As part of C.I.C.L.E.’s Community Workshops, Bikerowave volunteers stopped by A Place Called Home to demonstrate how a tire change is done proper.

Thus, a sunny Sunday morning, a group of Bikerowave volunteers sailed across town in cars and on bikes to do what they do best: pass on wrenching skills. En route, we were pleasantly surprised by the buttery smoothness of the newly-striped Expo bike lane. Pavement quality was considerably better Eastbound compared to Westbound. Just as the LA Eco Village post warns, the intersection at Rodeo needs improvement, crossing over those train tracks was a bit tense.

Bikerowavers: Karl, Enzo, JDF, JB, Joe and Molly

At APCH, folks of all ages brought in various velocipedes. After a quick primer on from JB, those attending broke up into small groups and worked on patching their own sabotaged tubes. They picked up on our tips and tricks quickly, and some were already confidently passing on the information to their peers by the end of the workshop.

Parked along Expo Community Garden fence

The tire clinic was followed by a Ciclavia South LA Exploration Ride, yet another test of the proposed future Ciclavia route. We had a chance to tour the Community Garden at Expo Park.

Topic timestamps

• 0:00 – LA Critical Mass escort: LAPD’s role, corking
  

  “Come out and ride before you criticize”

• 1:45 – How to minimize motorist aggression during LACM, Road use: safety vs. convenience
  

  “Have the courage of your convictions to see whether it’s a worthwhile endeavor”

• 3:37 – Future of bike community in Los Angeles, political access, gaining trust
  

  “There’s so much energy[...]“

• 4:30 – Ride attendance, increasing ridership on Venice Bl
  

  “If you double or triple the amount of riders on Venice Bl, you start to see that packing phenomemon”

• 5:50 – Youngsters on bikes, educating upcoming generation of riders, learning from experience
  

  “If they’re at a ride where adult stuff is going on[...]“

• 7:40 – Difference in mentality between LA and NY
  

  “My dad jaywalked right in front of New York PD”

• 9:20 – To be or not to be – the Helmet question
  

  “Sometimes it’s nice to feel that air across your skull”

• 11:00 – How to digitally stalk AT
  

  “I’ll have that email forever”

BikeRoWave is leaving Mar Vista at 9:30am sharp – we really mean 9:30! 12-15mph pace.  (Blog, Facebook event)

There is also a UCLA group led by E3 (Economy, Ecology, Equity) leaving the Ackerman Bus Terminal at 9am.  In case you didn’t know, that’s where Westwood dead ends into the UCLA campus.  This one is also a slow paced ride, no rider left behind.
Ride safe and we’ll see you at Ciclavia!

Ciclavia 2010 by Jory (Flickr)

Reason #5: DODGEBALL

When else are you going to get to play dodgeball in the streets of LA?  I don’t know, but it can’t be that often.  I hope, hope, hope to god that dodgeball will be back for this CicLAvia – CicLAvia Part Deux I’m calling it -and I’m an atheist!

Here’s some images from last year’s dodgeball games at CicLAvia – all photos from the slow witted blogger Alex Thompson:

Southpaw

Clobbered in the head - that will rattle your brainz.

Throwing with your eyes closed . . .

Throwing with your eyes closed usually leads to having you throw caught, like right here.

...so focus before you throw...

... and put your back into it!

CicLAvia 4-10-2011

Now on to keeping yourself warm and cozy.

Head: A waterproof helmet cover is a good idea if you’re going to wear a road helmet (with lots of open vents) in rainy weather. An even better water repellent is a bucket-style helmet. Most helmet covers will make you sweat anyway, so a bucket helmet isn’t all that bad of an option.

To protect your head and ears from the wind chill, a t-shirt sleeve or head warmer (~$15) will do the trick.

Upper body: A waterproof jacket is an easy decision to make, keeping your core warm should be a priority (Sugoi, Bellwether, LG, Descente, Castelli all make decent gear). No hood necessary, just a tight collar to keep rain drops from sneaking in (especially ones dripping from the rear of your helmet). Jackets with hoods will limit your visibility when looking over your shoulder. Even though the upper body creates heat, it doesn’t move much compared to your legs, so a jacket made of the cheapest waterproof material with some armpit aeration will do. PVC jackets run $15-25. Snug fit is best, letting the water roll off your body as quickly as possible.

Hands: Don’t have a good solution here. Waterproof gloves are too bulky, so just bare the cold until you get home or get a thinner pair that dries off quickly.

Legs: Waterproof pants range from $20 (PVC, will keep the rain out, but you’ll be soaked in sweat) to $150 (nice 3/4 length pants, made of waterproof-yet-breathable material). Middleground option that doesn’t break the bank – get the $20 pants, cut them off below the knee. That’ll air them out a bit and will keep them from getting caught in the chain. Your shins may get sprayed, but shins aren’t important. Keep your knees and ankles warm and if possible, dry.

Feet are extremely important and the toughest body part to keep warm and dry. On windy days and in light rain, toe covers will suffice. Toe covers aren’t guaranteed to keep your feet dry, but they’ll block a large percentage of the water hitting your forefoot. They will event fit over regular shoes, and they take up little space so they’re easy to pack.

For clip-in shoes, a waterproof bootie with a tight cinch around above your ankle will get you through the heavy rain. The biggest challenge is keeping water running down your leg from entering your shoe. My experience has been that waterproof socks are a waste. If you do opt for a full bootie instead of a toe cover, read some reviews first, make sure you don’t get stuck with a badly placed permeable zipper or stitching that falls apart prematurely.

Other tips:

• Cotton is a bad idea. Once it’s wet (whether from sweat or rain), you’re done. Thermal underwear and a thermal or wool tank top or t-shirt will do. For a base layer that touches your skin, synthetics and finer wools (read up on the various types available) are the better options. When wet, they’ll still keep you warm and they’ll dry much quicker.
• If you ever get stranded without such a jacket, cut holes in a trash bag for your head and arms, and that will at least keep your core warm (tip: most large trashcans have extra unused bags underneath the current one).
• Supposedly a can of 3M Scotchgard Heavy Duty Water Repellent or Gore Tex spray may also do the trick. Try it on an old ugly sweatshirt (BikeSide is not responsible for the potential destruction of your clothing).
• Do try to have a dry change of clothes (especially an upper body layer and socks) whenever you head out in wet weather. Most rain gear isn’t all that stylish to begin with.
• The sun is low in the winter months, so having sunglasses handy is a good idea. They’ll provide some protection against the sun’s glare and they’ll keep you from tearing up in a strong headwind.

Just to prove that you should be able to ride in any weather, here’s the winter setup of a Michigan State University commuter:

Cannondale Bad Boy, complete with Scottoiler chain lube system (for frickin' motorcyles!)

And for some more winter riding tips from the most extreme of conditions, check out Chicago’s Bike Winter riding tips and gear recommendations.

Have fun, be safe.

“Riding a bike is like swimming with the sharks.  Sooner or later you’ll get bitten. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks.”

You’re a great man to look up to, Rob Ford. Your transportation plan is quite visionary.  Maybe one day your kids can be chubby like you and lead a high-cholesterol, “independent”, motorized lifestyle.

And is Rob Ford (aka BLOB Ford) related to Rush Limbaugh?  Both seems to share certain physical features and the idiocy gene.  Well, we may never know for sure, but there’s a slight chance that he is a Big Oil and Car Lobby Puppet.

Rob and Rush - separated at birth?

And now he is the mayor of Toronto.  How embarrassing. At least some residents seem to be fully aware of what’s going on and suggest staging anti-Ford street perfomances.

But seriously though, have people in urban areas given up on voting nowadays?

CicLAvia is Sunday.  The organizers of the event capitalized on a setback (“if you push a negative hard enough it becomes a positive” paraphrase of Saul Alinsky) and rescheduled the event for the numerically alliterative date of 10/10/10.  Apart from the obvious conclusion that they will be forced to organize events for 11/11/11, 12/12/12, 20/20/2020 (?!) and retroactively for 1/1/1, this means that 7 miles of streets will be closed to motor vehicle traffic on Sunday.

That’s amazing, and I hope that CicLAvia will follow this event with another event and another event and another event.

Joe Linto did 10 posts of top ten lists on CicLAvia.  So, in honor of that excellent blogging effort, here’s an eleventh post of eleven things I want to do at CicLAvia on 10/10/10:

Numero Uno – Take your picture

I’m going to be out there with my camera long lensing people during the day, and I want to get a shot of you.  If you see me, do something memorable, and I’ll steal your soul with a photo, and print it up and hang it in my creepy basement photo temple, or alternatively, publish it on Facebook.  Seriously, I’m thinking these are gonna be historical moments, and I’d love to have some historical photos.

Numero Dos – Ride with the Kidz Ryde

The CicLAvia Kids ride meets at 10 am at the Bike Kitchen (Melrose & Heliotrope) and also at Hollenbeck Park (415 S. St Louis St.), and then leaves at 10:30 am.  I’m going to be late, since I have a prior engagement at 10, but I’m going to try to catch them at 7th & Figueroa at 11am, or at their ultimate destination of McArthur Park.  You can get more info here.

Numero Tres – Eat a burrito (or seven)

Dude, if I’m in East Hollywood, on a bike, I’m gonna do my damnedest to get a Jack’s Burrito (vegan, full of jackfruit) at Pure Luck.  You can sing the praises of Scoops all you like, and they’re damn good, but Pure Luck has my mouth watering.

Numero Quatro – Go wingsuit base jumping on skis

Look, someone needs to make wingsuit base jumping happening in LA.  It may as well be on CicLAvia, and it may as well be on skis.  Sunday?  Who’s in?

Numero Cinco – Sidewalk chalk belongs on the street

My favorite group ride ever I passed out 162 sticks of sidewalk chalk and we covered a gigantic parking lot with garish sidewalk chalk art.  I don’t have that much sidewalk chalk on me these days, but if I can find the Kids Ride, I know who I’m going to empower to beautify LA’s streets.

Numero Seis – Futbol!

I tell you what, I’ve been looking to kick around a soccer ball in LA’s streets for a long time.  You just can’t though – if you don’t leave every little street clear at all times for that car that might come along every 90 seconds or so.  So with the streets closed, I may just throw some sneaks in my messenger bag so I can join in any pick up soccer, and bend it like … Roberto Carlos:

Numero Ocho – Run

I doubt I’m going to be able to make this one happen, but I would love to run the route.  There’s something special about running in the middle of the street.  As a competitive runner, I love when a race gets to run a closed course, but when that happens I’m racing.  It would be great to run on a closed course without having to race so hard my lunch comes up – a nice relaxed run down broad boulevards.  If I can find a way, I’ll do it.  Otherwise, I guess I have to leave it for the next CicLAvia.

Numero Nueve – Ride Blue Hulk

Ride my bike!  That’s the number one plan.  It almost goes without saying, but I definitely look forward to riding BLUE HULK, my Surly Traveler’s Check, along the course.

Numero Diez – Relax

Isn’t this the number one imperative on any weekend?  I’m gonna work diligently to relax as hard as possible.

Numero Once – Capoeira

This is a hard one to spell but if you’re a fan of martial arts, then you know what this is.  It’s the Brazilian martial art that is as much dance as fight, and some say the origin of many break dancing moves.  CicLAvia reports there will be a Capoeira meet-up and demo – meeting at both ends of the route at 10 am and converging to meet up at 12noon near the Leavitt Pavillion at MacArthur Park.  I’ve no skill at the art, but I’m gonna try to get some good photos.

I’ll see y’all there!

Perhaps not.  Here’s one fact that hasn’t truly sunk in for most: Judge Millington revoked Thompson’s driver’s license for life.

What does that mean?  It means that, in two to five years when Thompson gets out, he’s one of us.  If he doesn’t want to ride the bus, if he doesn’t want to walk long distances, and if he loses his shirt in the civil trial, Thompson will be biking.  He’s lucky for that too, and I’ll tell you why.

Christopher Thompson having a rough day in the new, bike-friendly LA

Things move fast for cycling.  We feel like we don’t get a lot of respect, that’s probably the only thing cyclists can all agree on.  The reality is, compared to other movements, our progress is rapid; the LA cycling movement has gone from one that could barely get an agenda item at council, to one which the new Chief of Police actively engages us (or, seeks to mitigate), in an insanely short period.  If Thompson’s temper doesn’t fare well in California prison, and he gets out in five years, instead of the predicted two, he could be returning to an unrecognizable city.

He could be returning to a city without Michelle Mowery.  A city with a new city council and a new mayor.  A city that has passed through ruin and emerged leaner and meaner.  Maybe a city that, in hard economic times (I promise, they’re not over), leaned on the bicycle as an affordable and humanizing form of transportation.

In the last 5 years Los Angeles has gone from having one small bike co-op, in a fresh storefront, to four bike co-ops, three with storefronts.  Absurdly projecting, Thompson could be returning to a city with sixteen bike co-ops, nine in storefronts!  There might be two cyclists on every neighborhood council!

It could be an amazing place to ride.  Not because of infrastructure – pavement is pavement – but because if you hopped on a major boulevard, you could always find the riding company of several riders.  Little spontaneous herds of riders heading each direction.  Implausible?  Max Lucas remarked that five years ago he rarely came across riders in the bike lanes on Venice.  Now, in counts on summer afternoons, Venice Blvd consistently averages out 1 BPM (biker per minute) in each direction (as counted by Bikerowave Cooperative Inc!)  Perhaps in five years, it will have five cyclists per minute each way.  And with the constant lobbying of an active cycling community, there might be a supportive police force out there, steadily curtailing dangerous motorist behavior.

When Thompson gets out, LA could be a tremendous place to ride.

That’s why when I heard the verdict, I tweeted this:

Westsidazz: Dr. Thompson is going away for 5 years. While he’s gone lets work real hard and get everyone on bikes, k? 1:16 PM Jan 8th from web

I’m 29 years old, for a few more weeks, and 5 years still feels like a long time to me.  Particularly when the shifts we need to make aren’t so much physical (bike lanes etc) but mental (culture of respect!)  I figure with some damnably hard work, and a never say die attitude, we can transform this town in 5 years.  If we did?  Joe Anthony did the math for Thompson:

Ohaijoe: It’ll be like Planet of the Apes RT @westsidazz Dr. T is going away for 5 years. While he’s gone lets work real hard & get everyone on bikes 1:18 PM Jan 8th from Power Twitter

“Oh my god” I thought,  “Joe’s more right than he might have realized.”  To Thompson it really would look like the Planet of the Apes.  He would have left a city where the car is king and it’s necessity is unquestioned by most.  A city in which many people who decried his violence qualified “those cyclists can be real jerks and besides, they were riding TWO ABREAST!”

He might return to a city which put cyclists and pedestrians, as vulnerable road users, first.  He might return to a city where cycling is fashionable, and cyclist intimidation, in any form, is unfashionable.  He might return to a city where all his dating prospects are hoping he will take them for a ride at sunset on a tandem bicycle.  LA might share the cover of Time, along with President Roboma and Vice President Enci Box, as the most changed city of the decade.

And, he might really lose it:

(Planet of the Apes finale on YouTube)

He might walk out of prison, fall down on the sand, pound it with his angry fists, yelling “you maniacs!  You blew it up!  Goddamn you!  Goddamn you all to hell!”

Just the thought of that is inspiring.  I like the idea of flipping Thompson’s world inside out one more time, and landing him in bike paradise.  So, I’d like to announce Bikeside’s Planet of the Apes meta-project. It’s not really a project – what the hell would a Planet of the Apes project grant application look like?  It’s more of a goal: total, unfathomable, transformation.  Total transformation of LA’s streets; unfathomable transformation of LA’s minds.  Mitigation & incremental improvement – these are criteria by which ball bearing engineers measure improvement.  We the bikers – we should set bold goals.  We should begin our journey not entirely certain of our destination, just intention and resolve to work like hell to get it done.  I say we point to the mountain in the distance and say “that’s where we’re going, screw the map.”  That’s the Planet of the Apes meta-project – a commitment to all out transformation of LA to a lush, livable, fun-able, paradise.

If we do it right, Thompson really will be floored.  Maybe we should meet him at his release with a milkshake, a pink tasseled beach cruiser, and a contract to work at the County Hospital and donate his wages to Bikeside, 501c4.

Westsidazz: Thompson is going away for 5 years. While he’s gone lets work real hard and get everyone on bikes, k? 1:16 PM Jan 8th from web

Ohaijoe: It’ll be like Planet of the Apes RT @westsidazz Dr. T is going away for 5 years. While he’s gone lets work real hard & get everyone on bikes 1:18 PM Jan 8th from Power Twitter

Westsidazz: @ohaijoe Ha ha ha – the Planet of the Apes project. 1:23 PM Jan 8th from web in reply to ohaijoe

Ohaijoe: @westsidazz It could happen! Look at the changes over the past 5 years, amazed at all the bikes on the streets now. 1:25 PM Jan 8th from Power Twitter in reply to westsidazz

Westsidazz: @ohaijoe It WILL happen. 2:09 PM Jan 8th from web in reply to ohaijoe

Ohaijoe: @westsidazz I find that each of us planting a few seeds here and there is all it takes to make a big change. ;) 2:11 PM Jan 8th from Power Twitter in reply to westsidazz

Westsidazz: @ohaijoe OR, alternatively, we could engineer a super intelligent race of biking apes who take over the world . . . 2:19 PM Jan 8th from web in reply to ohaijoe

Ohaijoe: @westsidazz This idea has legs. 2:22 PM Jan 8th from Power Twitter in reply to westsidazz

- Martin Luther King Jr, at the end of his Beyond Vietnam speech (read it, or listen on YouTube)

Volunteers and Bikerowave cheer the opening of Bikerowave 3.0.

Steve Mattson, General Manager of Bikerowave, signs our lease

The ceiling of Bikerowave 3.0, before we painted over it.

There was a lot of demo and renovation to do. Here Eric attacks tiling.

Kwang strikes a menacing figure as he and Paul demo some sheet rock.

Steven rides along with Larsen on his tall bike, on a break from packing up Bikerowave Version 2 to move to 3.0

David pauses for a second while moving Bikerowave from 2.6 to 3.0

Little bikes sprouted up near Bikerowave 3.0 almost immediately.

Justin sketches out a mural at Bikerowave 3.0, in darkness (long exposure.)

Matt comes to join the opening day party in our new hood.

Our new address number is masked up for repainting - 12255 Venice Blvd.

Share and tweet!

So if you’ve had problems reaching the website, or with your RSS feed of Email subscription, that could be why.

Stop by and check out how the site has been made over.  I’m not sure where to go with the sidebar at left, but I’m planning on keeping this incarnation of Westside Bikeside simple and clean.

"The East Village is Dead" by toddwshaffer

• Bicyclists can, and will, ride on every city street; California law allows as much.
• Bicyclists, pedestrians, social vehicles and private vehicles will equally share the privileges and responsibilities of the public realm; these will be the ingredients of tomorrow’s healthy, lively Los Angeles.
• Bicyclists, as citizens, will work with neighborhood and city governments to implement backbone lanes, ciclovias and other elements of civitas; bicycle life is a big source of a vibrant urban life.
• Bicyclists, as citizens, are going to push and pull this government to see some direct goals accomplished, in two years.
• Bicyclists will open the doors to a transparent government; open data will lead to direct goals.
• Bicyclists will live in a city of educated, aware citizens. Drivers will know; police will know; youth will know. The global cycling movement is in its infancy but growing.
• Bicyclists will see that this gets done right, from EIRs to engineering.
• Bicyclists will do it better. And have fun doing it.

Great introduction David!  Who will take the challenge next?

We challenge anyone and everyone to write an introduction to LA’s Best Bike Plan, which begins with the sentence “Every street is a street that cyclists will ride.”  500 words or less!  Submit your composition to alexcthompson@gmail.com. I’ll post the submissions in batches as I receive them . . .

(photo from the Library of Congress photostream)

(via AudunV on Flickr)

 Tuesday afternoon, last week.

I’m cruising home from the ear/nose/throat specialist, fighting the wind on Venice Blvd.  If you know me in real life, well you might wonder if I was getting checked for eligibility for ear reduction surgery.  No dice – Kaiser told me my radar dishes are a preexisting medical condition – I’m stuck as Dumbo.

The light at National turns green and I get up on the pedals.  Just as I plop back in the saddle and settle into a cadence, the old skool Saab in the lane over from me pulls past slowly.  He’s reading – it looks like he’s reading a xerox handout for a class.  You know, 50 pages from some book that the prof xeroxed so that people wouldn’t have to pay an arm and a leg for a rare book.  So I yell at him “no reading, just driving!”

He looks around, see’s me in the mirror, waving my index finger like a nun.  He sets his reading down, rolls down his window, and sticks his arm out the window, extending one digit, pointing to the sky.

It’s his thumb.

Best feeling all week.

Thanks for doing that while my bike was parked in front of Bikerowave.  That made a lot of people uneasy.  Regarding the personal distress – I could have done without that.  Bikerowave has a sliding scale policy so if you’re having trouble making ends meet we can help you out.  Sliding scale means you pay what you can afford to pay.  We have that policy because myself and the other two founders of Bikerowave, as well as the volunteers, believe in helping people out.  I hope it helps you out – please note that we cannot accept my lights as payment.

Anyway, I was a little pissed you did that, but I went inside and bought two nice new lights from Bikerowave.  Because I’m a volunteer at Bikerowave I get a 40% discount – admittedly not as good as your 5 finger discount, but I get that discount on $1000 frames and Dura Ace crank sets, so it works out better in the long haul.  Knog lights and flip flop hubs are also available!  I was able to buy these things from Bikerowave in part because I co-founded the space, and helped make sure it was healthy, and collaborated on the contract to move to that new spot.  Isn’t the new location great?  What’s coolest: when I needed some cheap lights, it was no big deal.  I helped build a little safety net for cyclists in LA, and now even I benefit!

This is called “MAKING YOUR OWN LUCK.“  That’s what I did – I took some luck (lucky brains, lucky family, lucky health) and I levered it up into more luck.  Luck so deep we all benefit.  If, kid, you can MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK a little more often you might graduate from stealing lights to stealing saddles, or stealing front wheels.  I heard about a guy that steals handlebars!  This one guy, George Bush, he even stole two elections.  He’s kind of punk though – don’t be like him – his luck did not benefit the rest of us.

If you make your luck long enough my friend, if you spread it around to your friends and cultivate it, you can punch your own ticket.  This is called being a KINGPIN.  You’re not a kingpin yet – you need to work on your mojo (see section MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK.)  I haven’t reached kingpin status, but I know one thing kingpins don’t do is sweat the small stuff.  It’s not a great idea to steal from a kingpin, I heard that’s true for sure.  Some of them are temperamental (see SCARFACE.)  In the interest of being more kingpin-like I’m not going sweat this petty theft.  Kingpins are generally better to work with than victimize with petty crime – kingpins just don’t play good victims.

I would like to leave you with a passage from Jadakiss & Styles P:

Fuck… the.. frail shit
Cuz when my coke come in
They gotta use the scales that they weigh the whales with

(Jadakiss is a kingpin – probably Styles P also)

I could easily send you to God

(Styles P can mess you up – don’t steal his lights [see SCARFACE])

But come and see me at the Plaza Hotel I might give you a job
If you can’t remember the name
All you gotta do is ask the dame for the niggas that deliver it hard…

(Jadakiss is more interested in working together, if you’re willing to not steal his lights.  Also, he is probably good in bed.)

A special note, from this Jadakiss to Bikerowave’s own Styles P – get well Mihai!

I’m the fastest thing on wheels

Not Ivan Basso, or Michael Rasmussen

or Ivan Therrien or Eric Colton

can beat me.

Not with

two new new wheels

and one new chain

I’m a new man.

Sunlight glinting off dark arm hair

long flat shins pushing and pulling

I’m not hard to see.

Trial of Miles: Survivor.

And I’m saving it all up

for a run.

Wilson Kipketer sets the first of his two world records at the greatest distance, in the greatest sport in the world:

Did you notice a shift, maybe a change in your mood lately?  Whether you knew the source or not, you’re feeling happier because Bikerowave has moved to a new location – 12255 Venice Blvd – an awesome improvement over the last location.  Bikerowave 3.0 is here!

We’re in a real neighborhood now – one that represents all that is LA, it’s good and bad:

It’s been a lot of hard work getting here:

(photo by Deborah Famiglietti)

And sometimes it’s been stressful:

But in the end it’s proved worth it – we’ve got some dope new energy, and we’re living in the future:

(artwork by Daniel Hope Edwards)

Now we’ve got some amazing neighbors.   Across the street is LA’s finest fixie boutique – LA Brakeless – and their crew of amazing trick riders:

A guitar shop, Timewarp Music, with over 200 guitars:

And on our left, the Good Hurt:

They do this on Monday nights:

While we get down, lights off, disco ball on, all bikes on deck:

Come down and visit – it’s flat, there’s a huge bike lane, the beach is down the street, and we’re real.  It’s Bike Land!

Dropped.

You who paced me, who turned it into a competition,

Dropped.

You who drafted me without permission, without knowing me, because you couldn’t make the pace yourself,

Dropped.

You, you with the featurless tubular calves, the six feet four of no substance,

Dropped.

You who shot out and made the light which I missed,

Dropped.

You, you who carried that momentum into a red,

Dropped.

You, who pushed me into the third lane of traffic, who veered like a dumbass,

Dropped.

You, who can’t ride with the third lane of traffic, you who doesn’t have monster legs filled with monster HULK,

Dropped.

You who didn’t make the light,

DROPPED.

I dropped you.  Get some muscles.

(photo by Justin Jakobson)

Last Tuesday was the one year anniversary of Taco Tuesdays.  EVERY week for one year Taco Tuesdays has met and left from CRANK MOB PARK at 8pm, and every week XL, the ride leader, has put together an awesome ride and spokecard.

That’s an extraordinary effort, and that effort has earned a huge and faithful following.  When I went on my first Taco Tuesdays, #17, there were around 30 riders.  Now the ride pulls between 60 and 80 riders on weekly basis.  When we left CRANK MOB PARK on Tuesday for the one year anniversary ride, I estimate there were about 200 riders.

Since I started riding bikes in West LA there have been a handful of rides or entities that changed the face of the West LA bike scene.  The first ride I ever went to was Westsidazz, created by Alec, Brian and Max from the Southbay.  That ride created the West LA bike scene, where before there were only a handful of people who rode east a couple times a month for LA Critical Mass and the 2nd Friday’s Midnight Ridazz.  Next, Zack Beatty founded Santa Monica Critical Mass, which broadened and deepened the scene which Westsidazz created.

Out of that scene emerged Bikerowave, creating a physical center for the West LA bikers, and giving them a reason to hang out more than once a month.  And Cub Camp followed nearly instantly on it’s heels.  Cub Camp quickly grew into a whole new kind of ride – an unholy synthesis of hustle and party.  From Cub Camp and Bikerowave sprang a community of Cubs, who took party riding and FUN to a whole new level.

In the way that SMCM took what Westsidazz had done and made it available to a broader audience, CRANK MOB came and turned the whole Westside into one big Cubbie Puddle, introducing Cub Camp and Cub Campery to the masses.  CRANK MOB injected a new reckless and youthful abandon into party rides, not just in West LA, but in Los Angeles in general.  It turned inclusivity on it’s head, and where once anyone was welcome, now anyone was welcome to come to CRANK MOB and be involuntarily jumped into a life of hard bike partying.  With the problems of today’s CRANK MOB looming the last year, we forget what the original CRANK MOB was – a joyous forcefully inclusive orgy of fun that produced the best riding scene we will probably ever experience.  After 1 year we learned what the phrase “too much of a good thing” really means when accidents and too much rowdiness showed us that many new CRANK MOBsters didn’t understand what CRANK MOB was really about.

Taco Tuesdays is the next thing.  It’s belongs in that line of rides and organizations that reshaped how things are done in the West LA bike scene.  Each of the above entities taught us lessons about how to pull off good rides, or make a good organization.  XL and his team have humbled me and others with their no nonsense approach to Taco Tuesdays.

What’s special about Taco Tuesdays?  To me, the most standout aspect is the team work.  No other westside ride organizer has built a stable team of riders to execute a ride week after week.  Some have a handful of people who collaborate haphazardly, but the team behind Taco Tuesdays has defined roles and consistent participation.  That team has found ways to raise funds to pay for special events and sound system repairs.

XL and his team also dialed back the CRANK MOB atmosphere back a notch, cultivating a chill but fun atmosphere.  By pulling back from the one million percent party level of CRANK MOB, they found a great niche and owned it.  The relaxed tone is perfectly suited for a weeknight ride where you need to be ready for work in the morning, and it creates a welcoming atmosphere where people get to know each other.

Taco Tuesdays riders don’t take shit.  Lately most rides have had problems with tagging, stealing, and even fighting.  Taco Tuesdays is no exception.  But, while other people have thrown e-fits about it, XL and his team have confronted problem riders with courage and empathy, and thought carefully about simple, direct ways of dealing with it.

Most importantly, Taco Tuesdays is a consisten big weekly ride on a week night.  No one has done that yet, except Roadblock with Wolfpack.  That’s impressive.

Congratulations XL and Taco Tuesdays on an amazing year, and great vision!

ROBOTZ is back, as ROB0131313TZ (Facebook event.)  If you’re a hoomanz, you’re unlucky, because only robotz can bike with robotz.  This time it’s 25 miles-ish, finishing at 2am somewhere in West LA.  We meet at CRANK MOB PARK, 9201 Venice Blvd, at 7pm, and leave promptly at 8pm, this Saturday.  It’s a mild hustle, so be prepared with full tires and tigger legs!

Either way, I figured I’d put some of my thoughts in writing on the topic of mixing two of the things I love most in life. They both give me unlimited amounts of freedom and have over time become intertwined with everything I do in life. These two hobbies (for lack of a better word) affected almost every facet of my personality, how I present myself on a daily basis, how I act in various situations, my outlook on life, etc.

This cat back in high school sold me De La’s “Stakes is High” (someone else’s review) for a crisp $5 bill. I thought he was kidding at first when he made the offer, I didn’t understand why he’d want to get rid of this classic. I shrugged my shoulders, and jumped on the deal.

By that year (circa 1996) I was pretty much hooked on the jazzy nature of hiphop music and lyrics that made my neurons shoot off all kinds of electrical charges. Early nineties hiphop was a dichotomy of mean/macho West Coast “ganster” rap and conscious East coast groups like De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest.  That’s about the time I jumped into the mix, an immigrant in his teenage years getting his first glimpses of American culture.

I always found hiphop culture to be pretty much all-inclusive and the one with the least judgemental peers. In that sense, it’s very similar to the cycling community in Los Angeles – you can just be yourself. True, some kids go overboard with their cool obsessions, image is important for a lot of folks in Southern California. But for the most part, everyone is comfortable with who they are.

Hiphop doesn’t always push the most eco friendly ideas, heck most rappers drive ridiculous cars and as a result are mad out of shape. I, at one point in my teenage years, wished to own a ridiculous car just like everyone else that’s bombarded by mainstream advertising. So I won’t try to reconcile the two, I just wanted to point out that you can always pick up on the positive things from anyone or anything you look up to, while dropping whatever you don’t find appealing.

A relatively inebriated female once asked me what my favorite rap song was, and I tried to answer to the best of my ability, even though I could tell she wasn’t genuinely interested. Easy, I thought, it’s a close tie between The Roots‘ “What They Do” and De La’s “Stakes is High” with Pete Rock and CL’s “TROY” coming in a close third.

So when the Southside Midnight Maraudazz ride came around, those three songs were automatically on the playlist.  Midnight Marauders happens to be the name of a classic Tribe Called Quest album, and it was the inspiration for this specific nighttime outing. “Seven times out of Ten, we listen to music ride our bikes at night”. It was a chance to roam through Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, past the Crenshaw Mural (long shot, detail), and even do a couple of loops through LAX departures and arrivals. All while blasting old school hiphop tunes from a portable Roland guitar amp. A picture perfect Saturday night, thanks to the planning efforts of this gentleman.

(photo & video by Rick Darge)

This month has been filled with outrageously fun night time excursions, that seem to all blend together into one hard-to-believe narrative. Steven, another westsider who also volunteers at the BikeRoWave and happens to be a hiphop head, helped put on two of the livest parties this past weekend. First there was the wild in-the-streets dance party during Abbott Kinney’s Art Walk, then the BikeRoWave party and fundraiser, aka BikeRoParty 2.0. Our tunes did not get as many folks dancing as we had wanted to, but BikeRoParty 3.0 will make that happen. Heck, we may even invite a few bboys to get the party started correctly.

Bottom line is, whatever your hobbies or passions are, don’t complain that the bike scene isn’t for you, bring something to it. If there’s something that you like to do, plan it out, build a ride around it. Make it happen ™

It’s that time again.  KNITTENS emailed me this flyer for ROB050505555TZ, the All Shitty Edition (Facebook event listing.)  I think she meant “all-city”, but such is the accent of LOLCATs.  This Saturday, 8pm, at CRANK MOB PARK (Venice & Canfield.)  KNITTENS writes that you should “be prepared for all night no-fun no-party no-time!!!”, whatever that means.  As always, it’s a faster ride, so you need hard tires and harder legs.  Check out some photos from me, and Hatehills, of last month’s ROB04040444TZ:

Right after we started we stopped on Ballona Creek to explore a buried stream that discharges into the Creek:

And then there were some flats on the way to Mustache bridge . . . but they made for good photos from Hatehills:

We stopped at an awesome overlook, to remain secret, in Westchester:

And had a good time being builder BOTZ at the Great Western Forum:

And KNITTENS was repped well by MEOW:

And we swung by Hollywood Park before finishing in a Inglewood park with quarter pipes:

  “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:This is to certify that

ALEXANDER THOMPSON

a student in the Graduate Division, Los Angeles, of this University, has completed all required studies for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN MATHEMATICS

ON NOVEMBER 25, 2008

Award of the degree, to be dated December 12, 2008, will be made by formal action of the Chacellor of the University.”

Last month’s ROB0303303TZ saw a blizzard of bizarre.  A group shot at an Albertsons at the edge of South LA:

Shortly after we did some laps on a local track.  Riding around a running track is an amazing experience – it’s super fast and smooth so you just get into a zone and hustle (photo by hatehills):

We visted ROBOTZ Park (the historic Leimert Park) for a little while, but a homeless man made it funner to move than stay by yelling, spitting, and threatening violence:

Pictured above, Shues, who celebrated his birthday on the ride, the second ROBOT to do so (CHLOBOTZ = first.)  Jonnyboy brought cupcakes for him (photo by hatehills):

At one point Undercover Bob showed us this decommissioned DC-8 in Exposition Park:

For those in the scene, the energetic blur in the foreground is Tallcans4tallbikes, a leader of copious valley rides, and ROBOT to the core. For me, one of the highlights of the ride was the 50 odd ROBOTZ touring the LA Convention Center, super quiet ninja style.  Only the sound of ratcheting cassettes could be heard (photo by hatehills):

The birthday boy loved it (photo by hatehills):

We finished the ride with two dance parties – one on USC’s campus and another in an underground parking structure. ROBOTZ clothes (tin foil) was in full effect (photo by hatehills):

The night ended with some shenanigans with the California State Police who patrol Exposition Park at night.  Basically we were detained, guns pulled,  and searched, for over 90 minutes because we used sidewalk chalk in the parking structure.  In the end, after all that, one young woman three weeks from adulthood was issued a curfew citation, and the rest of us got off scot free – minus our dignity.  I’m writing a letter to Crayola to ask them to pull sidewalk chalk from their shelves – it’s a dangerous product!  CRANK MOB photo by GarySe7en:

Even if CRANK MOB were to happen at some point (it DID NOT), fire breathing would NOT be cool:

There was NO FUN at CRANK MOB:

But the truth is, a group of cyclists already has been taking CEREAL (translation: serious) ownership of the path. This Tuesday I went to my first Taco Tuesdays, an awesome nighttime social ride on the Westside that ends in a taco gorgy at Cinco de Mayo.  The Ballona Creek Bike Path has been the site of several muggings and, according to residents, rampant gang activity.  So, I was a suprised and nervous when the ride turned onto the path and all 50 of us took the path 5 1/2 miles from Duquesne Ave in Culver City to Mustache Bridge at it’s end.

This was right at the beginning of Taco Tuesdays, and as the ride got warmed up and we passed under the 405, a small group up front started to hustle.  When a gap between the hustlers and the main group developed, Ryan Ashford and I double hustled up to the front to slow them down.  But we like to hustle to.  So, when we got there, we were all “slow down”, and then we jumped out front, and laid down a 4 mile sprint.  Pacelining Ballona Creek in the dark at 26 mph, rooting it good, I was unable to spot any gang activity.  Except of course the gang of 50 cyclists massaging the path with the rubber side down.

(L to R: Chloe, Vlad, Alex T, and Sara, looking like doofuses on Mustache Bridge after the hustle.  Photo by Sean M.)

After we hustled we cooled it for a while and then watched the main group come in.  Imagine 35 blinking lights coming out of complete darness, along a path that is feared by residents and cyclists alike.  It was a strong visual demonstrating that more use, not less, is the solution to the path’s problem.  If only a fraction as many cyclists used the path on a regular basis, the ability of people to misuse the path for crime would be substantially reduced.

Taco Tuesdays has been doing just that.  In it’s 18 ride history, “X-Large”, who organizes the ride along with Richie and Ceasar, estimates that nine Taco Tuesdays rides of twenty or more cyclists have travelled the length of the path.  “Even before Taco Tuesday’s, Richie and Ceasar and I were riding it together at night for practice,” he said.  Twenty cyclists to the end and then back to boathouse is 20 x 6.1 = 122 rider miles.  If attendance is 50 like this last ride, that’s more than 300 rider miles.  That’s some CEREAL riding!

Now, I know that the Concerned Bicyclists of the Ballona Creek have more in mind for their Saturday ride, but I think some recognition is in order for what Taco Tuesdays is doing.  Taco Tuesdays didn’t set out to “retake the path”, but simply by providing a fun reason to ride, by being an awesome biking event, they’ve inadvertently taken a strong ownership of the path at a time when even Will Campbell is fearful of riding it (but he did ride it at night.)  That is the beauty of Midnight Ridazz – by using public places for what they were meant for – public enjoyment – we’re transforming LA.  And it’s all fun.

Come on Concerned Bicyclists – I dare you to check out Taco Tuesdays and give them some CEREAL face to face props!  Tuesdays, leaving CRANK MOB PARK (aka Media Park at Venice & Canfield) at 8 pm.

The organizer, the domineering iconic ride organizing LOLcat “KNITTENS”, writes with this pitch (you must read lolcat to understand it):

 teh 3rd ROB0303333TZ Ryde r upon us

u can had jumps
u can had souf central
u can had LAX
u can had hermosa beach
u can had bonfyre on docksweiler
u can had foil
u can had kwak
u can had fountains

waht u can haz nao?

8pm, CRANK MOB PARK
Venice & Canfield
30 myles of crazy robotz ducks

No beach cruisers allowed.  U can haz ryde all night.

I’m sold.  See y’all there.