I came across a story that got me really upset. So in response, I decided to email the source of my agitation. It went a little like this:
To whomever this may concern,
I came across this story online on http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_17766695 which described a 19 year-old woman who was under the influence and swerved onto a group of cyclists on Sunday, April 3rd. The part that really upset me was reading what Lt. Devin Chase had said, “It’s kind of a residential street, so we’re not sure if the bicyclists were staying on their side of the road or taking up more of the road.” First of all, why is this statement targeting the victims of the crime? If they were in anyway not on their side would mean that they were trying to fend for their lives by avoiding a swerving vehicle coming into their lane. Secondly, this type of response from the Torrance Police Department is insensitive to victims of the incident as well as to the entire bicycling community. It would have been more productive to not comment at all or perhaps use this as an example to help detract others from drinking and driving or under age drinking. Instead, the police department seems to go out of their way to blame the bicyclists.
I do not live in Torrance but have traveled into Torrance by way of bicycle. When I do come to Torrance I participate in the local economy by shopping at various restaurants, stores and vendors. Comments like this just shows that riding a bicycle in the City of Torrance is not welcomed. I will have to think twice before rolling into Torrance the next time I am in the area.
Regards,
Johnny Lam
Keep in mind this is my first ever call to action that was initiated without support from anybody else. I received a reply asking for a number to discuss further. Let’s see where this rabbit hole leads to.
I remember last year while perusing through Twitter updates, I found several mentions of the #30daysofbiking event. By the time, I realized what it was, it was in the middle of the month of April. It was too late for me to participate. So this year, by chance, I was perusing Twitter again on April 1st and found the same #30daysofbiking was promoted through-out my part of the Twitterverse (mainly the bicycling part). As a result, I’ve registered myself at the 30 Days of Biking site and making the pledge to ride my bikes for 30 days consecutively in the month of April.
It’s Day 2 now and my latest ride had me cruising through my community of town homes. A pathetic attempt but in the spirit of being on my bike, I had to at least do that. Otherwise, I won’t have the opportunity to do so since I have several events in the evening that will require me to be in a car. The month of April will be a month filled with bicycle related events. The big one being Ciclavia! This will take place on April 10th in which a 7 mile stretch of roads will be opened to bicycle and other human powered activity. The first Ciclavia last October 10th was one of the best times I’ve had on a bike. It brought the city together and made it feel more like a community. This is rare in a city that is dominated by cars where interaction only happens at the start and end of a drive rather than during the trip. I am eager to be riding through the streets of Los Angeles on April 10th.
For now, I need to tend to my stable of bikes. I’d like to include training rides within the next 28 days. There are a pair of brake pads and tires that I need to put on the road bike to begin doing that. Did I tell you I’m doing a charity ride called the Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association on May 1st? I signed up for the century ride which starts at the Long Beach Queen Mary. I’ll be riding through bridges that will be opened for cyclist only on this occasion near the Port of LA. The route will go into San Pedro, Palos Verdes, Long Beach, Seal Beach, and Huntington Beach. It’s going to be my first “race” which will be timed. I can’t wait to do this.
I’ll also have to kick off fundraising efforts for the California Coast Classic for the Arthritis Foundation. You’ll notice I’ll have my donation meter up on the right side of the blog for tracking purpose. Please feel free to click on there to support my ride. I need to raise $3000 to participate. Help a brother out!
The epitome of being a bike geek requires you to own a Surly bike. Ok maybe not, but for me, that marked what a “true” bicyclist should ride. I know its silly to generalize on such things but I can’t help it. I know when I first laid eyes on my first Surly, I had to have one. Surly bikes are not the lightest or the exotic bikes out there. Heck some people may even cringe at the ugly selection of colors available (Robins Egg Blue or Beef Gravy brown). The frames are made of steel. Trusty ole steel. You won’t find a dual-toned color scheme on any of their bikes. No sir. Just a plain solid color. The fact that they stick to something as traditional as steel frame and solid color makes them so much more desirable. Each frame they sell serves a purpose. For example, the Long Haul Trucker was meant to be your base for a touring rig. The Karate Monkey, is your mountain bike. Last but not least, the Cross Check, the cyclo-cross bike.
So when I first saw a Surly I carefully researched which frame I wanted to build my bike from. The obvious choice was the Surly Cross Check. It was the most versatile frame they had. You can build it up as a normal drop bar cyclo-cross bike or you can build it up as a regular grocery getter / “city” bike, or even a single / fixed gear bike if you like. I wanted a city bike. I wanted something I can ride around the city with normal clothes, a front and rear rack, and fenders. What I finally got built was this work of art!
Say hello to my new whip! A custom built Surly Cross Check. This thing is loaded with a whole can of awesomeness! We’re talking about a 8-speed internal geared rear hub, a front dynamo hub with accompanying Busch & Mueller lights, and a chainguard!
Thanks to Jon Raspa & Josef Bray-Ali of the Fliying Pigeon LA bike shop for making this happen. These guys helped me pick out the parts that I wanted and hand built the 36 spoke rims and every component on the bike. I love you guys!
I finally had a chance to edit a quick video of the beginning of my ride from San Francisco to the first checkpoint in Daly City. The video was shot by my sister’s iPhone and my Canon SD870 IS point and shoot camera (which had the time lapse feature). My original plan was to use this to shoot video of the entire trip but due to the fact that the camera drained so much battery, I opted to stop shooting after the first half day and then a video at the end (which I’ll hopefully get to with a photo montage). I know it’s been months since the ride but I’m finally inspired to put something like this up here and share it with the world. Some highlights of the video include me taking off from the starting line and riding through the beautiful city of San Francisco. I then cross the Golden Gate Bridge. I find myself flying down a few hills that brings me to the south coast of the city and eventually make my way up a street in Daly City. There’s an easter egg there if you watch the video all the way until the end. Enjoy!
Wow, it’s been a heck of a while since I last updated this thing. I’ve been spending too much time posting on Facebook (yes, I broke down, started a page, and now I’m an addict) and Twitter. Having an iPhone and being able to quickly comment on things on the go is so nice. Blogging requires some thought into what I want to write about. Even though this post seems a bit random but I have been walking around thinking about what to write about that maybe insightful or even helpful. There are some ideas but I’ll save them for another post. It is 12AM after all on a school night.
But I digress. Happy new year to my few readers out there! The holidays came and went without much fanfare. As I grow older I realize I don’t want as much “stuff” as I once did. I’ve been on a consumption diet as of late. Leo Babauta of ZenHabits wrote a post entitled, “The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents” which I am very much in agreement with his views on what Christmas has become and why I don’t view it innocently like I once did. On my time off (compliments of my new employer) I spent time to reflect on myself. What really matters to me these days. I don’t want stuff to matter. I want experiences and relationships to matter more. Therefore, I’ve told folks I would rather spend money on an experience to enrich a person’s life rather than on something that can eventually break or be forgotten. If you’re reading this and you know me personally, please do not give me any more “stuff”. I would rather you take the money and donate to a fund-raising effort. I’ll take this time to pimp those out: 1. Tour de Cure which is a ride to cure diabetes. 2. CCC ride for the Arthritis Foundation. This will be my second year. The first year was AWESOME!
I’ve also been reading another blog called The Path Less Pedaled which documents the journey of a Long Beach couple, Russ & Laura, who decided to sell all their personal belongings and go on an epic bike ride in 2009. I have been reading their past posts non-stop on my in and out of work. This was when I ride the bus this week. So far I’m at August 2009 where they made it up to Portland, OR and have been cruising around there and are at the state of Washington. Both authors can write so I enjoy reading their recollection and Russ is a photographer so his pictures are amazing! Some are taken from his iPhone and edited on the fly. As I poured through their entries, I am constantly reflecting on my own situation. I don’t think I own as much stuff as they did but it is a considerable amount. I need to start going through my crap and throwing things away. Even though I’m not going anywhere (yet), I’d like to lighten up the possessions. I guess I’m striving for a more simple life. I’ve been striving for a few years now. To try to minimize as much as I can.
Another interesting point in one of Laura’s post mentioned the critical mass of stuff that needed to make a home feel like a home. To fill it up with the right things so that it was more inviting. Since they had to go through this mass cleansing, they found themselves torn apart by their stuff and their overall goal to get out on the road. I have similar sentiments about my current home of 2 years. I’ve be reluctant to furnish the place fully. My bedroom just has a bed and a side table that was given to me by a friend. My living consist of a lounge chair given to me by a friend of my dad and a futon bed given to me by a buddy of mine. Coffee table is something my uncle gave me that was sitting in his garage collecting dust. My rug was bartered for some work I did for a carpet company. I got my tv stand as a present for the gf. I did splurge on the TV. I’m slowly regretting that purchase but can’t bring myself to admit it because everytime I turn it on to watch sports, I am reminded why I “had to have it”. I’m being owned! On the other hand, I’m feeling the pressure to “feather my nest” so that it feels more inviting. I’m so torn.
On another note, I am going to be getting a new bike! The one thing I don’t feel guilty about buying for myself is this custom built Surly Cross Check built by the Flying Pigeon LA guys.
Isn’t she beautiful? Build details will come later when I go pick it up this weekend. It’s missing some lights and a chainguard in this picture.
Finally had the chance to put together 2 video clips that I took while riding out to the Flying Pigeon LA for this month’s Get Sum Dim Sum Ride. The first half was taken with 2 second delay while the second one was on a 1 second delay. I didn’t film the ride back from FPLA but rather started from Home Depot in Burbank. I thought it turned out fine. Can’t wait to do the same for the CCC ride.
Here’s a video of the ride. I can’t wait to take part in this! If you haven’t done so, click on the link to the right to help fight arthritis and guarantee me a spot on the ride. >>>
Believe it or not I participated in my first Critical Mass ride last month on April 30th. I’ve been wanting to take part of this phenomenon every last Friday of the month. So at the end of last month, I was hell bent on making sure it was going to happen.
Initially my sister’s fiancé was going to join but he could not make it. I convinced another co-worker of mine to join. He hasn’t been on a bike for 3 years. I even offered to take his bike in for repairs since I couldn’t figure out how to mount his rear wheels with disc brakes. Here’s a photo of my rig hauling in his.
Luckily he was able to get his ride back on Friday to join me. I was planning on going with or without him. We hopped on the Red line down to Vermont & Wilshire station. From there we got on our bikes and pedaled towards Wilshire & Western. I had a few friends who was meeting for drinks before the ride. Funny thing is the only way these “friends” correspond with me is only through Twitter. I wasn’t able to get an address or even their real phone numbers for that matter. So my co-worker and I made our way to Wilshire / Western where a huge crowd was gathering.
We waited for about 15 minutes at the location while countless numbers of cyclists kept on piling into the northeast corner of the intersection. You can feel the electricity of the crowd who grew more anxious as the minutes ticked down to the 7:30PM departure time. Like clockwork, 7:30 came and the crowd of hundreds of cyclists overtook the intersection and started down the South on Western. That was the last point of reference that I could remember on the ride until we reached about Chinatown later in the evening. I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of bicycles that was on the streets. It kept me from thinking or wondering where the heck I was. I knew in order not to get lost, I had to keep up with the “pack”. I also kept on thinking how drivers were perceiving us. We got lots of supporting honks and woohoo early on the ride but towards the end, I thought there were honks of disdain (it could just be me worrying about what others perceived). I also kept a conscious effort of not being at the end of the pack or at the side. I made sure my buddy knew the same rules of survival.
The route that was taken took us through parts of Los Angeles neighborhoods that I definitely would never find myself riding at that time of night by myself. We were flying through the infamous Skid Row where transients were hooting and hollering at us. We eventually made it through one of those iconic bridges that you see in such films like “Training Day”. Amazingly enough, I bumped into @danceralamode right before the bridge. We chatted while we climbed pass the fixie kids who were struggling up the bridge. We even saw a wedding photo shoot in progress on the bridge. Of all the nights and all the bridges, their photo shoot was interrupted by a Critical Mass ride. The descend down the bridge was brisk and we found ourselves in the city of Boyle Heights. That’s where the events of the night took a negative turn.
Let’s just say a motorist and some cyclists got acquainted. I didn’t get any details of what happened but I made sure I was not anywhere near. Around that time, I run into @jeremy310 and lost @danceralamode in the shuffle. We reconnected just in time before the mass made their way down the street and in a park. From there I lost all my twitter pals and my co-worker. After a few calls I reconnected with my co-worker. We held our position at the park for about 30 minutes before the ride started up again. And just like that, the events from about an hour ago was a thing of the past. The swarm made their way through USC medical center and eventually through Union Station and into Chinatown like I mentioned earlier.
You could tell that some folks were getting tired. The crowd started to thin out as I presumed some people dropped out to rest or go on their own merry way home. We darted through Chinatown into downtown LA. Eventually we made it into Echo Park onto Sunset. On Sunset, we encountered furious head-wind and a tedious uphill climb into Hollywood. From there the group was thinning out. Only the few fixie riders kept up while others slowly paced themselves through the street. Even though I was starved, I kept my pace with the head of the pack. We finally reached Sunset and Western where the ride ended. From there I reconnected with @danceralamode. I waited for my co-worker but got a call from him that he was about 2-3 miles behind and was going to jump on the train home. I completely understood. Being on his first ride in years and have him ride 20+ miles in a night is too much to ask for. We bid farewell.
After a few back-and-forth cellphone conversations, @danceralamode got a hold of her friend. As it turns out, it was @GraphikDeziner who I’ve been following on Twitter but finally got to finally meet her in person for the first time that night. She had a friend join her and the 4 of us made our way to Dennys for some after-ride-grubbing while the remaining massers started on the People’s Ride. I enjoyed the company and meal while I kept an eye on the time to make sure I don’t miss the last train home. We eventually went our separate ways. I was lucky to catch the last Gold Line train home and strolled home with 39 miles of riding that day. I forgot to mentioned I had to rode back from Montrose into work that morning after a doctor’s appointment so I was beat!
It is so refreshing to have these adventures in my life. I wouldn’t want to trade this for anything.
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