On ROB0111011TZ ride #0 seventy two riders rode through industrial Culver City, Crenshaw, Inglewood. Then we did a circuit of the top level of LAX, stopped at In & Out, and finally headed to the Howard Hughes center. There the ride ended on top of a parking structure, where we partied with security guards. The toughest of the crew had breakfast at Cinco de Mayo, before heading to CRNAK MOB PARK, where they colored in sidewalk chalk till the sun came up.
What will happen this time?
Caturday, August 9th, 2008
9:30pm
CRANK MOB PARK - at Venice Blvd & Canfield Ave
We do hills and ride a bit faster than your typical mass ride - so no beach cruisers unless you’re a Cat 3 racer.
Need I say more? Yes, I do. Critical Mass on the Westside has been amazing this summer. Check out these pics and these pics from the SMCM and Firewerckx rides on July 4th, or these pics from Venice Critical Mass. You should go.
I was talking with Mike Feinstein (former mayor of Santa Monica) on Tuesday about a bike related project. We finished our plans and then we got off the phone and went about our business. Shortly afterward I miss a call from Mike, and when I listen to the voicemail I find out that he came upon the scene of an accident on Main St. in Santa Monica.
Right outside Bike Attack Mike found paramedics treating an injured spandex rider - he appeared to have a nasty leg break. Mike has reason to believe that the cyclist was hit by a car. Whatever the cause - be careful. Main St. might have a bike lane, but many cyclists have found it to be a dangerous street to ride on. Dave Benoff (Bikerowave OG), for example, was nearly right hooked and ended up hitting a parked car in order to avoid worse. In my experience motorists on the street will drift in and out of the bike lane, pull out suddenly, or just turn across your path.
Venice Critical Mass was wild. We had around 80 riders at the beginning. We finished it a 7-11 parking lot at Sepulveda and Sawtelle, at which point we declared that we were on a new ride - a ride that was something else. So from now on, the post VCM ride it the Something Else ride. Among the highlights of the two rides was rushing the CostCo parking lot, a soccer game in the park, and washing our bikes at a Santa Monica car wash. Photo set here!
When I lived nearer the concrete canal, I ran there late at night. Training for a marathon meant running 80 miles each week along the uniform banks of Ballona Creek, and sometimes this became monotonous.
Some chill nights a magical event occurred. Flying and gliding silently on the flicking knotted wood legs of the long distance runner a companion joined me. Orange street light sprinkled across black water to reveal a long slender wave spanning the canal, and moving upstream.
Thanks to CRANK MOB (photos) and life, I missed out on the Bicycle Film Festival this weekend. What I was most disappointed by was missing the artistic cycling demonstrations by Ines Brunn. Basically, artistic cycling (Wikipedia) is like fixed gear tricks on drugs. Go watch this video to see what I mean - I guarantee you’ll be glad you did.
Rossangeles just posted up this recap video of the Bicycle Film Festival Block Party, which I first saw on Mikey Wally’s blog. At 1:30 into the video you’ll see Brunn do some amazing things. Even more amazing - she does it on the absolutely horrendous cement on Heliotrope, which is kriss krossed with nasty grooves and cracks:
Email or feed readers who have trouble viewing this - follow this link:BFF Block Party LA 2008.
Two weeks ago myself, and seven other cyclists visited the Santa Monica City Council (Flickr set) to speak in favor of improving cycling conditions. Specifically we spoke in support of the recommendations contained within the draft Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE.) As I’ve written before, the LUCE will influence transportation policy, and therefore bike policy, for at least the next decade in Santa Monica (an overview of LUCE on the ibikeu Wiki.)
(Mihai stares at the ceiling in exasperation as we wait for our item to come up)
