For more photos:
http://www.cicle.org/cicle_content/pivot/entry.php?id=421#body Once a week you will find protesters on street corners throughout Los Angeles that stand for hours holding placards up above their heads or against their chests that carry slogans against the war in Iraq.
But this last Sunday there was a new protest in town. Not associated with the Neighbors for Peace and Justice vigils, this protest didn’t have someone driving up at a street corner unloading their placards from a car. At this protest the signs got to the meeting place on a bicycle, and the message rolled out onto the streets of L.A. on wheels.
A large group gathered at Hollywood and Vine Metro Station from different parts of L.A. to join the Peace and Love No War Bike Ride -- a happy fun lovin’ event that weaved it’s way around L.A.’s main streets, tree lined neighborhoods, cut through heavy traffic, waved peace signs in the air, and shouted no war and ride a bike slogans. Almost everyone on the ride had a smile beaming across their face -- it might have had something to with the rockin’ sound system being pulled on a bike trailer playing some fantastic tunes the whole way. Banners and signs swung from the back of bikes hosted up on bamboo poles, shirts were spray-painted with slogans, and despite its festive and casual pace, its message was serious.
Yet while the message may seem heavy, the solution this ride touted was not, and is actually quite liberating, spiritually uplifting, community building, socially responsible and fun. As well as conscious raising, muscle building, sustainable, enjoyable, mind expanding, and the list of happy benefits goes on.
Matter of fact, when you ask anyone who rides their bike instead of driving a car if they consider it to be a sacrifice, you will get an amazing reply, “absolutely not!”, or “No way!” The sacrifice is when you entrap yourself in a vehicle and cut yourself off from your environment and those around you -- when you dehumanize yourself when trapped in traffic, and your ego becomes inflamed at anyone impeding your way. It’s funny to think that on a crowded sidewalk or in a busy mall, on foot most of us never think of yelling “Get the f--- out of my way”, or do we pull out a horn and start squeezing it in a mad frenzy repeatedly in our cold hard fist. Yet we can lose all sense of common decency when placed in the isolation tanks we haul around in on roadways.
The ride’s goal was to inspire, not criticize those who have yet to liberate themselves from their complacency. To show that the alternatives exist right now, and they are incredibly freeing in ways unimaginable to those that don’t take part...yet. The ride was a way to remind others that we can stop funding resource wars with our own dollars, that air pollution and global warming can be reduced, and that there is a happier way to get around town -- and all can be achieved with the simplicity of a bicycle.
So those who attended this ride would like to invite you to the next monthly gathering. Come have fun spreading bike love throughout Los Angeles with friendly politico’s waving peace signs to those we pass on the streets, enjoy the honks of support (which were many), enjoy the wonderful day, and enjoy hearing someone walking their dog yell, “I want to be a part of this, how can I be a part of this?!”...don’t worry she got the info.
If you want more info on next month’s ride and picnic in the park w/ badminton, stay tuned to C.I.C.L.E.. or BikeBoom Calandar or write David Bolog one of the organizers of the ride at
nowarbikeride@yahoo.com Also check out KillRadio.org, Paul one of the DJ’s who hosts Talk is Cheap weeknights 6-8 pm was a big part of this ride as well as Veronica who hosts Wednesday’s News Off The Street 6-7PM. KillRadio.org has been actively involved in using media production and distribution as a tool for promoting social and economic justice and consider bike riding to be a big part of this platform.
