Westside BikeSIDE!

63 miles by wheel, crank and pedal, we began our ride from the doors of the Bicycle Kitchen on the corner of Melrose and Heliotrope. I had awoken early on this morning, at 7am, much earlier than my usual rising of ~11pm, and biked from West LA to the intersection of Jefferson and National in Culver City and met up with fellow riders Jesse and Mark. From ther the three of us zigzagged through the deserted urban streetsand made our way to the start point. After a few hellos and an overview of the route from its designer, Molly, we headed out from the Kitchen at 9am 20 riders strong. Continue Reading »

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 while they stalled by zig zagging around the street, track standing in driveways, bunny hopping curbs, or jumping off half flights of stairs. Surprised by the presence and makeup of this group most walkers looked behind them and discovered 300 joyous bikers proceeding up the street.

The advance group of riders had every reason to be pooped having just spent two hours in the most epic of Santa Monica Critical Mass. It was the 2 year anniversary of Santa Monica Critical Mass and, even ignoring the rockin afterparty, the ride was amazing. There was the destruction of a Hummer Pinata, goofy bike races, and, as always, the maniacal circling of the Venice traffic circle. Continue Reading »