Originally published on Facebook
The January 2016 Last Saturday of the Month Trikke Ride will be the 60th-ever LSM Ride in the Los Angeles area. We’ve come a long way, So Cal Carvers, but how did we get here?
The Last Saturday of the Month Ride began in February, 2011, as part of the new So Cal Trikke Circuit, season one.
The circuit: a yearlong schedule of events that encompassed a few already established rides with a whole new series of rides — many of them scheduled during holiday weekends — and a monthly ride, happening on the last Saturday of each month.
The yearlong schedule was the result of a partnership between two local entities, South Bay Trikke and TrikkeWorld Magazine (2011-2013), that would collectively become known as SBT&T. The individual band members: Andy Pliska, Sean Tice and Irene Tice (SBT) and Jeri Thompson and yours truly (TWM).
The concept: great weather, plus diverse locales, plus the untold number of riders in the area equals one awesome and passionate local Trikke scene.
Season one of the So Cal Trikke circuit began in 2011 with the first MLK Ride.
The following month, the first Last Saturday of the Month Ride was held on a very windy and very cold morning in Long Beach. Four people braved those brutal conditions.
Another handful showed up for the last Saturday rides in March and April.
Sometime during those early months, Wilson Wong coined the phrase LSM in a Facebook post and the term became forever embedded in the Trikke world lexicon.
For the May 2011 LSM, 45 riders came out of the woodwork to confirm what we always suspected: build a ride circuit and they will come. Group rides with 20-40 people became the norm.
Since that cold and bitter last Saturday in February, 2011, Southern California has held an LSM Ride every single month. Despite the contraction of the community due to the scarcity of new Trikkes. Even despite rainouts, where some carvers did manage a little carving, if only to be able to say, “I rode my Trikke on the last Saturday of the month.”
An important statement, you see, because Wilson Wong got the brilliant notion that everybody deserved an LSM ride, no matter where they carved up the planet. Thus began the worldwide LSM Ride movement, where the S could stand for Saturday or Sunday, and the ride could be solo or with a group.
In Southern California, that S has mostly stood for Saturday with group rides in Long Beach, Ventura, Santa Clarita, the South Bay, Newport Beach. Why, one LSM saw So Cal carvers carving up the Doo Dah parade in Pasadena!
That’s five years worth of LSMs, well almost.
No LSM was held in January 2011, which means the LSM in January 2016 will be the 60th LSM held in Southern California.
Come celebrate with us. We’ve come along way folks, and we’ve done some wonderful things … talk about miles of smiles!
And thank you original band members, and everybody who’s share the dream and enjoyed a smile at an LSM ride these last five years. I’ve enjoyed meeting and spending time with each and everyone of you!
Randy Boyd author 