The Ride with No Name

I finally got around to going on my first big (100+ people) ride tonight through the streets of Downtown/East LA and it was called "The Ride With No Name." I've avoided the big rides on the Roll because I wasn't 100% comfortable riding with that many strangers and unpredictable riders PLUS November's LA Critical Mass sounded like a complete disaster. In any case, I got out and it was as fun as I remember them to be for the most part.

A good number of people stopped to ask about or compliment the Roll. (Great job, Globe Bikes!) Here's a picture of Barry, a regular on this ride after he took the Globe for a spin. Although he's not smiling in the picture, I'm pretty sure he liked it. :)

Somewhere along the ride, we seemed to have picked up some sort of SAG vehicle as well. This guy on the motorcycle is riding in the middle of all the hundreds of cyclists and carrying spare wheels on his back. I was pretty confused by this and I think most other people were too.

We eventually ended up in an industrial part of LA where the walls were lined with spray paint art. This is my attempt at trying to make the Roll 2 look urban.

I did say the ride was fun for the most part, right? Well, here's why it wasn't super fantastic awesome:

I totally ate it on the last leg of the ride. My wheels got stuck in some old railroad tracks. As I was timbering down to the pavement, I thought "I hope the bike is okay!" The picture of my elbow doesn't seem too bad but I'm pretty banged up with road rash and bruises all along my left side. In over a year of riding, this is my first fall and I am so glad I wasn't going 40mph down a crazy decent. If anything, I'll have some cool battle wounds. :)