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Eddie didn't like the music cause all he could hear was his.
In the beginning the sound systems were a bit too close to each other and got kind of annoying. Later on they distance between them increased and you could pick whatever "station" you liked without getting a headache from the others.
big upps to matt for leading the convoy post S&S. where the cops ?
ERIC wherever you are thanks for all the fucking help with my busted wheel last night you saved the day. hope that class at the bici kitchen will help you save more lives to come !
thanks to Eddie and Harry for the awesome tunes.
unfortunately not all of us had as clean an ending to the night as we wished but all in all it was a memorable S&S.
even though my evening ended up less then desirable last night,
this ride was fantastic. I had a really really good time.
All the music playing at different parts of the ride, was like a big five room club, with differnet themes for each room.
I stayed back with Eric Hair (great tunes everybody, loved the music),
Annie, La Harr, Fuzzbeast and this guy who I don't recall his name in the back. It felt like we where just "kicking it" in the laidback, mellow, vip, back room at the club. I loved it so much.
Getting to see Mrs Hair, and the whole gang was great. Thanks to everybody who took part in fixing up Bigsexxy's wheel, it was a team effort.
Jelly Babies, Cadbury flake's were yummy. VIZ comics - Fat Slags, Roger Mellie, Johnny Fartpants Spoilt Bastard, Finbar Saunders, etc. (this would be a funny ride to put together, the Viz Ride where everyone has to dress up as their favorite comic strip!)
Aero Bars (the mint -my fave) Violet Crumble, and of course the "Mint with a Hole" Polo!
I have fond memories visiting South Sea and Portsmouth and having chips served in newspapers.
Is anyone planning to take the LA River bike path down to LB for SnS? I'm not totally committed to the idea yet, but I'm thinking of rolling out of K-Town around 7:00 to ride to the ride.
When the Forge'n'Gorge rode to LB, we were able to make it from Wilshire and Western to LB in about an hour and a half, but we were booking it. I think leaving 2.5 hours early should allow for a pretty reasonable pace to make the 28 mile trip. I'm not looking to really hustle down there, since I need to save some energy for the Bike City Century on Saturday. If there's interest and people want to make it a chill outing, we could even start earlier.
Anyone going down to S&S on the Blue Line besides Stilline? I'm trying to decide between driving all the way down there or parking at Union Station and taking the blue line.
Will we be done in time to Blue Line back? I was assuming that riding back was a must. It's not a bad ride up the river, but I'd rather not do it solo.
Argh. Behind schedule. laoxue, in case you want to meet up to ride down the bike path, I'll be heading down Normandie, so I'll keep an eye out for you at Normandie and Expo. I'm leaving in a bit, and I should be down there in about 20 minutes.
10.48.040 Riding in a group.
Persons operating bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than two abreast, except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles. (Prior code § 3410.203).
Man what a crazy start to S&S in the LBC. These guys were definitely waiting for our group after whatever happened that triggered this whole thing. Plus... the cops were a little on the aggressive side w/ the guy on the pic.
Amazing how many cops showed up. And what's up w/ the little cop trying to threaten us about he's gonna start asking us for bicycle licenses if we don't get back? Unbelievable on trying to threaten us w/ that license crap.
On a lighter note.... S&S... thanks for continuing the ride. I know at one point... it seemed like the ride wasn't gonna continue but you guys kept it going. It was smooth sailing after that.
To the girl that took a spill on PCH... hope you feel better. Man... Junky Rusty Bikes not only helps people get on their bikes... but also helps those that fall off them. I'm gonna definitely visit JRB soon.
Why couldn't I have been stopped by these nice fellows? Instead I got suck with Officer Dickhead & Company.
Waa!!
I really wanted to see him ride your bike. That would have been hella amusing.
I looked up the LB City ordinances last night to see what my ticket really meant. Bastards.
Ride no more than than two abreast and you gotta stick in a bicycle lane when available. The max speed a bicycle can ride on the sidewalk is 15 mph. Your bicycle must have a license plate. You're not allowed to sell ANY bicycle within Long Beach without reporting it to the PD first in writing.
And in no way did I read that we needed to ride single file.
Oh and you need a friggin horn or bell.
Bike citations are not to exceed $100 and licensing fees are set by city council. Plates are issued by the state.
The cops weren't extremely douchey as cops go. It was sort of ridiculous that the premise on which we were stopped was that we were interfering with traffic. They addressed thisthreat by parking police cruisers in at least three separate intersections simultaneously for almost a half hour.
As others have mentioned the various groups received conflicting statements from the cops about what was required/forbidden. I think that they were just making it up as they went along.
I didn't recognize the goof who set it all off by running from the cops in the first place, but once that happened the rest was pretty much to be expected. If there were any justice, he'd pay everyone's tikets
I guess they must have split the group when we got pulled over. I was in the second group, I counted 7 (like in seven) patrol cars and 2 motor cycles and we had the ghetto bird hovering over us. They did block three lanes to pull us over.
That's a lot of resources to nail us for riding more than two abreast.
The other cops that pulled us over were pretty cool, I liked seeing the picture of them checking out Danny's bike. For LBPD, if you're bored at your job, I'd rather see them being nice to us and talking to us instead of the boneheads who got their rocks off by chasing down bicyclists. What a bunch of losers. OK Allan, just keep paying your taxes and feeding their bloated and underserved pension fund.
The girl that went down, I bet we do see her again. She said she's 13 and she was doing a pretty good job keeping up with us.
Shitty cell phone camera picture of the excessive force on Friday night. Email me if you need my full name and all that shit for your paperwork when you file the complaint.
yeah i was told y'all had some trouble in LBC....but thas just LBC for ya...everyone ok? anyone go to jail?...we had an almost arrest same night at the Super fun DTLA ride
Anyone know what happened to that dude that ran from the cops? That dude definitely spent the night in jail. If he didn't get fu*ked up, that boy was reaaaal lucky.
Was he ever caught? I don't think he was. I know I over heard someone saying the cops caught him but I recalled as the last few tickets were being written... i did see a solo rider ride past us... I could've sworn it was the guy. But... I don't know.
The cop who ticketed me told me they caught him. And that something someone did on a previous ride had pissed off the watch commander in that area of Long Beach. We were targeted from the beginning but that guy running from the cops sure escalated the enforcement. Thanks douchebag.... you got a couple wedgies coming if you ever show up to a ride again.
no they don't always tell the truth but these cops seemed to have already been angry with bike people before we even had an incident... when I tried to say that we weren't LB Critical Mass and that it was just a leisure ride they responded with "Yeah whatever... we've sen what you guys do on youtube."
So i believe them when they say they were targeting us becuase of a prior incident. They wouldn't be watching our youtube videos if they werent thinking of trying to control us.
Hmm... I'm gonna have to search for LBCM vids now. But yeah... that dude sure made it really bad for us. That's the first where I saw a cyclist just book it. So you think it's a confirmed thing that the guy was caught? Man... that culdesac didn't help the cop at all and when he split the group to get back around... I knew we were in for something. Next thing... 4-5 officers on foot. Just waiting across the street for us. I was like... "damn"
It's fortunate that LB is not a very desirable location (for riding or for anything else). It's too bad for those unfortunate enough to live there, but it will hardly impact SnS or MR.
The cop who stopped us (the last group) originally said some stuff that suggested that they were trying to send some kind of a message by stopping us. I can't imagine who they think they were sending the message to or what message it might have been. If they know about the boards they ought to just post here and make it explicit. If they're this ignorant about a group as transparent as MR, it's no wonder that they're fairly unsuccessful at dealing with gangs.
LB is actually a very desirable place to ride. It's mostly flat, the roads are in pretty good shape, and there's usually always a good route to take. When it comes to what happened last Friday, I have to wonder why people still roll without lights? It's only for your own safety that I think it's a good idea to roll with lights at night. I can't even begin to feel comfortable if I was rolling without lights. Guess I'm old fashion in that way. Another thing, why do you cross an intersection when there's a cop present? I would be surprised if the cop didn't ticket you. OK the license thing was asinine when the cops aren't even in agreement with that one, but that can easily be fought and won. The CVC code states it's for the residence of the city where the rider lives is where they need to get a license.
PC mentioned something about a license that would take care of any city requirements. A California License if you will. I couldn't find anything on this.
The default website I think for LB cycling is http://www.lbcyclists.org/. You'll find at the bottom of the page a reference to the license issue.
Also that dude you are referring to Al was riding a blue fixie, the guy that split was riding a red one. BTW I almost saw that dude collide with a motorcycle cop when everyone was getting a ticket. The motorcycle cop was turning right, right passed an intersection where the middle group was. As he was turning towards us, this dude on a fixie rolled between the motorcycle and where we were on the side. A half a second slower and it would have been a very interesting night.
It sure seems to me that both Long Beach's bike licensing law and its two-abreast law are unenforceable in that each of them are in direct conflict with the California Vehicle Code.
Here's the CVC (§ 21) on the subject of uniform laws and the authority of local government to regulate traffic by ordinance:
Except as otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of this code are applicable and uniform throughout the State and in all counties and municipalities therein, and no local authority shall enact or enforce any ordinance on the matters covered by this code unless expressly authorized herein.
And here's the CVC (§39002. (a)) on the subject of local bicycle licensing:
A city or county, which adopts a bicycle licensing ordinance or resolution, may provide in the
ordinance or resolution that no resident shall operate any bicycle, as specified in the ordinance, on any
street, road, highway, or other public property within the jurisdiction of the city or county, as the case may
be, unless the bicycle is licensed in accordance with this division. [Emphasis mine]
If LBPD is giving tickets to people who don't live in Long Beach for riding unlicensed bicycles, they're in conflict with the CVC, which only allows them to require such licensing of residents, not visitors. And if the City of Long Beach has adopted an ordinance regulating the positioning of bicycles in the roadway--a matter covered by §21202 of the CVC--then the ordinance is null and void if the State has not expressly authorized the City to regulate that matter. Which it hasn't. IANAL, but that's how I read it. Am I wrong? Any real lawyers out there? Any Stephen Boxes?
I could have sworn that I heard people say they got tickets for riding more than two abreast. Either way, unless I'm mistaken, the statute is unenforceable (which may be why they don't enforce it, if indeed they don't). Also, I agree that it's all Allan's fault.
You haters that are dissin Strong Beach are just bitches!
It's not my fault everyone thinks San Pedro is a part of LB. Or that police are targeting hipsters here. Hell there like roaches. First there's one or two, then all the sudden you have an infestation!
In regards to the municipal code. There is a CVC section that states that cities can make their own laws as long as there's not a conflict with the state code. I don't think there is since the CVC 21202 states that we have a right to taking the lane, and the the LB code states that we can ride two abreast.
After that first encounter with Long Beach's finest, I think the haters are the cops themselves. The ones downtown appear to hate bicyclists. They told us to ride two abreast, they told us not to block lanes while they blocked three of them. They told us not to run red lights while the cop that went down the dead end street made a u-turn and shot out past a red light. We had the green light and I remember shouting at a couple of riders to stop because we had one pissed-off cop in hot pursuit (no siren) of a cyclist and he wasn't stopping for anyone, he could have killed a rider. We were told that at a traffic light, we had to stop behind the white line. I saw that no motorists were bothering to do that. Oh yeah, bicyclists are not allowed to go faster than 15mph and we all have to have licenses on our bikes and lights and reflectors. They were picking on us. With all those municipal codes, Long Beach hates bicycles and the LBPD proves it. So who are the haters?
There is a CVC section that states that cities can make their own laws as long as there's not a conflict with the state code. I don't think there is since the CVC 21202 states that we have a right to taking the lane, and the the LB code states that we can ride two abreast.
Read section 21 again. It says that local governments can't regulate road use except where expressly authorized. If there's express authorization in the Code for cities to enact laws on lane positioning that are more restrictive than CVC 21202, I can't find it.
Of course I'm joking around.... I respect the fact that you ride every ride and tend to avoid the hassles that we hipsters constantly encounter from the police. You are one hell of a rida and i repspect your opinoin but you call me a hipster one more time and i will throw my von dutch hat at you so hard it takes your tupee off you old fart.
OK Matt, from now on it's Mr. H. That way it will distinguish you from all the other hipsters.
@PC,
I was referring to 21206, http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21206.htm but after reading it carefully I see it saids in part, "operation of bicycles on pedestrian or bicycle facilities". I thought the reference was in regards to the road and authorization of controlling movement on the road. And yeah, there's isn't anything that is in the CVC or the LB code that is more restrictive than CVC 21202.
The Long Beach two-abreast law is plainly more restrictive than 21202. Under 21202, bicycles traveling at or above the normal speed of traffic can take any lane they want, with as many bicycles abreast of each other as they wish (remember, there's nothing in the CVC that spells out how many road users can share a lane laterally). Booyah. I win. Hipster. Fucking antisocial hipster.
I was sweep when that rider swept past us, I dont think he was part of the ride. None of our ride was behind me. Just some random dipshit who started the cops on us.
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Ridazz Roulette!
Man what a crazy start to S&S in the LBC. These guys were definitely waiting for our group after whatever happened that triggered this whole thing. Plus... the cops were a little on the aggressive side w/ the guy on the pic.
OMG!! I would bet PC's lunch money that this is our hero!