Monday, April 21, 2008

My 2nd Koreatown Forge & Gorge Ride

I went to ride with the Ktown Forge & Gorge Ride again last Wednesday night. They are a great group of guys. They're pretty fast on mostly fixed gear bicycles. Plus, their start time isn't too late like the other rides. They start at 8:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m. like some of the other night rides.

There were about 30 or so guys that started out. I think we only had 20 or so guys left at the end of the ride. Some of the riders are incredibly powerful going uphill on their fixies. The typical gear they use are 46x16. I used 53x23 going uphill. I have an advantage, of course, because of my multiple gears. These guys are more hardcore though because they ride everywhere with one gear and they can't coast at all.

We had a blast passing tons of cars in crowded Hollywood.

There were some jerk drivers yelling at us to get off the road. They don't know the rules of the road. Cars are supposed to share the road with bikes and give them the right of way. Obviously, drivers are too self-centered and ignorant of the traffic laws. Some cars actually tried to run us over.

There was one Porsche that zoomed by me and almost clipped me by passing me too closely. I caught up to him when there was traffic. I used my very loud air horn that I just bought and honked at him as I passed his window. Drivers are so short-sighted. Don't they know bikes can catch up to them at the lights? They don't realize that we ride pretty fast. Just because they pass us, they think they can forget about us. In crowded L.A. traffic, I can pretty much go faster than cars, because I can ride between cars.

The other riders said that they appreciated my air horn. I should have used it more often.

I hate when cars keep honking at me when they are right behind me. They should just drive around me by going to the next lane. Drivers always try to pass me without leaving me any space. They're supposed to move into the next lane as they pass cyclists. Bikes can take up the entire lane if it is not safe for cars to pass due to the lane being too narrow, parked cars, car doors, debris on the right side of the road, etc.

Drivers and their ignorant passengers should not yell out the window at me. There's a good chance I can catch them at the next light and I'll return the favor. They usually get really surprised. Since their so short-sighted, they forget I can catch up to them after they pass me. I can go 25-30 mph average.

Drivers should not try or even pretend to run me over. That is assault. I will call the cops.

Driving and riding in L.A. has become pretty hostile. It's a war zone out there.

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