Midnight Ridazz – Riot on Sunset Strip
As I am in the process of discovering, there’s plenty of opportunities to have fun on your own in LA. But being in a massive crowd of 200 people barreling through the streets of Hollywood on bikes is a kind of fun that can’t be matched on your own.
Midnight Ridazz was the coolest LA activity I’ve ever been a part of. It’s LA’s own version of Critical Mass, where bikers from all different backgrounds get together to ride through the streets of Hollywood. It's held every second Friday of the month, meet time is 9:30PM. For some reason, they had a new Midnight Ridazz this past week, starting at Jumbo's Clown Room on Sunset, then through Hollywood Blvd past notable landmarks like Hollywood and Highland Center, Mann’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Forever Cemetary, the West Hollywood Strip, the Sunset strip, and ended in Library Park.
GuitarHero drove StimpPimp and I in his bike-storage-capable SUV to the meeting place. After a half hour of milling around, the crowd of 200 set off west on Hollywood Boulevard. At first, the biggest thrill was being on the streets in a huge mass of bikes. I am not a smiley person, but I was smiling the entire time. I yelled HOLLA! at all the party people on the sidewalks in between Vine and Highland staring at us as we rode by. In addition to all the bikers, we had a full police escort of 3 bike cops, a few squad cars, and a helicopter. The cop car would stop at an intersection to allow us to pass, then it would speed past us on the left with lights flashing and sirens blaring to block off the next intersection. The cop did this for at least twenty intersections. Then a ghetto bird flashed its lights at us as we took a break at the parking lot of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Occasionally people would stand on the sidewalks cheering for us as we passed by en masse. One biker pulled a stereo behind him blasting the song “Power to the People.” I flew down the steep hill on La Cienega, swerving in between my fellow bikers yelling "No brakes! I'm gonna die! No brakes!!!" By the end of the ride, it felt completely natural to take up an entire lane on the streets in Hollywood on a busy Friday night.
We mulled around for a little bit in Library Park and people eventually broke off and went their separate ways. We took a long and tiring half an hour riding back to our original location, finally getting back at 1AM. We ate at Sanamluang across the street, a Thai restaurant that’s open late night and everything on the menu is delicious. We went home tired, full, and happy. Greatest bike ride ever, man.
Check out the Midnight Ridazz Website for badass action shots.
Midnight Ridazz
Second Friday of every month
Meet at 9:30PM, ride starts at 10PM
Check website for meeting places
Sanamluang Cafe
5170 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027-6133
(323) 660-8006
Google Maps link