The rumors are true. The "Marathon Crash" ride is back on for this evening. City staff and Wolfpack Hustle reached an agreement to continue the city's support for a FUN RIDE starting early tomorrow morning at 3 a.m. For anyone interested in joining the ride, you can get the new details at the Wolfpack Hustle Facebook Page.
The "re-opening" of the ride was announced on Facebook, and literally received hundreds of "shares", "likes" and comments in minutes. A community that was bracing for confrontation, or had depressingly accepted the closure is now openly celebrating.
In addition to (re)creating a safe experience for the literally thousands of riders that will show up tonight to ride on the "closed course" for tomorrow's L.A. Marathon, this marks a major political victory for the Mayor's Office. Despite the high promise and lofty rhetoric that accompanied Garcetti into the Mayor's Office, many advocates were worried the city was backsliding compared to the progress made under Mayor Villaraigosa.
But Don "Roadblock" Ward, the head of Wolfpack Hustle, thanked the Mayor's Office and LAPD on the ride's Facebook page. In a phone interview he signaled out Commander Bill Scott of the LAPD, David Michaelson of the City Attorney's Office and the Mayor's Office for working extra hard and in good faith to get a permit for the ride.
It is rumored that despite being in Mexico on a trade mission, that Garcetti himself was monitoring the talks over the last couple of days.
To help insure a safe ride, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition will help provide trained "ride marshals" and the LAPD will provide "rolling closures" of intersections as groups of riders approach. Earlier today I joked that we could Live Stream Ward sleeping on my sofa for an alibi in case things took an ugly turn when we believed the ride would be unsanctioned. Now Ward, joined by local bicycling folk hero Damian Kevitt, will be leading the ride.
Ride safe everyone. Streetsblog will have coverage of the ride on Monday.
