JPL Red Box shuttle ride

I got the idea for this adventure in the Spring when we rode out and back on Gabrielino. Lots of guys 'shuttle ride' this route. They meet at the bottom, pile into one truck, drive to the top, ride down and then drive back to the top for the first truck. Four additional motor vehicle trips on the narrow and windy Angeles Crest highway. Could we do this human powered without being irritatingly self-righteous?

(Cole took this photo. If you look close you can see the shadow from his mustache)

Easy. A group rides road 30 miles up Angeles Crest to Red Box (about 5000 ft elevation) towing mountain bikes. Another group trail runs 15 miles to Red Box. At the top group one passes the mountain bikes to group two who then ride the 15 miles of single track down to JPL.

To start I was up from 3am on 2 hours sleep and Max had stayed up the entire night. Brian rode out from El Segundo on his mountain bike (30 miles) and we met at JPL at 8am. I had posted the ride to Midnight Ridazz so we did not know who would show up. Our original plan was for Jack to ride road pulling the bikes with some sort of Rock Lobster rack, but that didn't work out and Jack flaked on us. Now Max is no slack rider, but he hasn't been riding too much beyond commuting. Could he take 50 pounds of mountain bikes on the Big Dummy? Yes he can. With Michael on as support Max did an epic road ride with 50 pounds of cargo.


Brian and I set off on foot along the Arroyo-Seco to the Gabrielino. It's a beautiful trail with stream crossings, boulders, canyons with full cover and exposed, dry ridges. I love it. Below Brian is picking some wild berries as the mountains we are about to run up loom in the distance. Yes, he is wearing his bike helmet. Said it was the easiest way to carry it.

Some switchbacks that we would soon be descending down.

Brian and I ran together the first 5 or so miles and then inevitably he dropped me. I ran almost all of the first 9 miles to Switzer Falls. There I begged some picnicing folk for water as I had run out about 45 minutes previous. The last 4 miles up were quite difficult, as expected. I hiked most of this section at a good clip and ended up at the top only 30 minutes or so after Brian; about four hours after we set off.

Brutal blister. I also rolled my foot as I was wearing some light weight running shoes. Duh.

Gabrielino is not an easy trail to ride down. For a number of miles the trail is between 1 or 2 feet wide with the mountain to one side and a huge drop to the other. Some sections are a little washed out (I like to bunnyhop them cause it's easier than having to unclip and get off your bike).

We were back and forth with a group of three mountain bikers who were all really cool. They told us about a sweet swimming hole only a 1/4 mile off the main trail.


Brian and I were super tired and it was a tough decision. I think we made the right one. Cold cold water is a great remedy for aching muscles.


After 8 hours in the wilderness (just like a 9-5, only fun) we headed over to Pasadena to take the Gold Line to Chinatown. From here I had a short ride home and Brian, after buying some durian fruit, took the train back to El Segundo.

Max getting his well-deserved AdventureSnore.

Next time: I'd like to film this. It is so gorgeous back there and so accessible from Los Angeles. In my mind Sunday was a beautiful combination of DIY, adventure and wtf? Sure, there is an environmental component, but that is a secondary benefit to some friends getting together and thinking about new ways of exploring an amazing area and what is possible.

Happy 50th Birthday Grand Tour

Finally an adventure! I've been so caught up in working a lot and these other non-adventure projects that I almost didn't do this one. Phew. I kind of love that feeling when you are getting your stuff ready and the rational part of your brain chimes in and is all, 'Are you sure this is a good idea? Don't you think sleeping in your bed would be nice?'

I rolled out of the house at about 930pm heading for Malibu, 30 miles west and north, to the 50th anniversary of the Grand Tour. It's a city traverse for the first 15 and then 15 up the famous PCH. I was counting the number of Bentleys that I saw and then lost track when I got passed by a Rolls Royce. Oh Southern California why are you so crazy?

Where to sleep? Stupid sprinklers. I climbed over a half broken-down fence (still in spandex, mind you) into a nursery (the kind with trees, not children) and find a little covered area with hay on the ground. Score. I get out my mat and sleeping bag, change into shorts, eat my burritos and am horizontal by 1230am. The plan was to meet up with Brian in the am after he rode up from El Segundo, but my stupid nextel broke the day before and I couldn't see his call nor his number to call him. I roll out of 'bed' around 530 to the sounds of bike shoes clicking in and out, get checked in, hide my bag and am off.

In 2005 I rode the triple century and in 2006 I rode the double with Brian and Jack. It's a classic route, that I enjoyed this time more than any previous. It meanders up the coast, cuts inland back through Westlake and then over to Ojai before hitting the coast again at Carpinteria where the double heads south.

I thought I was leaving on time, but apparently all those riders I saw were doing the double metric (I was wearing my Paris-Brest-Paris jersey, figuring it was appropriate because I slept outside the night before the ride). I didn't really see more than a few double riders till about 80 miles in. Then caught some more at lunch, mile 114. Still, I rode alone, which was nice. A double is long enough where I don't spend much time worrying about all the other stuff I have to do. When I do 20 or 30 miles in the morning during the week, I am always thinking about what I have to do when I get home. Not on a double. It is like a vacation from myself.

I did ride about 10 miles with a 52 year old guy riding a Soma fixed gear. He bike commutes 18 miles each way to work. Total bad ass. The 50 miles down the coast to end the ride were beautiful in the stereotypical sunset coastal breeze California kind of way. After huffing and puffing about there being not a single vegetarian item at the post-ride BBQ (okay, there was plain white bread) I rode the 15 miles into Santa Monica and went to Whole Foods. A good day. I got in 250 miles in 24 hours toward my 1000 miles in 4 weeks goal I set. And I got to sleep outside, which always makes anything you do more fun.

Consume Less

How can I save money?
What can I do about global warming?
How can I lose weight?
How can I work less often?
What can I do about sweatshops?
How can I spend more time with friends and family?
How can I focus on my spiritual health?
How can I get rid of my credit card debt?
How can I make moving easier?
How can I make more room in my house?
Where can I find more time to train?
How can I become a better cyclist?
How can I boycott big oil companies?
How can I show my disdain for global capitalism?


I try really hard on my blog to not sound preachy. That is harder than it sounds when you are a bike-riding vegan. Whenever transportation or eating, two huge topics with plenty of off-shoots, come up, anything a vegan or a bike rider says can easily be construed as trying to convince others to be more like us. I know this because plenty of vegans and commuters are rather annoying. But I do share their energy and conviction. So what to do? I strive to lead by example. Can you be a vegan athlete? Can you live in LA without a car? Well, I am doing what I can.

I cannot stop thinking about consumption (discussed previously). I worry that the simpler an argument becomes, the closer it is to being a wing-nut theory. I hate to throw anything away. When something I own breaks and I have to replace it, I fret over it for days. Even weeks. But the more I think about it, the more consumption relates to so many things we (well, many of us) care about. Global warming is an obvious example. Just buy less stuff. Cycling is less obvious. But nothing will make you a better cyclist than just riding more. Yes, you do have to have a functional bike and occasionally replace tires and tubes. For most of us though 11-speed cassettes are not going to improve our cycling.

I (right now anyway) have no interest in living off of the land in Humbolt County or Hawaii or somewhere so is it hypocritical that I own anything? I saw Derrick Jensen speak last year and he said 'We are mammals, we consume. Zero consumption is not the goal.'
I agree. Just consume less. What do you think?

The Great Divide (race)

In Fall of 2006 my good friend Steevo and I set off to ride the Great Divide, a 2500-mile, 85% off-road mountain bike route along the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. Steevo's photos from his blog are here and here. I only managed to get one post up here.

The key word is 'ride'. We tried to do it in 29 days and fell a couple hundred miles short of official completion. But anything you can ride you can race. The Great Divide Race started in 2004. It follows the maps from Adventure Cycling exactly. There is no support, no entry fee and no prizes. Pretty cool. (before the official race John Stamstad, who I have written about previously blazed the course in 19 days on his own).
But the route was extended north into Canada so....see where this is going? Long story short, one of the previous years' winners, Matt Lee, suggested that the race also be extended. The GDR race organizer (apparently) did not think this was a good idea. So Matt started his own race: Tour Divide. And they are both happening at the same time right now. If useful website is a gauge to measure a race, then Tour Divide wins hands down. They have real-time GPS on every racer. I'll be keeping up on this and thinking about what it must be like to ride over a hundred miles a day, off-road, with no support for over two weeks.

Punch fear in the face

Two great articles came out this week addressing fear and cycling.:
De-car-ing: The idea of cars as safety devices is a post in the LA Times 'environmental' blog, Emerald City. She answers the questions: Why do we feel so safe in our cars? Is cycling in the street dangerous? It's written well and will help with those inevitable conversations with co-workers.
The second is from the legendary Bike Snob NYC, Get Over It: Surmounting the Obstacles to Cycling. If you've never read Bike Snob NYC let me be the first to say: Welcome to the internet. A lot of people have a lot to say. But most people who you would like to hear a lot from, say very little. Then there is Bike Snob NYC. He's like the smartest person you know combined with the funniest person you know and, this is the best part, bothers to share both qualities with everyone else. Usually there is an indirect relationship with the amount of useless information you know about bicycles and sense of humor but thankfully there are exceptions.

Lastly, here are my two favorite quotes that mention getting punched in the face:
'Never buy a bike from someone you can't punch in the face.' -A disgruntled eBay auction winner
'Everyone has a plan till you get punched in the face.' -Mike Tyson

Who says you have to eat meat to be a successful athlete?

Who says you have to eat meat to be a successful athlete?

Wow. ESPN. AND it is a good article complete with a suggested reading list. Have we reached a new level? I want to personally thank the vegan who sat next to Tony Gonzalez on that flight and talked to him about his diet. And Prince Fielder's wife for reading Skinny Bitch. What I like about this articles is that it captures the 'lifestyle' idea that many of us embrace, without 'wearing it on our arm' as Mac Danzig says. Also profiled are Scott Jurek the ultra-runner and Pat Neshek, a pitcher in the Majors.

What is Vegan Treats?

This bakery makes delicious, moist donuts, french pastries and brownies. It also makes Matt fat whenever he visits Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

If you guessed Vegan Treats you are correct. Obsessed with media like I am? Here is Danielle on MyFox Philadelphia (and the story is actually positive. From Fox!). Or an article in the Washington Post.

Dropping Bombs on Your Moms

And I am going to link Budge again because he has lots of photos up from our little weekend get together.
Feel it!

When BMXers get married

This is what they do at BBQ's.





And Race Across America started yesterday. Imagine: 300+ miles a day for 9 or 10 days. I can't seem to wrap my mind around that.
30 centuries
15 double centuries
6 Furnace Creek 508's
1 sore ass?

Lots of chicks at our BBQ

Budge noticed as well.

Faith in Vagueness

My friend Lisa Auerbach who writes the Little Blog of Revolutionary Knitting has an art show up called The Tract House. Ever see those little religious pamphlets that god-types like to leave on buses, in restaurants, in restrooms and other places for the curious to pick up and page through? Lisa, being the smart and smart-ass person she is thought, why should the religious-right have a stranglehold on tiny pamphlets as a means of spreading ideology? She contacted some equally smart and smart-ass friends to write them for her, with no limitations. I wrote one that does not translate well in pdf or any other electronic means of communication (cause it's all about little pamphlets!), but Morgan wrote a kick-ass one called Faith in Vagueness. Enjoy.

Have faith in vagueness. Live with life held in only the broadest of strokes, to be
filled in as it comes into focus. Leaving space for co-incidences will naturally lead
to co-incidences; every falling leaf must fall somewhere, every space left for chance
will meet with chance. Vagueness is beauty. The vaguest of outlines happily leads
to a missed bus, an accidental walk home
late at night; an impressionistic plan will
be achieved, albeit through necessarily
meandering means.

Distrust of vagueness easily falls into
facile stagnation. Where is the beauty in a
planned adventure? In a deliberate conversation?
Many things never happen because
practicality gets in the way. But they may
just work out, if you launch yourself into them with optimism and faith that your
vagueness will solidify in the process.
With this in mind, co-incidences are no longer surprising, but expected. With so
many unconnected possibilities, it is inevitable that some will be fulfilled. The more
you have trust in chance, the more you are able to trust chance. Indeed, the more
you have trust in chance, the more attuned you will be to co-incidences you would
otherwise have been blind to.

So: of course the guy sat next to you on the bus that you struck up conversation
with is best friends with a friend of yours, living 5000 miles away. Of course one of
your best friends runs into another friend in a distant city on a train platform. Of
course some friends you haven't seen in months walk into the restaurant you're
eating at, miles from where you live. Of course.

-Morgan Beeby

When in New York

Tattooed at New York Adorned by Thomas

Coffee at Think

Food at Red Bamboo

Chill at Tompkins Square

New(s)

In lieu of actual posting, which is often the case when I am away, I have some other writings any readers of this blog should be interested in. The first is an article from the excellent Streetsblog LA. They often cover bicycle topics and their most recent post, How to Make LA Bike-friendly gives good discussion and links to some of LA's movers and shakers.
I have been fighting the incredible urge to post about this since I first heard, but Oprah Going Vegan is too huge. I hope my high school girlfriend has heard the news. She use to make sit through episodes after school AND use to fight with me about not eating meat. What's up now girl!!! That's what I thought.

Davis double century, Auburn half iron continued

At exactly 546am we rolled up to the start (ride to the ride!). No one in sight. Not one of the 700 people signed up for the ride that starts 'between 515 and 545am'. So we pedal off! Within an hour it was warm. Ride fast before it's too hot or conserve energy? Brian double flats on a pothole in a paceline. A first.

The Davis Double is super well supported with 10 checkpoints in 202 miles, most filled with plenty of fruits and other foods (no clif bars unfortunately). It is inevitable on a 200-mile ride that you will deplete your fluid and energy stores, but we put serious effort into minimizing that (read: we ate and drank a whole lot). There is only about 8,000 feet of elevation gain total, but most of it comes in four climbs. Four climbs in the middle of the day. Four climbs all when the temperature is over 100 degrees. We take our time.

The secret watermelon and vegan burrito stop on the LA to SF drive

When we finish it is still daylight, but unlike Los Angeles the temperature doesn't drop significantly. We eat the free post-ride food, try to find a tool for Brian's bottom bracket and start mentally preparing for Sunday. Back at Janie's house we eat again, load the car and then set off for the 45 minute drive to a relative's place near Auburn.

One of the many (okay, five or so) fixed gears at the double

It's after 11pm when we say goodnight and agree to set our alarms for 445am. The heat changes the fatigue you feel. It's more of a whole body emptiness that you just don't experience from regular fatigue. And you just can't drink enough to replace what you lose. It's a losing battle. I lay down on top of the bed and am asleep before I even think about getting under the covers.

When I awake in the dark I don't feel miserable. Similar to being hungover (it's been awhile so I can't say for sure) in that you are slightly confused and feel like you over it did the night before. Brian looks somewhat normal.

We arrive at 'T2', which is also the finish. We set up our running stuff, load our swim stuff into backpacks, set up our bikes and ride to 'T1'. Six miles, mostly downhill. Ouch. Legs are unhappy. I'm still a little dazed, but the sun is up, people are about and excited. We check-in, set up our bikes in 'T1' and start to dress for the swim. Note to Jan Ulrich-types who like to gain weight in the off-season: If your wetsuit is tight at 'race weight', you are going to be unhappy at ten pounds over. Note to slackers: It's embarrassing to be running down the boat launch as the race is starting.

I have no shame in admitting that I was thinking about quitting before I reached the first buoy. I was struggling to breathe, my body was aching and I was cramping. Why is this so bad? Just kept swimming. Was focusing on my fish-like swimming and was getting nauseous. Can fish vomit in their mouth?

Back at my bike taking off my wetsuit was so glorious I decided to sit down and revel in the wetsuit-free glory. Then I tried to ride my bike up some hills and my legs hated me possibly more than my stomach. It wasn't that miserable feeling you get on super long or hot rides where you just want it to end. It was different. More of a disconnected feeling where your shortcomings seem somehow to be normal. The odd thing was that I didn't care that much. Did I accept it on some level or was I too phased to care? I ate a banana. Drank some electrolyte stuff. And some water. And got passed and passed and passed. Aren't I suppose to be the one doing the passing on this race? No top fifteen percent bike split this year! Hills are hard when you are tired.

I told myself I wasn't even going to start the run. Why bother? But when I saw my shoes I thought, 'I already paid and my shoes are already here...' and went out. Wow. Stomach is super unhappy. What's that weird feeling? Oh yeah, having to pee. Sort of. I think the thick liquid that came out was urine (only a slight exaggeration). At the first aid station I sit in the shade and stare off into space. My stomach is killing me. I add up my calorie consumption for the day: about 800 in five hours of activity. Uh oh. A very fit looking female volunteer probably 1.5x my age, or more, who could easily beat me in any race, says, 'Looks like you didn't do enough hot weather training'. I told her I did plenty the day before. 'Look. See the salt stains on my spandex?' The sun felt like it was melting my skin. Other people looked normal. Are they not human?

The run is two loops from the T2/Finish area. When I finished loop one Brian was there to cheer me on. He had finished already. I stepped off the course, laid down in the shade and didn't get back up. No desire to run. The ground was spinning when I closed my eyes. Am I still edge? Brian brought me some cytomax and water and I put it down. And then some more. And then some more. It's three days later and eating/drinking is only starting to be normal. Wow.

We didn't drive back that night. Even after ten hours of sleep we were both blasted. Unbelievable what the heat can do to you. What an adventure. Looking forward to Vineman in August. Nothing crazy beforehand.

Davis double, Auburn half-iron

The short:
Sat: Davis double century, 202 miles, in 14 hours and 20 min. Over 100 degrees most of day.
Sun: Auburn half-iron triathlon (swim 1.2 miles, bike 56, run 13.1), DNF after 6 miles of run d/t near heat exhaustion, nausea, dehydration.

The long:
I now fully understand what it is like to be dehydrated. Am also now familiar with heat exhaustion, nausea and intense cramping. This is good. Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go? My approach to whatever you call the things I do (adventure? fun? extreme? athletic?) has been simple. If it's there and has a draw, do it. A little naivety is healthy. Curiosity is a sign of intelligence. You won't know until you try. Et Cetera.
I did the Auburn 'World's Toughest Half Iron' in 2006 (second triathlon ever) and in 2007 (third triathlon) . Both years I had a blast and actually placed in my age-group. This year the Davis Double Century happened to be the day before. Why not? Bike touring is all about waking up after a hard day of riding and then riding again. And on PBP I rode 325 miles in one day, slept 7 hours, then rode another 200 plus without much problem. And it's not like I'd drive all the way up there just to do the double, so why not save gas and do both at once. I talked to Brian 'Emperor Moth' Davidson and he didn't flinch (note to potential bad-asses: If you want to look badass for some crazy thing you are doing don't invite the strongest athlete you know to come along).

What we did not calculate was the heat. Over 100 degrees both days. 109 at one point on the double on Saturday. That's hot. About how hot it was on the drive up (and back) in the car with no AC. That probably did not help our preparation (but runs up quite a few punk points). But we did all we could and Davis is a great bicycle city to do it in. We park the car at our friend's house. Ride half mile to bike shop. Closed. Ride around corner to other bike shop. Score. Ride half mile to ride check-in. Ride half mile to a Co-op. For real. Got to love that shit. We ate a nice meal (you can make fun of raw-foodists all you want till they make you the most kick-ass salad you've ever had). Asleep by 10-ish for the 5am wake-up call (from Nextel).

(to be continued manana)

Don't invite the FBI to your vegan potluck

I know it is that time of year and everyone is all stoked on Spring and being vegan and spreading the love, but you have to be sure not to invite the FBI. I know you want as many people as possible and that your hummus is bangin and that you have just the right flyer to convert each and every person to veganism. But remember, the FBI wants to come to your vegan potluck. A vegan FBI agent is still an FBI agent.

fruition

project

What am I up to on the day-to-day? I am never really sure myself. I need to make some motivational and organizational charts for my desk to keep all this in line. Here I am laying it out for the first time outside of my head.

Work- I have two part-time jobs, one doing nutrition education through a grant that originates with the Food Stamp program and one teaching two college courses. I have about 100 students, which significantly increases my workload. I'm just about full-time. Classes end the end of May.

Bikes- I am working with Alex Thompson on what is tentatively named the 5% project. It's going to be a mass public education campaign that is not as specific as the Ride to the Ride stuff (which I am slowly distributing when I go on road rides). The Bike Writers Collective is going to help with this project and I am honored to work with them.

Swarm!- With the help of Chris we got the stickers to the printer, hope to see them this week.

Vegetarian- I work with the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietary Practice Group in a number of ways including as a student member coordinator and a co-coordinator for California. Am also heading up a media group to work with the ADA's Spokespeople who unfortunately have continually given poor information regarding vegetarianism in mainstream articles. I just got back from our Spring meeting in Utah, so the work pile for them is pretty large.

Vegetarian Bikes- I am starting to help Organic Athlete with some more vegan diet plan stuff for some projects they have coming up this summer. Am slacking here so have recruited someone to help out.

Being smarter- On paper I am a graduate student in an MA Anthropology program. My current course is a directive study in Nutritional Anthropology. It is very difficult to do school work when you are not actually attending school.

Living- Our house is coming along quicker now that Morgan moved in. He's on Team No Job, but thinks getting up at 630am and working on the house is some how not work. My new project is clearing the gigantic backyard. Will try to post photos soon. Some friends saw our house for the first time the other day and had two amazing quotes: 'This isn't LA, it's Mississippi' and 'The world without us. That's what your backyard looks like. How everything would look without humans.'

Being a Sporto- I'm still trying to keep this training schedule. But I like to skip both runs each week. Not good, considering I have a half-iron race in a week and a half. I am down to 187 pounds though!

In between all this I try to cook most of my meals, be social with people I don't live with, call my friends in other cities, read books, etc, etc. But it's real easy for any of that to go out the window when I get home at 8pm and am exhausted. Is anyone else this busy? Do you enjoy it?

for the love of...

bikes of course.
So my boy Steevo, who recently (re)posted some of the great photos from our 2006 Great Divide trip, just wrote an article for Urban Velo called Riding Is My Religion. For those of you who don't ride bikes often or at all, you may miss the subtleties of what makes riding so beautiful. And what I've always said is that it is not the actual act of bicycling that brings so much joy (though that does too!), but what bikes open your life up to. It's a medium. It's metaphorical. It's often unbelievable. Steevo captures it well in this piece. Read it!

I am 29 and have been riding bikes as a part of my life for 25 years. Ever since my mom took me to Louise Moore Park to sign up for BMX racing because I was too young for baseball at 4.

ride to the ride, but best not the race

'No, Morgan, I don't think riding 60 miles to a 32 mile race will affect how I do. I'll be warmed up. I'll drink some water, eat a little and in the race I'll just stay in the pack.'

Mt Emma Rd, Northside of Mill Creek Summit

The next morning I woke up at 530am and rode over the San Gabriel Mountains. It was suppose to be over 90 degrees (unseasonably warm for even Southern California), but I was in the mountains early and feeling pretty good. Then I hit the headwinds. Damn. After about an hour of 4-5 MPH uphill into the wind my main concern was getting there in time. By now I was one a new road and didn't know just how far off Mill Creek Summit was. What was cool was that I was riding the last half of Stage 7 of the Tour de California.
Finally I hit the 5000ft pass and hit the descent, which is always scary in the wind, and then I was within a few miles of the start of the Devil's Punchbowl road race.

I saw (Emperor Moth) Brian as soon as I got there. He was stoked. I had 45 minutes till the race started. I drank some carrot juice, ate a little food, drank some water, took a healthy piss and headed to the start line with two full bottles and half a banana. Stay in the pack, stay in the pack. No problem. Dropped on the first climb. Fuck. Then I saw a dude with a full-facial tattoo in the feed zone. Dave Clinger? Is it that hot out? Bombed the huge descent, caught some people and convinced them that working together in headwinds is a wise move. Picked off a bunch of people. Rode past the start/finish into the second lap. Then it hit me super hard. I was starving and just about out of water. Miserable. Hot. Blah blah blah. 'Bonked'. I went as far as to pick up bottles from the earlier race off of the road and drink what was left. Ugh. Another miserable finish of 2008! I am on a serious streak.

How'd Brian do? Well, he hit the turn after the huge descent and was waved forward (or so he thought), down the hill. The course turned right. He figured out no one was behind him, turned around and CAUGHT THE LEAD PACK. In telling the story to me he was complaining that no one was working hard. And that he pulled most of the way around the second lap. Was beaten out in the sprint. 2nd place. Sick.

South Pasadena with the San Gabriels in the distance

Looking South. The other side is 'high dessert'

Joshua Trees!

Wheel Suck(er)

Bicycle Man is what I am

I just filled out an application for a race and it asked for 'the highest age I would reach in 2008'. The answer for me is: 30. I'm not one of those people who is making a big deal about being 30, but I do recognize it as some sort of marker in my life. When I think about being thirty I get that feeling that you get when you wake up in your tent somewhere far from home and just can't believe that you are where you are. Like getting there and being there is some sort of secret that you discovered. Like you've somehow fooled the world by getting away with what you are doing. Which reminds me, it has been awhile since I've spent some time in a tent or bivy sac.

I came to spin, battle me that's a sin

Not many ways I can spin (haha) a post about a 3-hour spin class to make it sound cool. Or even that interesting. But come on, my local YMCA organized a cycle-a-thon, how could I not participate? I tried to not, but then was told I didn't have to raise the full $250, but only 'what I could'. So why not? I've only done a couple spin classes cause they are too hard.
They can't all be like Steevo's spin class in Pittsburgh.
The girl next to me asked if I was a 'street rider', which means that, unlike 75% of bike shoe owners, I use bike shoes on a bike outside of the gym. I did almost crash once when I stopped my pedaling abruptly, to go from standing to sitting, and the momentum of the wheel sprung me forward and lifted the rear of the 'bike' off the ground. Oops.
Thanks to everyone who donated money, which was mostly my workout partner Mike T and my co-workers. And Chris and Megan for stopping by.

Chris! (hates exercise)

Cute blonde? Fit? Be a spin instructor!

Sweating so much my sleeves fell off

A band was playing in the front

(not really, but it looks like it, right?)

And it is Earth Day so check out this Humane Society ad.

2008 Mulholland Challenge and Double

A jersey appropriate in many ways for this ride

Planet Ultra's Mulholland double century and Mulholland Challenge are epic cycling events that take place in the Santa Monica Mountains behind Malibu (and beyond). Last year I rode the Century Challenge which was one of the best days on the bike I've ever had. I just hammered for the entire 100 miles, which I can't say I had ever done. In 2006 I also did the Challenge and in 2005 I rode the double. This year I volunteered, which makes four years in a row I've been involved in this event!

My checkpoint was at the top of Decker Canyon, a brutally steep, long, hot climb into the mountains from PCH; one athlete said the cyclists strung out on it 'resembled a battle ground of despair'. At the top I was most often greeted with elation, 'Is this the top? I did it? Wow!' or slight anger, 'That was so damn miserable! This is ridiculous!' First the fastest riders come through. They are quietly suffering and do not hang out long. Then the 'rush' and the middle group makes it way to the top. Some move on quickly in order to get it over with. Some hang out as shown below.

The search for shade

The last 10% or so of riders tend to look ghostly. Often some food and water will get them on their way, but some are just in over their head. This is one of the hardest centuries in Southern CA (anywhere?)!

Putting water and calories back in the participants

This guy crashed on the infamous Deer Creek descent
(which has claimed many carbon wheels),
but pushed on to finish

I love this photo. It makes me think of how in many parts of the world the search for and acquisition of water (and food) takes up a significant percentage of people's days. In modern-day Southern California we punish ourselves on our bikes to intimately know the need for water and food. This could be in an Anthropology textbook under 'Cycling Culture'.

The SAG wagon was a party van: 25% of century riders DNF'd

I noticed this sticker on the back of another SAG vehicle

This cyclist took it literally.
I am not sure if a requirement of getting into this SAG was actually pedaling to you puke.

A sick bike. Worth a year's rent in Los Angeles.

Soon after the century riders, the double riders started filtering through. They were at mile 162 of a long, difficult ride. The climb took a toll on a significant number of these hearty souls as well. Our cut-off time was 6:30, but many riders had yet to arrive and pick up their lights. It was getting dark. What to do? We packed up the van and I drove down Decker to find them. The first guy was done. Said it was the worst day of his life and he wanted to be SAG'ed back to the start. Later he told me he has ridden over 100 double centuries. Down the road further I came across a guy walking. He didn't want his lights, he wanted to get in the van. No problem. Within five minutes we were pulled over so he could get out and puke. I gave him a bag cause I didn't want to stop again; we were low on gas and I wanted to get off the mountains.

Back at the start/finish hotel around 10pm and double riders were finishing up. Century riders who earlier looked like zombies, were now fed, showered, and changed, giving the impression of normalcy. I was slightly concerned about getting back to El Segundo, I had ridden up from raw Brian's earlier in the day. Ends up that Raoul, the puking in the van guy, lives in Hawthorne, which is right next door to El Segundo. We packed our bikes into his Sentra and on the drive he told me how he got into riding doubles. A great story of widening horizons and dedication. Back at Brian's at 1130 in time to catch the end of Jenny's b-day party and eat some of Kiecker's famous vegan fudge.

If you stare into the abyss long enough the abyss stares back at you.

Our friend Stephen Krcmar, who obviously has an advanced degree in English or some other field where you read a lot, organized, again, Thus Climbed Zarathustra, the cyclocat alleycross. What a great concept for a race: you ride to staircases, you hoist (Stephen says 'portage') your bike, run to the top, then get back on your bike and fly through the neighborhood to the next set of stairs. There were nine in total throughout Echo Park and Silver Lake. About 20 of us raced; everyone else missed out.
To me, an event like this symbolizes so many of the things I love. Out on my bike on a beautiful day with some friends, exploring areas of the world I've never seen, even though they are in my own backyard. There is also the physical aspect where being somewhat fit increases your enjoyment and your experience: everything is better when you are slightly out of breath and sweating. When the flowers of spring are odiferous and friendly competition keeps you all a little sharper while dodging cars and reading a route slip. But really, everyone just wants to know who won. It was Morgan. I caught him between stair set 7 and 8, we rode together a bit, then I blew up trying to beat him on the last set while he drank the complimentary sangria. He scuttled past me onto the glorious win.

The South Bay crew ran into this guy while they were riding to Silver Lake. He asked where they were going and then he came along to the race! He finished 7th or 8th and won some Patagonia underwear.

House update

Budge has a great house update post on his blog: 'House update #... something'. I'm going to be lame and just link someone else's blog as my own blog post. I have so many photos in my camera waiting to see the world! In the meantime, I slave away.

April 22 Car-Free Day Los Angeles

Yo! (Yo! MTV Raps is 20 years old )
So yo! Been busy with boring, non-bloggable activities , but I did do Los Angeles Critical Mass last weekend and it was off the hook! 250 plus. We rode through Hollywood, which I sometimes forget exists. I have to say, the best way to see Hollywood Blvd is with 250 people on bikes. Speaking of 250 cyclists, I have to point out that the City of Los Angeles has declared April 22nd a Car Free Day according to this Wilshire Center Earth Day. For real. Car Free Day. In Los Angeles. The 'official proclamation'(pdf) says, 'In recognition of the adverse impacts caused by motor vehicles, the City of Los Angeles declares this day a Car-Free Day City Wide...'
Is that not the most amazing proclamation you've ever heard from a city? Sit on that.
Oh, and the Swarm! site has some updates on it.

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I hope to get some photos up soon of my recent non-blogging activities: went on Dan Koeppel's 4.5 hour stair walk tour of Echo Park (seriously there are a lot of fucking staircases in Echo Park), mountain biking in the San Gabriels, mountain biking in the Santa Monicas, a Hip Hop festival and rock climbing in Joshua Tree. I love California!

But I can't be bothered to spend any more time on the computer than I have to right now, but here is some good stuff other people wrote:
Alex Thompson who writes westsidebikeside.com recently penned a controversial article called Bicycle advocacy: FAIL. Bike Activism, WANT! He's received some criticism, including this article: Great Energy, Wrong Targets.
And this book may be worth checking out: Pedal Power: The Quiet Rise of the Bicycle in American Public Life

mountain bikes are like time machines

They take you back to when you were a little kid.

Mark, Jack and I rode Gabrielino trail in the San Gabriels yesterday. There were some hike-a-bike sections and stream crossings (over 50!) so we didn't make it all the way up to Switzer Falls. Before too long March 9th, 2008 with all of its modern-day responsibilities beckoned us back to present-day.

LA Marathon for the third time

No one wants to hear about how my feet hurt or that the marathon was hard or how I did not train enough. 25,000 people ran this one alone; hundreds of thousands run them every year. The choir of suffering is loud enough.
This was my fifth marathon in two years and they keep getting slower! Sure, there are a lot of reasons why this is true, but come on. This one was fun in that I had a crew (at the start at least) and many friends along the way (thanks Chris and Luz for the photos). I hung out in East LA for awhile between miles 21 and 24 because by this point I was done and welcomed any opportunity to walk or even sit. Budge has some photos of the position he took on the 6th St bridge.
Did you hear about that guy who had to suffer through a marathon to realize that training actually is important? What a dumb ass. Did you hear about the vegan cheese factory that burned down? Apparently the cheese still didn't melt.
Here is the marathon from the perspective of someone who prepares: veganheartdoc.blogspot.com
I was worried about having some serious injury to my feet again, but one week later and I am doing fine. Only hobbled for a few days. Ha.

I cannot leave out that Brian did the Death Valley double on Saturday, marathon on Sunday ridiculousness that I did last year. But he ran a 4.14 marathon! Brian you are amazing. Imagine if you had been training! Morgan clocked his first marathon at 3.42 and Trista, despite a knee injury, completed her first.

feel my addendum

Forgot to mention that that night, after Feel My Legs, Budge and I took the bus into downtown to see The Coup. We decided on the 14-minute bus trip cause 1) It was raining 2) Budge had raced and was feeling it 3) They don't allow bags at the show space. We met up with Luz at an Indian spot just a few blocks away, ate some good food and headed to the show. The Coup are an amazing group and they performed as a live band. We left totally satisfied and headed over to Broadway St to get the bus back to East LA.

One came, we hopped on and sat in the back. Not more than a few blocks away we were startled by a van that ran a red light and smashed into the side of the bus! It hit near the front and moved the front-end of the bus into the next lane. We jumped out of our seats and checked to make sure everyone was okay and there were no injuries. Then we hopped out of the bus to check on the driver of the van. I was preparing for the worst because the van hit the bus without slowing down. We look into the work van and don't see anything. Did the driver end up on the floor? In the back? No. Apparently in the ten seconds it took us to get out of the bus he had jumped out and ran down the street. He even remembered to close the door behind him.

Do we give chase? Part of me wanted to because as a cyclist I constantly get the sense that drivers feel there are no repercussions when they put others in danger. Here was an opportunity for vindication! In the end I decided against it. By now everyone else on the bus had wondered off, but we stayed with the freaking-out driver. The fire department arrived and were cool, checking for injuries, etc. Then the police showed up. Why do they always have to fulfill the stereotype of asshole cops? They demanded to see our I.D's. 'Do we have to?', we ask. Of course you do they insist. Then they began to berate us on why we were being so secretive. Hello, every hear of privacy? This is the thanks we get for sticking around. Instead of looking for the driver they harass us.

The MTA inspector called a bus we had just missed to turn around and get us to take us home. Super nice of her. Home around 2am. Crazy.

Feel My Legs, for the the third time

The start at Silver Lake Farmers' Market

Racing up hills in an unsanctioned race in the heart of urban Los Angeles, I am figuring out, has minimal appeal. Or am I just not reaching the right people in my promotion? Regardless, for the third year in a row Swarm! put on Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer, the 10-hill stage event that is a race for some, an epic adventure for others that tackles the hardest, steepest, longest hills we can find in our city. It's based on the Legendary Danny Chew's race in Pittsburgh that's in its third decade. Coincidently, my good friend and bike tour co-conspirator Steevo has won it four years in a row. Unlike their race, we do not attract Categorized road racers, but urban cyclists (almost everyone rode to the start) who are up for a serious challenge.

Including the Swarm! rank and file we rolled out of Silver Lake about 50 deep to a new hill for 2008 deep in Mt. Washington, Eldred St. With claims at steepness greater than Fargo St (hill 6), it was worth the 6 miles each way to add it to the route. When we turned the corner the hill was in view the gasps and 'what the fuck's' from riders told me it was a good addition. Not only is it steep for a significantly long section, it is narrow, has uneven pavement and gravel and two loose dogs. In the photo to the left Brian shows that bike skills and patience can go a long way. 5 points.

We rolled back to Echo Park and Silver Lake hitting the string of hills (Marview, Quintero) along Sunset blvd before the long-ish stretch up Echo Park Ave to up and over Baxter. It was the strangest feeling: sun and warmth instead of rain and clouds. The descents were also significantly less scary with dry roads.

Jack and Cole lead the way up hill 2, Marview.

After climbing up Baxter from the Echo Park side there is a steep decline into a ravine, before hill 5, which is Baxter again up to the same ridge as the top of thee Fargo hill (but from the opposite side). Back in 2005 I did the water/food support with a BOB trailer in the rain and nearly crashed coming down when my brakes locked up and I launched over the bump in the cross-street. Even though my bike and trailer were airborne I managed to stay on the bike. It was super scary. Unfortunately Cole was not there back then, so when he bombed the hill in 2008 he had no idea the cross street lipped up. I saw him accelerating down at probably 30+ MPH, but figured it was Cole, who has mad bike skills, so I wasn't that worried. Then I saw him launch off the street. And fly through the air. Then crash and slide UP the other side. Fuck. He leaped to his feet immediately, as we rushed over and made him sit back down. Fortunately a woman from the neighborhood happened to be walking by and told us she was a fire(wo)man and took care of him. Can you guess what he broke? Yep, collarbone. And some ribs. Someone from a house made a sling from an old sweatshirt and the fire woman took him to the hospital with his new Independent Fabrication bike that I do not think was damaged.


We were all pretty bummed, but we know Cole will recover quickly and we went on to the next hill. Someone commented, 'See, maybe you hippies should have car support.' I was too caught up in dealing with Cole's injuries to see who said it, but here's my answer wise-ass: Why should we waste the resources of someone driving along the course, on tight back roads that already have too much traffic, just in case a rare emergency happens? As this case proves, our neighbors are capable of helping and help beyond this (which we didn't need) is only a phone call away.

After Fargo, we rolled up and over Earl St (which was one of the 10 hills in 06 and 07, but now only enroute) to Hill 7, Duane, from the dog park on Silver Lake Blvd. The extra miles in the start and the time spent dealing with Cole had already stretched out the day and people were getting tired. Then the sun went in. For the monster climb up to the Observatory it was cool and some sprinkles started to fall. When we regrouped and rode through Los Feliz back to Silver Lake it was full-on raining. Of course! We officially have had rain every year.

The hill that took Cole out

In Silver Lake we crossed paths with CICLE's Green Living ride before hitting the last two hills of the day, Maltman Ave (brought back from 06) and the epic Mitcheltorena. Our numbers had dwindled down as the difficulty of riding all these hills in a row took its toll on a more than a few.

The mandatory Fargo St shot. Note

the Hollywood sign in the distance

With Cole out of contention no one could reign Jack in. Dominance for the third year in a row. Not only has he won every year, he is the only person to ride it each year. When will some real roadies show up and give him a worthy challenge? Other Swarm!ers did well. Brian scored points on a mountain bike and Budge held his own on virtually no training (though once he did a road ride, messenger race and bike polo in one day). And no women raced this year. Where you at?

Thanks to everyone who came out and made the ride a success. And the Swarm! comrades who come out every year to put it on. Credit for the photos goes to Stephen Krcmar and Stephen Roullier. Get well soon Cole!

Chocolate, lingerie and sweaty bike riders