Crazy Angelenos bike on freeway
In LA, a city where road rage all too often leads to "bang bang", you've got to admire the cojones of anyone willing to ride a bicycle at all, let alone on the notoriously busy freeways of Southern California. However, that's exactly what a group of cyclists are doing as part of a guerrilla effort to make pedal power a more widely accepted form of transportation.
A group of around 30 cycling advocates calling themselves Crimanimalz took to the Santa Monica Freeway last Friday at rush hour, riding about 2 miles before exiting at theSanta Monica Boulevard off ramp. The ride was the third for the group since April 18, and they are vowing to hold more.
Although technically riding a bicycle on a highway is illegal, two riders who were stopped by police were let off with a warning.
It's not clear whether these kinds of actions make cyclists more popular with the type of motorist who prefers not to have to deal with bikes, which might be a concern as two-wheel enthusiasts advocate for equal road rights. On the other hand, civil rights demonstrations didn't make African-Americans more popular with racists, but they got the job done.
via [Wired]













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-17-2008 @ 1:06PM
John said...
I love bikes and they have their place but riding a bike on a freeway is a terrible idea.
It doesn't take much gray matter between the ears to know 60-80MPH traffic and 10-20MPH bikes is a real bad combination.
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6-08-2008 @ 9:16PM
bikecommuter said...
If you watch this video http://www.vimeo.com/crimanimalz, the speed of motorized traffic was 5-10 MPH at the time and the speed of Cyclists and even Rollerbladers was 10-25 MPH therefore the non-motorized users were actually FASTER THAN GRIDLOCK! I think it would be great if California would encourage non-motorized users on the freeways during gridlock because riding without stop signs and stop lights makes getting places on your own power FASTER!
6-10-2008 @ 4:48PM
simon salloom said...
Awesome, awesome, awesome. We need to do something about all the traffic, cars congestion. I'd like to see a special lane for smart cars and hybrids. Bikes are best but no teveryone can ride them.
Here is some info on Santa Monica's Green City initiatives for anyone who's interested: # On the West Coast, Santa Monica wants to be the nation's first "Net Zero" city. Through energy efficiency, solar and other renewable energy, the city envisions generating clean energy that matches its total energy consumption. This will help leave Santa Monica Real Estate cleaner and healthier for all.
I have a bit more about this on my web-site on Santa Monica Real Estate http://www.santamonicarealestatesearch.com
You can also go to my Santa Monica Real Estate Blog: http://www.santamonicarealestatesearch.com/simonsays.html
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