Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Passage of a Few People Through a Rather Brief Moment in Time

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I know, it sounds like the title to a science fiction short story in the New Yorker, but this is a bike ride that explores the nooks, crannies and less traveled paths of Los Angeles. From their website:

One or more persons during a certain period drop their usual motives for movement and action, their relations, their work and leisure activities, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there.

It's a bike ride.

Organized by The Royal Academy and Nathan Snider.

It meets every Wednesday at 8:30pm at California Donuts #21,
at the corner of 3rd & New Hampshire, in Los Angeles, CA.
We ride at 9pm.
We endeavor to return before the last red line trains
(around midnight).



Last night, Michael and I rode the Passage Ride from K-Town to South LA to Hawthorne to Manhattan Beach to El Segundo back to South LA and then K-Town.

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In all, about 4 hours of riding totaling 40 miles, give or take a mile.

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The ride organizers do a great job selecting routes that are interesting and fun to ride.

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I was especially impressed with the use of freshly resurfaced residential streets that were still smooth and free of potholes.

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Plus there's a sound system playing everything from Bill Monroe to the Muppets, quite a departure from the soundtrack of my spin class!

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We also rode thru a couple parks, climbed a stair case a la cyclocross and rode down a walk street to the Manhattan Beach Pier.

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If all you know about group rides is Critical Mass, and you're eager to explore a bit more than the major arteries of L.A., I highly recommend trying out the Passage Ride.

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You're guaranteed to see parts of the city you've never seen, or see them in a new light, and this is coming from a native Angeleno.

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Also, did I mention there's piping hot victory donuts at the end?

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Ride On!

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