NOTE: All timestamps are in the future because WE are in the future. The care takers of Midnight Ridazz.com reserves the right to remove, edit, move or delete anything for any reason. None of the opinions expressed on these boards represent the Midnight Ridazz nor can anyone purport to speak on behalf of Midnight Ridazz.
Thread started by trickmilla at 06.8.09 - 12:53 pm
I've never made a nomination before. But looking over the ROTW threads I noticed that this most valuable member of our community has never been honored with Ridaa of the week.
Some of those who have been around longer than me can better elucidate all the ways Agent Orange has been a massive benefit to our community.
I've seen his fantastic writing, seen him on rides, seen him mashing the street. And shamefully, I have yet to attend of his rides which are always creative, original, and well reviewed.
OG Ridazz step up and let the rest of know all the great reasons to honor Agent Orange.
I know there is a ton of things I am forgetting.
I bet he puts in the most commuter bike miles outa anyone here. He's got his hands in other projects too. Saw one on a walking tour of a major street. I forgot all the details, hopefully he can fill in on it. It looked awesome, but I caught wind of it too late.
It's alright if there are concurrent ROTW along side a ROTM, right? Of course!
Will is an inspiration to me. He's a really thoughtful, and supportive Rida.
It's always a pleasure to go on his rides and hang out with him. I like keeping up with his Blogs. He is an instrumental representative of our cycling community.
I have much respect for the Armed Librarians! Even if some are American Idol viewers...
Agent Orange is an one man bike gang.
He organizes rides for seven in the fuckin am.
He couldn't care less if nobody shows up.
He's also a stubborn a-hole (car-mad-john) in an honest straight in yo face way and that's what I love about him.
He works in a tall building by the LAX and he bikes there from Silverlake. That's what I hate about him because he puts my couch potato fat ass to shame.
Well deserved, he is a hugely positive force in our community! I could go on & on, but a few thoughts:
When I first met this guy back in the fall of '05 on the "Not a Cornfield" Ride, little did I know what a friend he would become. We've rolled a lot of miles together as members of the now almost defunct IAAL-MAF on rides great and small. His knowledge and appreciation of the history and culture of Los Angeles are second to none, and he takes the trouble to photograph it and write it all down.
He commutes thirty miles round trip almost every day of the year and ends up riding something like 6000 miles a year. Every time I see him he's gotten faster and stronger. His calves are the size of my thighs.
I agree Will is the Man. He was very cool when I showed up for one of his Architecture Rides in the hills on my tiny foldie. I eventually dropped off from the ride but he was very cool about it.
1. Tell me more about the Armed Librarians. Do you guys still ride? Shoot guns?
2. What happened to the Phoenix? Isnt your namesake from that bike?
3. What's next on your To-do List?
4. When's you next crazy ride at 4AM, or something like that?
At the risk of getting all vaklempt here, I'm just gonna bow gracefully and thank everyone for their kind words.
This last year and a half or so that I've really amped up my crosstown commuter cyclingz and racking up mileage numbers I'd never dreamed I would has been a remarkable time for me, but it's also seen me grannygear my participation with group rides.
Time was I wouldn't miss being out on my bike for RIDE-Arc the first Friday night and Ridazz tthe second Friday night of each month. With IAAL•MAF rides in between.
But things evolve. Just ask the dinosaurs. Or the republicants.
I've said this before to my VERY good friend Mr. Rollers that I feel I've become something of a Jeremiah Johnson on a bike, somewhat a recluse just out there doing my own thing (except instead of fighting renegade natives, it's rogue drivers I occasionally square off against). As such this is a very pleasant surprise and makes it extra special nice to be recognized. Thank you Patrick for the nom and for all the seconds. I am tremendously, tremendously honored.
I've long maintained that the core of my advocacy as an urban cyclist is in the doing: being seen out there on my bike in the streets. Whether it's at seven in the fucking a.m. with my "Bringing Morningz Back" rides (more of those to come!), during crosstown work commutes, or at midnight outrunning full moons and zombies through the 2nd Street tunnel with several hundred others, the best I can do is be in the saddle demonstrating the possibilities and the viabilities.
But enough pontificationalizing, On to the questions:
• Tell me more about the Armed Librarians. Do you guys still ride? Shoot guns?
The Int'l Association of Armed Librarians • Mobile Assault Force (IAAL•MAF) is still out there somewhere on extended hiatus. Or maybe Fresno. Our merry band is no longer as tight as once we were, and organized "Thugsday Night Rides" and "Spinvitational" activities have dropped off the radar, but even though we're not riding as a well-greased unit I know that individual bikes are still being pedaled and guns are still pushing lead through paper targets.
• What happened to the Phoenix? Isnt your namesake from that bike?
6. What was your favorite group ride ever?
7. Who were the first Ridazz you ever met?
8. When did you get into bicycles?
9. What is your favorite beer?
So many to choose from. So, so many. But I'm going to have to go with my first one ever: The Christmas in July in December Ride: December 2005. It was short, but effing transcendent and ultra exhilarating and life changing. Shout out to my second to last "Bringing Morningz Back" ride on Memorial Day weekend that took in much of what West Adams had to offer. It was like the bike was a time machine and we went back a ways. And there were tacos at El Parian on Pico afterward FTW.
I've been into them my whole life, but the catalyst driving my present status as an urban cyclist came in the latter part of 2005. First I found an abandoned 1970s roadbike that was completely totally and utterly dead. In August of that year I took a wheel building class at the Bike Kitchen under the tutelage of Professor Jim Cadenhead, and from there with a fresh set of rims but no bike to put them on I decided to totally renovate the bike into the singlespeeder that became The Phoenix, may she rest in peace.
9. What is your favorite beer?
If it's cold and free, it's good enough for me. But if I'm buying I profess to being partial to Craftsman on tap, and Bud's American Ale in bottles.
10. Do cops ever trip on your badge?
11. Other interesting badge related stories?
12. What is the furthest you have ridden sans hemet/ 3rd eye?
13. Best Bad Idea / Worst Bad Idea (that you actually went through with)?
trickmilla responding to a comment by Agent Orange
06.9.09 - 1:43 pm
Not yet. I stopped wearing it for a looooong time -- especially during group rides because a lot of them youngsterz would look at me like I was I was some sort of police infiltrator. It made me sad to be so shunned/feared.
But it's back on my work commute daypack now, and as of yet I haven't been detained and/or cited for impersonating a po-po head.
11. Other interesting badge related stories?
A few weeks ago, I was coming out of a local liquor store to where I'd locked up my bike. There was a delivery guy who'd left his handtruck by my bike and he came out and saw the badge and said "Let me get that out of your way officer!" I chuckled and pointed out the badge read "bike battalion," which I figured he'd understand as being fictitious, but instead he replied "Two wheels or four, a cop's a cop!"
12. What is the furthest you have ridden sans hemet/ 3rd eye?
It would have to be mountain biking -- the three miles up to the top of the Verdugos. I rarely where a helmet on the uphills. On the streets, I honestly can't recall any ride without my bucket in place.
13. Best Bad Idea / Worst Bad Idea (that you actually went through with)?
One day in the mid-90s I was staying up in a cabin in the Alabama Hills above Lone Pine. I got this crazy idea to bomb the Mt. Whitney Portal Road from the top to the bottom. That's not necessarily a Bad Idea in and of itself, but what graduated it to Worst Bad Idea was that I figured out a way to strap an old-school VHS-C camcorder to my helmet so as to record the descent. Long story short: putting a four/five-pound piece of electronic equipment onto a helmet secured to my head only by a chin strap and then ripping down a twisting steep mountain road at 40-50 mph? STOOPID.
Once I got some good speed going the wind caught the cam and snapped the helmet back almost choking me. And when I'd shift trying to compensate and center it on my head, I'd invariably go too far and the helmet would get pushed down over my eyes. I somehow managed to get the thing somewhat balanced and ride the 5,000-foot drop over 12 miles without falling, but the footage is really lame, full of me cussing over the roaring wind. My days as a bike riding cinematographer were mothballed, only recently resurrected thanx to smaller, handlebar mountable equipment for stuff like this:
From a distance, it looks more similar to a firefighter badge than a police badge.
Last I checked, most, if not all police departments used silver shields, while all sheriff's and state agencies utilize brass stars.
But then again, most people run because they don't do their homework.
A little story about the badge: as a small group of us were headed up 1st Street in Little Tokyo one night, a couple of pedestrians stepped off the curb in the middle of the block, saw Will's badge, jumped back and yelled, "bike cops!". They thought we were going to give them jay walking tickets. We could barely contain our laughter.
Roadblock, hard to say if there's any effect the badge might have with aggro drivers. i keep it pinned to the right side pocket of my backpack so it's noticeable but not in-their-face visible to those in traffic lanes.
Rollers! I forgot all about that incident. That was funny.
-->
Ridazz Roulette!
...
At the risk of getting all vaklempt here, I'm just gonna bow gracefully and thank everyone for their kind words.
