the passage ride (Los Angeles)

[onsight512]

has anyone here done one of these? what'd you think?

http://www.thepassageride.com

[beeatnik]

I try to make it out once a month. It's wacky fun. But it can be the hardest no-drop ride you'll ever do.

[onsight512]

any particular type of bike/tires you'd recommend/not recommend?

[beeatnik]

They recommend cross bikes but I've done the ride on every bike I own. On the ride you'll see Surly touring rigs, a few race bikes, one or two cross bikes, a couple of track bikes, a sprinkling of mountain bikes and many old steel commuters. Sign up for the mailing list where they'll offer bare info on the route. Two things to look for: stairs and off-road sections. If they mention either, bring a bike with crazy low gearing and use spd or platform pedals. The ride can involve a lot of walking and even some fence jumping. Here's a typical email:

Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Departing from California Donuts #21 at 9pm

Some Canadians recently referred to the Passage ride as "off-piste." Had to look that one up, honestly -- it's a skiing term for venturing off-trail -- but we must agree that it does rather fit. Good job, Canadians! While, okay, it's true that we only rarely go off any sort of trail whatsoever (though we sometimes do that too; let's not forget the Poison Oak Incident of 2014), we do of course seek out those trails and passageways that would probably not normally make it into a typical cycling route. A skier would probably consider going down some stairs as "off-piste." Why can't we?

So this week's ride goes off-piste in that less literal, less "open land" way: no bush-whacking, but a dirt trail or two, some stairs, maybe a couple other little things. Nothing too crazy. If you prefer nice, smooth road, you may only be mildly piste off.

(~15 miles; some short hills and some off-roading, sometimes together; some stairs)

[bloody sunday]

I try to make it out once a month. It's wacky fun. But it can be the hardest no-drop ride you'll ever do.

hard because they're fast, or because it's off the beaten path? Or none of the above?

[onsight512]

thanks for the info. i signed up for the list a couple weeks ago, but haven't made a ride yet. hoping to get out of work in time this wednesday night.

[beeatnik]

hard because they're fast, or because it's off the beaten path? Or none of the above?

off the beaten path. it wears me down since I always expect it to be easy but throw in one or two sections of single track or 20% climbs and I end up bonking psychologically. the pace is moderate but with all the changes of direction and riding through the urban jungle, the average speed always seems to be around 11-12mph. the longer nites go until 1 or 2am. it's a great way to see LA and participate in a type of conceptual urban performance art spectacle.

[beeatnik]

SPRAWLING ALL ANGELS

Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Departing from California Donuts #21 at 9pm

It is easy to look at vintage maps and romanticize the Pacific Electric "red car" trolley system that spread out over the Los Angeles area in the early part of the last century. Its fingers stretched in seemingly every direction, from Chatsworth and San Fernando to Santa Ana and Newport Beach, from Santa Monica and Venice all the way out to San Bernardino and beyond. It even climbed up Mt. Lowe! One compares the current rail transit system and, well, it makes one sad.

And, if the Roger Rabbit story -- of a trolley paradise being torn up by evil Christopher Lloyd and his Cloverleaf corporation so they could build freeways -- were the whole story, we would indeed be fully justified in our sadness. But, not surprisingly, the truth is a little more complicated than the cartoon. And though we tend to think of the endless sprawl of our area as a result of the freeways, it was actually those idyllic trolleys themselves that were a major early catalyst for it. Rather than a public good meant to serve the far-flung, the trolley system was largely built as a rather cynical loss leader by real estate interests to do the flinging. And once the land was fully developed and the houses sold, well, who cares if those trolleys are maintained or efficient? (Certainly not the real estate guys.) We morn their loss in retrospect, but relatively few did at the time.

Which isn't to say the city shouldn't have taken it all over and modernized it, streamlining the system where sensible, expanding it where possible. Instead, we got buses. And while buses have their advantages, it is just not the same.

Yet now our present rail system -- though not nearly as wide as before, and having far fewer fingers and destinations -- with new extensions opening up, a system is shaping up that again stretches far and wide. This is due in no small part to the fact that Metro is a county-wide agency and every district wants their piece of the pie. So the system sprawls out in the manner the red cars did (rather than their cousins, the "yellow cars" of the Los Angeles Railway, which densely served the central city). The new rails chase the sprawl that the old rails helped create.

So this week, as you by now no doubt surmised, we too venture out into the sprawl, taking advantage of some of that new rail. We will expand our normal Wednesday night territory, cover some new ground. Whatever happens, let's hope we can avoid the dip.

(A lot of details, so more than just a quick parenthetical:

- ~30 miles of riding and a stretch on the Gold Line
- Not much in the way of climbing
- But a fair amount of off-roading, some of which we should do in stealth mode (so, if you are uncomfortable with that, this might not be the week for you)
- A couple short, steep, loose, rocky inclines to scamper up/down
- We'll ride from the donut shop to Chinatown to catch the Gold Line
- If you want to meet us there, our ETA is ~9:30 (we might be later, but we won't wait)
- Between the distance and the time on the train, expect this to sprawl temporally as well (don't complain that you were not warned!)

[beeatnik]

The alleys of Beverly Hills take their vengeance:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8798/28150330824_59a72d19bf_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8889/28150331304_c531535fb2_z.jpg

[onsight512]

yowza! what happened there?

[cinema]

i've never seen this but would like to try it!

[beeatnik]

yowza! what happened there?

Rider rolled over a small branch and a part of it got caught in the wheel. Locked the wheel, tore off a few spokes and sheared off half the fork.