A Not So Lazy Sunday

Today, I went for a ride with my friend Lindsay, and it could not have been a nicer day for a bike ride. It was one of those rides where just about everything went perfectly (except for the one stale green I went through, not realizing she was further back than I thought, which made for a little more excitement than necessary).

We started just West of the 405, and headed out toward Santa Monica Pier. If you live in the area, Iowa Ave. is definitely the way to go, as it's a lot more mellow than Santa Monica or Wilshire. It was sort of a highlights of the beach by bike ride, so from the Santa Monica Pier, we went down the bike path along the beach to the Venice Boardwalk, to the Venice Pier, to Marina Del Rey, to Mustache Bridge, and then turned around and came back.

It was about 20 miles total, plus another 8 miles from my place to hers, and 28 miles on a fixie after finishing last night's ride at 2AM meant I was pretty much done. It is getting easier to ride though. If I can just figure out how to go down hills fast without getting spun out and/or scaring the bejeezus out of myself, I'll be all set.

I did get a few decent pics. (If you can't afford photoshop but want to edit your photos using something more effective than MS Paint, you may want to download GIMP. It's pretty awesome.)


Guard Shack


Getty Center


Panoramic Shot from Venice Pier. (Canon's PhotoStitch software is awesome! You just take a few pics moving from left to right or vice versa, and it puts them together for you.)


Completely gratuitous bike shot.

Have a good one!

Imachynna Syndrome and the Importance of Proper Bicycle Maintenance.

So, I was sitting at my computer Sat. AM, thinking about a blog post for Friday's SMCM, and feeling kinda ranty because I'd missed a chunk of the ride helping people fix stuff on their bikes. (Thanks David F. for helping me find the group again). As I was about to start ranting about why people choose to go on rides without bringing a well-maintained bike and the proper gear, I heard a noise that sounded like PHUT! HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! coming from my bike. I looked over, and my front tube had popped, which, since it was a slime tube, meant that part of my carpet was now covered in lovely green goo.

Apparently, the tiny tear in my sidewall had allowed the tube to weaken and rupture, so before I could start talking smack about other people's poor maintenance habits, it was time for a trip to the bike store for a new slime tube and a new front tire so I could do some maintenance of my own. Funny how life keeps you humble that way.

But Sat. P.M. it was time for the Imachynna Syndrome ride, hosted by Chynna, aka Imachynna, aka The Tiny Giant. She did an awesome job. (Posting your phone number on the ride announcement is a great idea for anyone leading rides, as it makes it a lot easier to catch up.)



(Her pictures of this ride will be much better.)

We met at Chinatown Station and headed North.





This ride also seemed fairly maintenance heavy, with tons and tons of flat tires and other issues for some reason. I got to try out my new spoke wrench when a woman busted a spoke and her wheel went way out of true. I thought she was going to be done for the night until somebody reminded me that you can true the wheel around the missing spoke and make a bike reasonably rideable, which we did.

The real hero of the night in terms of keeping people on the road was definitely Eddieboy. At the start, he helped Drooby take off some derailleurs and turn his bike into a functional singlespeed. Then at another stop, he helped this poor confused fellow who wasn't even with a ride that had gone off a curb on an ancient road bike and bent the rear wheel so badly it couldn't be ridden. Eddie took off the rear wheel, walked it over to a fence, bent it back into shape between the bars of the fence, put it back on the bike, and the guy was on his way. It was awesome, although a few of the riders that I'd never seen before got a little cranky about having to wait. Dumbasses.



Then we wandered on toward Chynna's place, where she took out a huge light and began taking pictures of everybody, some of which should be absolutely awesome. (If my shots come out, I'll have some very artistic "before" pictures to show everyone in 6-12 months if I can stick to my New Year's resolution.)

After that, it was down through Silverlake, up into Echo Park, and back to Chinatown. The group had a destination in mind, but since we were back at the starting point and it was after 2AM, I decided to call it a night.

Hopefully there will be an Imachynna Syndrome 2: The Antidote ride at some point in the near future, as this was tremendous fun!

Santa Monica Critical Mass / Long Beach / Bikes and Cars

My New Year's resolution is to "eat less and pedal more", and so far I'm off to a pretty good start.

Of course, we're only barely into the New Year, so that's not saying a great deal.

My first ride of the year on 1/1 was a solo late afternoon ride out Venice Blvd. to Venice Beach, and up the boardwalk, and back down to Marina Del Rey and back to Palms up the Ballona Creek bike path. Pretty uneventful, although I did learn that riding reasonably quickly under overpasses with your headlight set in blink mode turns your ride into a bad '80s horror flick, as you can see, but not quite well enough to understand what's coming toward you in terms of terrain, etc.

Then on Friday, I did the first Santa Monica Critical Mass of the year, which was pretty fun.











It was a pretty good ride overall, that ranged from Santa Monica, down to Windward Circle in Venice, back to Santa Monica, and ended up at the studio of this really friendly guy named Hal, where Albert (aka digablesoul) showed me some tips on using my new camera. I'm still working on it, but hopefully things will improve as time progresses. A tripod might help. I left this party fairly early, as I did this ride on my fixie, and I still had to ride home, and sometimes it requires a little extra energy, as I've got a substantial number of pounds to lose. (For what it's like, imagine riding a fixed gear while giving one of the sturdier lady ridazz a piggyback ride. While the prospect is not unappealing, it's not a situation optimal for covering long distances swiftly).

So I get back to my place, and one of my buddies in Long Beach had decided that he'd found THE place to meet girls. After a number of texts and a few loud phone calls, he tells me he's there with a group of his friends, and I should head down. Since I'm back home at this point, and have put the bike away, I decide "what the hell" and drive on down.

Let me tell you, there's a reason so many people drive cars. After a few hours on a fairly narrow bicycle saddle, even one adjusted properly to your anatomy, a car seat feels like heaven. Luckily I can have both, so I zipped on down to LB, to meet my buddy and his friends. I meet him there, and he greets me with an enormous inebriated smile, and his first words to me are "Dude, I am FUCKED UP! I'm trying to get with this girl, and she wants to get with me too, but her boyfriend's here, and I don't think he likes me very much." That last part probably set a new record for most obvious statement ever made. Not at all obvious, and a little odd, was why most of the people in this club were so short, maybe it's the horrific air quality from living near the port. That said, Long Beach is totally underrated. The more time I hang out there, the more fun it seems to be. My buddy LOVES it, although I do worry about him meeting an untimely demise at the hands of an enraged husband/boyfriend somewhere down the line.

All in all an A1 night.

My last ride of 2008.

It was last night, and it was awesome.

I'd been talking to my buddy Eddie S., who's got a much higher enthusiasm level than I do, and he's on a mission to lose some weight over the next few months. Since I'm endeavoring to do that as well, I pulled together a pretty generic Westside route, and we made plans to meet up later.

Before that, I decided to hit Big 5 for some gear, as I keep hearing stories about people getting their bikes taken/being assaulted while riding. While I'm not too concerned, as I'm a large guy on a cheap bike, which isn't a very attractive target, I figured it's better to be safe than sorry. So, the shopping list included pepper spray, a whistle, and a pocket knife that could be opened one-handed. Not that I intend to get into any knife fights mind you, but I'm a guy, and I'll take any excuse to get a new pocket knife. (Should you be buying cutlery, please note that per LAMC 55.10 you cannot carry a knife with a blade of more than 3" in plain view (so make sure it's in your pocket), and per state law, you cannot have a knife with a blade of more than 2.5" on school (K-12) grounds, butterfly knives and switchblades are illegal unless the blade is less than 2", and knives that do not fold are prohibited under a broad ban on "dirks or daggers".) I did not find a pocket knife (although I did find one today at the surplus store at Motor/Venice for $10 (they also have a messenger bag, which they call a "casual briefcase" for $14.95)), but I did find a decent whistle with a lanyard for $2.49, and a canister of combination tear gas / pepper spray for $12.99, which sounds like something that shouldn't be sold that cheaply and/or over the counter (but is perfectly legal as long as you have less than 2.5 oz per canister).

So Eddie showed up, and we rode West on Venice and South on Sawtelle, which due to the traffic and the numerous lights, is pretty sketchy until you get South of Culver, at which point it becomes an awesome low-traffic neighborhood street that should be included on more rides. Then we headed West on Jefferson to Culver, through Playa Vista and the Ballona Wetlands to Playa Del Rey, all of which were covered with this low lying fog that I thought was supercool but Eddie was kind of creeped out by. Then we rode over Mustache Bridge, around the Marina, out to Venice Pier, and up the Boardwalk/Pacific Avenue into Santa Monica. Being EXTRA law abiding while in Santa Monica, we headed up Broadway, which is a pretty cool road with a nice bike lane to Bundy, took Bundy to Olympic to Barrington to Venice, for a total of 17-18 miles, not a bad way to round out the year.

I wish I had had a camera with me, as Eddie was sporting what may be the next incarnation of fixie hipster fashion, namely shorts with soccer socks. While I probably won't adopt this combo, they did look pretty dapper, and are a definite improvement on the women's jeans sported by some.

Of course, between the long shorts, long socks, silly hats, and unusual footwear, it's just a matter of time before the avant garde of the urban cyclist crowd starts shopping at the golf outlets.



Happy New Year Everyone!

Crankmob, Fixies, Flats, etc.

Before I get started, I would like to direct your attention to the following:


WheelWorld in Culver City, at the corner of Sepulveda and Washington Place, has inner tubes on sale, 3 for $7.99. That's less than $2.67 per tube, so stock up now. Ask Santa to put a handful in your stocking. (Or ask the great Goddess to bestow them upon you in recognition of the Solstice, they make great Hanukkah gifts as well (although blinkies might be more appropriate what with it being the Festival of Lights and all).

If you don't skid a lot, Slime Tubes are AWESOME, and only $5.99 at Performance Bike. They fill any small holes with a sealant contained inside the tube, so you may not even know if you get punctures.

At the very least, get a patch kit for a buck or two. (Performance and WheelWorld match each other's prices, which is nice.)

I only mention this, as there were a lot of flats this evening. Luckily, the route was posted beforehand, so this was only a minor inconvenience to those involved, but on many rides, a flat can be a monster drag.

(If anybody reading this hasn't ever actually changed a flat and wants to learn how, let me know and I'll e-mail you the Bikerowave guide to fixing a flat.)

Today was Crankmob, the monthly bicycle bacchanal, and it was awesome!

The organizers really emphasized safety, handing out flyers before the ride started so people could have a basic idea of what to do and what not to do to make sure the ride went smoothly, posting the route online ahead of time, and generally keeping things taken care of.

That, plus a longer ride with shorter stops, and cold weather that seemed to keep the jackass quotient to a minimum, made for a pretty great night. I only saw one person bail while riding straight on flat pavement, but he was ok (his beer did not survive).

I decided to ride my fixed gear tonight, as I haven't ridden it (or anything else) nearly enough lately. I had some reservations, as I'm not exactly fast, a fixed gear takes a lot more effort to ride, the brakes on the drops are less than ideal for the random sudden stops that are part of casual group rides, and 22+ miles on a fixie seemed like a bit of a chore.

Be that as it may, I needed the exercise, and given that I'm theoretically in the process of building up ANOTHER fixed gear (if it ever returns from the powdercoaters), it made some sense that I actually start riding the one I've got.

So I headed out to the usual starting point up at Sawtelle, where the usual crowd, plus a whole bunch of new folks were hanging out. For a chilly L.A. winter evening, the crowd was pretty impressive. It was cool to see a whole bunch of folks I'd seen earlier at the Bikerowave out there. It's awesome to be, even tangentially, part of a community, and the L.A. cycling community is stupendously friendly. And talented. Seriously, the amount of talent some of these folks display casually in terms of writing/photography/organization/etc., etc., etc. in their SPARE TIME leaves me pretty well convinced that as messy as the current economic disaster may be, there's also a lot of untapped potential just waiting to be turned loose.

I mean, think of the tremendous boon to the economy, transportation, tourism, general fitness AND the environmnent that could happen if, like the bike/pedestrian paths along Ballona Creek, we threw up bike paths along ALL the aqueducts/creeks and drainage ditches around town.

Because there are a TON. Just check out this link from L.A. Creek Freak, and look at those maps. Holy cow! Connect them all with bike lanes / sharrows, and we'd have an alternative transportation network that would be beautiful, fun, and CHEAP, as it wouldn't require much except a little concrete, asphalt, paint, and railings.

But I digress. So we got started, rode around West L.A. for a while, and then a couple folks got flats. I stopped to help bondink get her flat fixed, with the help of another guy named Alex, and it took some doing. Bondink mentioned that jonnyboy had helped her put her rear wheel on, and man, for a pretty soft spoken guy, he's got some RIDICULOUS strength. To remove the axle nuts, I had to set the wrench in place, and then Alex had to STAND on the wrench handle, because that was the only way we could get the nuts to move. But we got the flat fixed, and headed toward the meeting place at Crankmob Park (aka Media Park, aka that park in Culver City between Trader Joe's and In and Out), and only had to stop and help one other person with a flat on the way. (Seriously, 3 tubes for $7.99 is a heck of a deal.)

So we hung out in Crankmob park for a while, and rolled through Culver City to Jefferson, and down Jefferson past Fox Hills Mall to an Albertson's, where we hung out for a while, and continued onward. After doing a couple laps around the traffic circle in the newish Playa Vista development, much to the consternation of some cranky Playa Vistan motorists,
(but hey, let's face it, when you buy property on land that is BOTH a methane field AND a historic Native American burial ground, some exuberant cyclists are likely to be the least of your problems), we headed off to the shopping center by the marina in Marina Del Rey. This was a short stop, as the Ralph's apparently summoned the constabulary, who invited us to disperse.

Apparently the group then went to Costco for a while, but due to some miscommunication, I and some other folks ended up riding off down Venice and up Sepulveda to National Blvd. The rest of the group showed up eventually, and there was some bike jousting. (This is an event where the two jousters are put on children's bicycles, are given 8-10ft PVC pipe lances with boxing gloves on the end, and then pedal or are pushed swiftly toward each other. One collision between two guys who not only ran their lances at each other but their bikes as well was pretty impressive.

Luckily, there didn't seem to be any injuries / stolen bikes this evening, which was awesome. (Hopefully we won't hear of any on midnightridazz.com tomorrow).

At this point, it was getting toward 3 in the morning, my feet were chilly, and it was time to head home, which, conveniently, was pretty close.

Crankmob kicked ass.

(If you've got pics of the ride you'd like to see illustrating this post, just shoot me an e-mail.)

Happy Holidays all!

The Ride With No Name, etc., etc.

My buddy Eddie e-mailed me earlier this week to see if I wanted to go on a ride Friday night, and since I've been wanting to get on my bike more, I thought it sounded like a good idea.

After briefly considering the Tattoo Ride, since it started at Crankmob Park not far from my house, and promised a beautiful spoke card (which, since Eddie didn't have any, was quite an enticement for him), we decided to hit The Ride With No Name, as Barleye, the organizer, seemed like he'd put together a good ride, and I figured I'd know more folks.

So we loaded up the bikes and drove downtown. This was the first time I'd driven to a ride, and while there is something odd about using a car to get to a bike ride, if the choice is miss the ride or drive to the ride, driving makes a fair bit of sense. Rode the mountain bike tonight, as I didn't know how many hills there would be, and there really is something convenient about having gears and a freewheel. It's good to have options, although a fixie does give you a kick-ass workout.

The starting point was in the middle of the Arts District, pretty close to the "Warehouse District". A lot of this ride was around serious urban industrial locations. Warehouses, factories, truck yards, etc., etc. At one point, we rode over a bridge and below to the right we saw what must have been a concrete recycling plant in operation, and it was one of the most surreally beautiful things I've seen. It was a GIANT open warehouse, with no front or side walls, with sodium lights hanging from the ceiling, giving the place an eerie orange glow. Inside this monster building a huge yellow excavator was picking up chunks of rubble and concrete, and dropping them into big metal box, that presumably was the crusher/recycler, judging from the huge mounds of sand piling upnet to the building. I'm sure there are Sisyphean metaphors to be made about spending one's Friday night in a huge machine making sand out of rubble, but as a visual spectacle, it was pretty impressive.

One that would surely have been more impressive for you all had I actually brought a camera.

So we road around warehouses and trucks and overpasses and whatnot, and eventually found ourselves riding across the USC Campus. At one point, we found a quad with a band playing at one end, and the 60-80 of us rode around the quad once or twice, and then rode off again. It must have been fun for the audience, as they we're just sitting there watching a show, when dozens of cyclists show up out of nowhere with lights blinking and bells ringing, and circled for a few minutes and disappeared again.

That's one of the things I love about rides like this. We're basically a bicycle parade, and people love parades. On most of these rides, people will wave and smile and cheer or honk their horns, and by far most of the honking is positive. Not only do people get to see swarms of smiling people and blinking lights, but hopefully some of them decide to get on Google and figure out how to come along.

These rides are so much fun, and they're SO accessible, regardless of your budget. You can ride high-end bikes, or you can ride in something you bought at a yard sale for $20, and have an equally good time. In a time of global economic crisis, it's nice to know you can have a full evening of fun and entertainment for very little money. (My total cost for the evening was $3.99 for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, which was a pretty cost-effective Friday night.)

After USC, we made a couple of stops and rode around more of SE downtown and Boyle Heights, and ended up on the 6th Street Bridge and hung out for a while, looking down at the L.A. River, and West at downtown. While here, I ran into some people I'd met on previous rides, and met some more people that I had only known from the midnightridazz forum. Most of the people that go on these rides / post on the forum consistently are really cool mellow folks.

From the bridge, it was a few miles back to the starting point, making for a total distance of about 15-17 miles.

Eddie got his first spokecard too, as Barleye had whipped up a set with a picture of the principal from the Breakfast Club and the timeless phrase "You mess with the bull, you get the horns."

All in all, a pretty great night.

Tomorrow night's the Crankmob Food Fight Ride,which has the potential to be a colossal mess, but also tremendous fun, as the Crankmob rides usually are.

In the pink (but not yet).

The pink bike is on hold at the moment.

Sadly, the powdercoaters called me today to let me know that they did not have RAL 4010 (aka Telemagenta) in stock, and would have to order it from out of state. Then they called me back to see if I wanted another color.

So I looked at the powdercoating color chart, and I considered luminous red, luminous yellow, luminous orange, and gold over a white basecoat.

In the process I also found what might be the most politically incorrect color name ever, which is odd, as most of the color names are relatively innocuous, like traffic blue, grass green, and strawberry red.

But then, there's color number RAL 1021, which is called, I kid you not:

RAPE YELLOW.

Now, obviously, this color is named after the bright yellow flowers of the canola (aka rape) plant, rather than the sex crime, but you'd think that in this day and age, they might go ahead and update the color charts with something new.

Be that as it may, after a few minutes of clicking around, I realized that if I'm going for something truly hilarious with this bike build, I'd better stick with my guns and have them order up the telemagenta powder coat.

I also learned that telemagenta got its name because the color magenta has been copyrighted in Germany by the T-mobile telephone company, and other companies have been sued by them for using that color. So not only do Germans love David Hasselhoff, they also allow the trademarking of colors.

But they should get the powder in next week sometime, and hopefully I'll get the frame back next weekend. Must hurry up and buy the rest of the parts, as I can't wait to get this one built.