Yestardae I rhode ma byke. For the furst tyme inna looooong time. And I did so on The Beast, more specifically known as La Bestia con los Gigantes Zapatos, a 50-pound-plus ultra fat-tired bike that’s really only good for beachcruising and going downhill — certainly NOT at all ideal for 20-miles’ worth of city tripping in 90-plus degree temperatures… as I only all too well learned upon getting my semi-heatstroked self home.
Anyway, I rolled the CicLAvia route and then over to a Laemmle Theater in Beverly Hills to catch a 60th-anniversary showing of “The Searchers,” which I’d not ever seen on a screen bigger than our 42-inch TV. It was glooooorious. There should be a drinking game every time John Wayne’s Ethan says “That’ll be the day,” and/or Hank Worden’s Mose says “Thankee kindly!”
Bonusesses: At the beginning of the clip, you’ll find I finally got to check out an art alley in Historic Filipinotown that I had been told me about not too long ago, but didn’t realize its magnificent scope, and on the way along 4th Street toward Beverly Hills had the pleasure of coincidentally finding and riding the last few miles there with Greg Laemmle, who just so happens to run the entire Laemmle Theaters chain, and was kind enough to let me park La Bestia safely inside during the movie, which was glorious (and yes I did get choked up sitting there in the dark as the music swelled and the opening credits rolled).
Not so bonus: About a third of the way through the clip you might catch me flagging down a patrol officer to report an assault I had just witnessed across from me on 6th Street involving a cyclist and what I learned later was a disgruntled bus passenger who got impatient when the cyclist stopped the bus to discuss the driver allegedly passing him unsafely. The joys of big city livin’.
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