First Jersey

Picfair Village

CicLAvia 10.7.2012, contd.

Tour of California, 2012

Busy. Too busy to make it downtown this morning to see the finale of this year's TOC. Not too busy to head out with the family and shake our cowbells for a brief moment. This is seconds after the start of the final stage of the race. The peloton rolled by in a flash, and were gone. Mt. Baldy next year?

CicLAvia Prep

Tuning the bike in anticipation of some car-free L.A. streets.

For the Sartorially Inclined Flahute

"The Road to Roubaix" by Launderette. Can't wait to put it on and step out with my lady.

SoCal Cross

If this were any American city other than L.A., racers would not outnumber spectators.
Sigh.

Tour de Fat, 2011

11 Months

He rides every day. Crazy fit. Chunky quads. Strong, hairless calves. All cyclist.

cicLAvia 4.11.2011

Bikes. Architecture. No cars. Friends. Public space. Bikes.

More, please.

SoCal Cross, Griffith Park

Kids rides aside, this is what the action looked like. Guys, and girls, riding hard, dismounting, and then running hard. And then riding hard again.

Adam Craig Sandbagging

Actually, it's Adam Craig being a swell guy, participating in the kids race today during the SoCal Cross event in Griffith Park. He's faster than all of your friends combined, and something tells me his sponsors aren't making him do this.

The girl in the foreground rode a masterful heat and pedaled on to win her division, as did the boy in full pro kit to Craig's right.

You shoulda been there.

cicLAvia 2010 (gonna be more, ya know)

Car-free streets are my kinda streets.

Rivers and Such

A friend just showed me a supremely worthwhile book on the L.A. River: The Ulysses Guide to the Los Angeles River. I only saw this book briefly, but it seems to transcend visually.
So much photography has been made focusing on the river, most of it dull. And repetitive.
For years I worked on a project of photos of La Ballona Creek. Most of the work is, well, also dull. But I think the important work is the work. And so the mistakes and crap have their own value. Here's one of the stronger images I shot, excerpted from an overall weak collection.
At least I put the hours and thought and effort in. I'm proud of that, if not so much the resulting pictures.
The bike path on La Ballona is the reason I spent a l0t of time out there. And the herons. It's well worth a visit.

Self-Propelled

Cyclocross

Typically a freezing rain and mud type of bike race in the rest of the country and in Europe, Southern California cyclocross is its own thing. This is a small glimpse of SoCal cross on a recent 72-degree afternoon in Glendale, CA.

The fast guy in this photo wearing his aerobic strain with poise is Andrew.
Up! Up!

Now I'm Ready

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Bike-Punk

For a bit of background on this photo, taken a couple of years ago, check this.

CHALK CHALK

Bike geeks like bike art. I'm no exception. It just so happens that a dear friend (who happens also to be a relative) makes some quietly fun stuff in that category—spare, elemental chalk drawings of bicycles that are beautiful individually, even more so grouped together. But don't take my word for it.
See for yourself.

Flats

After I stopped cursing my third flat in the past week—and I've barely been riding—I realized it had been awhile since my last bicycle-themed blog post. So, here's what it looked like when I found the microscopic hole in my tube. For those of you who haven't shared in this fun experience, you remove the tube from the tire, reinflate the tube, and then submerge it in water. The bubbles help you locate the hole, which you patch with a stinky toxic glue and, well, a patch.

President Obama and Our Earthquake Plan

President Obama is in town. A half hour before I was to drive to pick up the kid from school, I got an e-mail from a fellow parent with listings of street closures near the school, due to the president's visit. According to the LADOT website pretty much every main thoroughfare around school was to be shut down for a four-hour period.
So, our earthquake plan kicked in: ditch the car and use the bicycle and child trailer. When streets are closed or heavily congested, a bicycle works brilliantly. It would be my prefered method of daily transport, if I weren't concerned about driver aggression or indifference. L.A. has come a long way in terms of bicycle acceptance, culture, advocacy—but this isn't Davis.
For the trip home I rode on sidewalks to be extra cautious with my precious cargo. It wasn't quick, but it worked perfectly.