BikinginLA

So what are you doing Sunday morning?

One of the more enjoyable duties expected of an LACBC board member is to lead one of the popular Sunday Funday Rides.

In other words, we get to plan out a ride and spend a pleasant L.A. morning exploring this megalopolis we call home with a group of equally pleasant cyclists of every possible description.

Tough duty, I know.

And this Sunday is my turn.

On the other hand, I’ve always wanted to join in on one of the great rides lead by popular cyclist, blogger and big-hearted budding animal control officer Will Campbell.

If you’ve never been on one of his rides — and you can count me among that unfortunate group — you’ve missed out on what I’m told are some of the most entertaining bike rides in this City of Angels. And led by a native Angeleno — and survivor of the highly explosive Beverly Hills High — with a knowledge of local trivia unmatched by anyone, anywhere.

Or so I’m told.

Seemed like a no-brainer to me.

And just like that, Will graciously agreed to lead what will forever hence be known as the Beverly Thrills Ride, exploring the facts, fiction, food and fallacies of the biking black hole of Beverly Hills. The famous and infamous, the silly, salacious and sanctimonious sides of the city paved, figuratively at least, in Swarovski.

It starts at the incongruously placed statue of John Wayne at 8484 Wilshire Blvd, on the eastern end of the Flynt Enterprises building, home to videos and publications guaranteed to make the Duke blush. Maybe that’s why Wayne seems to be riding off, if not into the sunset, at least away.

The ride assembles at 9 am and departs sharply at 9:30 for what Will describes as an easy to moderate three hour ride with just a few gradual inclines.

In fact, the steepest climbs will undoubtedly be in disposable incomes, as we traverse from what passes for the poor part of the city where the hoi polloi huddle to the gold encrusted gates of the rich and fabulous.

And I’m told we can expect a cameo appearance by Better Bike’s Mark Elliot, the man almost singlehandedly fighting to make Beverly Hills bike friendly — a task even Don Quixote would consider hopelessly daunting.

It promises to be an exceptionally fun, can’t miss ride. So don’t.

In other words, be there or… well, just be there.

Seriously.

………

Just a few other notes before I settle in for some desperately needed beauty sleep.

No, really.

You haven’t seen me lately. And there’s just not enough left in the budget for Botox before biking to Beverly Hills.

The busy San Gabriel River Bike Path is reopened and rededicated after being resurfaced in Long Beach and Seal Beach.

An Oklahoma driver forces two cyclists off the road, then steals one rider’s bike at make-believe gunpoint — and later tells police she bought it for $20.

And finally, evidently Saudi Arabia takes traffic crimes seriously, as a Saudi man is sentenced to beheading for killing two onlookers while drifting.

I mean, I’ve seen a lot of drivers lose their heads.

But never literally.