Holy crap was that awesome! Reminds me of the video of a nude man running through traffic on the Hollywood Freeway. I’m looking forward to a summer filled with Criminal Mass.
Bert Green (bertwgreen) on April 20th, 2008 @ 12:34 am
There are not a lot of things one can do in this day and age to be truly subversive. This is one of them, despite the cliched music.
That the 405 is off limits to bicycles implies that motorists have carte blanche despite the dreadful congestion that makes comparable motorways—such as Washington Blvd, Pico and Olympic—move far faster. Yet the latter roadways legally allow bicycles despite far more dangers.
Moreover, the amount of cars passed by this small group of daring cyclists speaks volumes of the failure of all high-level personnel overseeing the southern CA infrastructure.
Truly awesome. Now if there were a freeway just for bikes…a girl can dream no? Or if our freeways were to become off limits to vehicles and only reserved for bikes.
Utter insanity and what a way to prove a point. I doubt the outcome would have been the same if traffic was moving faster. I love those little anarchy to make a point.
The original "freeway" — the Pasadena Fwy/Arroyo Seco Parkway — was originally a "bikeway" from Pasadena into Downtown. The elevated, wooden structure was dismantled as the project proved less desirable than a roadway, which it later became.
Angelenos had it right when they started; things just don’t always pan out as they plan them…
Horace M. Dobbins’ California Cycleway Company was formed in 1897 with the intention of building an elevated wooden cycleway from Padaena to downtown Los Angeles.
The company acquired a 6 mile right-of-way from the Green Hotel in Pasadena to Avenue 54 in Highland Park, but only the first 1 1/4 miles of the cycleway, running from the Green Hotel to near the Raymond Hotel in South Pasadena, was ever built.
That first leg opened on New Year’s Day, 1900. It followed the path of what today is Edmonson Alley, between Fair Oaks and Raymond Avenue, with a toll booth in Pasadena’s Central Park.
The project stalled in 1901, as the cycling craze of the 1890s came to an end. The Pacific Electric Railway sealed the Cycleway’s doom, when it acquired the Pasadena & Los Angeles Railway’s existing electric railway, and built its own more direct Pasadena Short Line. Before the end of the decade, Dobbins’ Cycleway was dismantled and sold for lumber.
Another Dobbins venture, the Pasadena Rapid Transit Company, acquired the right-of-way for a streetcar route, but that plan never came to fruition, either.
At those speeds it’s safer to split traffic on a bicycle than on a motorcycle.
Freeway Aftermath « Banned Bicycles (pingback) on April 22nd, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
[...] it kind of has. LA Metblogs‘ Sean Bonner (rode with Wolfpack) posted the video and the discussion picked up where the Midnight Ridazz left off [...]
this vid rocked… and all this talk of nerds rocks! and mark rocks! but mostly i rock!
as of Deathly Mallows i have become a registered member here… it’s on!
Streetsblog » Cyclists Zip Down Clogged LA Freeways (pingback) on April 23rd, 2008 @ 10:35 am
[...] LA blogs have picked up the video. Metblog called it "equal parts stupid and awesome," and Joke Is Up calls it a "great little [...]
ArtLung Blog (unregistered) on April 24th, 2008 @ 8:08 am
Bicycling the 405…
Madness.
via tony pierce, via laist, via banned bikes.
As a sometime 405 commuter, I’m amazed at what the the motorcycles do, let alone what bikes could do.
I wonder what science fictional scenario gets the 405 freeway repurposed for bi…
Mickipedia » Blog Archive » Bikes on the Freeway (pingback) on May 7th, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
[...] via Metblogs [...]
Bikes On The Freeway, Again! | Los Angeles Metblogs (pingback) on May 10th, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
[...] daring demonstration showing exactly how inefficient driving a car in Los Angeles can be sometimes. They rode their bikes on the freeway. I said then that this move was equal parts stupid and awesome, and stick by that. Yesterday, they [...]
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The stupid (and lazy) part was the choice of the song. Certainly these guys could have come up with a less cliched choice?
I have fantasies of doing this. I have them often.
Holy crap was that awesome! Reminds me of the video of a nude man running through traffic on the Hollywood Freeway. I’m looking forward to a summer filled with Criminal Mass.
There are not a lot of things one can do in this day and age to be truly subversive. This is one of them, despite the cliched music.
That the 405 is off limits to bicycles implies that motorists have carte blanche despite the dreadful congestion that makes comparable motorways—such as Washington Blvd, Pico and Olympic—move far faster. Yet the latter roadways legally allow bicycles despite far more dangers.
Moreover, the amount of cars passed by this small group of daring cyclists speaks volumes of the failure of all high-level personnel overseeing the southern CA infrastructure.
Screw the carpool lane, BIKE LANE!
That was awesome, though if I tried a stunt like that I would get immediately arrested, but still that was awesome.
Browne
If one of those cars to not see the bike and changed lanes, it would be an entirely different video.
If one of those cars was being driven by a pomeranian and was then sucked up into a passing UFO, it would be an entirely different video.
Point taken but my heart was beating in my throat watching the video.
Truly awesome. Now if there were a freeway just for bikes…a girl can dream no? Or if our freeways were to become off limits to vehicles and only reserved for bikes.
Utter insanity and what a way to prove a point. I doubt the outcome would have been the same if traffic was moving faster. I love those little anarchy to make a point.
I’m with bromike666. Every freeway should have a bike lane. This just proves it.
[...] video came from http://la.metblogs.com/2008/04/19/bikes-on-the-streets-freeway/ No Comment Watched It LOL’d Loved It Hated It Tell ‘em 0 0 ratings rate [...]
Just to let you know…
The original "freeway" — the Pasadena Fwy/Arroyo Seco Parkway — was originally a "bikeway" from Pasadena into Downtown. The elevated, wooden structure was dismantled as the project proved less desirable than a roadway, which it later became.
Angelenos had it right when they started; things just don’t always pan out as they plan them…
Horace M. Dobbins’ California Cycleway Company was formed in 1897 with the intention of building an elevated wooden cycleway from Padaena to downtown Los Angeles.
The company acquired a 6 mile right-of-way from the Green Hotel in Pasadena to Avenue 54 in Highland Park, but only the first 1 1/4 miles of the cycleway, running from the Green Hotel to near the Raymond Hotel in South Pasadena, was ever built.
That first leg opened on New Year’s Day, 1900. It followed the path of what today is Edmonson Alley, between Fair Oaks and Raymond Avenue, with a toll booth in Pasadena’s Central Park.
The project stalled in 1901, as the cycling craze of the 1890s came to an end. The Pacific Electric Railway sealed the Cycleway’s doom, when it acquired the Pasadena & Los Angeles Railway’s existing electric railway, and built its own more direct Pasadena Short Line. Before the end of the decade, Dobbins’ Cycleway was dismantled and sold for lumber.
Another Dobbins venture, the Pasadena Rapid Transit Company, acquired the right-of-way for a streetcar route, but that plan never came to fruition, either.
"Padaena"? Sheesh. Up too late again.
[And from one LA nerd to another, it's good to see your pixels again, Mr. City Nerd. :-)]
ZOMG! LACITYNERD! ZOMG!
OMG OMG OMG I AM JUST AS EXCITED BY LACITYNERD POSTING AS I AM BY THE VIDEO.
THIS IS TRULY A WONDERFUL DAY IN LA HISTORY.
At those speeds it’s safer to split traffic on a bicycle than on a motorcycle.
[...] it kind of has. LA Metblogs‘ Sean Bonner (rode with Wolfpack) posted the video and the discussion picked up where the Midnight Ridazz left off [...]
this vid rocked… and all this talk of nerds rocks! and mark rocks! but mostly i rock!
as of Deathly Mallows i have become a registered member here… it’s on!
[...] LA blogs have picked up the video. Metblog called it "equal parts stupid and awesome," and Joke Is Up calls it a "great little [...]
Bicycling the 405…
Madness.
via tony pierce, via laist, via banned bikes.
As a sometime 405 commuter, I’m amazed at what the the motorcycles do, let alone what bikes could do.
I wonder what science fictional scenario gets the 405 freeway repurposed for bi…
[...] via Metblogs [...]
[...] daring demonstration showing exactly how inefficient driving a car in Los Angeles can be sometimes. They rode their bikes on the freeway. I said then that this move was equal parts stupid and awesome, and stick by that. Yesterday, they [...]