Little did our own Julia Frey know what she’d start in February when she solicited advice ^[1] from readers on the best way to get from the westside to downtown via public transportation. Among the many comments was one from BusTard, contributor to The Bus Bench ^[2] blog, who was all gung-ho for the No. 10 Big Blue Bus and another from me espousing the Katamary Damancystic qualities of the MTA’s No. 439 line that rolls from the Green Line station at Aviation Boulevard and Imperial Highway somewhat haphazardly to Union Station, picking up pretty much anything and everything along the way.

A couple days later Julia wrote about how successful her long trek ^[3] was involving lines not including the one I’d suggested, and I posted a comment inquiring politely as to why no love for the No. 439. BusTard then logged his defense of his beloved No. 10 and closed his comment challenging me to a bus race between the two. I readily accepted his offer of a duel and frequent L.A. Metblogs commenter and fellow Bus Bench writer Browne chimed in saying she was all for it and wondered what scarf to bring to drop at the theoretical start line.

Some six weeks of business and stuff later, BusTard and I had yet to nail down a date, but there had been emails exchanged before I went to North Carolina last week of running our respective gauntlets sometime soon after I got back home — and now that has been decided: Thursday, April 17.

The way it’s gonna work is we’ll be taking simultaneous and mostly equidistant, late-afternoon trips of about 14 miles or so with me boarding the No. 439 scheduled to arrive at the transit depot by the Fox Hills Mall at Slauson & Sepulveda at 5:23 p.m. and him boarding the No. 10 at Yale & Santa Monica Boulevard at pretty much the same time, and then Twittering/Flickr’ing our positions as we go eastward (trashtalking optional) — with the prize being dinner at Clifton’s paid for by whichever one of us gets there last. Maybe I can talk him into joining me for a round at Seven Grand afterward.

Win or lose, I’m excited at a little friendly competition that might make a boring bus ride a little less so. And as a fan of The Bus Bench I’m looking forward to meeting BusTard, perhaps Browne, and maybe you if you happen to be in the vicinity of 7th and Broadway next Thursday evening.

Related posts:

1. Santa Monica Yuppie Scum Death Battle Overflows onto New York Times Front Page ^[4]
2. Of Clouds For Days And A Blue Star Craze ^[5]
3. Prop 8 battle will continue into spring ^[6]
4. Metro’s Runaway Gold Line ^[7]
5. Bleed red for the men in blue… and the men in black too! ^[8]