The Bike Disease

My obsession with the bicycle which I commonly refer to as "the bike disease" has now taken on a new strain. Apparently just commuting nearly every day on the fixed beast wasn't enough for me. Now I'm set on donning the spandex and learning how to race too. Of course, that meant acquiring a new (to me) bike. It's a beautiful celeste green Bianchi Campione road bike that's roughly 15 years old. It's not as light and fast as the new carbon bikes with top grade components, but it should be good enough to get me started.

I'm going to start training with Team C.I.C.L.E. as much as possible and hopefully I can start getting into some actual events soon. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to brave the "Montrose Ride." I feel like I've already come a long way fitness wise just from commuting all the time and crushing those Los Feliz hills with just the one gear at my disposal, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up better than I did on my humbling attempt at the Wolfpack Hustle last week. I got dropped like a bad habit around mile 6, and limped home with my tail between my legs. Now that I've worked out the bottom bracket issues on the Bianchi, I should be able to bring it next time and make a better showing. I hope.

C.I.C.L.E. - Explore the Urban Forest

So I just finished editing and scoring my video of the last C.I.C.L.E. Urban Ex ride. The ride was a great success despite the August-like blistering temps. Check it Out!

CICLE Urban Forest Expedition by James OToole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Rising Gas you Say? Bring It On!

With the risk of sounding way to pleased with myself, I must say that all of this talk of rising gas prices is having the exact opposite effect on me than it appears to be having on the majority of my fellow Americans. I'm down to driving one day a week in "the Beast," and while we still take Tam's Mariner on the occasional jaunt, I spend very little time behind the wheel these days. U-oh, SMUG ALERT!!

Oh well, I just don't care if it sounds snooty. Bring on the high gas prices! Sure I might have to pay a little more at the grocery store, but all the more reason to but locally anyway. And if getting the squeeze at the pump is what it's going to take to get people to realize that our dependence on oil is one of the biggest problems we face, and that WE have to take that knowledge and DO SOMETHING about it, then so be it!

Yes, there are alternatives to traveling by car.  Yes, even in L.A. And guess what? You don't have to be an Olympic athlete to use a bike as major source of transportation. Just educate yourself and get on that saddle. The rest will take care of itself.

A Day Inside The Concrete Crater

Last Saturday was the Los Angeles leg of the Velocity 2008 Tour. I had the pleasure of attending my first track racing event, and two words best sum up the day. Hot and Inspiring.

Yes, it was a scorcher that day. Temps were at least in the upper nineties, and without a whole lot of shade to go around at the Encino Velodrome, it felt even hotter most of the time. But what am I complaining about? The racers are the ones who actually had to compete in that furnace!

I had a nice ride out from Hollywood. I took the Red Line to North Hollywood, then took my first trip on the Chandler Bikeway that runs alongside the Orange Line Busway. I have mixed emotions about the path as a whole. It's great to have a fully dedicated bike path that takes you out of traffic (most of the time). But as with virtually every other bike related piece of infrastructure in this city, oh are there ever flaws galore. But that's for another post.

I arrived at the race a little early, so I spent a while roasting, reading and watching the competitors steadily arrive over the course of the morning. Unfortunately, it looks like the "concrete crater" has seen better days. The track itself looks to be in good shape, but the grandstands are fallig apart. It's all splintering wood and peeling paint. I'd love to get involved in some fundraising to spruce the place up. For now, I just bought a $10 t-shirt.

Once the races started, I was glued to the track. The speed, the power, the blistering heat. It was a lot of fun to watch, and I found myself saying, "I gotta do this!" So I'm going to try to make it to one of the open training sessions at the Velodrome, which are held every Wednesday.


You can check out all of the pics here. I'll post some video soon too.

Did someone say more rides?

So in a weekend already packed full of bike mania, there is yet another ride to choose from! The Glo-Ride is being held in honor of Mark A. Nealy, a cyclist who passed away after a battle with cancer last month. Riders are asked to bring "glow sticks, led lights, E.L. Wire, x-mas lights, or whatever you can think of to make us "Glo" like he did for us." I didn't know Mark personally, but this is an opportunity to pay homage to someone who clearly meant a lot to the cycling community, so it will be a priority to be there.

So it looks like the preferred Friday ticket should be: Blade Runner Alleycat at 7:30pm, followed by the Glo-Ride at 10:00 pm.

It's only Thursday and this weekend is already ruling big-time.

Bikesplosion Weekend!!

There's so much going this weekend in the land of bike!

Friday night is the Blade Runner Alleycat downtown. I'm going to head down there and cover as much as humanly possible with my camera(s).

Saturday is the Velocity Tour track races at the Encino Velorome. Once again, I'll soaking it all up and promise to share it all here.

Sunday is the Heliotrope Village Block Party and I'm going to try to be there, schedule be damned!

Get more details on times, fees and adult beverage related inquiries at Swarm.

Hope to see lots of cyclists out there doing our thing. No, not THAT thing. You know, the other thing.

Goose Xing

On my way to Highland Park from Burbank yesterday, racing against rain that never really came, I encountered a new brand of pedestrian. Geese!

I've seen all kinds of wildlife IN the river, but rarely if ever, do I see any critters actually venture up ON to the bike path. Of course, being a photo dork, I had to stop and snap some pics. Little did I know that these jaded little Goose celebs were NOT into any paparazzi action. I received a few hisses, followed by some lunges, which was all I needed to just get back on my bike and be on my way.
I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for offending the the local goose population along the river, and promise that next time I come across any fine feathered friends in my bicycle travels, I'll just ring the damn bell and keep on pedalling.