Vicious Cycling

Struggling to ride on two wheels in a four-wheel city.
by Laura Hauther
photos by Meagan Yellott

Every second Friday night of the month, a kinetic storm gathers at the corner of Echo Park St. and Sunset Blvd. Street lights bounce off bike spokes like lightning bolts. A motley crew of bicyclists jam into the parking lot of Pioneer Chicken, sprint down the aisles of the House of Spirits liquor store, and spill recklessly into the busy street. Some just sit atop their bikes-shiny, expensive bikes, thrift store bikes, racing bikes, street bikes, mountain bikes, chopper bikes and bikes tricked-out in unimaginable ways. Their riders are activists, athletes, weekend warriors, hipsters and partiers, first-timers and devoted returnees. They are Midnight Ridazz.

The night rides are often themed-plush dresses and pressed tuxes for Prom night, all white for cult night, Jason masks and make-up gore for Friday the 13th-but tonight the ride is celebratory without getups. 600 bikers converge in high spirits for a ride through the L.A. streets that marks the second anniversary of Midnight Ridazz.

In the early days of the event, 20 or 30 cyclists was considered a good turnout, but as Angelenos discover urban biking the numbers are snowballing, fast. Last June, Los Angeles hosted the annual Bike Summer-a month long celebration of two-wheeled transportation that tours the world-swinging a spotlight on the undeniable, burgeoning bicycle culture here in L.A., the city that loves to drive.

Ride It Like You Stole It

Nationally, the downgrade of many commuters from four to two wheels is impressive. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, bikes out-sold cars in 2005, the first time since the 1970s. Nearly 87 million Americans reported using a bicycle for their commute to work. L.A., for once, is not behind the trend. “More people are showing up at Midnight Ridazz or any other bike event,” says Kastle Lund, president of the L.A. Bike Coalition. “I think that in Central L.A. we saw a huge increase this year in cycling because of Bike Summer. What it was all about is explaining to people that biking is fun, biking is safe. You can do this.”

Tonight’s victory lap-the anniversary ride-kicks off as organizers pass out souvenir spoke cards and directions (no one but the “curators” know the route until darkness strikes). As more riders pull up from every direction, the energy rises. Boomboxes blast from handlebar baskets, flasks come out, as do hand-pumps and wrenches of all sizes. It’s a house party on wheels, but beyond the blabber there is a serious message inherent in the ride: bikes don’t block traffic, they are traffic.

A serious road bike warrior lets out a whoop and a holler, makes a U-turn through the crowd and says, “Let’s go, follow me!” Like that, they’re off and Sunset Blvd. morphs into a giant bike lane.

Midnight Ridazz traverses every corner of L.A. Some rides are Hollywood-heavy; others tour Downtown. The anniversary ride shot through Silver Lake with its headlamp set on the Glendale Galleria parking structure. Reactions from drivers and pedestrians vary every month, but are usually either open mouth amazement or raised fist support. At traffic lights, organizers stop in front of cars so the entire group can get through an intersection if necessary, pissing off some drivers while others just stare in shock at the sea of red blinking safety lights flowing by.

For Somerset Waters, a Midnite Ridazz organizer, fun is a major selling point, “In the political scene, it’s easy to take ourselves too seriously and that’s not going to change any minds. Seeing people riding with smiles, having fun…that’s the kind of diplomacy we’re going for.”

San Francisco’s Critical Mass is the granddaddy of all the mass bike rides. It all started over 10 years ago when bikers, tired of being treated like a nuisance, decided to gather in the hundreds to take over the streets once a month to get drivers’ attentions and deliver the message: Bikes are vehicles and they should be treated as vehicles. More militant in attitude than the Ridazz, their style has, at times, been rather aggressive toward drivers. L.A.’s Ridazz, however, believe you can make the point while having fun and riding with a smile.

Iron Chefs

Like any machine, bikes break down, but compared to a car they’re easy and cheap to fix. Bikers in the East Hollywood area are lucky to have the Bike Kitchen right around the corner-a non-profit bike advocacy center, repair shop and social club.

Here’s how it works: For $7 an hour you get your own personal “cook” who will take you step by step through changing a tire, replacing a chain, fixing the brakes or even building an entire bike from used parts. The place is stuffed with bike guts. There are whole filing cabinets full of recycled bike chains, trash cans full of tires and tubes, bike carcasses hanging from the ceiling and used bikes of every shape, size and condition lined up on the sidewalk out front. If something needs replacing, recycled parts are free, and if the right parts aren’t at hand, improvising is encouraged.

Bike stands (the bike version of a car lift) also go for $7 an hour if you have the skills to go it alone, but no one is turned away for lack of funds. And for those people for whom bikes are a way of life, annual memberships are offered as well, where $70 gets you unlimited stand time and the $100 deluxe membership includes discounts on gear. It’s a bargain either way and every penny goes toward the Kitchen’s bare necessities: rent, utilities, tools. (The Kitchen is run entirely by volunteers.)

The Bicycle Kitchen started about four years ago in (what else?) a kitchen. Almost two years ago they moved into their own shop on Heliotrope near LACC. It’s a perfect spot for the Kitchen-a quiet street off of Melrose next to a little café, FAKE art gallery is right around the corner, as is noise den Il Corral, a couple of interesting ethnic restaurants, a headshop across the street, and other storefronts that haven’t yet acquired the slick varnish of gentrification. Since the move to the new space, things have gotten a bit more organized and structured from the days of hanging out and fixing bikes while downing pizza and beer. There are regular hours. Just recently they started offering classes in “Wheel Building” and “Basic and Advanced Wrenching” (otherwise known as bike repair). The organization has become so legit that the Durfee Foundation recently offered them a $10,000 grant to keep the Kitchen (ahem) rolling.

The grant was also well-deserved recognition of the important work the Kitchen does over and above mechanics. Jimmy Lizama-one of the Kitchen’s founders-gets frustrated when people think of the Kitchen’s work only in terms of helping the environment. “We’re using bikes as a way to solve social problems. We’re also creating a community here.”

Frederico Tobon-a 27 year old Bicycle Kitchen cook-thinks of the bike culture as a network as well. “The Kitchen functions as a node in the network, a place where informational lines intersect. So even though we mostly specialize in mechanical stuff, we share all kinds of information here.”

Tobon’s conversion to the bike-only lifestyle happened when he moved here from Colombia and couldn’t afford a car. By the time he could, he didn’t want one. Instead, he became a devotee of the fixed gear bike. Fixed gears are stripped-down bikes with no cables or controls of any kind, including brakes. The rider decides which gear is right-loose enough to get up hills and tight enough to allow enough control to stop easily. The speed is set entirely by the rider through the pedals, there’s no coasting on a fixed gear.

“I feel more connected to the bike, I’m forced to be very aware of everything going on around me so I can easily flow with the traffic,” Tobon says. Even after talking about how fixed gears were declared illegal in Holland after a safety study found their braking ability inadequate, he insists he feels safer on his fixed gear.

There’s actually a bit of (not-so-serious) controversy around the subject. Some bikers think riding fixed gears is just a trend started by people trying to emulate bike messengers-considered the toughest of the hardcore bikers. Definitely only for the experienced rider, fixed gear bikes have found a following among avid cyclists.

In Tobon’s work as an electrician, he and his boss haul all their gear by bike. Ladders, tools, everything goes on the back of the bike or a specially designed bike trailer. In the back of the Kitchen, Tobon points out an unusual bike designed to carry heavy or bulky loads called an SUB-or Sport Utility Bicycle. A company called Xtracycle builds them, promising they’ll haul “any combination of surfboards, chainsaws and jell-o cakes” you might need to get from point A to point B. Designed by bike lovers to make life easier for the car-less, it has two big saddlebags around the back tire and a platform on top of it. It can even accommodate a passenger comfortably. Not surprisingly, the bike also carries a pretty heavy price tag of $700 to $1,000. But the mechanically inclined can purchase DIY conversion kits for $224 to $400.

The Bicycle Kitchen is an example of-much like the bikes they help make-a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. The more established they become, the goal turns to establishing things like the Earn-A-Bike program that offers neighborhood children a chance to build a bike of their own. The kids are required to put in a number of hours learning bicycle maintenance and working on donated bikes until they learn enough to care for and repair bikes themselves. And for the ladies, there’s Bicycle Bitchen every Monday night-a time for the female cooks to work with women, teaching them how to fix-up and trick-out the bike of their dreams. About a third of the cooks and a quarter of the patrons are women, but Emily Ramsey-one of the Bitchen night hosts-believes women-only workshop times are more welcoming for newbies.

“The idea is to create a space for women coming down for the first time to feel comfortable getting down and dirty… in an atmosphere that’s not intimidating,” says Ramsey. “It’s not about being exclusionary.”

The Kitchen’s such a hit it has inspired a spin-off: Nestled in the heart of Highland Park, not far from Mr. T’s Bowl, the East L.A. Bike Oven opens its doors every Wednesday night, offering free boxed wine, pan dulce and DIY bike repair.

The Hackers

Every scene has its hackers, and the L.A. bike scene is no different. There’s no end to what some people will do to a bike when they get their hands on a welder. Like the aptly named “tall bike,” created by sticking two frames together, one on top of the other so the rider is about 7 feet off the ground. To quote Paul de Verla, an experienced tall bike rider: “These bikes are very fun and draw a lot of attention to the rider; they also hurt a lot when you fall off them.” Hard to argue with that.

De Verla founded the Choppercabras Horrorcycle Club, a chopper bike club that’s spawned chapters all over the country. A visit to the Choppercabras website yields a pretty thorough introduction to the weird and wonderful world of the hacked bike, with plenty of links to Frankenbike-style clubs from New York to Portland. They stretch the limits of the term “bicycle” by building pedal-powered machines ranging from the stylish to the strange.

Among the Choppercabra’s creations is the “chopper” bike, which is just what it sounds like: the handlebars and front forks are extended to Easy Rider length (though its hard to picture Peter Fonda pedaling one). These tricked-out bikes are notoriously difficult to ride, but aficionados are as passionate about them as their low-riding automotive counterparts.

For the less adventurous, there’s the cruiser-a mellow variant of the chopper with a frame that’s been stretched out and lowered, perfect for when you’re in the mood for taking it easy.

Then there’s a unique creation called the Squirrel-a bike with a back wheel that can swivel like a front wheel, making it capable of almost right-angle turns. Living up to its name, a bike like this has a very steep learning curve.

Possessed of seemingly boundless energy and a really bad attitude (just pick up a copy of his Chicken-Head Records Zine) Choppercabras’ de Verla is such a devotee of the bicycle that he quit his day job to open his own shop, Atomic Cycles. Because his mission in life is to get your ass on a bicycle seat and riding, he takes mostly used bikes, fixes them up himself and sells them for as little as $45.

But you’ll find no preaching about the purity of the biker lifestyle from de Verla. “Bikes are my passion, that’s why I ride. For me it’s not political, it’s not about the environment-I own four cars-I just love to ride.”

But what good’s a hacked bike if you can’t show it off? The Choppercabras put on annual events where all comers are welcome to participate in either the Battle Royale (tall bike jousting fights) or the demolition derby (using bikes with cowcatchers welded on to the front fenders). Some things to remember if you’re thinking of joining in: There are no rules. Blood is drawn. Play at your own risk.

“Fuck your Schwinn, Copper!”

Even outside of official competition, there’s some serious risk involved in urban cycling-a fact which the authorities are well aware of. When cops see 600 very loud and rowdy Midnight Ridazz rolling down the road at 11:30 on a Friday night, they get nervous. So nervous, in fact, that the anniversary event warranted a fly-over by a police helicopter and an escort out of Glendale. But the reaction could’ve been much worse; in other cities group bike rides have ended in mass arrests and ongoing animosity with law enforcement.

In August 2004, a Critical Mass in New York City ended in hundreds of arrests, as the NYPD scooped up participants. But last month, a New York City Criminal Court found the permit law and the subsequent arrests of Critical Mass riders unconstitutional. The battle plays out differently in every city that hosts a Critical Mass event.

Lund of the L.A. Bike Coalition confirms that police don’t look too kindly on bikers in general. “If there’s an accident, the police will almost always write up a car-bicycle accident as ‘NO fault,’ even if the car was clearly at fault. Their attitude is, ‘You’re crazy for being on the road with a bike to begin with.’” And that’s not the worst part; the proposed fine for killing a cyclist with a car is a paltry $250. The police/biker dynamic has become a big enough problem that the coalition is proposing a study to survey accident reports and police attitudes toward bikers with the ultimate goal of educating police about street bikers.

The coalition is also working with city governments in and around Los Angeles developing Bicycle Master Plans that will ensure all transportation projects include accommodations for the growing number of bikers. So far, 10 cities have adopted the plans, hoping to make bicycling an everyday part of getting around L.A.

Musician and activist Aurisha Smolarski is garnering support for a simpler, more immediate improvement: bike-friendly street signs called “sharrows” designed to remind drivers of their obligation to share the road and to help bikers avoid getting “doored” by riding too close to parked cars (one of the most common bike accidents). “We’re at the very beginning stages; we’re going to different communities for input to figure out the best place to start a pilot program,” says Smolarski. “We want to start with five routes and then, hopefully, get them set up all over Los Angeles.”

Not all bikers like the idea of sharrows. Detractors fear it could be a step toward segregating and restricting bikers, and since bikes are already allowed full use of the lane, certain cyclists feel it’s unnecessary. Advocates believe they are an inexpensive and easy way to increase safety and reduce road rage incidents without swimming through the sea of red tape necessary for implementing bike lanes.

The other option is the method of Vehicular Cycling-treating a bicycle as a form of transportation equal to motorized vehicles, with the same rights and responsibilities. These bikers follow the same rules as drivers: fully stopping at all stop signs and traffic signals, using the full lane of the road instead of bike lanes. Vehicular Cyclists believe this gives them greater visibility, making it more likely drivers will treat them with consideration and respect on the road. Using side streets is one of the best ways to avoid traffic, stay safe and have a less stressful ride. Bikers often share info on the best scenic back routes or alternatives to the more congested city streets, routes that drivers would eschew because of slow speed limits and numerous stop signs .

Once familiar with these back routes, getting through town can be surprisingly quick and easy, says Adam Brisben, a musician living in Silver Lake. His co-workers thought he was crazy for biking the 14 miles to his job in Santa Monica until the day his co-worker left the parking lot the same times he did. “We arrived at the same time at the off-ramp on Silverlake Blvd.,” says Brisben. “When he spotted me riding by, his mouth just hung open, he couldn’t believe we made it at the same time.”

But the bike does not always win.

That Friday, as the Ridazz coasted down Sunset, past the starting point and on toward Elysian Park, a wail of sirens sprung from the back of the parade. An ambulance and a fire truck sped along the wrong side of the street, lights ablaze. Cries of “Sidewalk!” bounced up the line. Some cyclists braked to a halt, and more than a couple took rear-ended hits from bikers behind them.

The corner of Echo Park and Sunset, already glowing from its large orange mural, became a snarled intersection of danger disco lights. A car sat in the crosswalk, unmanned, doors open, directly in front of an upturned bicycle. Ridazz piled around to watch a fellow biker be dressed in a body splint and rolled on a stretcher into the ambulance. EMTs on the scene said the biker was alive, conscious and talking. No serious injuries were sustained.

The bike crowd dispersed as they came, pedaling in different directions toward home, along the smooth, well-lit bike trails and empty streets of L.A. LAA