Yes, we have no tamales, but we do have an artistic weekend ahead

Bike Talk airs every Saturday at 10 am; listen to it live or download the podcast from KPFK.

Bike Long Beach hosts Bike Saturdays every weekend; ride your bike to participating local shops and business throughout the city to get special offers and discounts.

The monthly Spoke(n) Art Ride rolls once again on Saturday, November 12th. The ride leaves at 6:30 pm to tour open galleries in the North East L.A. area; cruiser bikes are available to rent for $20. That will be followed by the popular Get Sum Dim Sum Ride on November 20th. All rides depart from the Flying Pigeon LA bike shop at 3714 N. Figueroa ST in Highland Park.

Update: The LA Tamale Throwdown scheduled for November 11th through 13th has been cancelled for this year.

On Saturday, November 12th, C.I.C.L.E. hosts a ride through the streets that form the canvas of our city, with a leisurely paced 7.5 mile tour of L.A. street murals in Lincoln Heights, Boyle Heights and the Downtown Arts District, with a party to follow. Riders meet at Lincoln Park by the Valley Blvd parking lot, Valley Blvd and San Pablo Street, with the ride starting at 1:30 pm.

Also on Saturday the 12th, Palm Desert hosts the first Palm Desert Century Bike Ride, with rides of 20, 32, 50, 60, 70 and 100 miles; online registration ends November 11th.

Update: The LACBC’s Tour de Taste originally scheduled for Sunday, November 13th, has been postponed, with the date to be determined.

The South Bay Bike Plan continues it’s long march to approval with hearings before the last two remaining city councils in Manhattan Beach on the 15th and Torrance on November 22nd.

The County of Los Angeles unveils the final draft of their proposed new bike plan, offering a more than 500% increase in bikeways. Your last chance to comment of the plan could come before the County of Los Angeles Regional Planning Commission, Wednesday, November 16th at 9 am in the Hall of Records, Room 150, 320 West Temple Street in Downtown L.A. The LACBC says it still needs some work.

Santa Monica’s new Bike Center is scheduled to open on Friday, November 18th at the corner of 2nd and Colorado, and you’re invited.

The highly active Santa Monica Spoke, an affiliate chapter of the LACBC, will meet for coffee and pastries on Saturday, November 19th at 10 am at the Colorado Community Room on the southeast corner of 5th and Broadway, followed by a visit to the new SaMo Bike Center.

Cali Bike Tours is sponsoring a short 1.4 mile bike ride to the Cambodian Arts and Culture Exhibition on Saturday, September 19th. The ride will leave the Portfolio Coffeehouse at 2300 East 4th Street in Long Beach at 10:30 am, and returning by 12:30 pm.

December 7th through 11th, Antenna Magazine’s Re:mix Lab will hit L.A. after a semi-national tour, featuring two urban Bad Boy bikes designed by Cannondale in cooperation with Junk Food Clothing. The art, music, fashion and cultural festival will unfold at a site to be selected.

LA Streetsblog is hosting an End of the Year Party on Thursday, December 8 from 7 pm to 10 pm at St. Andrews West Los Angeles, 11555 National Blvd. Streetsblog parties are always a good time, and well worth the suggested $25 donation; however, head Streetsblogger Damien Newton promises no one will be turned away if you can’t afford it.

Friday, December 9th, the Midnight Ridazz host what may be the most important ride of the year, when they ensure that thousands of L.A. children will have a happy holiday with the 6th Annual All-City Toy Ride. Routes will begin from points throughout the city, converging on Downtown L.A. to collect the toys and celebrate the season. If anyone else is hosting a toy ride this year, let me know.

Tuesday, December 27th, the LACBC returns to Santa Monica’s Library Alehouse for the 3rd Annual Mid-Winter Merriment, 2911 Main Street. Good beer, good friends, bike valet and a portion of all sales goes to support cycling in the great L.A. area. What’s not to like?

7 comments

  1. Michael says:

    Hello, a Toy Ride from the outlands: Coates Cyclery, the Back Abbey and, I believe, the Kevin Unck Foundation (though their name is not on the flyer) are hosting a ride on December 3 in the Claremont area. Thirty mile ride with festivities to follow.

  2. Allan says:

    Hey yo,

    I’m wondering if anyone knows of a good and obscure vendor for tamales this Xmas season? I haven’t searched for it yet, but I remember an LATimes article on these small vendors and very local restaurants that really come alive during the holidays. There was even one “restaurant” that was in the middle of this neighborhood. It pretty much looked like a house with a sign on it.

    Am I barking up the wrong tree around here?

    • bikinginla says:

      Hey Allan. Not sure which one you’re referring to, but whenever someone asks me where to find a good tamale, I always point them towards Mama’s Hot Tamales on 7th Street, across from MacArthur Park.

      Not only do they offer some of the city’s best tamales and great coffee, but it’s also a non-profit that trains Central American immigrants to work in the food service industry. The only downside is they close at 3 pm, so you’ve got to hurry to get there during the day.

      • Allan says:

        Oh yes I’m well aware of Mama’s and enjoy the food they serve. I’ve hit it up the last two cyclavias. This was not what I was looking for and they weren’t in the write-up in the Times.

        This write-up was probably 4 or 5 years ago. It was about vendors in the East LA area. The article made it sound like this was about as authentic as it gets! Also what I liked about it was that it was all about small time vendors.

        I tried a few hours today and a little yesterday to see if I could find it on the Times site, but no luck. I’m just wondering now if it was just some wild imagination that I had that just dreamed this whole scenario up?

        hmmmmmmmm…………..

        • bikinginla says:

          I think I vaguely remember the article you’re talking about. If we’re thinking of the same one, it was a story about the annual Tamale Festival, and talked about several of the places competing; as I recall, that’s how we discovered Tamales Lilianas.

          Unfortunately, I can’t find the story online either.

          • Allan says:

            I don’t recall anything that had to do with a festival in the Times article. It seemed what really stuck out in the article was that the neighborhoods came alive with the Xmas festivities. It may have predated the festival though.

            I looked at just about every article that sounded familiar by just using “tamales” as a keyword search at latimes.com. I came up with nothing. I’ll just keep asking around and see if I could get a hit. If I find something, I’ll report back.

            Thanks for helping.

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