LACM- Sooo, How did it go?
Thread started by
stevo4 at 06.25.10 - 10:03 pm
All the Twitters, etc. seemed surprisingly positive and also heard one Tagger got busted. Good. That's not what CM is about anyways.
Hope this is the start of something positive. Having the cops cork, etc. can't be all bad.
Stevo
reply
Totally fun ride...saw a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a long time....
Who was the jackass that led us into pan Pacific and essentially ended the good time?
barleye06.25.10 - 10:41 pm
reply
This was a truly special bike ride. It was really cool riding with the police and having them cork intersections. Yeah I also wish that we had kept going up into Hollywood and I bounced after we got to Pan Pacific. Being at the front of the ride and seeing all off the people coming up Western was awe-inspiring.
Velocipede06.25.10 - 10:54 pm
reply
that fish gave me herpes. Other than that, really great ride.
DONG!
supa responding to a
comment by Velocipede
06.25.10 - 11:00 pm
reply
Fuckin' epic ride! Ranks up there with being my fav. The LAPD were super nice to us. Corking roads, actually riding and talking with us. Going through Hollywood was so cool with the LAPD.
LACM + LAPD = BFF <3
I want the LAPD on LACM all the time now!
the route.
goosegoose06.25.10 - 11:48 pm
reply
Forgot to add,
You guys missed out if you weren't there.
goosegoose06.25.10 - 11:48 pm
reply
So far it was my best CM experience. Having the LAPD cork the intersections made the ride a lot faster and more relaxed. The few I officers on bicycles I spoke to said they were having fun riding with us. Towards the end of the ride you could see they were less nervous, more relaxed and starting to get into it:)
Girl Power06.25.10 - 11:50 pm
reply
It was pretty great. Lots of fun, and the police put up [for the most part] with the usual LACM shenanigans.
The Australian/British [sorry can't tell] guy with the megaphone playing the siren was completely unnecessary. Guy needs to never show up again. He also decided to weave in the middle of a group just so people would go around him?! Confusing behavior and not very LA Biker like.
xenatina06.26.10 - 12:01 am
reply
FUCKING AMAZING!!! best one i have been on!!! I hope they r all like this!
madmelo06.26.10 - 12:05 am
reply
I talked to officer Krumer about 15 mins before the ride finished. He told me people got arrexted for vandalism and that was it. I heard a 3rd person got busted after that.
But as far as I could tell the only arrests were for graffiti.
I personally had one of my very funniest rides in a LONG time!
trickmilla06.26.10 - 12:14 am
reply
Well, at least the few taggers that were dumb enough to show up got popped.
Sounds like the rest of the usual troublemakers went elsewhere or were scared straight.
bentstrider responding to a
comment by trickmilla
06.26.10 - 12:25 am
reply
Serious! I wasn't going to go, but at the last minute said fuck it, I wanna see this. Good times!
braydon responding to a
comment by goosegoose
06.26.10 - 12:29 am
reply
'Twas a great night, Enci and I were stoked by the great positive energy from all. So many new friends and the LAPD bicycle officers did the department proud. I think riding a bike changes their perspective! Props to everyone who turned this into such a great evening!
SoapBoxLA06.26.10 - 12:46 am
reply
"Sounds like the rest of the usual troublemakers went elsewhere or were scared straight."
Good! Let them stay gone, too!
Girl Power responding to a
comment by bentstrider
06.26.10 - 12:48 am
reply
Please post anything you find on last night's CM ride to the media. I would like to keep up on what is getting put out to the public. We need the positive news to make CM stronger and more effective. What's the goal to me? - Influence more people to ride their bikes in traffic.
Joe Borfo06.26.10 - 12:53 am
reply
I meant please post anything here that you find FROM the media...
Joe Borfo06.26.10 - 12:57 am
reply
Hello All,
I am glad that everyopne had a good time. Thank you for embracing our participation. If you would like to show your gratitude to a specific officer that you think did a good job you can do so by completing a commendation form:
http://www.lapdonline.org/home/content_basic_view/37655
If you would like to express appreciation to all the officers please write a letter.
You can send the letter or the commendation form to:
LAPD-Evaluation and Administration Section
ATTN: Sgt Krumer
100 W. First Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
I will make sure it gets to the right place.
Ride on Ridazz!!!
Sgt. David Krumer06.26.10 - 1:17 am
reply
P.S.
Don't forget to thank the guys behid the scene. While they may not have been riding with you like the bicycle officers they are the ones that made things happen:
Chief Earl Paysinger: Director of Operations
Cmdr Jorge Villegas: Assistant to the Director and bicycle liaison
Chief Debra McCarthy: In charge of West Bureau (the areas through which you ride)
Captain Matt Blake and Captain Brenda Crump: Captains of Olympic Division (where we all met at Wilshire and Western)
Captain Nancy Lauer: Captain of West Traffic (in charge of all the Motorcycles)
and of course Chief Beck who set the stage and the tone for tonights event!
Finally...you saw them riding but you may not know that Sgt Laurel Friedlander and Officer Gordon Helper can be creditied for putting together the nuts and bolts of tonight's operation.
Sgt. David Krumer06.26.10 - 1:31 am
reply
I didn't get their names but these 2 officers were especially cool to have around.
barleye responding to a
comment by Sgt. David Krumer
06.26.10 - 1:58 am
reply
This officer was really cool too. If I remember correctly, he said he was on loan from West L.A. division.
barleye06.26.10 - 2:30 am
reply
I saw Sgt Friedlander and Officer Gordon and they were very helpful. We got separated from the main group and they helped us find them again. Thanks to both of them as well as a lot of the crew who were on bikes and rode with us. Some of them truly seemed to be enjoying the experience.
mk4524 responding to a
comment by Sgt. David Krumer
06.26.10 - 2:48 am
reply
best ride ive ever gone to. As for that loser tagger, he got what he deserved. I was there when he hit up right in front of the cop! what a loser. LACM though, was great! thnx to LAPD!
cyclepaths06.26.10 - 3:22 am
reply
A rider got door'd during the ride and the driver got ticketed for it!!!!
The driver deserved it. Yay!!
mk4524 responding to a
comment by cyclepaths
06.26.10 - 3:41 am
reply
The back of the ride (where I was at) seemed to get separated from the main pack after West Hollywood and there was confusion over what the final destination was. I encountered a few small packs of riders who were heading southbound and thought the main pack was still on its way to the Coliseum.
Overall though, a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The police were much more chill, it was cool to see that cop riding the tall bike before the ride.
Hallucin806.26.10 - 3:52 am
reply
A few of us rode the train back home with Office Krumer. He told us about the busted taggers. We told him guys like that don't represent Critical Mass at all. He understood wholeheartedly. That made me happy :-)
All in all he said it was a good ride. his only gripe with the ride were the kids that were riding and swerving through opposing traffic. He just didn't want anyone to die sheeesh o.O
krowfeather responding to a
comment by trickmilla
06.26.10 - 4:36 am
reply
At Sunset and Western, all the cyclists totally applauded the officer who nabbed the tagger (and then some of the guys ribbed on the tagger--awesome). In general, most of us aren't out to be around people committing crimes, so I think we're all glad to have LAPD help us weed those guys out.
Thanks, Krumer, hope you guys can come out (even on a less PR-motivated basis) in the future too. Even just having a few officers at the start of the ride totally helps set the tone for us.
danceralamode06.26.10 - 4:47 am
reply
KNBC had a reporter at the start
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Critical-Mass-Bike-LAPD-97187674.html
mk452406.26.10 - 5:12 am
reply
Alex wrote a great article over at BikesideLA about Alec and Red (the officer that jumped up on the tall bike at the start of the ride) forging a relationship.
http://ow.ly/23BgA
dudeonabike06.26.10 - 7:06 am
reply
I think this ride surprised a lot of people.
1) I don't think anyone honestly thought it would go THAT well.
The police officers on bicycles really let their guard down and it was really nice to see many open up to the vibe. I had some officers dance when riding by the music, and others just trying to break the ice.
2) Los Angeles as usual shows mass rides support.
I hope the LAPD got a evening's dose of what we have seen over the years -- LA loves us. The kids cheer for us. The drivers ask where we're going, etc. The general public does not actually hate us.
3) These bicycle people are not dangerous / trouble makers
I hope the comfort level that the LAPD "seemed" to have during the ride indicated that they felt welcomed, safe, and not at all threatened to flex some muscle. They had to have seen that when it all comes down to it -- these are just a bunch of weirdos that want to ride their bikes, nothing more.
4) LAPD at LACM made it BETTER (last night)
I'm just going to say it, because based on last night's experience, the drivers at intersections gave us more respect, the LAPD blocking intersections made bicycles more legit in a broad sense (thus helping CM's primary cause), and you can't help but think that if LAPD gets behind LACM, and vice versa (in a general sense) and we make good on both ends -- it only spells trouble for those that stubbornly refuse to get with it and start making Los Angeles more livable.
.
5) Thanks to Krumer, Borfo, RB, Alex, Milla, and others for putting in the time to ease thing over before Friday.
With all the uncertainties and different agendas, thoughts, etc.... I can't help but believe that our fellow ridazz really made the LAPD confident that they could believe in us. And the rest of the ridazz followed it up on Friday too (thanks to you too), and hopefully made the LAPD believe that they can believe in the rest of the group (well, most of us, I hope).
Great night. Great ride. I heart mass rides again.
md206.26.10 - 7:47 am
reply
This ride made me feel empowered. i thought it was the 5 hour energy drink but it's something else. it jump started something that i long forgot about. It made that part of me that really wanted to transform the city of los angeles come back to life. i feel empowered and re-energized in helping the community, myself,and the city. okay maybe a little of it was the 5 hour energy drink.
mechazawa06.26.10 - 7:59 am
reply
Epic ride!
Somehow the cheering crowds seemed larger and the car drivers more respectful.
I dropped off at Hollywood/Western so I missed the tail end of the ride...an officer told me there was a kinda bad crash, anybody know about it? Hope the rider is OK...
alicestrong06.26.10 - 8:09 am
reply
Awesome ride best LACM ever! THANK YOU LAPD!
Yea pan pacific stop was not needed and who led the ride OUT of LA city? Kind of a fail on on the ride leaders part. We had these awesome escorts last night and we roll into 2 different city's they cant help us in that eventually broke up the group in two. Still best LACM ever.
Even with that and a-holes lighting off bottle rockets, the cops were still being super cool.
Who's down on making a GIANT thank you card and maybe welded bike part trophy?
ToddAlmighty06.26.10 - 9:42 am
reply
Pan Pacific is still LA
Gav06.26.10 - 9:46 am
reply
rap, or is it west hollywood
Gav06.26.10 - 9:48 am
reply
Riding down Hollywood Blvd. with police support instead of brutality was an electric feeling. I had goosebumps. For the first time since moving to LA, Critical Mass felt relevant again!
Most importantly, I feel that this ride showed the LAPD that the cycling community is, by and large, a good group of people as opposed to anonymous anarchists/criminals. I want to thank everyone in the community who spoke up after last month's incident, who helped bring about this positive change. I hope the positivity of this ride will stay with us over the course of the summer and beyond.
Also, Pan Pacific is in LA, not WeHo.
SkeletonKey06.26.10 - 10:42 am
reply
"Yea pan pacific stop was not needed and who led the ride OUT of LA city? Kind of a fail on on the ride leaders part. We had these awesome escorts last night and we roll into 2 different city's they cant help us in that eventually broke up the group in two. Still best LACM ever."
+1 on both of those points (it being an awesome CM and it being a fail to lead us out of LA).
Hallucin806.26.10 - 12:34 pm
reply
That was pretty much all my fault. And yes, it was a big fail.
Roadblock responding to a
comment by Hallucin8
06.26.10 - 12:53 pm
reply
No it wasn't. Thank you, Roadblock, for making it happen.
Joe Borfo responding to a
comment by Roadblock
06.26.10 - 12:57 pm
reply
My only regret is that I didn't bring more flowers...
alicestrong06.26.10 - 12:57 pm
reply
...and that I didn't bring a fishing pole...:))
alicestrong06.26.10 - 12:59 pm
reply
Hallucin8...we're you the guy with the girl who rode CM for the first time? I think I might have met you at the Gas station on Western across from the McDonalds.
Toney Would Go responding to a
comment by Hallucin8
06.26.10 - 1:10 pm
reply
Nah, sorry, don't think that was me. I did stop at a gas station when I got kind of lost but I'm pretty sure it was on Vermont, not Western (but my memory might be fuzzy) ... what kind of shirt was the person you met wearing?
Hallucin8 responding to a
comment by Toney Would Go
06.26.10 - 2:41 pm
reply