Conquering the Streets

Hi my name is Jaziel. Like many others in Los Angeles, I ride a bicycle. It is an activity that at times can be therapeutic and relaxing, while other times stressful and life-threatening. My research question for this “Youth and Los Angeles” project, is how has cycling affected the youth on a general scale both positively and negatively? What drove me to ask this question was the fact that over time, the age of cyclists has been lowering rapidly. A very popular bicycle being ridden by the youth right now is a bike called a “fixie” or “fixed gear.” What this normally is is a bicycle that has no brakes and all movement both forwards and backwards is controlled by the pedals. While this is an extremely dangerous bike, it appears to be the favorite in youth groups. Surprisingly, the majority of youth who ride these “fixies” are usually around the ages of twelve and eighteen.

 When asking many others  my research question, I suspected I would receive many answers that danced around the exercise part of riding a bicycle, but while many people did have very simple answers like “a positive to riding a bicycle is exercise,” others have spoken about how riding a bicycle produced a chain reaction of friends convincing other friends to ride a bicycle.

I believe my question is important because of the impact being had on the city by cyclists in general. A person in Los Angeles cannot drive without a least seeing one person on a bicycle. As a cyclist myself, I run into more cyclists in the valley than I do in Central Los Angeles, but I believe this is because the San Fernando Valley is a much more bicycle friendly place. There are more bicycle lanes and share roads (streets that are wide enough to allow a car and bicycle to ride comfortably in one lane) in the Valley than Central LA. This is exactly why I believe my question is important, because it is exactly these youths that will push for more bicycle lanes in the future for their own safety and the safety of other future cyclists.

My question is relevant because of the recent revival in cycling in the youth. It is a “trend” that has completely taken full force in the last two years. The reason I believe that people should care about my project and cycling in general is because of the transportation relationship between the youths and the streets. The economy has pushed many people to ride a bicycle to work and rely more on public transportation. For others, the economy has pushed people far enough that they are forced to sell their car because of the constant money being poured in for things like gas, maintenance, and insurance. With bicycles, the only real maintenance done is a check-up every couple of months.

I care about this project because of what it represents as a piece of culture in the United States. A large amount of youth have turned a simple act, like a get-together, into an enjoyable and healthy form of hanging out while also minimizing the dependence on automobiles and fossil fuels. The impact this will have on a nation that tells Americans through advertisement to drive their cars over the coming years will be very significant.

My documentation and field notes all began on February 24^th, 2012. It was an event known throughout Los Angeles as Critical Mass, a gathering of a few hundred people on bicycles to sometimes a thousand or two thousand at Wilshire and Western on the last Friday of the month. I, along with a group of other cyclists from Cal State Northridge, all emerged from the underground Metro station to a small plaza that houses a Tom Tom’s Coffee Shop, Edible Arrangements and a Verizon Wireless store. It was 6:40 p.m., still a bit early for the ride, but not nearly early enough that there was already a handful of groups gathering and chatting convivially as they all knew there was time to waste because the actual ride would not begin until 7:30 p.m. as it always has.

As I looked around, people seemed to already have claimed their “usual” spot. Groups of five and six stood in a circle talking about their new parts, new routes they’ve taken and stories of avoiding death. Circling the plaza I hear, “Yo we’re at the usual spot. Can’t you see me?” I turn, only to find a small mob of fourteen and fifteen year-olds just standing there all waving their hands and lit-up cell phones hoping their friend will see them. I’m shocked seeing such an extraordinary turn out of minors to the bike ride. The actual ride itself does not end until around 11 or 11:30 p.m. Their mothers must really worry sometimes. 

I sat down on a set of stairs to do a behavioral chart and document two particular characteristics I felt stood out the most: age differences between what I would consider the youth and adults, and the style of bicycles people brought to ride at Critical Mass. The reason why I find the style of bicycle important is because there are four main styles: road bike, “fixie”, beach cruiser, and mountain bike. A road bike is a bicycle that generally features small, thin wheels and a small frame, while having different changeable gears. A beach cruiser is a bicycle that usually has no brakes, it is elongated and aesthetically made for riding on bike paths near the beach. A “fixie” is a bicycle with a thin frame and wheels, but most importantly does not feature brakes because all movement, both forwards and backwards
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is done through the pedals. Lastly, a mountain bike is a bicycle with a thick frame and large wheels that generally feature absorbing shocks in the front to minimize the impact of the wheels with objects like rocks and branches.

In order to document the types of bikes, I had to go up to the second floor of the plaza. The security guards were nice enough to let me up there even though it was restricted to the public. Out of the 322 people that were there during my survey, 207 bikes were “fixies,” 62 were road bikes, 11 were beach cruisers and 51 were mountain bikes. Although it seems to be a small number of cyclists, I began my survey at 6:55 p.m. and ended the count at 7:05 p.m. The actual process itself was a very stressful because bicyclists continued to constantly arrive. If I were to have waited another ten or fifteen minutes, the count could have easily been around 700-800. For the age range, my survey concluded that about 70% of the entire population was less than twenty years old.

This was all just part of my first observation. I returned again for the Critical Masses on March 30^th and on April 27^th to do second and third observations. I did a separate survey on April 15^th, 2012 at an event called CicLAvia. What the event consisted of was closing down ten miles of roads in Los Angeles and allows them to only be used by people using non-motorized forms of transportations, mainly bicycles, rollerblades and scooters. CicLAvia was enormous to say the least. Almost anywhere you looked, there were dozens and dozens of bicycles: small, tall, green, pink and even tricycles. The entire even
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began at Melrose and Heliotrope, slowly zigzagged its way down to MacArthur Park, and from there straight to City Hall, where the path split into three other directions: East Los Angeles, the Coca Cola Factory and Olivera Street. 

At CicLAvia, my survey consisted of asking thirty people, what they believe were the positives and negatives to riding and bicycle and what the impact was on their own lives. While the majority of the answers yielded many of the same results: relaxing, open roads, exercise; others said things like: “small rides create unity,” “[I love] riding to taco trucks at 3 a.m.” and one response that I found very significant said “ [I have] more appreciation of how cycling made people friendlier.”

Between the charts and surveys, I found out that surveys were a lot easier to do, mostly because keeping track of cyclists is not easy when they’re moving at speeds of around 20 miles per hour and in such large numbers. I did not even bother making maps due to the problem of cyclists not constantly staying in one place and highly trafficking one specific area. In total, I believe I took notes for about ten hours. Most of the time was dedicated to taking notes of my surroundings and writing down events that I had seen during the Critical Mass rides. A lot of the process for collecting my data happened by just sitting on the ground at random places next to my bicycle and taking notes in my spiral binder. Strangely enough, I was constantly hoping someone would walk up to me and ask what exactly I was doing but it never happened. When it came to research of my question, everything seemed to essentially go as planned. In general, I received a lot of responses that were simple and not too well thought out. Not many people had a tendency  to explain exactly why they believed something was positive or negative.  The only thing that I really did not anticipate was how many times I was turned away to ask a handful of questions or even asked for their opinion while on a bike ride. I’m not sure if they perceived me as wanting to get them to sign a petition or something similar. I would also like to say that there was an even divide between considerate youths and distasteful youths. On several occasions, people did not mind having quick interviews but some others did not enjoy the idea for a moment.

On March 13^th, 2012, I walk out of the North Hollywood Metro Station, conquering the massive stairs as if it were a scene from Rocky. I crossed the street with several others running and hoping we can make it to the curb on the other side before the light turns green. I arrive at the Orange Line Station and must sidestep petitioners in order to get to the shade. The day is not too cold, but hotter than what one would consider refreshing. As the gray lifeless bus pulls into the station, a man pulls up with his cloud white bicycle, just in time to be able to get on the bus. Tall, thin and slender, he takes a seat and blends in with everyone else. “You got here just in time” I tell him. He laughs, shakes his white Peruvian beanie and says, “shall we begin the interview?” “Sounds good Jim.”

Me: What got you into cycling?

Jim: Well as a kid, I used to ride to my friend’s house. You know, short distance stuff. But what got me to ride bicycles on a grander scale was the fact that when I used to be in the boy scouts, we had to collect merit badges and one of them was cycling. So one of the dads in my troop knew a guy with sever bicycles and we organized a weeklong trip starting from San Francisco down to Los Angeles. In the night we used to camp down on the beach with out tents and stuff. But also, we had a friend’s dad driving alongside us carrying our food and supplies. I did that with a road bike similar to the one I have now.

I think it was one of the best things that could’ve happened to me. A lot of positives came out of it. I bike almost everywhere now. I used to have a car for like two weeks but I was constantly at the mechanics plus paying for insurance was just too much. So I just returned it and stuck to my bike. I save like $75 a week plus the extra $40 for gas.

Me: For you, what are the pros and cons about riding a bicycle? [at this time, a woman got on the bus and sat in front of us, talking very loudly on her cellphone]

Jim: Umm, I’d say definitely the exercise is a pro. There is also a certain freedom that comes along with it, you don’t have to take a car or bus, and you’re part of the street like everyone else. But on the con side, I’d definitely say it is time consuming. You really have to plan things way ahead of time. It’s not really a five minute car ride, but instead a twenty or thirty minute bike ride to your destination, so yeah. [laughs] It’s also very dangerous, so maybe that’s not a good thing. [laughs] A lot of these valley drivers aren’t very kind on the road, so sometimes it isn’t that safe.

Picking up conversation where the first one ended. The day is March 22, 2012 and the time is 5:48. [Daylight Savings Time has already kicked in and it feels very strange to be out with pure daylight. I'm so used to biking home between 6 and 7 p.m. from CSUN and be covered by darkness.] We came to the agreement to finish the rest of the interview at Panera Bread across the street from the North Hollywood Station. The walls shielding us from the cold, windy air.

Me: So one thing I found pretty cool is that you did the Wolfgang Crash Marathon. How was the experience of that?

Jim: Definitely mind blowing and amazing. Myself and hundreds of others doing the L.A. Marathon course at 4 a.m. is just one of those special experiences and special adrenaline rushes. Let me be honest, I'm not the fastest guy out there but I wasn't the slowest either. [In a lower voice whispers] But that's not really why we all did it. [voice returns back to normal] The whole race actually took me a little over an hour and a half. I didn't want to burn out myself at the beginning because no one wakes up at 2 a.m. only to get tired by 4 a.m. but also the streets were still soaked in water from the heavy rain fall of Saturday [March 17. The rain was POURING all night.]. Even though riding down Sunset Blvd contained a lot of flat ground and some down, everyone was cautious and didn't want to fall and hurt others too. Ending the race in Santa Monica, I just felt like a champion but I still had to ride back to Los Angeles to catch the train back to the valley. [laughs] I guess that's the one big downside to living in Burbank. This is a once in a year thing, so I really don't mind at all.

Interviewing youth of all ages between twelve and twenty, the answers of what exactly the positives were in riding bicycles varied greatly but most revolved around one word. A short sixteen-year-old boy, not too slender but neither too fat, by the name of Isaac simply answered “exercise,” as did many others. By many, I mean that was included by every single person I interviewed. Two close friends by the names of Alberto and Roberto listed positives as: gathering, bonding, “small rides create unity,” and relaxing. I found it easier to simplify the positives to three things: exercise, unity and freedom.

People who answered just “exercise”	People said more answers
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When researching what the youth considered to be a negative outcome of cycling, their answers had a tendency to dance around the word “recklessness,” a word used by one of the people I surveyed. The responses were very simple and were mostly one word and simple phrases. “cycling drink,” “vandalism,” “they make you wear a helmet.” I have to admit that this is where I believe that I did not find anything useful to my project even though my research question revolved around this question as well. I believe that the main reason for this is because it feels the interviewee is being put down for an activity they love to do. If I were to continue pursuing this question in the future, I would need to find the correct way to word my question without it having such a negative connotation.

Over the course of the year, I read several different views on how an urban city is affected by movement, networks and cultural division. Although several people made excellent points, none had a better point that Jane Jacobs and her view of sidewalks. While at first glance, one would not believe that bicycles and sidewalks are related, but the point that Jacobs makes is that sidewalks are an important part of city life and contributes to keeping people safe by creating a division between the streets and the pedestrians.

One major part of “The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety” is that a great city is defined by the animosity of the people who live in it and as a resident, they have to feel safe in the cloak of strangers (Jacobs 30). What is important about this, is that in when you ride a bicycle, you are added into what is considered special club of bicycle ownership. While no one ever informs the rider when exactly they have become a member, you are almost always expected to say hi and way to any other cyclist when you see them, regardless of which side of the street they are riding down. What makes this “special club” so interesting is the animosity. The chances of a person encountering another rider who they know are very slim.

Another point made by Jacobs connecting to my project is her view on what makes the city streets dangerous. She says, “It does not take many incidents of violence on a city street, or in a city district, to make people fear the streets.” This is very essential in the perception of someone riding their bicycle in the streets along with cars, motorcycles and semi trucks. The streets of Los Angeles have never been very bicycle friendly and have been known to have a high hit-and-run rate. The youth who ride the streets of Los Angeles have a tendency to ride “fixie,” but it is not the fact that they ride breakless bikes that make them as much as a hazard as the cars themselves, but the tendency to ride without helmets. The California law requires all minors to wear helmets and all bicycles to at least have one break but police officers do not enforce the law. During all my observations, I never once saw a minor pulled over or questioned for not having a helmet or breaks.

In conclusion, my research has revealed to me that while there are not too many positives, each one is individually important: exercise, unity and freedom. Exercise, while it may not be as an intended positive, it has come to be embraced by all cyclists. Cyclists do not intentionally begin riding a bicycle because of the health benefits. For unity, cyclists create a sense of community, not only with their friends, but all other riders. If a person were to get a flat tire in the middle of a road, it would not be surprising to see a cyclist or two pull over on the side of the road or sidewalk to help patch up their tire and get them back up and running. Lastly, the cyclists find freedom in being able to ride their bicycles alongside cars even though they are risking their lives every time they do.

  My research came to the conclusion that there is only one negative summed up by the word recklessness. Recklessness is a combination of vandalism, riding a bicycle while drunk and as Issac said, “trying to cool is dangerous when you have no breaks.”

While my project has given me closure on half of my original question, I have been enlightened on the relationship youth share with Los Angeles. These youths, who have grown up in a city where cycling has become a social trend, have become very fearless in riding alongside cars. As much as I would like to empower them for taking initiative and spending time away from the television, electrons and other activities that have been keeping today’s youth indoors, I want them to know they have their own social responsibility too. That is to obey the rules set on them by the state to ride their bicycles in a proper fashion.