RR: Acura LA Bike Tour

[MTBMaven]

My father and I rode in the Acura LA Bike Tour, with like 15,000 other bikers. It was great to be out there riding with my dad. We used to ride together when I was a kid. This was the first time in probably 15 years since we were on bikes together. He has been riding his bike for the past few months to loose weight, since November he has lost around 40#s and looks great. I rode the event on a 1989 Specialized Sirrus lugged steel frame that was his bike. I rescued it from the rafter last year and built it up as a fixed/free ride.

We woke around 3AM (ouch) and arrived around 4:45AM. Needless to say it was dark and a bit cold. I was surprised to see so many other bikers there already. I thought Tour de Palm Spring was crowded, this thing was crazy crowded. There were all manner of bikes. Mostly not so nice of bikes, which end the end made me feel good about myself as I ride really nice bikes. Totally kidding It was great to see so many people out there riding bikes and with enough passion to get up so dang early.

Once we started moving things went pretty well all things considering. People were nice and I didn't witness any accidents. There was a good vibe going on throughout the day. As the sun rose there were more and more spectators getting ready for the marathon. Families were out cheering us on as we rode by, it was a cool feeling.

The course was quite easy even on a fixed bike (I think my gearing is 32x15). I was glad I had brakes but can't remember really needing them. The roads were in much better shape than I expected. They weren't great by any means but I was expecting worse. There were a few short hills but totally not bad. I had been warned by others (people that cycle) that there were some good hills. I looked at the profile they had on the official website and got scarred. Could I do this on my fixie? Should I ride my road bike? No the road is so bad... Should I ride it on my MTB? So I mapped the route for myself in TOPO and analyzed the route. Steepest grade I could find was 4%. OH, that's it...4% that's it. As expected the hills were totally nothing. Though I wished I had a bit more gear on some of the downhills. I was pedaling my little 29" legs off a few times. The course was like 20 something miles and we finished in around 1:20. It was really nice to ride on a totally closed course with no lights or stop signs.

This was a really fun event I was able to share with my father.

At least a few hundred people in front of us


Fixie poser

(why yes that is a Philmont belt I'm wearing. I got that when I was 15. Boy Scouts will know what I'm referring to.)

Fire works (or was that gun fire)


Cool shots of industrial side of LA at dusk. Shots near the LA River






Pops just rollin' along...

(Typical for my dad, he's been in the sport again for like 3 months and he's already on a blinged out full carbon Motobecane with full Dura-Ace, Thompson Masterpiece stem, and Sidi shoes. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. )

As always there are a few alterna bikes (as I like to call them) at organized events. These happen to be two of the more interesting sights.




The two victors. My dad made it on the podium, notice the medal

[Waldo]

The radio report I heard this morning called it 18,000 riders and a starting pack that was 3 miles deep!

Cool event. Congrats to you and especially to Dad!
That's a special thing to share.

[Wrecker]

Congrats! Sounds like a great ride and a wonderful time to share with your dad

[Nagaredama]

Did the ride this morning as well. I towed my daughter on the trail-a-bike, my Dad, and buddy came too.

I've been doing the ride with my dad for almost 10 years now.

Fireworks at the beginning

[duke777]

WOW Cool RR

It ALMOST made me want to get a road bike and join the ride next year.

[Nagaredama]

Originally Posted by duke777

WOW Cool RR

It ALMOST made me want to get a road bike and join the ride next year.

No need for a road bike. I towed the Lil one with my 35 pound Enduro with 2.3 knobby tires.

Next year I plan on having her ride her own bike and I'll ride my downhill bike just to make it interesting.

[duke777]

Originally Posted by Nagaredama

No need for a road bike. I towed the Lil one with my 35 pound Enduro with 2.3 knobby tires.

Next year I plan on having her ride her own bike and I'll ride my downhill bike just to make it interesting.

Humm....you ALMOST made me want to get up that early

[2wheel_lee]

Had a good ride on the Acura Bike Tour. Lots of "hipsters" carrying either large backpacks or messenger bags. I wanted to ask them what they were carrying, but didn't really care that much.

It started off a bit chilly, but quickly warmed up. It was a little scary in some of the corners where the street sweeper had just been there, leaving the corners wet. One turn was fully wet. I drafted the Acura MDX and RL chase vehicles for a while until they dropped me. Saw Eric Carter (or 4X fame) just after he finished the ride.

I took it easy, because I had to hurry home afterward to pick up my gf and her friends to meet up with the STR group at the Fullerton Loop by 8:30. I didn't really keep track of my time, but I think I rode the tour in about 50 minutes. It seemed a lot shorter this year, but I didn't have a computer to track the mileage.

[SheDevil]

Sorry its taken me so long to respond with a rr....I have about -15 minutes to myself every day it feels like :P
Our day was funnnnnnnnnnn, and our group consisted of myself, Apexman, Steviebfromtheoc, Dusty and Hoosierpuppy. Three dominating road bikes, one downhill, and one should have just been a unicycle as he wheelied the entire way (probably 20 miles). We ran into Pato there....and trust me thats not an easy thing to do. Speaking of not easy...riding and photography isn't the safest thing either!!!

Most of the shots are random or fun....and then there's one with Steve chatting with Eric Carter....kinda cool. Also check the suspension on the 50's Schwinn cruiser.



















PS...I would have yelled at them for the planter hopping, but it WASSSSSS USC, and I'm a UCLA fan

[VTVic]

Thanks for sharing. Great pictures and RR. You're one lucky guy Brian!

[mtnbikerdude87]

Great RR. I sure wish I couldve ridden it this year.

Nice threadless shirt btw

[genusmtbkr5]

Nice RR, I did this several years ago, but since it is the same weekend as the Pow Wow(VQ/CC), no way could I do the VQ(56 miles and 11,000 ft of elevation gain) and then ride the 26.2 miles on this..., or can I?

[Schecky]

Originally Posted by SheDevil

.....
PS...I would have yelled at them for the planter hopping, but it WASSSSSS USC, and I'm a UCLA fan

[SheDevil]

A final shot off Apexman's camera

[Hoosierdaddy]

We all had a blast, Apexman, Steviebfromtheoc, and Nan. The commaradre was fun and there were quite a few peculiar bikes and folks to keep it interesting.