Comments (2)

By Johnny, December 11, 2009 12:54 am

On December 6th, I set out to help the LA Greensters on a toy ride for the St. Anne’s Women & Children Social Services Organization. The organization has been around for 100 years and are helping young mothers become self sufficient single parent. Our ride started out at the Vermont and Santa Monica Redline Metro station. Jeremy, our ride coordinator, graciously provided participants (and some passersby) homemade tomato and cheese pizza on the back of his Xtracycle. I got there early to talk to Jeremy about our bike camping trip after Christmas. This event attracted a few fixed gear riders who just happened to be in the neighborhood and wanted to join in on the action.

Jeremy already brought along 2 huge B.O.B. bags worth of toys and dental hygiene packages. His load was definitely something to be amazed about. I believe he said that the load was about 80lbs. He rode with the load like a pro and at times cutting it really close to parked cars as we casually meandered down Santa Monica Blvd. There were about 15 riders, 3 of which were Xtracycles. I was hauling my Timbuk2 bag, my 2 wooden dinosaur toy, and some beverages in my Xtracycle. We rode out to the 99 cent store to pick up some more toys for the kids.

At the store all of us cyclists easily found spots to park our bikes. Some of us went in to shop while others opted to stand guard our bikes while we were away. I picked up a few more gifts, notably hula hoops and a huge pen. While we were waiting outside of the parking lot, we were witnessing mayhem in the 99 cent store parking lot. People were honking. They were angry and frustrated while we watched on. It just didn’t make sense why they were in such a bad mood for a quick trip to the store. Come on, get on your bikes and you can leave all this BS behind. The still don’t get it.

Eventually, we regrouped and rode East toward St. Anne’s. It was a mellow ride as we navigated through side streets and hills through-out Los Angeles. We finally made it our at St. Anne’s parking lot at 4:30. We were greeted by the gracious staff there who were happy to see the amount of riders come through hauling toys. We all eventually unloaded our loot on a cart / dolly. A few folks toured the facility as we talked it up about what they did at St. Anne’s. We snapped a few photos before everyone decided to head back to where we started. I followed the group until a minor incident with a harassing motorist separated us from the main group. As temper settled, we bravely joined traffic back on Vermont. We once again separated by a traffic light and I was riding with Aubrey Provost, the 8th Council District representative who had hosted the previous Crenshaw Crush ride. We soon met up with the rest of the group at the train station, said our good byes and left for home. On my way home, I was assured by 2 fellow riders, Mark & Dale that my newly purchased warning triangle is doing it’s job!

Comments (3)

By Johnny, September 30, 2009 12:42 pm

As mentioned earlier, I was planning on attending the first Crenshaw Crush ride on September 27, 2009. I got up early Sunday morning to prep for the ride. Had to pump my tires and get my stuff together for the journey down to Leimert Park. Rode out to the North Hollywood station and took the train down to Hollywood / Vine stop. Got on the 210 bus line with the bike. It was the first time I ever used the front bicycle racks on a bus. Fairly straight forward and easy to use. The bus driver was patient. I’m think it’s because of the fact that it was a Sunday and not alot of people was using mass transit.

As soon as I get on, we pass Sunset and Vine, we see 2 guys getting into a fist fight on the sidewalk. They were still arguing and just as the bus started to leave, the fists started to fly. Obviously, I didn’t know how that was resolved. Interesting start to the morning to say the least.

The bus made it to Vernon and Crenshaw and I made my way to meet with the group. Finally had a chance to meet Jeremy and Ron who are LA Greensters who was going to lead our ride. I’ve been following Jeremy’s blog for a few months now and realized I’ve been following Ron’s blog as well. I also met Stephen who runs the SoapBoxLA blog as well as Enci who is an actress and director of the upcoming film, “At What Cost”.

For the sake of not being repetitive I am not going to do a ride report. A more comprehensive ride report can be found here on the LA Streets Blog. This covers all our stops and activities as well as historical background is detailed in the ride report. I can say I had a fantastic time riding through the neighborhood and experiencing it at a different point of view. Met very interesting people and was treated to some snacks on the way.

After the 21 mile ride, we made our way back to Leimert Park to take pictures and celebrate. I actually head back up towards Venice Blvd and San Vicente with Jeff (don’t know his last name). He was helpful in pointing me out on where to go since I was heading to a friend’s place.

Click on the picture above to see the photos of the ride.

Comments (0)

By Johnny, September 26, 2009 8:06 pm

• Crenshaw Crush ride
• LAGREENSTERS.com
• South Los Angeles, CA
• photo by Jeremy Grant
• editorial use allowed with credit
• contact jeremygrant.com

I’m going to be there tomorrow morning for this ride. Hope to take some pictures and learn about South LA.