Rick Risemberg writes <rickrise@earthlink.net>:
http://www.bicyclefixation.com/
Stitching the River Ride, Redux A few weeks ago I posted an article about a ride I took one Sunday, riding all of downtown Los Angeles's bridges between Broadway and Olympic boulevards. Last Sunday I repeated it, this time with about twenty other riders along, including a few members of the L. A. Wheelmen, and the indomitable Chuck Schmidt of Velo-Retro, riding an immaculate black Waterford fixie. (But all of Chuck's bikes are immaculate.)
We wandered back and forth between the Eastside bluff and the warehouse district, past the San Antonio Winery and the Brewery lofts (one of the first factory-to-lofts conversions in LA, and still an artists' colony), over, around, and under a variety of delightful Art Deco bridges, between rows of loading docks, past busy alleys, past hilly parks complete with ponds and resident ducks, and through leafy neighborhoods cluttered with clapboard bungalows and gang graffiti. At one point we came to a bridge that had been closed for filming, but a friendly motorcycle cop escorted us across the bridge and through the set--where the grips dropped their work to take pictures of the parade of bicycles.
At the last stop, on the Olympic Boulvaqrd bridge just past th eold Art Deco Sears, Roebuck, & Co. building, oen woman commented that she'd lived in LA all her life and had never seen so much of the city as she had that day! Not bad for a twenty-mile ride, and a testament to the power of the bicycle for revealing our world and our communities to us.
Glad to report that only a tiny minory of riders drove to the start of the ride. Most rode their bikes, and a last group of six of us headed west after some tasty Chinese pastries by the statue of Sun- Yat Sen, riding together to the Miracle Mile area, where we all finally parted ways.
On Oct 17, 2006, at 10:35 AM, Chuck Schmidt wrote:
> Rick Risemberg writes:
>
> =====================================================================
> Hey LA BOBs:
>
> Some of you may have read my ride report called "Stitching the River"
> in Bicycle Fixation:
>
> http://bicyclefixation.com/
>
> Well, I'm going to do it again, as it was a great ride, and any BOBs
> who want to join in are welcome. Just meet me by the statue of Sun
> Yat-Sen in Chinatown (in the old square near the Phoenix Bakery)
> around 10AM on Sunday Oct. 22nd. You can also meet at my place an
> hour earlier if you're westsiders; just let me know.
>
> Chuck Schmidt from the Velo-Retro ride in Pasadena says he'll be
> there and is inviting his groups too.
>
> No payments, no waivers, just friends. Moderate pace (set by a
> middle-aged man on a fixie), lots of short hills, and a policy to
> stop whenever anyone feels like it, for flats, resting, picture-
> taking, whatever. Cancel for downpours (this being LA), but the
> prediction is for clear wether so far.
>
> Just don't ride delicate tires.
>
> Email me or call 323-428-4669 if you have questions. Oughta be fun,
> and a good chance for local BOBs to meet.
>
> Rick "I just love warehouse roofscapes" Risemberg
>
> =====================================================================
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California
> United States of America
> http://www.velo-retro.com (reprints, t-shirts & timelines)