SNOB BOOK

Someone likes me! Just got this in the mail. Stoked. Reading material
for the 7-hr drive in the Adventure van tomorrow.
READ FAST

You Can't Be Neutral

Dropping serious knowledge. Watch this and send to 24 people.

Instead of preparing for my 24 hour mountain bike race this weekend, I'm writing about veganism and getting worked up over bike/pedestrian policy here in Los Angeles and nationwide. Six and seven years ago when I first got involved in bike advocacy in Los Angeles the bar was low, as were my expectations. Any improvement or mere mention of bikes outside of our circles was reason for excitement. Fast forward to 2010 and I'm almost overwhelmed with the progress. Almost. We are making gains, but now I want more. It makes so much sense in our unique position today with the economy, environmental concern and a renewed interest in urbanity to shift resources to promote bicycling and walking. But then LA Dept of Transportation General Manager Rita Robinson says stuff like I wish we were New York and could magically make things happen. Argh.

It's up to us to show her it is not magic. To start here is a post by the US Dept of Transportation in support: What we know about bike infrastructure: people want it. This is the freakin US DOT!! I never could imagine seeing this just a few years ago. And here we are. But, and this is a big but, too many people are not seeing this. Or understanding it if they are. Too few people get this:

from here: www.johnnyandstacie.com

As anarchist academic and hero-to-many Howard Zinn says, 'You can't be neutral on a moving train.' Everything is political. Your actions do matter. If you ride a bike, exclusively or occasionally, it's up to you to share the statement above. AND its political importance. Bicycle infrastructure is good for everyone. Fewer people in fewer cars has social, environmental, health and personal benefits. So study up and share with others. We cannot wait for policy change to come from people like Rita Robinson. We need to change ourselves and to share these benefits with our circles.

Sites like
www.la.streetsblog.org
www.streetfilms.org
www.howwedrive.com
Donald Shoup's page at UCLA
are a good start.

Here's a challenge. While I am riding my single-speed mountain bike for 24 hours this weekend, can you send one of the links above to 24 people?

the future

Yo! Wow. Epic month. You'd think that the more epic = more posts, but unfortunately often that's not the case.
We've had parties, picnics, races, travels and other stuff I can't remember. The best stuff often doesn't make it to my blog, like my New Zealand trip and riding the Great Divide. So while I sort these old events, here are some events in the future.



Bake Me Up! vegan bake sale in Echo Park at Mooi Foods from 11-5. This is a benefit for PAWS LA and Kitten Rescue. Other vegan events on www.quarrygirl.com.

My friend Deanna Adams is racing the inaugural Arizona Trail 750, which starts today at the Mexico/US border. It's self-support style like the 2700 mile Tour Divide race along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Banff to Mexico. What does this mean? No entry fee, no support, no checkpoints. Very awesome. The first part is along the Arizona Trail 300 which has been raced the last few years. The AZTR 750 requires a 22-mile bike portage through the Grand Canyon. Seriously. No bikes allowed. No rolling, pushing, pulling. It must be dismantled and carried on one's back. Sound miserable? I wish I was racing. I'd love to be out there on this epic journey of desert, mountains, heat, snow, pedaling, hiking....gawd. Beautiful way to spend one's days. Anyhow, you can follow Deanna's progress here: http://trackleaders.com/aztr. Oh yeah, she's on a fixed gear.

Lastly, the Swarm! twitter is active. Great links related to veganism, bikes, racing, streets, the environment, etc posted throughout the day. Check it out.

Bike Night at the Hammer April 8

My good friend Lisa, with whom I share a love for bikes, vegan food and mayhem, not to mention a willingness to wait over an hour for two tacos, has made Bike Night at the Hammer happen for the second year in a row. Last year Breaking Away on the big screen was fantastic and I'm sure Pee Wee's Big Adventure will be just as fun. All of this at a freakin museum.

I helped create the menu for the vegan dinner, too. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, bike valet and it's all free.
Keep your eyes on www.midnightridazz.com for group rides to the museum.

1897 Newspaper article

From http://www.bicyclephilosophy.com/

Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer 2010

Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer hill race (5th year anniversary!) Sunday March 28th, 8am
Meet at Sunset Blvd / Griffith Park Ave (where Silver Lake Farmers Market is)

background and FAQ from 2009

More soon, but wanted to get the hills up so people know! This so exciting. The Finishers patch is so dope. Come get it! The race will be followed by the Crucial Vegan Friendship picnic (Brian Farhy Commemorative edition) where your friends can meet you and you can grub hard. The picnic starts at 1pm and hopefully we'll be done by then.

1. Mt Washington drive / Self-realization (Mt. Washington)
2. Eldred st (Highland Park)
3. Amethyst st (El Sereno)
4. Thomas st (Lincoln Heights)
5. White Knoll/Marview (Echo Park)
6. Echo Park ave/Baxter (Echo Park)
7. Micheletorena (Silver Lake)
8. Silver Lake blvd/Duane (Silver Lake)
9. Fargo st (Echo Park)
10. Stadium way/Academy/Boylston (Elysian Park)


View Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer 2010 in a larger map



[Update]

Patch for all finishers!

Spoke card by Creative Thing

200 patches

So rad! Thanks Bird Apartment Printing!
See you tonight at Party Summit: www.bit.ly/partysummit

Stuff I Eat

Vegan spot in Inglewood. And that's really the name. This is a
quesadilla. So so delicious. Almost (almost) more food than I could
eat after a Black Eyed Pea soup and cornbread.
Check it out.
Unrelated: did a sweet 100 miles today. Felt like the first non-winter
ride of the year. So stoked.

Swarm! Party Summit after Street/Bike Summit

More on
LA Street/Bike Summit
Chef Joshua Ploeg
WolfPack Hustle Marathon Crash race

Purple (continued)

If you are going to obsess, buying purple produce at the farmers
market probably has the least detrimental (and most delicious) results.

On my commute

On a quiet residential street in south central Los Angeles.
What could this thing possibly be used for?

Thus Climbed Zarathustra

From our good friend Stephen, the organizer of this and previous versions:

An urban cyclocross ride/race through the Eastside of Los Angeles where participants pedal to stairways, portage their bike and climb 'em, before heading to the next one. It's fun, challenging (but do-able) and eye-opening: you'll probably see parts of LA you haven't. And if you don't want to race, no problem. During the inaugural event a few folks stopped at a garage sale and picked up a messenger bag for cheap!

Fast folks should finish in 60 to 75 minutes and more leisurely riders can complete it in about 90 minutes or so. I think. Haven't nailed down the course yet.

This is a Swarm! event.
The name? The first event was held on Nietzsche's b-day.
The flier? Courtesy of Chris. He rules.

On the facebook at bit.ly/thusclimbed


History:
2008
2006

Purple Drank

The purple carrots and beets were obvious. When the question, 'what
else do we have that's purple?' was asked, I got a little nervous.
Some purple cabbage and purple grapes later and we've this wonderfully
purple concoction.

Top of Amethyst rd in El Sereno

Scoping out the route for Feel My Legs Im a Racer.

Between the mountains and the clouds: the ocean

Cyclocross adventuring in the Verdugos scouting Moi's upcoming
'(dirty) Gentlemen's race'.

Dirt was sticky luckily, as I hadn't bothered to change my slicks, or
remove my fenders.

Carl Lewis on being a vegan athlete

How have I never seen this?

Kale Soyrizo Purple Cabbage

1. Take what's in fridge.
2. Dice.
3. Pan fry in olive oil.
4. Serve with open-flame warmed corn tortillas.

Adventure is contagious

My British friend Aidan, who was on my crew for the Norseman triathlon, sent me this email recently:

In a couple of weeks, Emily and I are setting off for New Zealand.
We've got a few weeks of touring around before she swims The Cook
Strait (weather permitting, somewhere between 20-26 February). It's
going to be a good adventure, and on the way back we're scheduled to
have a week in LA.

'before she swims the Cook Strait'

Hard to wrap my mind around that. Emily has a blog where she discusses this with more detail. Honestly, I prefer reading the lead-up to the wrap-up. You feel the nervousness and excitement as someone attempts to write what they are feeling and are up against. Before my biggest events I always have a part of my brain that wants to fully retreat. 'What the fuck are you doing? You can't handle this! You're in over your head!'. And then my ego has to step up and answer. My writing before events is a combination of these and can go either way depending on my mood when I sit down to type.

I'm so excited for her and trying to imagine swimming for that long. I searched for more info and came across www.cookstraitswim.org.nz. Here's my favorite part of the FAQ:

What is the most difficult part of the swim?
Getting across Cook Strait and finishing

Good to know.

Okay bag, whatever you say

Fragility and Fun

Every once in awhile I think about all of the stupid shit I did as a teenager-wait, even before that considering I had two concussions from bikes before I was 8- and am thankful to have a functioning body. My friend Brad sent this clip and said, 'this made me think of you.'


Into the Void - Johnny Devlin from Shadow Conspiracy.


It has been a long time since doing any of that on a bike came naturally or with ease. And I'm talking the 'easier' stuff, none of this 180-ing into rails and then 180-ing out that I've never been able to do. Bikes. Such a medium. Meanwhile though, I fall off of my road bike doing wheelies. So dumb because I actually hurt myself. Had my hands on the brakes, was three pedals in and WHAM! I'm on my ass. Thud. I thought I broke my tailbone. It still hurts ten days later and I have been beating myself up over it. How could I be so dumb? Why do I do these things? How did I let myself fall?

But I'm over that. If I start self-restricting risk and danger it would require an alteration of my entire life. Every day I'm on my bike is a risk. Whether I'm cruising along on the Eurotour or splitting lanes at 20 MPH on my track bike. If I didn't mountain bike and jump stuff I would go insane. I self-reflected on this in my Dan Cortese vs Noam Chomsky post last summer.

Those who take less risk have said, 'Just stop doing what's dangerous then you don't have to worry.' What's the exchange for that life and is it worth it? So much is dangerous. 'How do you think we can get up there?' comes up far too often. The blizzard on the East Coast reminds me of high school where we drove around 6 deep in an SUV with shovels and ladders finding our way onto buildings to jump off into snow piles. The time I jumped off a three-story building over a road and that feeling still gives me chills...

I am scared to death (which is a funny statement right?) of being seriously injured or killed. Not a day goes by where I don't take a deep breath and think, 'Wow, that could have killed me'. Not long after I watched this video and fell I heard the news that an ultra-cyclist named Bruce Taylor died from his injuries in a bicycle crash here in Southern California. We've done the same events. I've ridden with him. He was on a bike path. Safe, right?

Weighing risk is the basis of public health. We all do it. But knowing what is in us and how we want to act when not restricted is fundamental in understanding what 'danger' is and how we use it and feel it. I'm watching this (on mute with Jay-Z playing: better):





and thinking about the summer while nursing my injury...which really is pretty minor so why worry? Is death and injury a reminder of our fragility and a sign to live more or a warning to take it easy? I'm pretty sure I know the answer and I have the French to thank for articulating it:

We want nothing of a world
in which the certainty of not dying from hunger
comes in exchange for the risk of dying from boredom.

Worlds colide on the reg

New fork for the soon-to-be new 29er picked up with the trusty (and
delightfully squeeky) Ross Eurotour.
'What a life' indeed.

Vegan bake sales

I love the way this photo turned out with all those skulls leaping out of the basket. Yes, those are deep fried cupcakes, no I didn't eat one (ate plenty of other stuff though). Was part of the vegan bake sale for Haiti event happening in multiple cities today organized via Post Punk Kitchen: http://theppk.com/blog/2010/01/25/portland-vegan-bake-sale-for-haiti-and-some-thoughts/

This was at Locali.

[updated] More food porn here

Los Angeles weekend of radness

Gza with Rza and Killah Priest

culture

BabyCakes

Mike T's Birthday

Hollywood farmers market and vegan breakfast sandwich

Stairways to Heaven race Screening

Say what you will about 'fixed gear culture' and its obsession with filming itself. I agree. I read Bike Snob NYC too! But the kids behind this film are rather earnest and their intentions are good. I've seen parts of it and it's definitely better than similar ones.
My bias may be that I won. I didn't get most of the prizes (different kids put it on then made the film) because afterward was our annual Thanksgiving vegan potluck, Circle of Dead Pilgrims and I missed the drunken fixed gear freestyle fest where they were given out. Our dinner was Italian-themed, so it was probably worth it. Anyway, check out the screening if this sort of event interests you.

Stairways to Heaven-Preview from The Bicinity on Vimeo.

December SF trip: Supermarket Sweep and Prestige Cross

Looking for any excuse to head back to San Francisco after my super awesome October trip, I found the Supermarket Sweep Alleycat race. Basically you start near the Embarcadero, head to the first, predetermined grocery store and then to four others in any order you choose to pick up the required food on the manifest. It all ends at the SF Food Bank. Since riding a bike around a city and food shopping makes up the majority of my existence, I thought it 'd be a great race to do.

My track bike with Ritchey break-away system packed up for the plane (no charge!)

My good friend Trystan, who built my track bike, now works for Chrome Bags, my Friday afternoon post-flight destination.

Ready to ride

Over 200 people raced! First hill was brutal. I should have known, right? Since my SF geographical knowledge is pretty basic so I utilized a few skills to get around: asking people in line if they knew which store on the manifest was closest and how to get there, pulling up a map on my phone, and making friends with a local and jumping on. The last of these was the most effective. Till we bombed some seriously steep hills and I'm the only one on a brakeless track bike. Definitely slightly more danger than I'm usually into to, but hey, that's part of the experience.

Pro photos of all finishers!

We ended up covering over twenty miles! And people say Los Angeles is spread out...I rode with a number of friendly (and fast!) folks. Ended up 11th or something in the fixed category. Ex-Angeleno Swarm! rider Paul Barclay got 5th in the geared division and current Angeleno (and sxe BMXer) Hern got 4th in fixed. The organizers were unbelievable and hooked up dozens of sponsors and a banging after-party. Thanks!

That night Trystan and his bike racing housemates decided that I was going to do the Cyclocross race the next day in Coyote Point on Dan's 'spare' cross bike that is nicer than any bike I've ever owned.

Cross is hard. So is using Campy shifters.

The course had some sweet technical sections, long straights and tight turns on pavement. Seemed my road skills came in most handy as I railed them as fast as I could. Think I ended top third in a field of 60.

Also ate a ton of food, dranks lots of coffee and was often cold; the usual SF happenings. And hung out with this amazing guy:


Thanks Trystan, Dan and Maria!

Swarm! events for 2010

Bikeswarm.org is down (as is the Bikerowave site) because the server was hacked, but I didn't want to wait to get these dates out. I'll have more specifics for each event up soon. Photos and details of previous years via links.

Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer hill race (5th year anniversary!) Sunday March 28th, 8am
Meet at Silver Lake Farmers Market at Sunset Blvd / Griffith Park Ave
Background (from 2009)
Previous year write-ups:
2009
2008
2007
2006


Thus Climbed Zarathustra, CycloCat AlleyCross race, Sunday March 21, 1pm (exact time may change)
Silver Lake Dog Park
History:
2008
2006


Crucial Vegan Friendship Picnic 2, Sunday March 28th, 1pm
Elysian Park. Exact location tbd.
Info from 2009

Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair

(click for larger)
From CrimethInc.

Anarchism is a very loaded word that conjures specific images in peoples' minds. It's difficult to overcome these stereotypes and honestly I don't discuss it often. We can't even get Universal Healthcare in this country, how can we expect communalism, mutual aid and consensus-based decision making? I'm a poor anarchist in that I'm not very active politically. I try to live and act in manners that reduce oppression and hierarchy as this is what anarchism means to me and, like veganism, I try to live my life as an example (easier said than done!). This past weekend was the Second Annual Anarchist Bookfair and it was one of the best events like this I've been to in a long time. The location could not of been better: Barnsdall Art Park. It's near bus and train lines and easily accessible from Hollywood or downtown. Most importantly it's freakin beautiful. Trees and open space on the top of a hill with beautiful views in every direction.

Looking East. Silver Lake in the foreground and snow-capped Baldy behind

I gave a workshop on veganism that addressed concerns about veganism/animal rights being an issue for only white affluent folks and otherwise unattainable. My argument is simple: You have to separate the issue from who does it. Animals are caged and killed for human use and this is an issue of oppression. I care about living beings and want to reduce suffering therefore I don't eat or wear animal products. Do you have to eat at Whole Foods to be vegan? No. In my household rice and beans (dry beans!) is a common meal, as is stir-fry with whatever veggies are in-season and low-cost at the farmers market or local grocer. There are barriers to veganism, but they are overcome with a few resources. This is the focus of my presentation. It was well-received and some good discussions developed.

I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with friends and activists. Hung out with the people at Earth First! and Little Black Cart. Hundreds of people attended and the vibe was great. I credit the hard work of the organizers in reaching a diverse set of folks and not having any punk bands play. The space we occupy and communicate in influences how that communication happens and this space only improved it. Bike parking would have been nice, but you know, we can't have everything.

Impromptu yoga during sunset watching. Cliches aplenty.

The next event is the Anarchist Cafe on Sunday February 28th at 1pm in DTLA. I'm hosting a workshop specifically on vegan nutrition in the early afternoon. See you there.

12 hours of Temecula Race #1 2010

Even though I live in Los Angeles and 'cold' days are only in the 40's or 50's, I still have the hibernation genes embedded in my east coast body, i.e., I spend the winter eating, riding less and putting on weight. Often I'm 20 pounds heavier, Jan Ulrich style. But has been important to take a mental break from always being on the go, traveling and being busy with projects. Sleeping more often really helps my mental and physical health!

This winter has been different. I've only put on five pounds. After my positive experience at the 508 I was MORE stoked on riding. I took a healthy break, but have gotten in a few long rides already, including a Christmas day century around the Rose Bowl. 25 laps plus to/from = 100 miles of holiday spirit. I hate riding in circles, but ridiculousness = more fun.

Moi at 12hrs of Temecula. He was also my partner for the Lonely Man Christmas Day
Century around the Rose Bowl. Photo from this dude.

Still I wasn't so sure about racing the 12 hours of Temecula in January. Twelve hours of base miles? I haven't been on my mountain bike much partly because of the damage from the fires in the San Gabriels and partly because I've been riding road so often. And since I broke a cleat I've been riding on old BMX platform pedals, which is awesome, but not the best 'training'.

Jack, Jeff and I headed out together to Temecula the day-of, which means an absurd 430am alarm. Moi met us there and we set up our 'pit' which consisted of four piles of stuff, no tent, no chairs and no crew. Jack quickly made some friends with the folks next to us, a dude crewing and his 2009 solo champion wife. They were pro, but still impressed with our style of self-support. This guy Dean, who raced Feel My Legs in 2009, showed up in time for the parade lap, went out for five hard laps and then left, so I never saw him again. Jeff did 11 laps, which put him in the top five in the Expert class (the results page hasn't been updated). Tinker won the Pro category easily with 12 laps in under 10 hours and stopped there!

Olympic athlete and RAAM finisher Tinker Juarez. Photo stolen from www.mtbracenews.com

Each lap was 9.3 miles and it only took a few before my whole body was sore! Just wasn't feeling it, which happens. I did a lap with Jack, which was rad, until he crashed hard on the last downhill into the start/finish (he's okay). Then Moi rolled up and we chilled. I txt messaged a bunch. Jeff rolled up, stared at the three of us not on our bikes, and then pedaled off in full race mode (starting his 8th lap and therefore lapping me). Moi and I went out for a lap together mostly spent playing around, bunny hopping obstacles and finding sections to jump. Then I felt tons better.

Checked the standings, saw I was only a lap behind the Single-Speed leaders and still in the top half, so I put on my lights and warm clothing and went out for a night lap. The conditions were faster and I felt the best I had. Came through the pit, grabbed food and went straight out again. My tactic was to do a fast second-to-last lap and start the last lap before 9pm and take my time. As I finished lap 9, my borrowed Nightrider handlebar light was dead and Jack informed me I had to finish my last lap by 9pm or it didn't count. It was 750pm and my 'fast' night lap was sixty minutes. Shit. I headed to the Nightrider van and the dude gave me a light to borrow. Battery doesn't work. Switched the battery and that one doesn't work. Finally we switch the whole system and I'm rolling away at a few minutes before 8pm. The course is empty. I'm three miles in before I see another rider. I run the sections I can't ride. I have no clock and no idea of my time. It's so damn tricky to ride fast at night while fatigued and still be careful enough to not flat or crash! I pass a dude and encourage him. I go past the neutral support and they're packed up and gone. I ride a section I had to walk on my previous laps and keep pushing.

I roll into the start/finish unceremoniously at 854pm. Lap ten and one of my fastest of the day. I don't know how the hell I've ever done a 24hr race solo. I changed, ate some Moroccan carrot-raisin salad (I'll post the recipe) and checked in with the others. Stoked. Moi top half in Sport, Jeff top five in Expert with 11 laps and Jack, well, stoked he wasn't too hurt. I think I ended up 5th or 6th out of 15 in Single Speed. I would have won Sport! Haha.

So here's to the start of 2010, the year I take myself seriously as an athlete?

12 Hours of Temecula

1st race of the year!
Three Swarm! riders and a few friends, all solo. The entry fee cost
25% of my complete bike, but I'm trying not to complain about money as
much this year.
Follow us at www.twitter.com/bikeswarm

Yo, you got the juice now, man.

Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic Pre-ride

Our friend Chris from AdventureCORPS, besides putting on the Badwater Ultramarathon and the Furnace Creek 508 (which I've written about so often I made a 508 tab), puts on more accessible, less well-known events like the Death Valley CORPScamp and Hell's Gate 100.

A new ride for 2010 is the Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic (100 miles and 10,000ft elevation gain) in East San Diego County and back in November he invited a few of us out to pre-ride the course. There are meticulous details on the route, elevation and area on the site. My concern was that I was going to feel like I wasn't getting anywhere by riding up to the same ridge three times. But I had never been to this part of California and was amazed and stoked on how beautiful and varying the terrain is and never felt that way.

This is looking back down the last climb. This was described as
'Not like a real road, more like a fire road that has been paved.'

Some steep sections here. The course is entirely paved,
but on two of three climbs it looks like this.
Can you see Jack waving?

Chris' photos from the day cover a much wider range of the area. Jack, Brian and I were trying to think of accurate descriptors for the area. Alpine desert? When you finally get to the ridge, the far side is open and vast and slightly desert-y, but you are in pine trees. California never quits. The descent was super fast and smooth. Riding with those two guys the descents are always a race of who can go fastest and use their brakes the least..

No true environmentalist travels w/o a foldable bowl and spork

The ride had roving support by Adobo Velo, a Filipino cycling club. They had been teasing us all day about not eating meat, then surprised us with some vegan adobo. I don't think vegan balut exists yet, but maybe it won't be too long since vegan veal is already a product. They were super fun. I want to try and jump on one of their club rides these days.


Some friends from the San Diego chapter of Organic Athlete were having a vegan potluck in Ocean Beach, so we made the drive over from Pine Valley (sort of) on our way back to Los Angeles. First we hit the co-op so as to not show up empty handed, then made our way to a vegan bakery for some sweet cinnamon rolls.

Yes, we ate twice before going to a potluck. That's how vegan cyclists roll!

How fortunate are we to have been able to ride this and hang out with such great people? So fortunate that I've almost forgot about the 32 degree weather at the start and the flat I got in the first three miles. April will be warm and it'll be great to push a little with 300 other riders out there.

Bike Far Eliminate the Car

Wanted to let everyone know that bikeswarm.org is being updated regularly by a handful of authors. Can't wait for the photos from tandem cyclocross!

My friend Enci just wrote mini-dissertation called The Case Against Bike Paths. Wow. I use them regularly, but only when riding 'road' when I'm heading to the coast. For commuter purposes they are not very useful, at least here in Los Angeles. Incidentally I came across this post while on the Twitter page for the first time. I said I drew the line just before Twitter, but a more tech savy Swarm! member set up the Swarm! Twitter account. Follow us?

Next up the ubiquitous Stephen Box lays out what exactly a good bike plan should be: LA's 'Best' Bike Plan Bringing Home the Bacon. Thank you both for making the city a better place for us all.

Vegan Nutrition

I'm working on a big vegan nutrition project -more on this soon- that has me researching topics I haven't looked at in years. It's a strong reminder of the amount of misinformation in the tubes of the interwebs. I hate to say this, but most of the influential vegan info I found when I 'went vegan' in the mid-90's was exaggerated or simply not true. My profession as a public health dietitian, which I do not discuss often on this blog, is to disseminate accurate, reliable knowledge to the public. I see my training and education most useful as a filter between this mass of dis/information in the world and what people really need to know.

My thanksgiving day salad with purple cabbage,
sunflower seeds and toasted walnuts

Here are a few of my colleagues' blogs that I recommend if you want more info about veganism, nutrition and cooking.

Jack Norris, RD has a blog he describes as 'news for vegan advocates and those eating a plant-based diets.' He is the co-founder of Vegan Outreach (one of my favorite animal advocacy organizations) and also runs Veganhealth.org.

Virginia Messina, MPH, RD has a blog called Thoughts On Being Vegan: A Dietitian's Viewpoint. She's the author of The Dietitian's Guide to Vegetarian Diets which is my go-to-book when I have a question that I can't answer.

Dina Aronson, RD runs veganrd.blogspot.com which has accessible nutrition information as well as recipes. I have worked with Dina through the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietary Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association, of which we are both active members.

For recipes I mainly use the cookbooks I already have, but tend to peruse both Isa Moskowitz' Post Punk Kitchen and www.vegweb.com.

For the new year you should check out the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine's 21-Day Vegan Kickstart.

2009 Bike activism in LA

While I do a variety of things that do not include updating my blog, Stephen Box over at soapboxla.blogspot.com wrote a terrific article called 2009: The Year of the Bike that anyone interested in bike advocacy in Los Angeles should read. We have an uphill battle, but the energy and effort by people like Stephen is paying off. He's part of the Bike Writers Collective who organized the LA Bike Working Group (I wrote about it here) in response to the City of Los Angeles 'Bike Plan' that reduces the number of bike lanes from earlier plans.

Stephen ends the article with this:

The year 2009 closed with LA's Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa using the word bicycle in a sentence. He said, in an interview with KPCC's Patt Morrison, "In the area of bicycling I've gotta do a better job and the city's gotta do a better job."

To those of you in any number of major US cities this is not a big deal. Your mayor probably rides a freakin bike, but Villaraigosa had never even muttered the word 'bicycle'. I'm not getting my hopes up because he talks way (way) more than he does, but it is a step in the right direction. Come on Los Angeles, we are so close. Let's step it up in 2010.

Dont Get Fat 'training camp' Days 4 and 5 ahead

*Update for Day 5* Due to Angeles Crest still being closed we're going to do a flat-ish 100 on PCH. Still meet at Cafe Tropical at 7, ride at 730. Route will be Sunset->Santa Monica blvd ->Federal->San Vicente->Ocean-> the nibble down to PCH->'the rock'->return. Eat at Carousel at Santa Monica and Normandie. I'm ready to fight mapmyride.com so no map! Westside meet-up can be the bathrooms/water at San Vicente/Ocean probably 9ish. Email bikeswarm on gmail if you're trying to hop on and I'll be sure to check it.

Michael riding up Epic-er road in
Glendale/La Canada with DTLA in background

Today we met at CycleWay Coffee in Hermon for some chillin and caffeine consumption, rode the hills of Mt Washington, South Pas and some other little-known roads and ate at Hugo's tacos in Atwater, which included a damn hot habenero salsa. Map of the route for your riding pleasure. More photos and updates over at bikeswarm.org. Thanks to everyone who has come out!

Join us tomorrow:
Dec19 Sat-Meet at 7am for coffee at Peet's on Larchmont, rolling at 730am to Palos Verdes for a 73-mile route to India Sweets and Spices on Venice Blvd. Here is roughly what the route will look like.

Battery covering 7 Seconds' Young Till I Die for motivation:

Don't Get Fat 'training camp' Dec 16-20th

Update 2: Friday Day3 route. Ride to the ride from Sunset blvd and Griffith Park blvd (Silver Lake farmers market location) leaving at 730.

Update:
Day 1 route and join us for a 655-755am yoga class at Urth Yoga on 2809 W. Sunset Blvd. Indoor bike parking and $5 class and $1 mat rental!
Day 2 route

Join Swarm! as we drink coffee, ride in spandex and eat vegan food all over Los Angeles during a 5-day Don't Get Fat 'training camp'. Each day we'll meet at a coffee shop, ride a great route and end at a vegan-friendly restaurant.

photo from AdventureCORPS

Dec16 Wed 8/830am- Intelligensia, riding Beachwood through the Hollywood Hills onto Mulholland (40 miles-route), eat at Flore

Dec17 Thur- 8/830am- Trails Cafe, riding Griffith and Elysian (40- route), eat at Pure Luck
Dec18 Fri- 8/830am- CycleWay Coffee, riding the hills of Mt Washington, South Pas and some other little-known roads (50), eat at Hugo's tacos in Atwater
Dec19 Sat-7/730am- Peet's on Larchmont, riding Palos Verdes with two options of difficulty (60/75), eating at India Sweets and Spices on Venice Blvd
Dec20 Sun-7/730am- Cafe Tropical, riding Big Tujunga, Angeles Forest/Crest. (75-100), eating at Carousel

(first time is coffee, second is rolling, estimated mileage in parentheses)

What should I bring?
Snacks, tube; the usual for a self-supported ride. Also money for coffee and food. On the longer rides we'll have an additional stop for food and water.
Can I keep up?
If you do Wolf Pack Hustle, BiciKillers, Caturday Warriors or something similar, yes.
Will you wait up?
Probably. Though if you show up in jeans on a track bike, probably not. Unless you are Cole or some other monster then you'll have to wait for us.
Do I have to do everything?
Hanging out is mandatory unless you can't then that's cool.
Does it cost anything?
The value of these rides is greater than money; we require your time and stokedness.
What are the percentages for the climbs and what wattage can I expect to put out per hour, on average?
These rides are probably not for you.
Who is putting this on?
A 'bunch of fucking boring semi-employed geeks' known as Swarm!. Questions? Get in touch at bikeswarm on gmail.
Swarm! events for 2010
Feb: Dan's urban cyclocross race, I Got Fat training camp
March: Thus Climbed Zarathustra; Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer (5th year!)

vegan pizza

When I went vegan at 17 my Italian mother was not happy at all. Mostly she feared I'd starve to death without manicotti, ravioli, lasagna or pizza. In the mid-90's vegan cheese consisted of only tofutti slices that are about as similar to cheese as the package they come in. But I was motivated by the likes of Chokehold and Earth Crisis (though maybe not enough to have Firestorm karaoke at my wedding) and was committed to never eating these foods again.

homemade eggplant pizza as seen on Pizza Intolleranza

My how times have changed. 'Which vegan cheese do you use?' is now a normal question at pizza places. Just got back from a short trip to NYC and ate more 'cheese' pizza than I have in years. Pretty stoked though I hope people still work on developing great recipes that aren't dependent on vegan cheese. On some levels that is happening as is evident by my friend Gian's vegan pizza blog. I recently sampled some and was quite pleased. Since I developed my lasagna de bartolomeo vanzetti recipe (as seen in Please Don't Feed the Bears) I have not played around with Italian recipes nearly enough. Will do though. Thanks for motivation, Gian.