Critical Mass in SM was last night, which was really fun. I’m happy to have fixed my bike up this week, so that I could begin riding it extensively. Me and Taka had our first adventure, riding with the pack from the SM Pier all the way to Marina Del Ray, via Venice.
It was slightly less organized that some critical masses i’ve been in, but no less fun. The group got broken up and reformed several times and we lost one or two to the police along the way… Highlights included: reaching a roundabout and having the mass encircle the roundabout for several minutes. Bike racing in a Ralphs parking lot. The ride back along the beach bike path by night.
Link.
Filed under: bike
I finally got a bike. Well it’s not exactly *new* but now it’s mine all mine. Picked it up in West Hollywood yesterday afternoon; another successful craigslsit purchase.
Her name is Taka, because the brand is Takashiri. Internet sleuthing revealed almost nothing on the brand name, which leads me to believe it is some obsolete Japanese make…I don’t really care about the brand, as long as it gets me around the west side and to my studio. It rides just fine, but needs tuning up: new hoods and tape, a good cleaning & de-rusting, minor seat and brake adjustment and possibly a true-ing of the back wheel. Next week I think I will take it to the bike kitchen/Orange 20 and put a solid days work into it.
The only lame thing is that the bike kitchen is too far away to ride to. So i’ll need to load it up onto a Metro bus and ride out there with it. I had to do something similar in order to get it home. I would have ridden it but then I figured it would be an intelligent move to tune it up and make sure it’s secure before bombing down Sunset Blvd.
Scoops is also right by the Bike Kitchen, so if things aren’t going well i’ll treat myself to some Guinness ice cream.
I’m on a quest to find a good bicycle. I’ve been stalking craigslist for a fixer-upper — a strategy that has worked well for me in the past — but that process takes a long time because it’s tough to find the combination of the correct height, decent price, and not too far away (and rad looking if possible).
Today I was reading about this place called Orange 20 bikes, which is right across from the LA Bike Kitchen (yes, there is one!). Through the Orange 20 website, I found a link to a really great monthly radio segment on KCRW called Design and Architecture. The first half of the program was devoted to Los Angeles bike culture, and featured an interview with an Orange 20 founder, as well as the founder of RideArc: a monthly, architecture themed bike ride (basically, critical mass with a cultural agenda). I already missed the August ride, but I think Critical Mass is at the end of the month. Hopefully I’ll have a bike by then! If the mighty tree that is craigslist yields no fruit for me, than I might have to mosey over to Orange 20 or Bike Kitchen. The irony is…I need a car to get there.
