Southern California - Midnight Ridazz swarms the pier

just thought some of you might be interested to know that Friday Sept. 8th the MIdnight Ridazz are hitting the santa monica pier. I'm really bummed I'll be out of town, I've been wanting a westside Ridazz for awhile. This ones a little different in that theres a couple different meeting points and everyone ends at the pier. If you've never done a Midnight Ridazz you really should check it out(the last couple have had over 1000 ridazz).
www.midnightridazz.com
also- Santa Monica Critical Mass is the first friday of the month, it's a fun one too, i will be making it for this one.

Worth considering. Thanks for the announcement.

I don't know about riding in the middle of the night pi$$ing motorists off. The ride itself and the people could be fun if you're into that sort of thing. I've done a couple of these rides in the past. I happen to live very close to where they meet so I see this crowd every second Friday of each month.

the I happen to live very close to where they meet so I see this crowd every second Friday of each month.
you'll probably be happy to know they have decided to have a different meeting point each month.(and more than just one official ride per month too.)
i just like having more options for fun on bikes with other people than pretending to race around in lycra (although i do that a lot too and love it!).
as for pissing off drivers, theres a push to make these rides less confrontational and more law obeying, a good thing for everyone. i think if rides like this get more people on bikes and out of their houses and cars it' a good thing(and i know it does, my interaction with drivers on the midnight ridz usually involves answering their questions about how they can join in and get more information)
we ARE traffic.

Nice!

I always wanted to go, but I have no car and I don't feel like riding to Echo Park (eew).

Not so much into CM tough. Most of the people there are nice, but there are always some ******* punks ruining the fun.

Nice!

I always wanted to go, but I have no car and I don't feel like riding to Echo Park (eew).

Not so much into CM tough. Most of the people there are nice, but there are always some ******* punks ruining the fun.
there's a group meeting at trader joes in culver city at 10:30, which i think is your hood. i'm bummed i'm gonna miss it, it'd be cool to meet up.
i've done the ride to echo park from culver city before. it was actually pretty fun, took about 40 minutes. i was solo and there was a couple neighborhoods coming home at like 1:00 am that i was glad i didn't flat in!

...... Echo Park (eew).


Hey, I live in Echo Park!.....(in the hills, above the ghetto)....:p:D

Just kidding :)

Yep, unless something extrodinary happens, I'll be at the Trader Joes.

Will there be alchohol involved? There better be.

Will there be alchohol involved? There better be.
you'll have a great time.

Will there be alchohol involved? There better be.

Just stick with the hipsters and you'll definitely have a good time...:p

Hi all. I'm new to this site, but not to Ridazz. It's always been fun. I can't make it this month but am curious on the new approach. If you make it, please post a review.

Now, my question is...who can think drinking and riding is a good idea?

I don't know about riding in the middle of the night pi$$ing motorists off. The ride itself and the people could be fun if you're into that sort of thing. I've done a couple of these rides in the past. I happen to live very close to where they meet so I see this crowd every second Friday of each month.

On second thought, I'm thinking about doing this ride as I won't be able to do my usual Sat early morning ride due to a prior commitment. Besides, riding with a crowd late at night is a nice change...:)

I think I'm going too :)

I think I'm going too :)

Which bike are you riding?

Which bike are you riding?

I was thinking about taking my mountain bike, since the pace is so slow, and it never sees the light of day, except 5-6 times a year, and only on trails.

But I may just take my fixie :)

If anyone else on BF is doing this ride, and wants to ride together with other BF members, send me a PM.

I was thinking about taking my mountain bike, since the pace is so slow, and it never sees the light of day, except 5-6 times a year, and only on trails.

But I may just take my fixie :)

Funny, I was thinking exactly the same thing about using my mountain bike for this ride...:D
Otherwise it's between my tour bike and the fixie....

I'm going, probably starting from LACC. I took one of my road bikes last time and it was a PITA clipping in and out all the time so I'm taking my antique Trek 850 MB (all white, no logo's) this time.

Hope to see you guys there!

For those starting from LACC here's a quickie route list:

Start SM & Vermont
S on Vermont
W on Wilshire
S on La Brea
W on Venice
NW on Grand Bl
W on Windward
N on Ocean Front

Crap. I'm working saturday morning.

How late do they usually get?

usually the rides officially end somewhere around 12 -12:30. have fun!

Hmm, I could make that.

Sweet!!!

actually the culver city start meets at 10:30. assuming it leaves at say 11:00 it probably only takes 30 minutes to get to the pier or so, so you could be home at a reasonable hour. did i say i'm bummed i'm not around to hit it? damn. i'm back in palm springs till sunday, but i have been getting in lots of traffic free early morning miles.

Alright, I'll be starting from Culver. I was gonna ride my varsity, but the brake cable didn't come on time.

The ride was a blast! There were probably 300-400 people on bikes (wild guess). The scene when we met up with the group at Trader Joe's seemed really massive. I was amazed there were so many people on bikes in one place. Met a guy from the Netherlands on a full touring setup who had just finished ridding from Vancouver, BC to LA. Wow.

As I was riding back to LACC I noticed a small party accross the street across the street from my car. I rode over and peeked in and a guy walks up to me and says something like "Hi, this is my bike shop. Want a beer?". He (Jim, super nice guy) and his partner recently opened the shop, Orange 20 Bikes on Heliotrope just north of Melrose. It's pretty much all fixie stuff, and a bit sparse at the moment but it looks like it's going to be a nice, funky LBS very soon. Definitely worth a look.

The ride was a blast! There were probably 300-400 people on bikes (wild guess). The scene when we met up with the group at Trader Joe's seemed really massive. I was amazed there were so many people on bikes in one place. Met a guy from the Netherlands on a full touring setup who had just finished ridding from Vancouver, BC to LA. Wow.

As I was riding back to LACC I noticed a small party accross the street across the street from my car. I rode over and peeked in and a guy walks up to me and says something like "Hi, this is my bike shop. Want a beer?". He (Jim, super nice guy) and his partner recently opened the shop, Orange 20 Bikes on Heliotrope just north of Melrose. It's pretty much all fixie stuff, and a bit sparse at the moment but it looks like it's going to be a nice, funky LBS very soon. Definitely worth a look.
Jim helped me install my headset when I was working on my frame at the bicycle kitchen. Definitely a cool guy and the shop looks like it will be fun. I rode from culver city. Had lots of fun, but the ride definitely felt more mellow than the july ride. I don't know if thats good or bad, just different.

I saw you guys last night on venice coming back from dinner in culver city. We passed over 200 cyclist strung out from centinela to lincoln. Wish I'd been able to make it. looked like fun

Fun ride! Had a blast, the experience of riding with 300-500ish rider at night is unreal.

Too bad I have to bail out early because I had to work this morning. Next time I'll party til dawn. The ride back was a little unorganized though, not sure if we were suppose to hangout at the pier or just head back to Culver/LACC. And the cops showed up :(

Helped a guy named Jay with a blown front tube, hope you made thru the ride fine, man!

Some pics and video (it's really crappy, I know):

Video 1 (at Trader Joe's) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9UvTRMUQl4)

Video 2 (at The Pier) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7EGL332ewY)

same thing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv4pMq82mRU)

At Trader Joe's:

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8827/03bv4.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9236/04sd4.jpg

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/9599/05nw7.jpg

At the Venice roundabout thingy:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3742/06nc2.jpg

At the Pier:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3643/07kz8.jpg

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/3862/08yp3.jpg

That looks like fun!

This does look like fun...wish I could stay up that late...LOL

But I can't help thinking that with all these riders blocking traffic and causing delays. Drivers are going to get pissed off...
Isn't this what we are trying to avoid, as well as educate drivers on sharing the road with cyclists?
I would think this would have the opposite effect...

But I can't help thinking that with all these riders blocking traffic and causing delays. Drivers are going to get pissed off...
Isn't this what we are trying to avoid, as well as educate drivers on sharing the road with cyclists?
I would think this would have the opposite effect...

Yep, but the traffic was pretty sparse, we started around 11:00. And towards the end of the ride we travelled on bike path.

A lot of support from the locals though.

Yep, but the traffic was pretty sparse, we started around 11:00. And towards the end of the ride we travelled on bike path.

A lot of support from the locals though.


Ok....11 is pretty late...so traffic would be very light...I wonder what the various PD's think of this?
It does look really cool!!

Ok....11 is pretty late...so traffic would be very light...I wonder what the various PD's think of this?It does look really cool!!

Awwww...screw the police...who needs 'em? :D

Those are some cool pictures. I, so far, managed to avoid being in any of the pictures I've seen. As for herbm's comment, MR doesn't really have the same sort of political subtext that critical mass does, but I think the effect for both is to force drivers to let cyclists share the road. I don't know if it works, or if I agree with it, but we certainly don't seem to be educating drivers with t-shirts and stickers on our helmets.

Ok....11 is pretty late...so traffic would be very light...I wonder what the various PD's think of this?
It does look really cool!!
We had a couple of police cars pass us while we were going down venice blvd. They just asked that we stay in the right lane to let cars pass. They even blocked traffic for us at a couple of lights. There were several police cars at the pier, but they just seemed to be there to make sure things didn't get out of control. Except for one car asking people to keep the parking lot clear, they didn't seem to interact with us. At least that was the case when I left. I don't know what happened afterwards.

There were several police cars at the pier, but they just seemed to be there to make sure things didn't get out of control. Except for one car asking people to keep the parking lot clear, they didn't seem to interact with us. At least that was the case when I left. I don't know what happened afterwards.

I left after the 3rd cruiser came. But couple policemen who were down at the parking lot were pretty cool, they were just keeping things in line.

policemen who were down at the parking lot were pretty cool.

Policemen and cool should never be used in the same sentence. :p

Policemen and cool should never be used in the same sentence. :p

Hmm, alot of animosity here. I wonder why?:p

Anyways I forgot to mention that I fell down on the sand on the way back. Combination of the darkness, twisty bike path, and clipless pedals:mad:

Got sand in my chain and what not.

Hmm, alot of animosity here. I wonder why?:p

Anyways I forgot to mention that I fell down on the sand on the way back. Combination of the darkness, twisty bike path, and clipless pedals:mad:

Got sand in my chain and what not.

Because I'm a troublemaker who likes to defy authority figures. :p

Sorry about your fall. Sand skeers me. :eek:

Hmm, alot of animosity here. I wonder why?:p

I believe she's still married to one.....:p

I believe she's still married to one.....:p

Only on Thursdays...lol! :p He went back to working six days a week again. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v372/BrandyMama/hanky.gif It was nice having him home for two weeks, but now he's back to being married to the job.

I hung out with the hipsters in the front, and they hammered to the beach, cruising at about 25mph. We arrived at least 10-15 minutes before everyone else. Was a fun ride. The BMXers doing their tricks was cool to watch.

I liked how the LACC group stopped at all the lights (even when they broke up the group). But as soon as we joined up with the TJ group, all hell broke loose...

Sorry about your fall. Sand skeers me. :eek:

+1

I hung out with the hipsters in the front, and they hammered to the beach, cruising at about 25mph. We arrived at least 10-15 minutes before everyone else. Was a fun ride. The BMXers doing their tricks was cool to watch.

I liked how the LACC group stopped at all the lights (even when they broke up the group). But as soon as we joined up with the TJ group, all hell broke loose...

+1

It was my initial intention to stop at all lights, as I always do on my commute/ride. But when that whistle/horn sounds, it just turned me into an animal.:D

I started out really slow with a group of pretty hot chicks on cruisers and "dutch" bikes, but some fixie guys blasted away on the left lane. I couldn't help but to "attack":rolleyes:

FYI: Sand is PITA to clean!!

FYI: Sand is PITA to clean!!

That's why we stopped riding the beach path!

That's why we stopped riding the beach path!

Then we need to get all of you out on mountain bikes and hit the trails so you'll be able to ride over most any terrain, including sand, on your road bikes without fear....:D

Vancouver, Canada folk interested in this type of event, check out http://midnight-mass.blogspot.com

tons of fun.

This was my first Midnight ride (went with poster sivat) and I had a good time. Rides like this are fun because it feels good to be part of a big group of people generally having a good time. I look forward to more in the future!