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Yeah, I've done this thing every year and last year's route forced gridlock the likes I've never seen before. The good news is that this year's route is totally different, but even so... unless you get there super early and defend your front-of-the-pack territory or get there late and attempt to bulldoze your way through the masses, it's gonna be pretty slow going, at least over the first few miles.
when do they block the streets for the ride? cause if we can sneak into the route when they block off the streets, then we can ride the whole route without any cars and bikers...it might be like 3-5 in the morning though
excellent media exposure for MR would be nice, but the bike tour has always been ignored by the press or at best condensed into a few seconds-long video bite of entrants crossing the start line with someone saying "And before the marathon thousands of cyclists took to the streets of L.A. for the annual blah blah blah..."
Agent Orange... I saw your pics of the Acura ride and you weren't kidding on the gridlock. How many cyclists would you estimate who ride this? I wouldn't mind getting a t-shirt. Is it well worth the entrance fee? One more thing... Where's that Fargo St. anyways? Thanks in advance...
Fargo is just east of the beginning of the Glendale Freeway, it is off Alessandro. If you are heading north on Glendale Blvd, there is a light right before the freeway make a right, Follow the street as it parallels the freeway and Fargo should be on your right as it is perpendicular to Alessandro.
Fargo has 33 degree angle, the first part of the climb is steep but the angle is constant. Towards the top when your legs feel like noodles and you're barely pedaling, the angle gets steeper. Good Luck!!!
So that's Fargo... I took Alessandro home from a Midnight Ridazz ride and thought, "I wouldn't want to be driving stick on that hill." I didn't even think of biking up that hill. I read some 67 year old lady did it. Major props. Thanks for the info nomad.
The bike tour easily draws around 14,000-15,000 cyclists each year. I've made it an annual tradition since it was begun back in '95 so I'm pretty biased in believing its well worth the $35 entry fee.
I'm hopeful that this year's course will be substantially less gridlocky than last year's poorly planned route and for the first time it actually starts east and goes across the L.A. River up through Boyle Heights before coming back west back over the 6th Street Bridge (which should be familiar to any ridazz that did Mr. Raymond's famed and fabulous "Noche" Midnight Ridazz last November.
As to Fargo, SC nailed it. It's a beast of a hill. If you want to see one of the more unique cycling events in L.A. you should come out to the Fargo Street Hill Climb this March. I'll be there trying to successfully make it to the top (I dabbed two-thirds of the way on two attempts last year). The date hasn't been set yet, but check out lawheelmen.org (the group that organizes the eventsponsors) for more info.
Also, here's a clip on YouTube of me bolting a camera to the handlebars of my mountain bike and making my first attempt up Fargo last year. I fail gloriously:
Great try! It is tough for sure, I have not 'officially' climb Fargo but I climb it a couple of times in the past. By officially, I mean the climb that is sponsored by the LA Wheel men where you get a patch. My brother lives in Elysian Heights so I've had the opportunity to attempt the climb several times.
The couple of times I made it was on a mountain bike, the granny gear for sure. Another thing that makes te climb easier is start zigzaging early, don't wait until your legs are gone. Choose the easiest gear you have and spin, try not shift it will throw you off. And don't forget to breathe.
Maybe this year I might go for a patch. My 12 yr old nephew already has 2 but he has home court advantage.
holy fuckaroo Agent Orange..... nice try. haven't done fargo yet...... I got Duane under me belt and that one kicks my ASS. Fargo is prolly twice as long.
Hey! There's no need to really pay for the Acura bike tour and still ride it. They make tons of money off of it and they don't do shit to promote cycling as an everyday thing when the streets are not closed to motor vehicles. In the past people have jumped in and flyered for other bike stuff here in LA (the kitchen, other rides, etc) with some success. If you have ethical qualms about it donate the $35 to the kitchen or to some group that actually needs it.
re: hills. Come to Feel My Legs this year on the 11th of Feb! Fargo is just one of the 10 brutal hills in the area it hits. 35 people attempted it last year. It was a sight to see.
Feel My Legs on Bikeboom
indeed there is always a contingent of bike punks who rationalize crashing the bike tour and showing it a lack of support because it's sponsored by a car company or because the event organizers don't promote cycling enough.
Whatever. If you're gonna crash it, just crash it. But coming up with up some contrived reason why it's righteous to do so always strikes me as kinda silly.
Hmmmnn. What seems righteous to me is criticizing the suggestion that there may be alternatives to paying the $35. You may agree with supporting Acura and their tour, but to take the moral high road (and to take the time!) and criticize anyone who does not agree with you (and 99% of the people who ride it) is truly silly.
Agh, BP. I have a whole buncha righteous indignation I could fling down your wayfrom my presumed moral highground, but it'll only devolve into you calling me an asshole and then I'll have to return the favor and then you'll say "Your momma!" and then "I'll say "Don't you talk about my momma!" and then you'll say "I'll talk about your momma all I want!" and then I'll say something about your momma and then you'll get all pissed and say I've got no right to talk about your momma and then I'll say how it is that you can talk about mine but I can't talk about yours and then you'll call me silly again and I'll say no you're silly and that'll go back and forth for several hours until you challenge me to a bike fight and I'll say name the time and place and then you'll bring a knife and cut me and then I'll pull out a bat and bonk you and then we'll be next to each other on gurneys in a hallway at USC med center trying to pull out each others IVs out...
And for what? Because I don't crash the bike tour and you do? Yeah, that makes sense.
ok well how about whoever wants to pay can pay and whoever doesnt want to pay doesnt have to pay and then we can all ride fast together. that way everyone wins.
Hmm... Bicycle joust sounds interesting. You guys might share a chuckle when your eyes meet at the ICU.
BTW... Agent Orange... so this year’s route won't be the same as the marathon? Is the bike route always separate from the marathon route? I've never done this. I checked the lamarathon site and they announced last year the marathon route starting from Universal Studios... they call it "Point to Point" course
Yeah Dig, though the marathon courses and the bike tour courses have varied over the years, up until this year, both were basically loop routes that started and finished at the same point, with the bike tour covering about 20-21 miles of the marathon's 26.2-mile course.
For example, the marathon over the last several years started downtown at Figueroa and 5th and ended a block over at Flower and 5th. The bike tour, which historically has never followed the full marathon course, started at Exposition Blvd and Vermont Avenue and finished nearby on the USC campus.
This year it's all different. As you noted the marathon will be point-to-point, starting in Universal City and ending downtown (at Flower and 5th in front of the central library). The bike tour will be starting on MLK Boulevard south of the Coliseum and heading east. From what I can tell the bike tour and the marathon will share a couple segments (both come over the 6th Street bridge back into downtown) but other than those brief overlaps they have little connection to each other.
This will be particularly interesting for those lunatics such at myself that will be doing the bike tour AND the marathon. I've done it in the past (2003 and 2005) and getting from the old bike tour finish line at USC up to the old marathon startline on Figueroa was no big deal. But this year after I finish biking I'll have to get from USC up to downtown then onto the Red Line subway in Universal City hopefully in time for the marathon's start. Good times.
Here's the route.
AO: Ha ha. Except I never called you an asshole. Us punks are constantly on the defensive, you gotta expect a response, that's the way we roll.
ps. I rode it and ran it last year as well.
Man trying to fit 15,000 cyclists through that first hairpin turn is gonna be interesting and is reason enough for me to get as far forward in the pack prior to go time as possible.
I've done it in past years, but after last year's ride I swore, "Never again!" . . . the money's only a small part of it, it was more like feeling insulted and ripped off by being shoved onto overcrowed streets with a bunch of people who don't ride enough to have the sense not to endanger themselves and those around them.
And don't get me started about having to go to that "Quailty of (fuckin') Life Expo" to pick up our bibs . . .
15,000 x $35 wow.... $525,000 in my mind pating $35 to ride my city that I was born in and will unfortunately probably die in is just a lil too much. I'm going to sneak it personally...... last year I got a free pass from a friend who managed to aquire 5 passes lol. but let's think about this, how much does it REALLY cost to host one of these marathons and events and how much is Acura paying the organizers......... I'd be curious to know if the money does anything helpful for anything be it joggers runners OR cyclists........ does anyone know? just seems steep considering the amount of miles and rides we've all created together in the last few years for free...... so to each his own AO you got my full respect and BP you got it as well. handle the skandle as they say. this route looks like cake to me regardless. in fact maybe they can try to chase me down cause I dont have a number. they will not catch me though. my money is on me as to who would win a smokey and the wolfpack style stunt ride. there will be no stand-in for my "Stunt Thighs" it will be a real beer run to Texarcanna and I'll be wearing the black hat.... nah fuck it I'll be drivin the big rig. actually I'll be rolling the Dooley with the nitro under the hood. "If you gonna be a bear be a grizzly grrr grrr" (extra punk rock points to the one that can correctly identify that CLASSIC movie quote.)
Let's see 3,000,000 visitors per year at an average of $15 per person not counting parking and hotdogs and beer and peanuts and more beer beer and the Dodgers are making holy fucking shit how much and can't even win their goddam division?
Look I hate to open myself up to the inevitable spokes and chain tools that'll be coming my way as the Righteous Defender Of The Bike Tour, but it definitely costs money to stage this thing and the company that does it is a for-profit organization. It ain't no charity. It's supply-and-demand capitalism at its finest.
But if you think cyclists are getting ripped off and the company needs to be investigated for price gouging, check out the $95 entry fee to do the marathon.
"It ain't no charity. It's supply-and-demand capitalism at its finest. "
so a for profit company holds the entire city's traffic hostage for millions of dollars and gets away with it but when a bunch of bike nerds do it for no fee and relatively no cost to the city, arguably less cost to local businesses... we get the choppers and swat team... that doesnt seem like totally fair competition does it?
oh boy.... I'm falling into the pit here. lemme escape through this secret hatch
Since their FAQ page didn't have it, I sent an email asking what percentage of the proceeds actually gets to the charities.
What percentage actually gets to the people, I didn't ask.
And I didn't ask why these people are getting freebies from charities anyway.
How many of you crashed the Toy Ride, and felt righteous about it?
How many toys actually made it to the kids and got past SpiralDemon and the rest of the staff at the center?
Where did the money go for the dollar beers?
When I see a guy with his hand out, my first thought is,
Hey he could be Jesus or God himself measuring my worth,
then my second thought is,
man, I gotta cut back on my weed intake,
then, I spit out,
Get a job,
Sometimes I actually give him a buck, or two.
$35 just seems like a lot that's all.... they are using our city, they are restricting our access to it.... it just seems like there should be a better trade off of where that money goes.
I'm kind of bummed to find out that the organization running this is a "for profit" company. call me a leftwing commie but what happened to the idea of benefiting our city?
what if the cost of entry was used to pay for clean up and infrastructure and the profits used for city improvement rather than going into some organization's pockets.... it doesnt need a "for profit" organization to run this marathon. it's real fucking simple, the streets are closed, portapotties brought in, NBC (or whomever covers it) pays for TV rights. someone buys a ribbon for the ending.(I'm totally kidding I know it takes a lot to make this happen but the point is that it doesn't have to be for profit. it COULD be "for improvement".
I'm not knocking Acura at all. They are paying money for this too....
how about "nationalizing" the LA marathon so that the profits go to projects that make life easier for it's participants. ie more walkways, and better cycling infrastructure. THAT would make paying the $35 and $95 fee more palette-able.
Roadblock,I guess in priniciple I can agree that the $35 entry fee comes off as exorbitant for doing something you do everyday for free, but maybe if you think of the bike tour and marathon as big city-sanctioned parades. Or maybe we should audit and nationalize the Tournament of Roses and the Christmas parade through Hollywood, which takes over it's respective areas and holds its residents hostage, too.
"Roadblock,I guess in priniciple I can agree that the $35 entry fee comes off as exorbitant .... maybe we should audit and nationalize the Tournament of Roses and the Christmas parade through Hollywood, which takes over it's respective areas and holds its residents hostage, too."
I wasnt so much saying that $35 is not possible to justify. I was saying that if I knew that the fee was going towards actually benefiting our city. It would be much easier to coax me into paying it...
I think it would be a great idea for all these parades to be nationalized in the sense that, once the organizers are paid reason-able salaries and their costs the rest of the money and profit should benefit the city they occur in. I'm betting that Pasadena has a good strong hold on the profits from the Rose parade... I could be completely wrong, but that city seems to have it together like that..... the hollywood parade is just a giant commercial for TV shows. Those TV shows should (and probably are ) pay fees to the city for their airtime and that money should go towards city infrastructure improvements not some private organization.
The LA marathon, between endorsements, entry fees, television rights and whatever else is making GADS of money regardless of what they claim the bottomline is on paper. No private organization operates year after year on a loss.... there is money in it. trust.
let's take these kinds of public events and put the money towards the shit that politicians claim there is a lack of tax revenue for like keeping griffith park public, or imrpoving cycling infrastructure projects like 4th street bb etc. If I knew it was going to help me as a cyclist I would enter for $50 no shit. every year. I would consider it a cyclist tax and I'd gladly ride for the fee.
I still might even pay the $35 I'm not trying to be a jerk just pointing out that these city wide events are not benefiting the city as I believe they should.
The average income of the 20,000 or so people who run the LA Marathon is $74,000 (or at least was in 2004, the last time the stats were sent out). That's AVERAGE. We can assume that the target audience for the bike tour is of a similar economic background. We (making a large generalization about those who do the MR rides or read the MR forums) are on the low end of that bell curve. They don't need us and will continue to charge as much as they can get away with. Like AO said, it is straight up capitalism at its finest (with 'charity' thrown in their to quiet any potential concerns from the democratic party-esque lefties). I agree with his explanation. It's up to us to do what we can to get around their stranglehold or to change it. That course of action is up to you....
All right Roadblock. You win. Nationalize it all. The marathon, the bike tour, the 7-11s and American Idol and the Van Halen reunion tour and cotton and the color purple and football and fixed gears and spandex and anarchy and bandanas and Big Bike Dan and digital cameras and left feet and comic books and ... and... MIDNIGHT RIDAZZ! While you're busy doing all that me and Bike Punk are gonna enjoy the bike tour in our own wayz.
P.S. You sure had on your sexy voice for that KCET interview. Nationalize that too!
ahh man... see I should have ducked out while I could..... this escape hatch leads to nowhere though...
well, I'll tell you what, I'll pay the $35 for the LACBC ride in July (because they are a pro cycling organization that actually works to benefit the participants of it's ride) and sneak the LA marathon. Now that's voting with my dollazz!
we ARE nationalizing Midnight Ridazz... slowly, ever creeping... New York, Vegas, Indiana.... when I finally get my azz over to Holland best believe we internationalizing!! hahah
OK then, this'll be my 12th to last post on this subject. Maybe my 11th. See Roadblock, one thing you've gotta understand is that back in the dark ages of 1994 when there was hardly an internut, something like only four websites in the world (with three of them under construction) and you were but a laddie, the inuagural bike tour was organized by the marathon peeps because -- and this may be shocking to you : there was massive and overwhelming support and interest from the quote/unquote bike community for just such an event.
That's right it's your own bike community (or perhaps your bike community's ancestral dinosaurs like myself) who said dang a bike tour sounds like a bitchin' event, sign me up and how much!?
And as such when the first bike tour rolled in 1995 with a few thousand riders and it was the first of its kind, with nothing like it having been done in conjunction with a marathon ever before on this planet.. Now there are marathon bike tours all over the place: Long Beach, Salt Lake City, Mexico, England, even freakin' Cambodia dude.
And it all started right here in bike-hating car country.
So in its own capitalistic anacronistic supercalifragilistic way, the L.A. Bike Tour has done something to promote and increase bike awareness -- and on a growing global level. Sure you can say that its doing nothing to support its own city's bicycle culture and you know what, it would be so cool if they did. But to me that's like doggin' the rose parade because they don't give a portion of their profits to the local flower community.
we ARE nationalizing Midnight Ridazz... slowly, ever creeping... New York, Vegas, Indiana.... when I finally get my azz over to Holland best believe we internationalizing!! hahah
Amsterdam should be an easy convert since almost everyone rides a bike. Here's a pic on top of the bike parking structure by the main train station. Imagine 4 levels. It hard to take a picture (wide) in Amsterdam without a bike in the frame. How about a trip?
Check out the above link to see how to turn your marathon and/or /bike ride into a charitable cause.
Now, I'd like to throw in my two cents if I may.
As for the marathon/bike ride being run by a for profit company, what's really the big problem. If you consider the infrastructure and overhead needed to produce such and event and the amount of profit actually made, I'm sure you'd find the amout of profit made to be very small.
The thing that really gets me though is the short sightedness of the "well, they tie up the streets and hold people 'hostage' for what benefit?"
I think that description fits a ridazz ride or especially critical mass
But with the Acura ride um, let's think for a second how our city might benefit other than padding wallet of the evil doers who promote such a ride.
*local bike shops who get flooded with people gearing up for the ride.
*port-a-potty companies probably rent out a few extra cans over this weekend.
*local restaurants would surely get a boost from 15,000 hungry cyclists.
*the company who prints the t-shirts plus all those involved in the 'goodie bag'
*everyone who is employeed by the bike ride.
*the city of los angeles, who i'm pretty sure gets some sort of fee for police support and the road closings.
- I know there'd easily be a few hundred other ways but this is getting boring...but here's the biggest benefit of all.
*15,000 people (a good portion of which consider this their major ride of the year) are out on a sunday morning riding their bikes, getting healthy and having fun. if even just a fraction of them become inspired to ride more, than how is the $35 not worth the money?
either way, you guys do what you want. I'll be sleeping in cause I'm stupid and am running the marathon.
um you could argue till you're blue in the face about all those businesses that benefit from the marathon on that day and I would agree with you 1000%, but that is not the argument we are having.
the argument is, how is this $35 fee benefiting cycling and how can that fee of entrance provide MORE value - if it's deemed worth it at all.
in a perfect world "no fee" would have maximum benefit for cycling visibility because MORE cyclists would ride..... so the fee continues to be the issue... is it worht paying as a cyclist? if I dont pay it and ride I will still benefit all the business you mentioned and I will still increase cycling awareness and I will still flood the local bike shop... the only company that would lose is the organising company at that point. but I wont use their portapotty I'll pee behind the 711 that I hit up for water. (I'm kidding I know they provide more than water and porta potty)
. IF this were hosted by a "for improvement" company (example LACBC or some cycling PAC) rather than a "for profit" company I bet it would have improved cycling inrastructure at a much more rapid rate than what the marathon may or may not have done - which is probably not THAT much..... I've lived and biked off and on in LA my whole life and I cant say for sure that the marathon has done anything to benefit cycling infrastructure in the 13 years it has hosted the cycling portion of the marathon.. I mean, it's been 13 years... had this been a "for improvement" company from the get go I would argue that LA would be at least a bit more cycling friendly.
I bet more cyclists would attend knowing that their money is going towards improvements and be much more willing as I would to pay an especially exorbatent fee - AND of course,all those local restaurants and porta potty companies ANd the city would still have gotten their chunk of change.
AND! consider all the companies and contractors benefiting from building bicyle infrastucture itself, the reduced pollution, the reduced traffic from increased cycle commuting...
"the argument is, how is this $35 fee benefiting cycling and how can that fee of entrance provide MORE value - if it's deemed worth it at all. "
a) cycling benefits because people are out of the house cycling.
b) if the $35 bucks didn't provide enough value people wouldn't do it. by what i saw at the finish a couple years ago, judging by the way people proudly wore their finisher's medal, i'd say the fee was worth it for them.
And as far as a "for improvement" company goes, why don't you just do the LA River ride that the LACBC hosts call it good?
As far as fees go, I've probably spent $500 bucks this month renewing a couple of racing licenses and registering for various races. some are going to last less than an hour but to me it's worth the price of admission and happy as a clam.
Personally, I've tried to talk cycling friends out of doing the bike tour when they've asked about it because a) the amateur danger factor is way worse than what you'd see on the second friday of any given month and b) the sheer number of people make for a real herky jerky ride. but if you're someone who looks at 26 mile ride as a challenge of endurance or simply your idea of fun, then go for it.
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Ridazz Roulette!
Hmm... Bicycle joust sounds interesting. You guys might share a chuckle when your eyes meet at the ICU.
Here's the route.
heres the route.
Here's the route (3rd time is the charm)
Here's the route.
Here's the route...
Here's the route...
Here's the route... 
we ARE nationalizing Midnight Ridazz... slowly, ever creeping... New York, Vegas, Indiana.... when I finally get my azz over to Holland best believe we internationalizing!! hahah
everybody have fun and try to act more 1985. POSI.