Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic

In April I rode the Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic in East SD County. Back in January I was part of the pre-ride so I was really looking forward to this! It just so happened that the Rosarita-Ensenada party ride was happening the same weekend and my good friend Matthew was heading down there from LA on his fancy Rivendell.
I had to work till 5pm and then I loaded up my two-shoulder messenger bag with my bivy sac, sleeping bag and pad and everything I'd need for the weekend. Made my way to coastal Orange County in time to watch the sun set and was near the SD border by 10pm.

The awesome bike path before the military base or freeway dilemma

Our Swarm! jerseys say 'Can't Stop Won't Stop' which I took straight from Hip Hop slang as applied to long-distance cycling. Matthew likes to say, 'Can stop, will stop!' when riding. I had hustled to do the first 77 miles miles in 5 hours, which is fun in my own way, but the next day we were leisurely. To say the least. I asked if we should stop and get some bars or bananas and he replied, 'If we get hungry we'll just find a taco truck.' Awesome.

Done.

We chilled all through SD County, taking the beach options whenever possible. We arrived at a friend's house in Ocean Beach, which is the exact stereotype of everything you think about Southern California- in the good way. We had been texting and when I asked about food he said, 'There's a liquor store near me that has great vegan food.' Whaaaaa? Ends up Liticker's Liquor has a full-on vegan menu with carne asada and seitan burritos. One of each, please.

We ate our tacos on his roof and watched the sun set. California, bro.

My friend Jeff had driven down after work and met up with us and after some dessert from the local co-op we set our alarm for 4am to head out to Pine Valley (Matthew and Craig were riding to the border a few hours later to meet the start of their ride). We had some disagreement over what time to leave. I wanted to sleep as late as possible and get there right as the last wave was ready to go, but Jeff, being older and wiser, suggested we not do that. Okay, okay.
Ends up I was right! We flew out there with no traffic and then sat in the car, in the dark, waiting for it to warm up. Went with the last wave...

Jeff killing it. Fourth fastest time of the day.

We rode in a good pack till the first climb picked up and then Jeff and some Cat-1 guy were off. I settled in with a triathlete who I spent most of the time trying to convince that iron-distance is the only way to go (you get your money's worth!). Paced with a quiet guy from Arizona for awhile who really pushed me on the climbs. the course is three loops, all with the same aid station at the top of Mt Laguna and the same fast, awesome descent. Ran into a friend I had met at the AdventureCORPS Shasta cycling/yoga camp last summer. We rode together for awhile on the insanely steep last climb discussing art, girls, work and making it all fit. He said something that really stood out: 'Work expands to fit the time allotted.' That aids my procrastination tendency and I love it.

I pushed on the steep stuff just to keep the pedals turning and passed about a half dozen folks walking. It was that steep! Keep in mind I'm still near the front third...

Post-ride meal included Filipino food again and vegan pizza!

Results and photos are up and worth perusing. Please note the 11 and 13 year old girls that did the same ride. For real. I also met Errin Vasquez, who I had chatted with on the internet previously. Also awesome.

We drove back to Ocean Beach in time for another Organic Athlete vegan potluck and decided to spend the night so I could go to the co-op for the 100th time on this trip. Breakfast!

When I was searching for something funny to link from Rivendell, I searched 'Cult Bikes' and it ends up that Robbie Morales, an old BMX friend, has a new company with this name. Here's a great sampler video!

(maybe I should end all posts with a BMX or Hip Hop video?)

Commitment is scary, but exciting

Hello and congratulations!

You have been selected to compete in the 27th Anniversary Furnace Creek 508 on October 2-4, 2010, “The Toughest 48 hours in Sport.” You are part of a select group who will participate in this world-famous spiritual odyssey through Death Valley and the Mojave Desert. We look forward to sharing the experience with you!

Ultra-ing

I'm a regular reader of Jill Homer's blog, http://arcticglass.blogspot.com. Who isn't, really? She mentioned that her close friend Geoff (who makes an appearance in her book) ran the Western States 100 and since I just finished Born To Run and am all stoked on running I thought I'd read up on it. The dude set a course record besting Scott Jurek's fastest time! When asked about it, Geoff had this to say, 

"Somewhere around mile 70 or 75, it started to feel good. I finally got warmed up, I guess."

Awesome. Some lessons in that statement for amateurs such as myself. I recommend the entire article: http://rosevillept.com/detail/153188.html

Santa Monica 100

The Santa Monica 100 map from my June 12th ride on single-speed. Turn by turn directions at the bottom. More info on this post.

How was it? I'm not sure. I was 15 minutes late and chased the entire way. It started chaotically when I got to Wilshire/Western in Koreatown to hop on the Rapid bus to Santa Monica. I was even early. If you know me well, you know this is rare. It was chaotic because Korea was playing in some international sporting event involving kicking a ball around. This being Koreatown, the street was flooded with fans watching live on a giant screen. I definitely support public gatherings. Especially the folks who looked like they had stayed out all night to catch the 430am start.

So I had forgotten about the valuable space that is the bike rack on the 720 bus. No fewer than four dudes with bikes waiting at the stop in front of me. Then the first bus' bike rack is full. And then the second. Then one dude decides to ride to wherever he was going. Three more buses later I have a spot.

the bus at 630am. Good thing they come every 6 minutes.

I missed the start by minutes. Though a whole cast of characters made it an exciting day on the mountain bike.

The exerciser
He said I was close enough to try and cut off the group by running down a giant staircase that's main function is for exercise. Nope.

The LA County Bicycle Coalition crew
They got me to the trail head and on the route. Thanks! I'd later see them about 8 miles back from my turnaround point.

Back of the pack dudes
On the big climb up Sullivan Ridge I caught a dude who said he was on the ride. Sweet. At the top three more dudes said 'five minutes ahead'. I think I'm now in the ride. I'm not.

Mountain bikers at the Hub
They said, 'oh 20 minutes ago' (maybe I lost time by riding Broken Arrow on the way? I figured they'd hit all the single track, but I guess not).

Trippet Ranch hiker
saw my perplexed look and said, '10 minutes ago a big group left....'

Helen's dudes
Saw me riding up Old Topanga Canyon rd and turned around. We were right near Red Rock Canyon Park where'd we figure out later the main group went. Rode with me all the way to the top of the road climb to the route I knew from the Rough Riders ride I had done last year to Calabasas peak and then down to Stunt road. One dude drops. Added a bunch of miles and a huge climb.

My friend Mark riding Cross
He had gotten dropped ('Dude, they are fucking flying! I couldn't hold on at all). Met up with him on Mulholland.


Malibu Creek State Park meet-up dudes
They see us and get all amped. They think we are off the front. 'No, sorry. You know where to go?' Now there are 5 of us. We do Bulldog Climb. Mark drops and head to the beach. I have to push on four different occasions. We descend to the Corral Canyon Backbone trailhead, which I have ridden before. It's awesome to have pedal-powered from a usual riding spot to one I have driven an hour to.

One of the meet-up dudes handling a snake

This trail rules. There are only three of us now and it has been hours since we've heard anything about any of the original riders. Finally some single track.

Original Riders!
Past Latigo, just before Kanan some dudes come ripping by. Holy shit! A few minutes later my friend Cole Maness. We stop and chat. I love Cole. He's got that Southern friendliness and stokedness. He does epic shit and has no ego. We were chatting once about his Rapha trip to Nepal and he says to me, 'Really, I should thank you. Because you won't wear wool I get to do all of this traveling!' (I was asked to be on the Rapha Continental team but declined cause of all the wool. Oh well)
He tells us there are only 9 riders left.

Al on single-speed
He was pushing up from Kanan. He tells me to hurry up and do the rest and catch him so we can ride together. I raced Al last year at the 24 hours of Boggs. I chased him all night. He slept at 930am and I thought I could make up the difference and pass him, but he had ridden fast enough and held me off, while sleeping, for a podium finish!

At Kanan, Helen's dude heads to the beach. 'I'm so done. I can't ride anymore.' The meet-up dude and I decide to turn around and not do the last 5-mile out and back. He's already hours late.
At Malibu Creek State Park (again) he gets in his car and offers me a ride. I decline. I decide to ride road all the way back to dirt Mulholland and skip the route through Red Rock. I had never entered dirt Mulholland from the west. Rad.
I cruise it the whole length. It's hot as shit. It turns to pavement again, I bomb down Sepulveda, splitting lanes in traffic, back to the 720 in Westwood. Eleven hours bus to bus time. Maybe 100 miles?

Thanks to the folks who made the route. I've a new appreciation for the Santa Monicas and what connects to what. Next time I hope to ride with the regulars. I heard 8 of 40 finished.

4th & Adelaide
down Adelaide
R to Ocean up Amalfi
...L to Capri
L to Sullivan fireroad
L to Mulholland
L to Fireroad 30
R to Eagle Rock
R to Trippet
down Entrada
L to Topanga
R to Old Topanga
L to Red Rock Road
L to Calabasas Peak
R to Stunt
L to Mulholland
L to Las Virgenes
R to Craggs
L to Bulldog
L to Castro
R to Kanan backbone
turn-around @ Zuma Ridge FR

Ugli fruit

Tour Divide Update

The 2700 mile Tour Divide mountain bike race is well underway and my friend Aidan is fourth overall, 14 days into the race- first place single speed and first rookie! here are some photos, there's a good one of him at the bottom.

Here's a video interview:

Aidan Harding - 2010 Tour Divide from Juicy Fruita on Vimeo.

Though It is all overshadowed by a racer being killed from a head-on collision with a vehicle: http://tourdivide.org/blog2010/memory_dave_blumenthal

It's hard to process this. Someone doing a race I want to do was killed while racing, on a road I have been on. He leaves behind his wife and young daughter.

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.

Vegan peanut butter / cake batter swirl

Vegan Treats, yo.

Single-speed specific, belt-drive ready, ritchey breakaway custom 29er

By Trystan Cobbett.
Photos of complete bike soonish. Trying to figure a way around Fox
voiding warranty if you paint your fork. Black electrical tape?

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.

Oakland airport bike exhibit

Seriously?
I started to write a long rant about the difference between northern
and southern California showing itself with this art exhibit, but
really I can't say anything that isn't already obvious.

Ps. There are rumors of a vegan bakery in terminal 1 but I could not
find it.

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.

Avoiding Overexposure

Today was overcast and unseasonably not warm; a great day for a 2.5
hour run in Griffith Park. It's no secret that I live in LA primarily
for the sun, but I miss weather changes. Too much sun is monotonous!
I'm sure those of you in less awesome climates (anywhere not here I
imagine) have no pity for 'too much sun'. It's like photography,
everything gets washed out.
Anyway, this is a sketchy ladder that leads to a technical scrammble
on one of my favorite routes in the park. This still counts as
running, right?

Night Riding in the Verdugos

The Verdugo Mountains are so close to urban LA, I cannot believe how infrequently I've been. They are a decent sized range that sits just 10 miles from East Hollywood, behind Griffith Park. From a distance they look to be part of the San Gabriels, but they are a distinct range and a valley exists between the two, home to Tujunga and Sunland. I was up here a few months ago on my cross bike and wrote a short post about it. Here is a more detailed description of the area, with photos: www.mtbguru.com.

The other night four of us headed out, hitting the trailhead about 9pm. It's good practice as we've been racing at night, but not really riding at night. Which is sort of the Swarm! way. Also true of my swimming...
Halfway through the single-track back down to La Tuna Canyon is a sketchy, hip-high seesaw with missing boards. I love to play on stuff when riding, so really there was no question about trying it. Can I point out that we live in the future? The lights on our bikes are bright enough for Max to film with his phone! Then uploaded to the internet...

Weekend nights in Los Angeles are so exciting!

Giant Squash!

This is at a Korean market a few blocks away. Note the bell pepper for
size reference. We could eat for a week! Well, at least a day. Or a
big meal.

Scott Jurek

In case you have not seen it, 'the Times' has an article up about vegan ultra-runner Scott Jurek called, Diet and Exercise to the Extremes.

I met Scott Jurek in 2006 when I was helping at the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon, which he won. A super nice guy, I chatted with him and his crew about his vegan diet and his training. I wanted to get an interview, but it just didn't work out.

The article mentions the 24 hour championships in France and I've found the live feed showing results. Looks to finish up at 1am, California time. Running in circles sounds absolutely miserable to me, but I imagine it is meditative in its repetitiveness. And it's not like he only does these races; quite the opposite. The Western States 100 and other 100 milers are trail runs, getting out in nature way more than most runners ever do.

In this terrific ESPN article he says, in regards to coming across a bear during a race,

"That was scary, but it's also part of why I prefer trail running...nature reminds us that there's a greater force out there, and you have to respect that. It makes you feel pretty small."

Awesome. I agree.

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.

Bring May Powers

And just like that Saturday is May 1st. The crew from September's
Bromamce Slaycation has piled into the Adventure Van (at 31 yrs old
I've no qualm that the vehicle I've spent the most time in in the
previous five yrs is my friend's mom's minivan) and is heading north
to Cool, CA. Married couple brodozer vehicle left the South Bay
earlier and this afternoon we'll combine forces. 24 hours of Cool
Saturday noon to Sunday noon.
We've got:
4-person Swarm! team- Max, Brian (both Bonobo team veterans), Mike Sz
(raced Tucson 24hr) and Nicolas (from the HooDoo 500 team in 07)
Jenny and McCall on support and hang-out duty.
They should kill it. Podium?

I'm racing solo single-speed. No crazy expectations as my fitness is
still meh. Also had hoped to have my new (custom!) bike w an actual
shock fork, but alas it wasn't done in time. Because there's no better
first ride for a new bike than a 24 hour one.

While Swarm! team M is in the woods off-roading in the north, Swarm!
team F will be in central coast at the Wildflower 'woodstock of
triathlons' triathlon. Molly (vegan baker extraordinaire) is racing
her first Olympic distance and Sasha (508 documentarian) is doing the
same, her very first tri. I've been working closely with her on
nutrition/training so I'll be thinking about her while I'm racing.

Keep up with the races at http://www.twitter.com/bikeswarm if that
sort of thing interests you.

Playlist thus far:
Propagandhi Less Talk More Rock
Integrity Systems Overloaded
Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky

And if you're in LA for May Day check this out:
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/30/may-1st-rally-march-its-time-to-stir-that-melting-pot/

Demand the impossible! Of yourself and the world.

http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/30/may-1st-rally-march-its-time-to-stir-that-melting-pot/

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.