Out Come the Wolves
It was also Midnight Ridazz ride that spawned the most notorious fast-paced ride across the country. Wolfpack Hustle began as one of the legs of the Tron Ride in the summer of 2005. At first, WPH would get together sporadically, when riders got the itch to tear through the streets in a pack. Eventually it became a weekly ride, and Tang’s on Sunset and Fountain became a landmark in the eyes of L.A. cyclists and visitors who would come to ride with the wolves.
When L.A. was faced with the ultimate nightmare last July—a weekend-long freeway closure dubbed Carmadgeddon—Jetblue offered flights from Burbank on the north side of L.A. to Long Beach, 40 miles south, for just $4, and traffic expert Tom Vanderbilt tweeted that he bet a good cyclist could get there faster. Wolfpack took up the challenge. The Wolfpack vs. Jetblue challenge garnered widespread media coverage, and inspired one person on rollerblades and another who relied on public transportation to clock their own times on the trip. While the 405 remained ghostly still, the wolves rode to Long Beach via the L.A. river path, reaching the set ending point more than an hour before the Jetblue passenger.
And while nearly every L.A. cyclist (and a thousand others across the country) aspires to ride with the wolves, there are ample other opportunities to prove your mettle in unrelenting traffic and deteriorated roads. “Street racers are hungry out here,” says Sean Martin of the race collective Takeover L.A. “Just about every week there is some sort of race. Over the course of the next eight weeks there are 10 different styles of races. No other city in the world has that.”
From weekly races in different parts of town to annual events like the DTLA Summer Series alleycats and the Fortune 700 Rosebowl track race, to merciless hill climb challenges like Feel My Legs I’m a Racer and Lord of Griffith, hosted by Martin, and countless others, there are ample opportunities to keep the legs spinning and the tires hot. Perhaps the biggest in attendance is the Wolfpack Marathon Crash Race, drawing between 500-1000 racers each year. “It’s the only time you get to race 26 miles on a closed-to-cars course in L.A. at 4 am!” Martin says of the crash race.
But the cherry on top of the year ahead may well be when the Westside Invite comes to L.A. The Los Angeles Bike Messenger Association will host the annual event, which has resided in the Northwest for a number of years, over Veteran’s day weekend in November.
Perk your ears to www.wolfpackhustle.com and www.tola.com to hear the howls for street races in L.A.