My last post on No Whip!

Today the book I've worked on for the previous year, Appetite For Reduction, is officially out and I'm ending this blog and starting a new site called True Love Health.



Well, it has been an amazing four years of regular posting here. In December of 2006, while spending a month in New Zealand, I decided to take all of my adventure writing and put it in one place. I spent many many hours finding and organizing my stories and photos; all the way back to my reflections on my 2001 cross-country bike tour. Many stories never got finished as I was too quickly accumulating new ones to write about old ones! What a fortunate problem to have.

The name of this of this blog was chosen without much thought, based on a dumb joke. I never thought ahead that I'd be promoting it or that strangers would actually be reading it. It was just a place to record what I was up to for my friends to see.

What's that joke? Slang for car is whip, but it's also short for whip cream, two things I philosophically try to avoid. One day at a coffee shop I ordered a fancy drink and the barista said, 'Whip?' and I responded, 'No, I rode here.' She stared at me blankly the same way people do when I explain the blog name....

So I'm moving on. I don't talk about it often, but I'm a Registered Dietitian, i.e. a professional nutritionist. My expertise is in Public Health (I teach community college) and Vegetarian Nutrition (duh). I've always struggled to keep my professional life and personal life separate, but it's obvious that they are one and the same. My professional life is dictated by my personal ethics and it's not only dumb, but a pain in the ass to try and hide my tattoos from my colleagues.

I got into nutrition because of veganism and always thought I'd have my own practice immediately. But now seven years on from graduate school (!!) I'm making the time for it and my new site, True Love Health will reflect both adventure and my 'professional' life. An example of my writing is on No Meat Athlete, Protein- A Primer For Vegetarians.

How about some FAQ?

Where did the name True Love Health come from?
In 2007 I was working on a new design for the stage race I put on, Feel My Legs, I'm A Racer. I had wanted a new bike related tattoo and decided I'd use the design for the 2007 race as my tattoo. It represents my feeling about riding bikes and doing races: I just really love the process. The action of doing. We don't race up 10 of the hardest hills in LA just to get to the top, but for the process of riding something so different. A metaphor for life, if you will.
And this way I already have my brand tattooed on me. Easy decision.

Is the new site only about vegan nutrition?
-No, definitely not. My philosophy on health, nutrition and exercise is that they have to be fun and lifestyle oriented. I hate treadmills. I love to cook. Sometimes I eat vegan donuts. Health is about the big picture and having fun and the new site will reflect this.

Will you constantly be trying to sell your services?
-No!

How can I pay you for your services?
-Please get in touch through my email which is MattRuscigno on gmail.

What new stuff will the site have?
-More regular posts with more details on training, eating and racing plus guest posts from people who I think are ruling at life. And other more in-depth projects! It's going to be an all-around resource for people being stoked on eating and doing stuff!

Will you still post stupid photos you take in the street with your phone?
-Fuck yeah!

Is it going to be all nice and professional or will you still swear and be kinda inappropriate?
-See above.

How can I stay in the loop?
About 500 people subscribe to this blog via a service like Google Reader. You need to add Truelovehealth.com to your reader and follow on twitter.com/truelovehealth. Also, if you link to me from your site please update your link!

Lastly, thank you everyone who has been supportive by reading and being a part of these adventures. This is what life is about! I wouldn't do all this if it wasn't motivating people to be good in the world. What we eat, how we get around and how we spend our free time is as political as anything! It affects everyone. But this doesn't mean it cannot be fun. Looking forward to many more years of adventures!!

Riding and Eating through New York City

My new S&S Machine hard case.

Dressed for conference, with bike along!

Recently I was able to spend a beautiful Fall weekend in New York City, one of my favorite places in the world. It's where my family is from and most still live in the area. As a kid it was my concept of what a city was like which unfortunately left me disappointed when I started traveling to other cities! Heading back this time I had my track bike, sun and free time to explore.


Everyone is going crazy over NYC Transportation Commissioner Janetter Sadik-Khan and I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but holy shit! NYC is a different place for bicycles now. It is as amazing as people say. Are NYC Drivers still NYC Drivers? Yes, but now cyclists have space set ahead for them. It's not always respected, but it's definitely something. Sadik-Khan was interviewed in Esquire and it's a great read.


She also spoke in Los Angeles and gave her approval for CicLAvia. So Los Angeles. You've always said, 'there's not enough space for bike lanes and bike infrastructure here.' Have you been to NYC? They have much less space! They've more than doubled the number of people commuting by bicycle because they built the infrastructure. We have more space and better weather. Let's get with the program here!

Clear day! Shot from Brooklyn looking at Manhattan.

Obligatory pizza in Brooklyn. Something else that has also changed dramatically, more vegan food! This is at Vinnie's on Bedford.

Kent Ave. The map said it was one-way, but I had memory of riding on it the opposite direction. Because it's a two-way bike lane! So rad.

Kent Ave again.

Williamsburg Bridge. They got rid of the crazy bumps!

Blurry Second Ave protected bike lane. The blurriness makes it more real.

Also obligatory. Post-Central Park ride.

Back in Brooklyn we went to a show in a warehouse where kids live. Nice to see lawless NYC still exists, somewhat.

We never actually went in, just to the roof to hang out.

Deli sandwich the next day. For real!

Love NYC. I was told when I was a teenager that if you love NYC, you'll hate LA. I never thought I'd stay here, but I'm coming up on 8 years. Do I wish there was some more NYC in LA? Of course. But each city is what you make it. Because I grew up with NYC as my idea of what a city should be like, I treat all cities like they were NYC. Which is why I can live here without a car and walk and bike to where I need to go. It's possible for me and others and if the city got on board, it'd be possible for many more Angelenos.

Snap! Literally.

Been an odd week of bike stuff. On my break-away track bike I got a flat in Brooklyn from patch failure. This rarely happens to me even though I'll have 5 or 6 patches on a tube at a time AND then the glue in my patch kit was dried up /missing. I had only used it once! Then on my way to work yesterday running late and hustling of course, I got a flat on that $100 Benotto I bought on Craigslist and recently rode to the airport. Argghhh. I replaced the tube I had used but not the glue so I had to use another tube. These are like $5 a pop! A burrito in each wheel. Oh well. Little did I know it was only going to get worse.

The gearing on the Bonotto is a 52-18. Ridiculous. But when you buy a $100 bike you don't really want to put any time into it. I put air in tires, but didn't even bother to adjust the seat, so why would change the gear? Well the torque from that big gear was apparently too much cause coming down a small hill on my way home from work I felt a snap and instantly went into a skid. My first response wasn't to look down, but to keep my eye in front of me to make sure I didn't skid into anything like a moving car or an intersection. When I came to a stop and hopped off this is what I saw:



At first I thought that the chainring had just come loose and then broken. But no, the spider part of the cranks broke off and the force snapped the chainring in half.




Is it from the gear being too big? Or just of questionable history? Many of you are probably saying, 'what did you expect from a $100 bike?' and you are right. Could have been a lot worse. Luckily the burrito stand I was heading to was only about a mile off and Sasha, who was run commuting to meet me there, had brought her phone and ran toward me.



Now I have to get new stupid cranks. I hate paying for bike stuff. Probably also need some new tires on my commute bikes for the winter. I know that all of this costs less than the average person spends on gas or car insurance for a month, but it doesn't mean I have to be happy about spending it! Be safe out there.

Bicycling to Los Angeles Airport (LAX)

Ever try to park your bicycle at LAX? The LA World Airports site has no info and an online search gives you this LAist article which does not say much.

Rolling along 104th st toward the airport. Tower in distance!

I had a long weekend flight and work not far from the airport before and after so I decided to ride my $100 Craigslist bike and leave it. The best advice I got was 'lock it up with the motorcycles'. So I rode into the airport and followed signs for departing flights and then to parking garage 1. Was it sketchy? Honestly, inside the airport felt safer than the sprawl-land madness that surrounds it.

I wanted a better place than this bike I came across.

There are a few concerns when locking your bicycle in an odd place. One is the usual re theft and vandalism. The other is that some overzealous pseudo-authority figure will notice your out of place transportation choice and make it his or her mission to teach you a lesson. I've had my bike locked by security guards, friends have had locks cut by them. It seems to be their business when you leave, but never when you ask them where to park. Anyway, I wouldn't leave my bike locked like the above one out of fear of security guards messing with it.



I circled through the garage and found the motorcycle parking on the first floor- where arriving flights let out. There is no rack here, but there are locks on this ledge railing, so I assumed it was safe. I was also able to double lock it and include both wheels.



The morning I was leaving I had the realization that I couldn't bring my tools on board and I hadn't planned to check anything. What to do with the tools in my seatbag? I didn't want to just leave it because it's too easy to undo the velcro and walk away with $50 worth of tools (half the value of the bike!). My solution? Cover the seat with a plastic bag a la it's raining out style therefore covering the seatbag and hiding it from view (and less sketchy than hiding the tools in a planter- which I've done successfully!). Foolproof? No, but I felt pretty confident that most people leaving an airport have little interest in multi-tools and tire levers.

Confident in my locking and tool hiding job I headed to Terminal 1. Guess what I see! Yep, a bike rack.




In all of my years of flying in and out of Terminal 1 (Southwest!) I have never noticed this rack. Is it new? Now I was stuck with the dilemma of moving my bike or not. One, I really didn't have much time and two, if anyone in all of LAX would steal a seatbag filled with tools it would be someone on a bike....so I left it with the motorcycles.

Four days later I returned and my bike was (seemingly) untouched. Seatbag and all! And serendipitously the plastic bag kept my seat dry from the sprinklers just below. Score.

So when you ride your bike to the airport you have a few choices. I don't know if there are bike racks at other terminals, but you always have the Terminal 1 option. Be sure to enter the terminal area on the 'arriving flights' level to ride right to the rack or to the motorcycle area of Terminal 1 parking, if you choose this option. Riding out of the garage no one looked twiced at me and I made my way to Veggie Grill for an early lunch...

What my friend Cache is up to when he's not killing mountain bike trails

Why chickens?
'cause they are no different than humans, we control their lives after they were free and wild .. Kind of what the system is doing with us ...I read a book by carlos castaneda that talked about humans living in 'humaneros' or human chicken coops for our minds..and cause they are funny, hahaha.'

Los Angeles stuff this weekend

I'm a little late on this as some it starts in fewer than 12 hours, but hey, that's how I roll. The first is Saturday morning's LA premiere of Ride the Divide, a documentary about the Tour Divide mountain bike race 2700 miles, mostly off-road, from Banff, Canada to the Mexican border. Through the Rockies. Unsupported. Awesome. I've ridden most of the route as a bike tour from the Canadian border to Silver City, NM. Like the ride, my my blog posts about it are unfinished. Here's the trailer:

Ride The Divide Movie Trailer from Ride The Divide on Vimeo.

Later on Saturday is the Tour De Fat in the Not A Cornfield state park in Chinatown/downtown. I'm not exactly sure what it is. Sort of a ride maybe, but mostly a beer party? Biking In LA does the best job of explaining what happens that I've read. Check it out.

There's also a half-marathon on Sunday right here in LA. I normally wouldn't promote such a corporate event, but the site says, 'Take a Running Tour of the Real LA!', which I appreciate. A lot! It hits the eastside of the city which is near where I live and it starts in Griffith Park, my favorite place to run.

Now if I can get over the Yankees losing and actually leave the house maybe I'll see you at one of these events. Ride safe this weekend!

10-10-10 10am CicLAvia details

This is going to be historic. When I first heard about Ciclovia coming to Los Angeles I thought, 'no fucking way. Not here.' I was wrong! It's not only happening, but Mayor Villaraigosa even held a press conference promoting it. More than a cycling and walking event, it's a reclaimation of the the streets. People over cars. End the dictatorship of the personal use automobile!



This LA Streetsblog post has details for the feeder rides heading there and the other events happening in the streets. Get over there if you can and please promote this to other Angelenos! The CicLAvia site has all the details of how to get there, what to do and what to eat.

Super bike dork status achieved

Last night I was riding home from a friend's place after purchasing his rollers (the bicycle ones, not to be confused with the bird or the photographer) . I was on my bike, with my bike-specific bag hauling a device made for riding my bike in place. I'm not sure if this is ironic, unnecessary, obvious or some combination of all those, but when I passed a cute girl on Fountain Ave (with new sharrows!) I realized how ridiculous it all is. But, I love ridiculousness!

Ciclavia 10-10-10

Death and Dancing

My Google Reader is poppin this morning. First this post with a chart outlining that the number one killer of children is motor vehicles. Number one. Think about that. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tells us that in 2007 over 41,000 total people were killed by automobiles. What makes it all the more tragic is that we take this as 'normal'. Well, life is dangerous and we have to drive, right? No, we don't have to. We've just spent the previous 60 years giving space and priority to moving automobiles as fast as possible. This has to change. And it is. Slowly.

Folks do what they can. For some in Oakland it's this dance for their friend who was killed in a car at this corner.



Here's a little news story about it and the Turf website.

What's your dance? Get out there and do it.

LAPD poster parody

Sarcasm is such a great political tool. This poster mocks the one put out by the LAPD after they invited themselves to Critical Mass. There is some background here.


You can see the video of LAPD kicking and assaulting cyclists on last month's Critical Mass. The double standard is amazing.

If any cyclists break the law = cyclists break laws.
If the police beat people = it was an isolated incident.

Not enough hours this weekend to do it all

Well, It's not quite officially summer, but there are a number of summer-like events this weekend. It's overwhelming, almost. The price of being involved in so much. Let's see if I can get it covered.

Saturday I was planning on racing the second edition of the 12 hours of Temecula series. I raced the first one back in January and actually got around to writing about it. But, along came tangible proof of the existence of a mystical ride called the Santa Monica 100, a ride linking up 100 miles of mostly single track in the Santa Monica mountains. So drive over an hour, pay $85 and ride in circles or do a free, DIY, local event? Duh. Since there isn't much info on the site here's their page on everyone's favorite vegan-owned social networking site: facebook. I think I've ridden most of these independently, linking them up should rule. Anyone else on single-speed? Will Dave Zabriskie be there again? I heard about this ride last year, but missed it and I just kept hearing about Zabriskie riding it on a 29er with drop bars. And since I know very little about professional road racing I used this lone fact to root for him for the Tour of California.

Burritos on a roof in San Diego back in April.

If you aren't coming mountain biking with me, you should be walking stairs as Saturday and Sunday is the second edition of the Big Parade, a 2-day, 35-mile walk covering over 100 stairways from downtown LA to the Hollywood sign including urban camping. You can do all of it, which I did last year and it was a blast, or pop in and out and do sections that interest you. It's a slice of LA most people have no idea exists. Get out to this! The website is a wealth of info. You can follow on twitter to catch them.

If deep down you feel that walking and clothing are inhibiting, you can skip out and head over to the World Naked Bike Ride. Seriously. The LA ride leaves around 4pm from Echo Park after a popular sporting event ends. Social network with fellow naked cyclists here.


Los Angeles' first bicycle cooperative the Bicycle Kitchen is having their closing fundraiser party at a spot on 'the block'. Check out their blog for the details.

Also Saturday night vegan MMA fighter Mac Danzig has a fight and some friends are organizing a vegan potluck to view it. Why not?


While all this is happening here, I'll be thinking about my friend Aidan who was on my support crew in Norway when I raced Norseman, possibly the only triathlon that requires a crew, because he's on a race that explicitly does not allow a crew or any outside help at all- the Tour Divide. Starts today at noon in Banff and ends 2745 miles later at the Mexican border. One stage, no entry fee, no prizes. My kind of race! I wish I was there, actually. I wrote about the race a bit in 2008, including info from when I rode the Canada to (almost) Mexico section in 2006. Aidan is racing single-speed, but I've confidence in anyone who has finished the Alaska Iditarod Invitational. Crush it Aidan!


Lastly, I've a half dozen unfinished posts from previous events I'd like to get up soon. Too busy doing to write about the past! This is my public commitment to get them up!

From this year:
Cool 24 hour mountain bike race
Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic
LA County Bicycle Coalition LA River century

Last year:
Boggs 24hr mountain bike race
To/from Mt. Whitney Summit from Los Angeles via public transit (seriously!).


Have fun in the world this weekend.

Walking in LA

I've been following this series at Good magazine, Walking in LA, by Ryan Bradley. It's terrific. From there Sasha found a link to a story about our friend Dan Koeppel's The Big Parade called Walking for Walking in Los Angeles. On the top photo our Swarm! socks make a center stage appearance. Anyway, in the most recent post he discusses parking and how it affects the 'feel' and layout of downtown:

If you took all of the parking spaces in Los Angeles's central business district and spread them horizontally in a surface lot, they would cover 81 percent of downtown. I know this because of a paper called "People, Parking, and Cities" by Michael Manville and Donald Shoup at UCLA's Department of Urban Planning [pdf here]. This “parking coverage rate,” they write, is "higher in downtown L.A. than in any other downtown on earth. In San Francisco, for instance, the coverage rate is 31 percent, and in New York it is only 18 percent." Their paper goes on to show how this glut of parking keeps downtown from having a vibrant city center, because downtowns in general "thrive on high density ... the prime advantage they offer over other parts of a metropolitan area is proximity—the immediate availability of a wide variety of activities.... So long as its zoning assumes that almost every new person will also bring a car—and requires parking for that car," they conclude "[downtown Los Angeles] will never develop the sort of vital core we associate with older urban centers."

I read it this like this: You can't have both. Either give up your car and work toward compacting DTLA or keep your car and your parking and don't complain! But it's never quite that simple. As I say over and over, most people cannot or will not believe that their individual actions matter and can change the environment and culture we live in. Oh, but they do!

And Hope Dies a Little Bit

Thanks to Joe Linton from LA Creek Freak for the share on this.

there's nothing like bike commuting

The other day I had to make a long commute to the South Bay and I didn't have time to take the more pleasant coastal route, but I did take the road bike. From East Hollywood to the South Bay is through the urban sprawlish LA that I can avoid on 90% of my commutes. I took my road bike cause I can easily hold 20 MPH, take the lane and not worry too much about busy roads.

On the way back I was on a wide, fast road and had to make a turn that is always tough for cyclists: when the left lane (of four) splits off. I took the lane and made the light, but sure enough someone is on their horn behind me. Keep in mind I'm hauling ass. They drive by and yell indiscernible obscenities and I respond with some. As is often the case, I catch them at the next light. I calm down (a little) and roll up to the drivers side window and before I could say anything she says, 'This isn't a bike lane, get out of my way!!' I tell her I know there's no bike lane, maybe there should be and I had no where else to go. And I add, 'but see, I didn't even slow you down. We are at the light at the same time.' We have the slightly heated exchange any urban cyclist is familiar with. I don't need to give the back and forth. The passenger even jumps in.

Then she says, 'Are you married?' I answer no and keep ranting to her about cycling, safety, etc, not quite processing the question. Then I look at her and she smiles and winks. What? The passenger laughs and say, 'No you just didn't!' The light changes and as they roll away the driver says, 'See you around.'

WTF. It's not often I get totally thrown off by someone! It made me smile that the interaction completely changed. Maybe she'll be nicer to cyclists in the future?

Then back in my neighborhood a woman in a car throws a half-full plastic fast-food soda container out of her window. I catch her at the next stop sign (of course) and tell her not to litter in my neighborhood.
-Mind your own business!
-It is my business, don't throw your trash in my neighborhood.
-Fuck you, honky!

You can't win them all.

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?

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

Swarm! Party Summit after Street/Bike Summit

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