Bikeside LA

(Santa Monica PD tickets Santa Claus for not riding to the right, photo by Gary Kavanagh)
I’ve received more than a few queries lately about the status of Santa Monica Critical Mass (SMCM.) For those of you who don’t know, beginning in June ‘07, SMCM has been harassed and disrupted by Santa Monica PD [...]

In the old days the bike scene was stable. There was LACM, and it was somewhat weaksauce by today’s standards, but it was a bitchin revelation for it’s participants. Later Midnight Ridazz jumped into the fray, meteorically growing to 300 riders in one year. Still, MR growth was slow by today’s standards. [...]

Tuesday I was riding on Pico east to an appointment. I was approaching a red light 300 yards away at Bundy when a large black pickup passed me.
I appreciate aspects of how he passed me. He passed smoothly, travelling only 6 or 7mph faster than me. As he passed I had a feeling of confidence [...]

Santa Monica Critical Mass is a monthly bike ride in which attracts over 300 riders each month. The ride often upsets motorists because the sheer number of cyclists block traffic and the “corking” of red lights – preventing cross traffic at intersections from proceeding until the ride has passed through.
Escalade and Prius drivers alike [...]

Santa Monica CA – Late Friday evening on Colorado Blvd walkers enjoyed a surreal experience. Strollers on the empty, broad, flat boulevard flanked by corporate offices meticulously manicured shrubbery were quietly overtaken by a sparse group of bikers riding fixed, BMX, and high performance mountain bikes. This rag tag group was oddly subdued [...]

So last Wednesday I threw on some red, black, and white spandex matching my frame and headed out the door to do some riding on the Ballona Creek bike path. This could be called ill advised since it had rained that morning and dark clouds were situated approximately above the section of the bike [...]

Hi all – I’m posting this on Kent Strumpell’s behalf:
In case you haven’t heard about this already. Please join us if you can! Possible media exposure for bicycles.
Kent
You are invited to join the bike rally for the opening of the Alt CarExpo in Santa Monica this Friday (http://www.altcarexpo.com/). This rally will be the big bicycle [...]

Sometime last year a friend from the USC geography department mentioned a wacky event called Green Drinks, recently written about in the LA times Calendar, to me. I was pretty busy at the time but in late May of this year my bike advocacy efforts had reached an impasse and I decided it might be [...]

Either in October 2004 or November 2004 I went to my first bike ride in at least a decade – The Westside Ridazz. Westside Ridazz is (was? let’s bring it back!) a small group ride organized by the men of El Segundo – Brian, Alec, and Max. They organized all kinds of crazy [...]