10-12-2020, 03:25 AM
I've been trying to follow the progress of a new Los Angeles location for The Bike Shed, which I understand is a very popular bike hangout in England. I sort of miss the closing of the House of Machines in L.A., which hosted some neat motorcycle events, and the information about The Bike Shed has been very nebulous and non-specific..."Opening in Fall of 2020".
I was going to meet some of my Petersen Museum friends for dinner on the west side of L.A. last night, so, on the way, I found the location for The Bike Shed, which is off of 7th Street in the expanding Arts District. "Opening in Fall of 2020" seems a bit optimistic. While the building, whatever it had been in its previous life, had been cleaned up and gutted, it looked very far from completion. As I looked at it, someone very important looking pulled up and walked toward the building. I asked when it would be opening, and he sort of grunted something about six months or so.
I then crossed through downtown L.A. and proceeded toward my dinner meeting on the West Side. I noticed many cars flying Lakers flags. I'm not much of a basketball fan, but figured that it was about finals time, and that the Lakers were doing well.
Since the museum had been closed for months due to the pandemic, I haven't had much of a reason to be in or near Downtown L.A. for quite some time, and noticed a forest of construction cranes on the South side of the city, near Staples Center and the convention center. I had a nice dinner with my friends, and noticed that several people were wearing Lakers jerseys. As we finished dinner and said our goodbyes, I figured that rather than just aiming for the closest freeway and riding home, that I'd head back toward the Staples Center area to check out the new construction. I had no idea what I was about to encounter.
I rode East on Pico Blvd, which cuts between Staples Center and the L.A. Convention Center. As I got closer to downtown, traffic heading East picked up slightly, a bit unusual for a Sunday night. I glanced up and saw several helicopters and drones hovering over Staples Center. At that point, I should have figured that something big was brewing and peeled off for a freeway, but didn't think too hard about it.
Right about the time I entered the tunnel that goes under the 110 Freeway and Pico dumps out into Staples and the Convention Center, the Lakers won the NBA Championship. When I came out of the other side of the tunnel, it was sheer uncontrolled pandemonium. I had one shot to turn around, cutting across oncoming traffic, but there were too many things going on to do it safely.
All streets were blocked with cars, with cars pointing in all directions, cars doing donuts in the intersection, and people running around shooting off fireworks and waving Lakers flags. If I were a die-hard Lakers fan, I would have been in heaven. But, I was a very vulnerable person on a motorcycle at night who wanted to get the heck out of there as quickly as possible.
I was able to get up on a sidewalk, go around a few barriers, and cut through some equipment storage yards under the Convention Center. Across a sidewalk, and I was on Figueroa, heading South, away from downtown. Traffic was pouring into the area from all directions, with more fireworks going off and more people running around. I rode for over a mile with gridlocked traffic in the other direction trying to get into the area. I made it to a freeway and home safe.
Checking the news, it sounded like other than people running around like crazy, it didn't get too out of hand, which is good. Mostly I was afraid of being hit by a car in all of the craziness.
I was going to meet some of my Petersen Museum friends for dinner on the west side of L.A. last night, so, on the way, I found the location for The Bike Shed, which is off of 7th Street in the expanding Arts District. "Opening in Fall of 2020" seems a bit optimistic. While the building, whatever it had been in its previous life, had been cleaned up and gutted, it looked very far from completion. As I looked at it, someone very important looking pulled up and walked toward the building. I asked when it would be opening, and he sort of grunted something about six months or so.
I then crossed through downtown L.A. and proceeded toward my dinner meeting on the West Side. I noticed many cars flying Lakers flags. I'm not much of a basketball fan, but figured that it was about finals time, and that the Lakers were doing well.
Since the museum had been closed for months due to the pandemic, I haven't had much of a reason to be in or near Downtown L.A. for quite some time, and noticed a forest of construction cranes on the South side of the city, near Staples Center and the convention center. I had a nice dinner with my friends, and noticed that several people were wearing Lakers jerseys. As we finished dinner and said our goodbyes, I figured that rather than just aiming for the closest freeway and riding home, that I'd head back toward the Staples Center area to check out the new construction. I had no idea what I was about to encounter.
I rode East on Pico Blvd, which cuts between Staples Center and the L.A. Convention Center. As I got closer to downtown, traffic heading East picked up slightly, a bit unusual for a Sunday night. I glanced up and saw several helicopters and drones hovering over Staples Center. At that point, I should have figured that something big was brewing and peeled off for a freeway, but didn't think too hard about it.
Right about the time I entered the tunnel that goes under the 110 Freeway and Pico dumps out into Staples and the Convention Center, the Lakers won the NBA Championship. When I came out of the other side of the tunnel, it was sheer uncontrolled pandemonium. I had one shot to turn around, cutting across oncoming traffic, but there were too many things going on to do it safely.
All streets were blocked with cars, with cars pointing in all directions, cars doing donuts in the intersection, and people running around shooting off fireworks and waving Lakers flags. If I were a die-hard Lakers fan, I would have been in heaven. But, I was a very vulnerable person on a motorcycle at night who wanted to get the heck out of there as quickly as possible.
I was able to get up on a sidewalk, go around a few barriers, and cut through some equipment storage yards under the Convention Center. Across a sidewalk, and I was on Figueroa, heading South, away from downtown. Traffic was pouring into the area from all directions, with more fireworks going off and more people running around. I rode for over a mile with gridlocked traffic in the other direction trying to get into the area. I made it to a freeway and home safe.
Checking the news, it sounded like other than people running around like crazy, it didn't get too out of hand, which is good. Mostly I was afraid of being hit by a car in all of the craziness.
