I biked around LA as a tourist, but the sprawl was so bad, that the majority of the time you spent in transit only to stop off at certain points. Biking in the Berkeley area is like night-and-day, where I don't have to sit on the bike for 10 min. to get to the next plaza. I'd do it again as I enjoy biking much more than driving, but I'm definitely more on the bike-nut side of things.
i can see that being a tourist in LA could be a little frustrating, especially on a bike. the major attractions like the getty, venice beach, k-town, hollywood, the tar pits/moma, the disney concert hall, disneyland, the huntington gardens, the forum, the hollywood bowl, beverly hills, LA live, the zoo/science center, watts towers, the sunset strip, malibu, etc. can be annoyingly far apart.
but as a resident i almost never do that kind of ping-ponging around town. you can find good food, drinks, and entertainment in each neighborhood so i typically hit up only one area of town on a given evening, depending on which friends i'm with (or visiting).
berkeley is nice and chill and bike-friendly, but it's also tiny compared to LA (18 vs 500 sq. miles).
