Rides in LA
Thread started by
richtotheie at 09.22.08 - 11:18 pm
Since riding with a group for the 1st time in 06, getting to see how the rides have progressed and changed is simply amazing. I love seeing the enthusiasm, the general will to just ride and make friends. I love how we don't fight. (physically that is haha) and how every week is just another week we wish everyone else in the world could have been a part of...
However, there is one aspect that i think more and more would agree with me about. I want to hear your opinions on the massive amounts of rides every night.
There are about 4-5 rides pretty much every day of the week, which is fine when you don't want to go to the other side of the city or whatnot. But i miss the anticipation of waiting for that one ride that EVERYONE goes on. I really only have that feeling with C.R.A.N.K. MOB. I count the days on the calendar and can feel the tingles when i think about what costume to wear or what will happen.
I'm not saying lots of rides are wrong, i want everyone to be riding!! but does anyone else miss the gaps between rides?
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Uhhh. How about the traditional 2nd Friday Midnight Ridazz rides?
Does that not count?
I get excited about those. Maybe I'm an old fogey though.
Joe Borfo09.22.08 - 11:32 pm
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So, are you saying that an insidious amount of F.U.N.ding is pumped into the coffers of CRANK Mob, while all the other rides of the month are poorly F.U.N.ded?
bentstrider09.22.08 - 11:44 pm
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Richie-
Yes.
I know I haven't been around for that long but I know what you are talking about- it just seems different. It's like this website / community is bursting at the seams sometimes, and it's still growing as we speak- in different directions all the time.
What do you do though? One massive group effort from everyone for one special day of the month is an amazing way to have that feeling... I mean... Look what happened with CRANK MOB this past Saturday. I perceived others (and myself) finding it to be the greatest ride every organized. There was just so much going on, it was bike ride heaven.
jonnyboy09.22.08 - 11:44 pm
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Yeah... I remember when it all was the 2nd friday, when I started in mid 06,. Cruz with Us, the CM rides was always there , then S&S... and then 2007 came... then all these rides popped out!
Come to think about it... when the rides would roll 2000 strong... how crazy was that? And yet... don't remember hearing crap like stealing. I miss those really... really.... big rides. But yeah... it was getting out of hand and was definitely hard for the organizers to handle a ride of that magnitude.
I still feel that anticipation of a ride coming up... of course not as much as before but maybe it's cause I've been doing it for a bit now. I always trip on the new ridazz and enjoy seeing seeing that look on their face when riding in the group. Reminds me of my first time....
digablesoul09.22.08 - 11:44 pm
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I love the MR 2nd firday rides!!! And that's my point. It's a monthly ride. its a nice gap.
richtotheie09.22.08 - 11:45 pm
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Crank Mob always gets me excited! I love the MR rides too, but usually cant make the friday rides.
I know exactly what you are saying Richie, and soon everyone will be putting on rides, which reduces the amount of "bigger" rides. This is good and bad, but I do miss the 1000+ rides.
speedybrian200009.22.08 - 11:47 pm
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dont' get me, wrong, C-mob isn't the only ride i care about, that would be silly. I only used it as an example. Could you imagine trying to do something like that every week? impossible. Every ride has it's theme/goal or what have you. I love the chill rides like pier pressure, S&S, NoHo ridazz etc. Maybe i'd have to agree with AL and say maybe i'm just getting used to it. But the thousands strong was like woah.
richtotheie09.22.08 - 11:49 pm
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I sort of wish I stumbled upon it when it was that big, but I like the way things are going right now.
40-600 deep is a pretty good way to roll any way you slice it.
The impact is made, the party is had, and the atmosphere is still off the hook.
Perhaps though, for old times sake, we should see about creating a ride where the primary effort is to get those 1000-2000 people out there on bikes, even if it's for one night of the year.
bentstrider09.22.08 - 11:52 pm
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bentstrider says:
"we should see about creating a ride where the primary effort is to get those 1000-2000 people out there on bikes, even if it's for one night of the year. "
+1
jonnyboy09.22.08 - 11:57 pm
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The "Ride Virgin" Ride: where everyone has to bring two friends that have never been on a ride before.
theroyalacademy09.23.08 - 12:33 am
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Except we wouldn't call it that, because that name sucks. But that's the idea.
theroyalacademy09.23.08 - 12:34 am
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We could call it Bike Town Beta. ; )
alec09.23.08 - 12:38 am
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That's a great idea.
Imagine if BTB had 2,000 bike people in bike town. The impact would make people without bikes feel out of place.
jonnyboy09.23.08 - 12:49 am
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kitteh duz not hav 2 fwends dat has not can haz ryde before!!!
Knittens09.23.08 - 12:51 am
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I don't have 2 friends
):
Jaz09.23.08 - 1:50 am
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I luvs the Midnight Ridazz. Having the rides everywhere is cool, becuz they can develop their own identities, and having the massive-everyone-from-everywhere ride is SOOO AMAZING that we just gotta come together for those ones too. Word gets out, people share the experience, the community grows. That's how we all got here in the first place, right? **I know I'm so gr8ful to TallCans for intro-ing me** I've got this whole new part of my life I can hardly believe wasn't there before!
Re: Bike Town Beta - great idea to bring newcomers...actually, I think it's always a great idea, but yea, this should definitely be a massive bike orgy with all the virgins and vets and in between swarming Bike Town.
kryxtanicole09.23.08 - 9:49 am
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LA has the best bike scene, peeps got so many rides to choose from!
I knew this would happen, ever since I bunnyhopped my umbilical cord out of the womb I knew LA would be the number one bike city if you want to ride with flair!
C-MOB and MIDNIGHT RIDAZZ POR VIDA!!!
P.S. If you're bored come play polo were moving the game to Sundays 4P.M. in two weeks
tallcans4tallbikes09.23.08 - 10:24 am
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Way to plug the polo Alex, haha. I'm looking forward to Sunday gamez. I'm a little edgy, but I wanna get in eventually...
kryxtanicole09.23.08 - 10:44 am
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I SEE NOBODY HAS SAID ANYTHING ABOUT LACM, I THOUGHT THAT THIS RIDE WAS MADE TO ORDER, ABOUT GETTING 10,000 RIDAZZ TOGETHER, ITS EARLY, ENDS EARLY, A FRIDAY NIGHT, WHAT ELSE COULD YOU ASK FOR, LETS GET EVERYBODY TOGETHER FOR THIS RIDE, THIS FRIDAY.
eddieboyinla09.23.08 - 12:12 pm
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It kinda of like straving yourself for two weeks or a week and then eating. We are fat on rides and it is great. You don't have to wait or go that far to be part of something. It is available seven nights a week. By happenstance there isn't a ride plan you will get somebody to plan a "no ride" and everybody comes out.
The reason for all these rides is because people love them.
You might want to go back to the early 2000's when all that was happening (unless you where part of a cliche) was critical mass. I could never make it to these rides because of the time it started. I would never be able to get to the meet location after work on time. Then it was CM and midnight ridazz started happening. Instead of eating once a month, we had two meals a month. Then Bike Summer came and showed us how it could be everyday. It has taken a couple of year, but now we have Bike Summer year round.
With better ideas and better participation. You can compare Bike Summer to the rudimentary animation of your early comedy cartoon show when it start to how advance LA bike culture looks today. Now it is feast. Remember, just because you are at a Buffet, doesn't mean you have to eat everything just because it is there.
We are a revolution in the sense we have broke from boundaries, and as you say seeking out friends. The powers that be would rather us not know one another. They would love to track our every move. We have been able to avoid that up to the start of this bike license enforcement (this is just a start you will see what the future can hold, and I would be happy to explain it to you in person if interested). We don't stay home to watch tv, we limit our driving. We see the city at a slower pace. Richie you are more in touch with this city living here two to three three, then people who have live here their entire life and travel in cars. You probably have more friends 10x then people who have lived here all of their lives. You are stinkin rich and so is everybody else who participates in these rides.
Yes a congratulation is in order to all of us. We are truly Making It Happen.
sexy09.23.08 - 12:35 pm
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Damn Sexy... That just about wraps it up. BEAUTIFULLY. i love you
richtotheie09.23.08 - 2:08 pm
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Sexy has a great point about bike licensing being the achilles heel of our movement/whatever/fun.
That law, of all the laws that the cops ignore with respect to bike riders, will now be used against us all the time.
The cops are used to prevent people from organizing outside of the very boring and overly controlled political system here in L.A. Now that we're growing, we have caught the attention of the police.
Either we need to start registering bikes en masse, suing bike shops to do the same, or push EXTREMELY hard to repeal this law - otherwise the fun will end, or at the least it will get very un-fun after the 20th ticket and negative run-in with the law.
ubrayj0209.23.08 - 2:34 pm
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i have been riding bmx's and mountain bikes since i was a little kid but i never knew about the rides until early this year and seriously i looked at a bike and riding bikes as a form of a hobby/sport but now it makes more sense to me as a life style and i love it! I have lived in LA for almost 21 years now and i have fallen in love with the city all over again and see it in a totally different light.
i really wish i could see a 1000-2000 person bike ride! if it would be at all possible to some how get something like that put together that would be awesome but the 300-600 rides i participate in are fun as is it would just be bad ass if all the rides for one day got postponed and everyone from all the rides were to be encouraged to go to one ride that night...It sounds easy to do but i'm sure its a lot harder than it sounds. wishful thinking =]
the box2.0 and all the party people in one big ass ride?? just the thought makes me happy.
.
Vince09.23.08 - 2:53 pm
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For the past month I have neglected my passion of films I HAVE NOT GONE TO SEE ONE!!! It has been replaced by my devotion to biking. I think I have gone out 6 times a week for this month. Some were not even meant to be all nighters... but you try to ride around these days and not bump into fellow ridazz or a group ride already rolling. My average time to gettin home is 1am. My coworker on one occasion notated that I still reeked of alcohol. I am taking this week off!!!! I am going to walk barefoot in the park and smell the roses, y'all are a bad influence.
DeKadenzy09.23.08 - 3:06 pm
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are sins n sprocket members allowed to whine?
Joe Borfo09.23.08 - 3:12 pm
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More != better.
PC09.23.08 - 3:17 pm
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I've always said that MR will the victim of it's own success.
As more and more rides happen, riding in big groups becomes ordinary. It is no longer the 'event' that we plan and anticipate every month. As we run through all the possible themes, we get complacent and resort to the most common them which is 'drink and ride'.
Another thing that is happening is cops are getting less tolerant of our rides partly because of the frequency. In a couple of occasions in the past the LAPD have corked through intersections, in one ride they escorted the us for the whole ride, something we might not see again.
It is the price of progress, I guess. Everyone wants it to be like Amsterdam where the bikes are so commonplace and everyone rides. But when that happens the fun and the novelty of getting together as a big group and ride disappears.
sc_nomad09.23.08 - 3:20 pm
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i do miss waiting around for MR rides, SnS, LACM and Cruzz with us. there is a ride for every single day of the week. which is cool cuz ive become good friends with a lot of people now. i dont have to wait around for the big rides for me to see everybody. but yeah things have changed.
funanu09.23.08 - 8:11 pm
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"We are a revolution in the sense we have broke from boundaries, and as you say seeking out friends. The powers that be would rather us not know one another. They would love to track our every move. We have been able to avoid that up to the start of this bike license enforcement (this is just a start you will see what the future can hold, and I would be happy to explain it to you in person if interested)"
very interesting... you have my full attention.
Jazzy Phat Nastee09.23.08 - 8:35 pm
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I would gladly give up the subculture cool of mass rides for a city that embraced bikes so thoroughly that it was normal thing to see thousands of cyclist riding to work, home. school or wherever.
I'm not going to be young forever, but I want to ride my bike as long as I can. Cool group rides are alright if you're fit and have the time to get together and do crazy things - but nowadays I have to schlep my groceries home (along with my kid). It would be amazing if someone like me would have some actual amenties in the roadway and the culture of Los Angeles, to allow me to do that without the obligaotory "get out of the way" honk from speeding motorists and the fear that their unchecked ability to hurtle around the city might cripple or kill me or my baby.
I don't think these things are mutually exclusive, but widen your view of cycling a bit and you'll see that social bike rides are a phenomenon of our times and are bound to mutate, wither , or change. I hope that we're able to more permanently fix into this city's future a more bike-friendly set of roads and a more bike-friendly group of residents.
ubrayj0209.24.08 - 1:29 am
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i will be really sad if the day comes that I don't get a little excited when I see a cyclist riding in my general vicinity, or if ever I don't look twice when i see spoke cards in place, or a neat old frame I've never seen before... If I stop caring enough to ask a roadie where they've been or where they're going... or ooohing and ahhing fixie tricks and BMX(azz) spiffyness, If that ever happens someone please just use the MIB flashy thing on me so it's all new and exciting again.... wait no....eff that... that's like people who only listen to music from their time because new stuff is "just noise". I will always think of these as the "good days" I'm sure, but whatever this evolves into I will embrace and be excited ALWAYS!!! behold...mixtemotions being mixtemotions... so tiring. must sleep.
mixtemotions09.24.08 - 2:06 am
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I'm just going to carry on the tales to the small towns and pockets of the MidWest that I'll be for sure, hitting this Winter.
"So, you think that buck you shot up near Woodbine was something? Lemme tell y'all a tale about this crazy cult from the SouthWest that call themselves Ridazz, with 2 Z's"
bentstrider09.24.08 - 3:18 am
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LA will never be like Amsterdam. The layout is just all wrong. So is the culture, which is the one thing that utopian social engineers never seem to take into account when they're at their drawing tables designing the New (Hu)Man.
The persistence of regional culture has an upside, though. Some ineffable thing about the mix of people in this city has spawned a social riding scene that is dynamic and creative like no place else on earth, and that won't be easily killed off either.
So don't dig the grave just yet. And hang on to your spoke cards. Social riding in LA isn't going away for a long, long time. It's just going to keep putting on new outfits and reinventing itself like so many other denizens of this city.
I'M THIRSTY
PC09.24.08 - 3:40 am
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Ridazz Roulette!
