Life in LA: MetroBiking (Black Dahlia Ride)

LA is not known for having a downtown, so I was a little surprised by the number of local bicycle groups that plan rides through the inner-city streets. It also occurred to me to ask "why would you want to ride through the likes of skid row?" until I read some of Sean Bonner and crew's blogs about interesting sights and sounds of the city at night.

So I jumped at the chance to go for a ride last Thursday with one such group, the IAAL/MAF, the International Association of Armed Librarians, Mobile Assault Force. Besides the catchy name, these guys pick some great routes and have a detailed knowledge of fine eateries in the dark corners of the city. The ride started near 6th and Alameda and went on down to Leimert Park (place where they found the Black Dahlia) and then back up Arlington through the Historic Adams Street District and up past the Staples Center all the way to Little Tokyo. Here's a google map of the route.

I'm currently sitting on a stash of 1000 multi-colored LEDs and batteries in anticipation of some future art projects a la Graffiti Research Lab (check their latest work in Europe!) so I decided to enlighten my spokes for the ride, thinking that if it doesn't look cool at least it'll make me more visible to traffic.

So a few highlights from the ride:

*Riding through skid row with a group of 20-25 people in close formation - It was quite a sight and it also made me feel really secure even though every street we passed was met by polite shouts and some not so polite yells.

*Leimert Park - I didn't know this place existed, it's certainly surrounded by some of the seediest neighborhoods I know of, but all of a sudden you're in Leimert Park and it's...silent. the streets were wide and there were no trees in front of the houses, it reminded me of Mesa, Arizona. We stopped at the place where they found the Black Dahlia and snapped some photos, not that there is anything there to see (just sidewalk).

*Historic Adams Street District - Cool old houses. In fact I saw a lot of cool old craftsmen houses on this ride but these stood out because they have a lot of flair and character. We stopped and snapped some shots of the house they used for the HBO show "Six Feet Under" but being that it was dark they didn't turn out so well. I really want to do this ride again so I can take my time and get some really good shots.

*Little Tokyo - Off the main road in a sidewalk market place I saw a great collection of really cool restaurants. I'll definitely have to come back here. Places like this are great because you can take someone that's lived in LA all there life and they've probably never seen this spot of the city.

Here are a few photos I shot and a few from a friend. The complete sets can be seen here and here.


The Start


Ridin' Alongside Mike


My lights in Action!


Site where police found the body of the Black Dahlia


Spoke cards are cool


Sights in the city


In case you didn't know


Deez Lights is Hot!