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Thread started by trickmilla at 07.31.10 - 1:35 pm
I only have one complaint.
It was going super fast.
I stopped at olympic and made a 5 minute video of the entire ride (minus maybe 15 ppl who were in front of me).
When I got to the end with the stragglers, it was pretty much impossible to catch up.
When the ride was tight at the beginning. Drivers had to wait but 5 minutes for the mass.
I'm sure by the end it was 10-15 minutes with dangerous interactions happening with cars as stragglers in the back desperately tried to catch up to the vigorous pace in the front and run through lights that had been held for 10 or 15 mins already and impatient drivers expecting a chance to move after having been stuck on traffic for a while already.
If the ride slowed, stopped and regrouped more often, it would be tighter and safer.
I'll confess, last month and this have been my first LACM's in a while, but I don't remember it being quite this quick and spread out last year.
I noticed people at the start didnt know what to do with the LAPD and it started to get faster as people got more relaxed ... also I think stopping at zero lights kept the mass rolling fast ... It was fun...
Here's my thought: Bicycling is a physical activity. You might sweat and breathe hard. If you can't ride your bicycle at 10mph for the short distance in between stops then you just have to keep riding until you can. Actually riding bikes is the best part of any bike ride and stopping to regroup every couple blocks is lame. Let the ride stretch out. Bikes are traffic right?
We need to plant someone near the front of the pack with a radar gun, record the average speed of the mass as it rolls through any particular intersection.
"I'm sure by the end it was 10-15 minutes with dangerous interactions happening with cars as stragglers in the back desperately tried to catch up to the vigorous pace in the front and run through lights that had been held for 10 or 15 mins already and impatient drivers expecting a chance to move after having been stuck on traffic for a while already. "
Yep, I've seen this dangerous dynamic first-hand while riding in the back. One solution is more regroup stops (it was good that we had more than one stop last night). Another solution I was thinking about is a staggered start. A sizable contingent of riders could agree to not leave the start point til 7:40 or so (and leave the regroup stops 10-15 mins after the front of the pack). That way there is a mass of riders in front and a mass of riders in back. Slow riders wouldn't be left alone to fend of traffic in the back and it might make it harder for cars to merge into our lanes in the back half, as those cars tend to dissipate the pack even more and make it more dangerous. Just a thought ... it might be worth contemplating if CM keeps getting bigger.
My overall thoughts on CM last night was that it was super fun and a great ride, I was very happy I went.
With 1000 + riders it would have been impossible to regroup as recommended....UNESS IT WAS CLEARLY ANNOUNCED AHEAD OF TIME.
I stopped a few times as well to take pictures and i had no problem catching up because there was always a trail the whole time of riders.
I wasn't there last night, so I'm speaking to this comment based on the past 9 months of LACM that I've attended. For example, at times, in the middle of the pack, we're hauling 18mph steadily. That's a hard pace for a lot of the people who come out on mountain bikes, their hybrids, and whatever bike they choose to celebrate cycling on. LACM should be inclusive, and it's been my experience that the ride could slow down a bit. Although last month with the LAPD it did feel like it was a good pace.
LACM should get a new start point. Recently it's been getting bigger and people just stack up on the street. It would be cool to start in massive parking lot near the original start point
How about more firecrackers and more stupid kids on fixies ramming into mounted police?
That seemed to work well.
How about more people looking to "join the ride" in 100 or 300 people clumps, instead of figuring out that, with that many people, they WERE the ride (durrrr).
All hate aside, if one person (1) that can seriously haul ass can show up with a megaphone and announce, "Fast riders! You are all bitches! If you want to ride fast and not punk out with the pussies on this ride, follow me, if you can!"
This one person with a megaphone will call out that the "Fast Ride" is leaving, and will drag all the stupid kids that think Critical Mass is a race along on a Mr. Toads Wild Ride across the county on a route that has nothing to do with Critical Mass.
They can stop at all the liquor stores they want, loot, get arrested, fight with car drivers, riot, etc.
yep yep.. with the advantage of the large mass in the front to middle never truly needing to stop at lights, they are setting the pace and naturally going fast because the fast ones are in the front anyway... it becomes frustrating to catch up if you're not physically adept.
We would prefer Pershing Square as well. There are good camera systems in place virtually the whole block. The four intersections would provide us great angles on the whole perimeter. Not so with Union Station or the Vermont Station.
Hope you can make it happen Joe, and great talking to you the other day.
I vote to keep the start where it is at or if it gets too big, somewhere close to the Western and Wilshire area. It is a more central location. Pershing Square favors DTLA, and there is a whole community in Ktown, Hollywood, Miracle Mile, West LA and the Valley.
LACM should start having multiple start points!
Instead of 1 unwieldy 1000 person ride we could have 5 200 person rides that would occasionally cross paths.
yeah, i'm in the valley and getting to critical mass at 730 is really a bitch with all the traffic... it'll be near impossible to get to downtown if someone leaves work at 5pm and needs to go home and eat and then load the bicycle on the car to get to the start point because public transport won't cut it. It sucks a lot to rush.
I see numerous violations here. Basically our officers would be busy for hours with all these violations. This video is giving me a boner. You got another one?
Try not to spill your wad.
You missed the Bike Riding popos at the front of the ride, but if you watch all the way through you will see the cruiser and motorcycles on the caboose.
They are on board with this and have no intention of citing people at least on this particular ride.
If you have a problem with that take it up with chief beck.
No go back to your sad little life and lets us have our fun.
paranoia will destroy ya.
respectfully,
trickmillz
trickmilla responding to a comment by Officer Friendly
08.5.10 - 12:13 pm
During the July ride I was toward the back as we rode along 6th St and there was a kid (10 or 12? I dunno) doing her best to keep up on what looked like a single speed kid-sized bike, but definitely falling behind. It seems like a good thing ride at a pace that is accessible to all. The people yelling at us to go faster were pretty annoying when it was apparent that some people were pushing themselves pretty hard already.
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