Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Fun Sunday
So it's been a pretty good week.
I finally got my frame back from the powdercoaters, and that will be the subject of future posts once I get all the necessary parts to assemble it properly. (This will require lots of internet purchases, since finding the right parts at the right price in stock is kind of a battle.) What was supposed to be a reasonably low budget build has gotten into regular priced fixie territory. But like I said, this will be the subject of future posts.
Today I finally got on my bike and actually rode to brunch with friends in Santa Monica instead of driving. I need to do that more often, as the weather was wonderful, and the ride was really mellow. Bikes actually CAN serve as a useful means of transportation, they're not just toys for mobile parties. (Although they are AWESOME in that capacity as well.)
But anyway, I ran across two pretty kickass things today I thought I'd share with you all.
The first is a video with Mike Rowe from the TV show Dirty Jobs talking about work. It's about 20 minutes, but well worth your time.
If you want to see the lamb "docking" video he refers to, it's here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QErgjt_GYBk
Then, today when I was at the laundromat, I saw a V-8 commercial featuring 80-something Frances Woofenden. She kicks ass.
80+ and doing tricks on waterskis?
Next time I feel too tired to pedal somewhere I really should, I'm going to think of Frances.
You're never too old to learn a new way to have fun.
I finally got my frame back from the powdercoaters, and that will be the subject of future posts once I get all the necessary parts to assemble it properly. (This will require lots of internet purchases, since finding the right parts at the right price in stock is kind of a battle.) What was supposed to be a reasonably low budget build has gotten into regular priced fixie territory. But like I said, this will be the subject of future posts.
Today I finally got on my bike and actually rode to brunch with friends in Santa Monica instead of driving. I need to do that more often, as the weather was wonderful, and the ride was really mellow. Bikes actually CAN serve as a useful means of transportation, they're not just toys for mobile parties. (Although they are AWESOME in that capacity as well.)
But anyway, I ran across two pretty kickass things today I thought I'd share with you all.
The first is a video with Mike Rowe from the TV show Dirty Jobs talking about work. It's about 20 minutes, but well worth your time.
If you want to see the lamb "docking" video he refers to, it's here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QErgjt_GYBk
Then, today when I was at the laundromat, I saw a V-8 commercial featuring 80-something Frances Woofenden. She kicks ass.
80+ and doing tricks on waterskis?
Next time I feel too tired to pedal somewhere I really should, I'm going to think of Frances.
You're never too old to learn a new way to have fun.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Crankmob 1-17-2008 - Hills, Spills, the LAPD, etc.
Last night was Crankmob, and it was pretty awesome!
I've been recovering from a bad cold for weeks now, and was prepared to call it an early night, but my buddy Eddie ignored my call in which I explained I was going to skip it this month and called back half an hour later asking "When should I be at your house?"
Since I was feeling tired and lazy and hadn't ridden my mountain bike in a while, I figured I'd take that. Holy cow was that a good idea! Going from a fixed gear bike with 23mm tires and a racing seat to a many-geared mountain bike with a front suspension, 1.5" tires, and a gel seat was like going from sleeping on the floor to a king-size waterbed. It was an especially wise choice since there were lots and lots of random hills thrown in this time. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera,
So many people showed up to this ride (400-600 people). It was great to see so many familiar faces and so many friendly new ones. The heat wave we've had recently really makes for great night-riding.
We started out at Sawtelle and LaGrange as usual, rode around West L.A. and Brentwood for a bit, where I saw the first spectacular spill of the night as a guy cut a corner too tightly, braked to hard too avoid a car stopped in the oncoming lane, spun his rear wheel out and did a 360 degree spin. He was OK, got back up, and continued riding. While riding in Westwood, we ran into the 5-0 for the first time that evening. Everyone was going through an intersection, when a cop flipped his lights and siren on. We started yelling for everyone to stop, and the group that hadn't entered the intersection yet waited. The squad car raced into the middle of the intersection, parked diagonally in the oncoming lane, and the officer got out of his car, lost his cool, and began yelling over the intercom about the importance of obeying the lights. The lecture was more or less preaching to the choir, as everyone who'd run the intersection against the light was off on their way, while those of us who were all for letting emergency vehicles have as much room to maneuver as possible were still there behind the entrance to the intersection.
We made our first stop at the park behind the Federal Building, and this was pretty cool. I spent most of this stop fixing a flat on Jordan's tacoed wheel, which I pinch-flatted in the process and had to patch twice. Courage stopped to help and she did this cool trick with the tire levers that made it way easy to get the tire bead off the rim, which was awesome. I got distracted by being hugged by Tarsis, who looked smokin' in a French Maid outfit, which was great, and by a giant inflatable soccerball which would land with a loud thud every few seconds, which was not so great. I also learned that a dollar bill, or a piece of a cardboard cigarette pack, can provide a temporary fix to a blown tire sidewall, which came in handy. Fixing the tacoed wheel had to wait for the next stop, so I just undid the rear brake. (The front brake provides 70-80% of the stopping power, so the rear brake is basically an assist/backup anyway.) The tacoed wheel didn't bother Jordan much, as he rode his bike with no hands most of the way to the next stop. At the next stop, we got the wheel a little straighter with the help of a handy spoke wrench, but the cops moved us along before we could get the brake back on.
Spoke wrenches, especially multi-size spoke wrenches, are pretty much a must-have item. For $4-$8, you get a tool that can help you get a wheel straightened out in a matter of minutes, and take your wheels from unrideable / minimally rideable to almost perfect.
If you haven't been on a major group ride before, and are looking for a general idea of what to bring in terms of essential/repair gear, here's a brief list of the helpful stuff:
Lights (a white headlight is legally required in L.A.)
Spare batteries
Tubes (bring several)
Patch kit(s)
Tire levers
Pump
Adjustable crescent wrench
15mm combination wrench (if you've got a fixie (this may be 14-16mm, check your axle bolts))
Allen wrenches / multi-tool
A small pair of pliers
A spoke wrench
A chain-breaker.
You can go far beyond this in terms of additional tools that might come in handy, but with that selection you can easily fix 95-99% of basic maintenance issues that come up while riding, and aside from the lights tubes and pump, all those tools can fit in a pretty small bag. (Bring enough gear to keep yourself (and others) out of trouble, ride safe, and don't steal or shoplift, and you'll be welcome on almost any ride.)
So, to get back to the ride, we were hanging out in a massive parking lot, people were dancing, having fun, doing tricks, and generally having a good time, when the LAPD again appeared (with helicopter no less), came over the loudspeaker to declare us "an unlawful assembly" and giving us 5 minutes to disperse. Exactly how an assembly can be unlawful, given that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble" is beyond me, but not something I had any interest in discussing, so I dispersed.
Then we rode around and ended up in Rancho Park, where more hanging out, having fun, dancing, etc. occurred until again the LAPD invited us to move along, so we rode out and ended up at the Century City 7-11. I watched a couple of guys get into a shoving match, and watched an ENORMOUS dude that I'd never seen before start yelling "Hug it out!", and that seems like a pretty good way to intervene.
The cops again appeared, and this time, since it was about 2:30, and since we were about a mile from the starting point, I decided to call it a night. (This night was a little law enforcement heavy, but aside from the one cop who lost his cool at the beginning of the evening (and who was much calmer when we saw him at the 7-11 at the end of the night), they were as friendly and professional as you'd hope they would be.)
Ride safe, and come out to the next one next month!
(If you can't wait that long, hit Taco Tuesdays on Tuesday, or check the calendar on www.midnightridazz.com).
I've been recovering from a bad cold for weeks now, and was prepared to call it an early night, but my buddy Eddie ignored my call in which I explained I was going to skip it this month and called back half an hour later asking "When should I be at your house?"
Since I was feeling tired and lazy and hadn't ridden my mountain bike in a while, I figured I'd take that. Holy cow was that a good idea! Going from a fixed gear bike with 23mm tires and a racing seat to a many-geared mountain bike with a front suspension, 1.5" tires, and a gel seat was like going from sleeping on the floor to a king-size waterbed. It was an especially wise choice since there were lots and lots of random hills thrown in this time. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera,
So many people showed up to this ride (400-600 people). It was great to see so many familiar faces and so many friendly new ones. The heat wave we've had recently really makes for great night-riding.
We started out at Sawtelle and LaGrange as usual, rode around West L.A. and Brentwood for a bit, where I saw the first spectacular spill of the night as a guy cut a corner too tightly, braked to hard too avoid a car stopped in the oncoming lane, spun his rear wheel out and did a 360 degree spin. He was OK, got back up, and continued riding. While riding in Westwood, we ran into the 5-0 for the first time that evening. Everyone was going through an intersection, when a cop flipped his lights and siren on. We started yelling for everyone to stop, and the group that hadn't entered the intersection yet waited. The squad car raced into the middle of the intersection, parked diagonally in the oncoming lane, and the officer got out of his car, lost his cool, and began yelling over the intercom about the importance of obeying the lights. The lecture was more or less preaching to the choir, as everyone who'd run the intersection against the light was off on their way, while those of us who were all for letting emergency vehicles have as much room to maneuver as possible were still there behind the entrance to the intersection.
We made our first stop at the park behind the Federal Building, and this was pretty cool. I spent most of this stop fixing a flat on Jordan's tacoed wheel, which I pinch-flatted in the process and had to patch twice. Courage stopped to help and she did this cool trick with the tire levers that made it way easy to get the tire bead off the rim, which was awesome. I got distracted by being hugged by Tarsis, who looked smokin' in a French Maid outfit, which was great, and by a giant inflatable soccerball which would land with a loud thud every few seconds, which was not so great. I also learned that a dollar bill, or a piece of a cardboard cigarette pack, can provide a temporary fix to a blown tire sidewall, which came in handy. Fixing the tacoed wheel had to wait for the next stop, so I just undid the rear brake. (The front brake provides 70-80% of the stopping power, so the rear brake is basically an assist/backup anyway.) The tacoed wheel didn't bother Jordan much, as he rode his bike with no hands most of the way to the next stop. At the next stop, we got the wheel a little straighter with the help of a handy spoke wrench, but the cops moved us along before we could get the brake back on.
Spoke wrenches, especially multi-size spoke wrenches, are pretty much a must-have item. For $4-$8, you get a tool that can help you get a wheel straightened out in a matter of minutes, and take your wheels from unrideable / minimally rideable to almost perfect.
If you haven't been on a major group ride before, and are looking for a general idea of what to bring in terms of essential/repair gear, here's a brief list of the helpful stuff:
Lights (a white headlight is legally required in L.A.)
Spare batteries
Tubes (bring several)
Patch kit(s)
Tire levers
Pump
Adjustable crescent wrench
15mm combination wrench (if you've got a fixie (this may be 14-16mm, check your axle bolts))
Allen wrenches / multi-tool
A small pair of pliers
A spoke wrench
A chain-breaker.
You can go far beyond this in terms of additional tools that might come in handy, but with that selection you can easily fix 95-99% of basic maintenance issues that come up while riding, and aside from the lights tubes and pump, all those tools can fit in a pretty small bag. (Bring enough gear to keep yourself (and others) out of trouble, ride safe, and don't steal or shoplift, and you'll be welcome on almost any ride.)
So, to get back to the ride, we were hanging out in a massive parking lot, people were dancing, having fun, doing tricks, and generally having a good time, when the LAPD again appeared (with helicopter no less), came over the loudspeaker to declare us "an unlawful assembly" and giving us 5 minutes to disperse. Exactly how an assembly can be unlawful, given that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble" is beyond me, but not something I had any interest in discussing, so I dispersed.
Then we rode around and ended up in Rancho Park, where more hanging out, having fun, dancing, etc. occurred until again the LAPD invited us to move along, so we rode out and ended up at the Century City 7-11. I watched a couple of guys get into a shoving match, and watched an ENORMOUS dude that I'd never seen before start yelling "Hug it out!", and that seems like a pretty good way to intervene.
The cops again appeared, and this time, since it was about 2:30, and since we were about a mile from the starting point, I decided to call it a night. (This night was a little law enforcement heavy, but aside from the one cop who lost his cool at the beginning of the evening (and who was much calmer when we saw him at the 7-11 at the end of the night), they were as friendly and professional as you'd hope they would be.)
Ride safe, and come out to the next one next month!
(If you can't wait that long, hit Taco Tuesdays on Tuesday, or check the calendar on www.midnightridazz.com).
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Half an Order of Taco Tuesdays.
Today was the first Taco Tuesdays Ride of 2009.
It was the classic Taco Tuesdays Route, out the Ballona Creek Path to Mustache Bridge, back to the Marina Del Rey Ralphs, out to the jetty, up to the Mini Pier, and back down Washington to Cinco De Mayo.
Or so I was told. I made it to the first stop, and decided that it was best to bail after the Mustache Bridge stop and cruise on back home, so I could catch up on some sleep and be functional at work tomorrow. XL was under the weather (although he did meet us at the start to hand out kick-ass spoke cards), and Richard was AWOL, so Cesar was in charge tonight.
All in all, there was a pretty decent turnout for a chilly Tuesday.
My buddy Eddie S. came out on his trusty Dawes fixie.
I have got to learn how to take better nighttime photographs.
I have also got to learn how to ride at night better, especially downhill. I'm slower than molasses downhill, and that's no good.
My opinion about bike paths has been changing lately. I used to think they were the be all end all for cycling, but at night, between the light traffic, and the quantity of streetlights, riding on the streets is the way to go.
Taco Tuesdays is awesome! Hopefully I can make it to the next one.
Get well soon XL!
It was the classic Taco Tuesdays Route, out the Ballona Creek Path to Mustache Bridge, back to the Marina Del Rey Ralphs, out to the jetty, up to the Mini Pier, and back down Washington to Cinco De Mayo.
Or so I was told. I made it to the first stop, and decided that it was best to bail after the Mustache Bridge stop and cruise on back home, so I could catch up on some sleep and be functional at work tomorrow. XL was under the weather (although he did meet us at the start to hand out kick-ass spoke cards), and Richard was AWOL, so Cesar was in charge tonight.
All in all, there was a pretty decent turnout for a chilly Tuesday.
My buddy Eddie S. came out on his trusty Dawes fixie.
I have got to learn how to take better nighttime photographs.
I have also got to learn how to ride at night better, especially downhill. I'm slower than molasses downhill, and that's no good.
My opinion about bike paths has been changing lately. I used to think they were the be all end all for cycling, but at night, between the light traffic, and the quantity of streetlights, riding on the streets is the way to go.
Taco Tuesdays is awesome! Hopefully I can make it to the next one.
Get well soon XL!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
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!
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!
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!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
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.
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.
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