Originally Posted by
NOS88
OK, I've read the story and watched the video. (Thanks Blues Dawg and Tom B.) While my initial reaction is similar to others in this thread, I can't help but wonder what the entire story is. Why was the bike so heavily laden?
I watched the video as well and I guess I am as not as negative toward the cyclist as others.
As I recall from my days in LA, the LA "river" is just a big concrete drainage ditch with a bike path on one side and a little bit of water trickling down the middle - until it rains. (You've doubtless seen the river in countless car chases or other scenes in any number of Hollywood moviews and TV shoes) The video mentions that he was stranded on some "islands" near Griffith Park, and it looks to me like he had a fully laden touring bike with full panniers, front and back.
I can't think of any reason why a cyclist would be out on one of these islands (or attempt to cross the LA "river" ) unless maybe he was "stealth" camping on one of the islands. So imagine if he was out spending the night on one of the islands, with his complete set of touring gear, and wakes up to find out that he's been cut off from the bank by the rising waters. Obviously, he needs a rescue, so he somehow attracts enough attention to attract a rescue crew.
In any other town in America they'd send out the fire department with a boat. But this is LA, so they show up with a helicopter. He's cold/stressed/confused, and worried about losing all his possessions 'cause he can't leave the bike and his gear on the island (which appears to be under water in the video). So he keeps asking them to send a boat instead so he can get his gear off the island. What you can't tell from the video is whether the rescuers were telling him that a boat was an option, so he waved off the helicopter.
If he didn't actually perceive that his life was in imminent danger, I can see why he wanted to save his gear. And it would be definitely confusing to ask for help, hoping for a guy w/a rope to show up, and instead you get a helicopter and camera crews.
To me the biggest problem with the guy is how he found himself down in the LA river in any case - as I said, I can't think of any reason why someone would be down *in* the LA river, though I don't know the exact spot where this occurred.