Portland quirkiness

I just finished the Aug. 3 article “Cycle City,” by Chris Erskine, on biking in Portland, Ore. As an L.A. native who attended Portland State University and then lived and worked in Portland for another dozen years, only to move back to L.A. (now Burbank), I feel I have a good perspective on the town. The truth is that there is a quirkiness to it that the show “Portlandia” has never explained or given any context to.

The book “Radicals in the Rose City: Portland’s Revolutionaries 1960 to 1975,” by Matt Nelson and Bill Nygren, looks into Portland’s transition from a sleepy Northwest town with a decidedly conservative outlook, both politically and culturally, to the cutting-edge environment for all sorts of zany directions in human activity. It tells readers all about an explosive time in America and how one city, Portland, was permanently transformed by it.

DOUG WEISKOPF

Burbank I enjoyed Erskine’s “Cycle City” article. We all know about Portland being a bike-friendly city — not to mention Seattle and San Francisco — but nobody ever does good articles about L.A. Maybe it’s because of all the news stories about bikers getting killed. Despite this, people still ride bikes everywhere, and unlike Portland/ Seattle, we have year-round perfect biking weather.

The most beautiful bike path in all bikingdom is Ballona Creek, from Culver City to the ocean. As a senior, I can unequivocally tell you this is the most beautiful scenic bike ride in the world, and all the birds and wildlife make it a very nature-inspired holistic experience. Try it sometime. CARL LAWTON

Culver City