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Sobriety Checkpoint in Sherman Oaks Tonight
Many photos were taken of the ride, which included nearly 30 bicyclists, but also three rollerbladers:
Photos from Friday's Freeway Ride
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Any ideas why the 110 off/on ramps will be shut down for 1 year starting tomorrow from the hours of
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Damn, I wish I was here to see that. I know that on-ramp from the 10 to the 405! How awesome would that be if we could totally abandon cars and use bikes on the freeway?
This doesn't advance the cause of a bicycle friendly Los Angeles, all it does is antagonize people.
They're lucky they didn't get killed.
WagonMonster - we're not lucky we didn't get killed. We were overtaking traffic, and studies show this is the safest situation for cyclists because they are able to avoid collisions ahead of them by stopping, and are not likely to get hit from behind. Use your noggin.
Caroline on Crack - it would be this awesome:
[begin] insert carnival of dancing bears, singing frogs, dinosaur ending comets, and candy hurricane, add twist of lime, perversion, sexxx it up and replace blood with drugs, give blood to people in need of transfusion and vampires, invite them to the after party [/begin]
What I mean is that you're lucky some Hummer driving asshole didn't go all road rage on you and take you out.
Oh, I see. We did have a pickup drive who insisted that we explain ourselves and that he was a cop. He seemed pretty mad. I'd be mad as hell if I was in that mess too . . .
I take the 10 home from Bundy and I wish I saw you guys! Was anyone arrested or cited? Are the CHP generally tolerant of these events? I know they and the police have been aggressive with cyclists.
Thus proving my point.
If you want drivers to show more respect for bicyclists, you probably shouldn't piss them off.
To respond in one way to Mr. Struss' question, true enough, despite the lack of coherent & dedicated cycling facilities city & region-wide, MANY trips ARE indeed shorter time-wise (putting aside for the moment the side-issue that I've never seen a cyclist of any sort in LA stop at a stop sign or few who use hand signals)...but I think one of the issues here often overlooked (or under-looked) is that not everyone lives a cyclable distance from their job unfortunately...also, during most non-rush hour times, I will all but guarantee you that I could beat Lance Armstrong himself to say, either Pasadena or Santa Monica from downtown LA in my Civic. Not all car trips are at rush hour...I don't have the latest stats, but on average, only one out of every 3 car trips is for work, so what about non-work commuting trips? Obviously, most people not 20 or 30-something super-fit hipsters or dedicated cycle fiends...the thought of my arthritic mother commuting to work on a bike or bringing my grandmother to the doctors or grocery store on her tandem recumbant whatever is somehow both amusing and scary to me. Where do they fit in this transportation model? Cheers to folks for subverting the dominant paradigm, but what's desirable for one group, is sometimes physically or professionally impossible for the majority of folks given current land use pollicies (the REAL issue here, anyway)...whether righteously-intended or not, I think the tactics are alienating folks who might otherwise be supportive given a more constuctive, less passive-aggressive & confrontation approach. Much as with the recent taco truck "controversy" I fear the message is getting to be more about the messengers than the message. Hopefully this post is taken as constructive prodding and not angry ranting.
On the question of whether shock tactics such as this are helpful or harmful in the "debate":
Unfortunately, we seen with car culture in general -- much like when you defer to a black Lexus trying to merge from the shoulder from whence it passed 3 fellow cars waiting to merge -- that the only thing that it does when shown a modicum of respect is take that respect as it's eminent due and proceed to cut off someone else in a mad dash to some faster lane.
Not pissing off car culture won't get you any respect -- it gets you ignored.
The only way to ensure fairness in land use issues is to create a situation where it is in car culture's own best interest to share. Good will will *never* enter into it. People who prefer to drive will *never* be supportive of a solution that takes anything away from them to provide for equitable space for alternate modes of transportation -- unless they can be shown to them that the alternative to an equitable solution is demonstrably worse for them. Doesn't matter how polite the cyclists are, the psychology of driving around in a 3-ton suit of armor precludes any germination of human empathy.
Unfortunately I don't know how you create that situation. I'm not the Bike Gandhi.
So, this gig looked like fun!
Just so we're clear, I'm pro-bike and I'm pro-public transit.
But, to think that LA will ever be a bike city is silly.
Plus, if you want people in cars to respect you, you need to respect people who drive cars.
As long as you treat cars and drivers as the enemy, you'll never get anywhere.
sign me up, bitches, i want to ride next ride ... on my giant 6 foot tall tricycle i get 40 miles per hour for about a block then i slow down to a few kilometers an hour until i get some feed some deed and some heed amen brother
Are you kidding? LA already is a bike city. I know because I bike it everyday: During rush in the morning, mid-day, evening rushhour, in the middle of the night, from the valley to Long Beach to East LA to Pasadena to wherever the fuck I want to go.
I have spent the last year (almost!) trying to do nothing but respect people on the road. I ride to the right, I pass and turn with hand signals, I don't weave in and out of traffic, and I try my best to not run red lights or stop signs.
I can definitely say that every disrespectful driver I've ever encountered could not give a shit whether I'm respectful to them or not. In fact, if I've tried to be respectful towards them, I'm rebuffed and put in danger again.
Simply, you're wrong, WagonMaster. We need to respect cars, sure, and I'd for us to coexist. However, when it comes to ignorant, speed-happy, and disrespectful drivers, the only way to ever get them to open their eyes is to plant your bike directly in front of them, obey the law when you can, and prove to them that riding a bicycle on the street is legal, relevant, and my goddamn right.
Who's WagonMaster?
Personally, I'm not looking for respect when it comes to my choice of transportation. I just want to make it to my destination alive.
Every lane is MY lane..
Be careful, we might get drivers parking in bike paths making a point about cyclists not.... hold on, they already do dont they... ho hum..
Good luck my friend. You're talking about people who would disrespect you weather or not they are in a car or not (and there seems to be a lot of them). Personally I think it's a social issue not a bicycle vs automobile issue. People not respecting each other in general.
I have to agree with Gonzoworm, for most people it is just not piratical to ride bikes to and from places. As for Morgan Strauss I would ask "what area is he talking about?" I can get to everywhere I like to go to quicker in a car than a bike, in fact faster than mass transit as well.
att : panasonic youth
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I have spent the last year (almost!) trying to do nothing but respect people on the road. I ride to the right, I pass and turn with hand signals, I don't weave in and out of traffic, and I try my best to not run red lights or stop signs.
Very happy to see you are playing it safe, unfortunately these clowns that keep making the news are not. You get these assbags out here trying to be cute with their 5 feet tall bikes and rollerbladers trying to pull "sweet moves" while prius' are waiting behind and makes all of you look bad.
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the only way to ever get them to open their eyes is to plant your bike directly in front of them, obey the law when you can, and prove to them that riding a bicycle on the street is legal, relevant, and my goddamn right.
Realize as you say that some ignorant speed happy driver is thinking right back that the only way to get you to open your eyes is to give you a little bumper check on the rear wheel. This really is a fight you arent going to win.
Secondly, it isnt legal or your right to ride your bike on highways. If you want it to be your right be prepared to pay for licenses, taxes, and who knows what other fees the suits can come up with.
insurance too... cant forget about that. You want it to be your right to ride your $125 bike on the highway you better have some sort of insurance to cover your ass when you f up my car. BMW body work aint cheap.
fixed the story...
Last Friday a group of clowns and assbags, Crimanimal Mass took their second idiotfest on the freeway during drive-home rush hour. Cutting off gridlocked cars, the demonstration; albeit illegal, ridiculously stupid, and incredibly egotistical; raises questions. Loaded questions that really dont make any sense and avoid the real topic at hand, safety for not only drivers but safety for those too stupid to protect themselves. One of the group's organizers, Morgan "The Head Assbag level 3" Strauss, 29, was quoted in the Santa Monica Daily Press (.pdf) this weekend saying that he “just wanted to raise questions about the transportation infrastructure. In a city ruled by cars, why is it that you can get places faster on bikes for about 10% of the day? We thought about doing something to show that bike riders and drivers can really coexist... instead we decided to make a total trave-sham-mockery of the whole thing. We figured by getting a bunch of clowns out here unnecasarily cutting in/out of traffic, trying to pose for cameras, and riding unsafe/unpractical equipment we could better show what would happen if our local government let us idiots do whatever we wanted. Please protect me from myself.”
I love it how Panasonic comes back with a reasoned and focused alternative perspective to WagonMonster's point and all he can do is harp on a typo? What a WagonTool.
WagonTool... that's original!
How is your response any more intelligent than mine?
My point, which Panasonic missed, is that you're not going to get through to arrogant drivers, no matter what you do. But, with these tactics, you're going to piss off otherwise open-minded drivers who might have given bikes a break.
Getting in people's faces never brings them around to your point of view, if anything, it hurts your cause.
And, as dt3 pointed out, riding your bike on the Freeway isn't legal, no matter what you may think.
Lance could average 37 mph on a decent time trial. Good luck finding the non-rush hour time to try and beat that in your Civic.
I have to agree that this can cause some antagonism, more than most cyclists already get just by sticking to the gutter. However, it would be amazing to have a cycle-way cut above or below the freeways. Though if you really want to ride your bike on the freeway, you could always move to Oregon, where its perfectly legal.
I'm not even taking the drivers' side in this, I'm just pointing out some flaws in this approach.
Funny how the militant bike people have resorted to name-calling though.
a car going 37 mph on a highway will get you run off the side of the highway here in DC
THE VIDEO OF THIS RIDE IS HERE!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNZSe8Q8-Iw
One piece missing from the “just wanted to raise questions about the transportation infrastructure. In a city ruled by cars, why is it that you can get places faster on bikes?” question.
It takes a lot less space, money, and resources to move people via bicycle (or rollerblade) than it does by car.
You guys should use that video to visually compare how much space each Crimanimal took up relative to a person in a car. The whole ride, if it were in individual cars, would totally block the freeway. These guys didn't impede traffic (in this instance) even though they were on the "slower" mode.
SPACE TIME and MONEY -> all saved by using a bike.
Throwing tea into the Boston Harbor was very illegal, but the symbolism was clear. We ain't gonna take this anymore.
Riding a bicycle on a congested LA Freeway may not be legal, but it says volumes about our situation. We need solutions and we need them now!
The $4.00 a gallon gas, the gridlock, the hours spent in traffic rather than being productive, is killing our city and our economy.
Everyone whines and complains. At least these guys (and girls) are doing something. Either you're part of the solution...or you're part of the problem.
Everybody has some good points here. But the insistence on a carless lifestyle ("I bike everywhere, and if I can do it, so can you!") drives me crazy. Many Angelinos, such as the elderly, mothers with children, people who tote equipment for work (e.g. gardeners), the chronically ill, and--let's face it--folks who have to wear business attire at work just cannot live that lifestyle. Not everyone can be a 20- or 30-something with a cool boss. And, outside of traffic jams on the freeway, 90% of the time it takes much longer on a bike/bus/Metro line.
Those who ride (and don't drive) in LA do so because they have certain privileges, including youth and good health and no dependent kids. PLEASE REMEMBER YOU SITUATION IS UNIQUE, and own your damn privilege.
Why don't we all work up a compromise:
Bikes should be absolutely banned from the freeways.
Cars should be absolutely banned from the streets.
But, to think that LA will ever be a bike city is silly.
Why not? We got great weather...
to greatgatsby2:
Sure there might be a couple hardcore cyclists who think the world should be car free. There are also some hardcore drivers who think cyclists should be shot if they step off the sidewalk.
Most cycling activists realize there are contexts in which private transit makes sense. What I think most of us are striving for is a balance. In Copenhagen urban commuters are divided into about 1/3 private transit, 1/3 public transit, and 1/3 on bicycles. All this in a country with extremely cold weather and frequent snow, unlike the sunny year round weather here in LA. In LA it is completely out of balance, where far more people drive then is necessary.
About the mothers (and fathers) with children, you'll find that bikes with accommodations for children seating are the norm in some European cities. About the business man, there is this thing called washing up and bringing a change of clothes. Bike commuters with office jobs do it all the time.
In regards to being unique, of course not everyone can ride a bike, but I find it hardly unique to have a set of legs that function. If you think you have to be a skinny and youthful to bike, you should see some of the fat old guys that keep pace with everyone else on some of the group rides I've been on. All it takes is some legs and the will to stick with it long enough to put some muscle on them.
People seem to be so full of themselves these days.........................
As an auto body shop office manager, I can attest to the fact that a KIA is more expensive to repair than a BMW.
The mention of the type of car you happen to own/drive (in the context that it may be better than someone else's) is shallow and really damages your credibility.
"Either you're part of the solution...or you're part of the problem."
LMBO.
Only a sith lord deals in absolutes.
Re: #28: I wear business attire at work. And I bike commute.
I get your point that not everybody's physically capable, or has the facilities, to use bikes to get around--and because of LA's infrastructure, or lack thereof, cars are their only viable transportation option. My point would be that that situation sucks and maybe we should do something about that.
And why is it silly to think that LA would ever be a bike city? At one time it was silly to think LA would ever be a city, period. Then somebody figured out how to put the necessary infrastructure in place. (By siphoning off water from the Colorado, of course, which maybe wasn't the best idea of all time.)
Since ive not noticed any mention, I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about my bike on the freeway this morning. Yes, its true, I and my bike were on the 405 freeway this morning..
On the front of a BUS! See how that happens! Whats even better was my commute today cost me nothing. Absolutely nothing - LA Bike day is offering free rides on metro with your bike.
Zero Emissions on the Metro, Zero Cost to me. Awesome quotient - huge!
The bus is a great transpo choice but I'm not sure it's "Zero Emissions" unless it was being towed by cyclists.
Even the "Clean Air Fleet" is responsible for emissions of particulate matter, carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases.
monkeybutt, the mention of your job title being Auto Body Shop Office Manager makes me wonder how much longer you'll be in business given the cost of gas.
Good point. However you have to congratulate Metro for replacing the original natural gas buses with the more modern BRT diesel/electric buses who's actual emissions of NOx, CO2 and CO fall way below the levels of almost any comparable mass transit vehicles, including the much lauded low sulphur diesel engines as used by New York's bus system.
Some good reads :)
General article on BRT Diesel/Elec Emissions
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYH/is_12_7/ai_105617534
NABI's Specifications on the 60ft BRT buses we all know and love!
http://www.nabiusa.com/buses/product_profile.cfm?bus_type=1&bus_id=9&link_id=32
Go low emissions!
There seems to be something in the international zeitgeist. Critical Mass is completely unplanned, no route, just split-second flock like group-think at every turn. Nobody ever would have planned this route in Toronto, but in retrospect it had to happen and it did. Critical Mass took over the most central major elevated super-highway in Toronto with approximately 300 cyclists who got clear across downtown Toronto from Jarvis to Dunn in just 20 minutes! Hurray for elevated highways!
http://torontoist.com/2008/05/critical_mass_takes_over_the_gardiner.php
I really hate bikes on the road. I do everything I possibly can to give them a hard time. And I feel really good when I do that. It is a sport of mine to see if I can the bumblebee biker to flip me off or bang my car.
ty man.this is perfect