The Los Angeles Marathon 2009

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Staring at 3 a.m. this morning, P3000, a cute friend of P3000 and I rode through the marathon route on bikes. P3000 let me borrow an extra one he had.  Let me tell you that this city is something else in the middle of the night and early morning. At first this bike ride started as a personal challenge because P3000 says that my generation is a bunch of lazy guevones. That we can’t hang like he does. I couldn’t let this injustice go unanswered, so I grabbed the bike and I peddled my ass through the streets of L.A. Here are some of the pictures I got.

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We ended up starting at mile four in Exposition park and started making out was. As you can see from this picture, trying to take a picture while riding your bike in the middle of the night isn’t as easy as i thought.

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We knew we were on the right path because we kept running into mile banners. Although for a while there we kinda got lost and had to figure out where we were and getting back on the route.I got use to the bike rather quickly and got the handle of the gears tambein.

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Through out the route we saw other people riding around and having a great time. We also saw people heading home and on their way to work. The guy in this picture tricked out his bike with cds, honks and other nick nacks that made it all his own. Riding around from one hood to the next seemed weird at times because I would notice how things would start to get nicer and more commercialized the more we headed west. I noticed a trend of mom and pop shops turning in more corporate stores like starbucks and other fast food places. Gentrification at work no doubt, but I will admit the hood looked nice and clean, if you’re into that kinda stuff. Going down Crenshaw was the best because the lingering smell of BBQ was in the air for a few blocks. We rolled y a few mansions once we hit the heart of the West side, where the LACMA is at and we stopped to take a breather there for a bit.

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Of course through out the route there were numerous photo opportunities and while I would have liked to stopped every time I saw something that caught my eye, like all the murals and graff art around town, we would have taken much longer. Something else we noticed during the ride was that a lot of working class folk had to walk to the bus detours to get to work. at one point it looked like a march to get to the bus stop. Then further along the route, we could see people waiting for the bus. I wanted to tell them that the bus wasn’t going to come by, but I don’ think they would have listened anyway.

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Another pit stop we made was when I decided to give in and get some fresh donuts. I was smelling it for like three blocks and I was hungry so I said screw it and got me some. Grabbed a juice tambien and I was ready to continue the trek to the finish line. It was a rare treat to be able to see the city in the middle of the night and being able to ride in the middle of the street. Just the feeling of safety knowing that there’s cop everywhere and that I don’t have to worry about some car hitting me and taking off was refreshing in itself. I use to live in some of the hoods we passed by and was taken by how much things have changed over the years for the better.

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We got to the finish line 20 minutes before these guys, who are actually part of the marathon. As i was making my way toward the finish line I was screaming and yelling “thank you” and “I did it. I’m number one” even though I’m pretty sure we cheated a few times taking short cuts and starting earlier than everyone else. Some of the neighborhoods had miniature stages set up for the runners who’ll pass by later today. we even saw a few people camping out for their spot to see the runners come by. Now that’s dedication. All in all this was  a great experience and I wanna give a HUGE Gracias to P3000 for letting me borrow his bike and inviting me along. Not only that but I proved to him that I can hang. I can’t speak for the rest of my generation, but I can pull my weight around and then some. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to take a disco nap and give my ass a well deserved rest.

11 thoughts on “The Los Angeles Marathon 2009

  1. Orale,
    Glad to see some eastsiders ride. I’m Chapulin with the EASTSIDE BIKE CLUB. A couple of us started our ride from El Sereno at 3:30am. We rode to exposition park and also participated in the LA BIKE TOUR. It was my first time and it was SABROSO – I finished it in One hour, twenty minutes! Hooraaaaay!

    We all had a good time.
    We want to invite you y toda la COMUNIDAD to join us on bike rides thru the streets of LA on Tuesday Nights at 7pm and Saturdays mornings at 10am (Time of Saturday rides will change depending on weather conditions -May be Too Hot) We meet at:
    CHARO Building
    4301 Valley Blvd
    (between Soto st and Vinburn – on the East Driveway)
    El Sereno, CA 90032
    (Use google maps and google eastside bike club)

    Also I would like to invite everyone to join us on SATURDAY, JUNE 27th as the EASTSIDE BIKE CLUB celebrates our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

    We will meet at Lincoln Park, where we will decorate our bikes (red white and blue – 4th of July theme) then have a community ride thru, Lincoln Park, Boyle Heights,Ramona Gardens and El Sereno. All ages and abilities are encouraged. Helmets are strongly recommended and everyone under 18 must wear one.

    After the ride we will have a picnic back at Lincoln Park where we will be entertained by local musicians and “TIERRA” will headline our fiesta. There will also be an outdoor movie screen at the park and FIREWORKS!

    And now the best for last!
    This is how we stimulate the Eastside.
    Its FREE – GRATIS!
    Que mas quiren?
    Que Esperan!?
    Just bring your food for the picnic!
    See our website http://www.myspace.com/eastsidebikes
    Call us at 323.221.7400 for more info.

    “No Contaban Con Mi Austucia”
    Chapulin – Live to Ride, Ride to Live!

  2. That post made my day! Thanks for taking the ride and writing about it.

  3. I heard from someone that you just paid some biker fool to take the pics for you and that you stayed home all day and just typed up this post. Say it ain’t so ERH!

  4. well who ever told you that is full of poo, poo. I was there. Who else would stop in the middle of a bike ride and grab a donah ? Me that’s who.

  5. Like P-3000, I’m good. I can hang with the best of them. And like P-3000 i just have a sore butt. It feels WAY better now and to answer your question, nope. We rode one for 26 miles, give or take a few accidental short cuts and I was ready to go. I did take a disco nap before heading off to the BBQ. I’m surprised that I’m still physically capable of doing things like that outta no where. A while back I ran three miles and didn’t feel as sore as I thought I would. I may be a portly man, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hold my own. I gotta hold it down for my generation.

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