears that Ms. Glueck expressed.  An
organization I am part of, Bike Sage <http://www.bikesage.com/>, is
specifically designed for cases such as this.  For no charge they
offer to anyone interested in bicycling the chance to ride with an
experienced cyclist who can offer safe routing advice and how to
safely deal with cars.  Our research has found that fear is the single
biggest factor in keeping people off bicycles, but we have also
discovered that much of that fear is unfounded.  We can help parse out
which fears are related to perceived danger, which fears are related
to real danger, and how to avoid the real dangers so that more of us
can contribute to reducing traffic throughout the city.

Sincerely,
Nicholas Bauch
BikeSage