June 4, 2025 • 34 mins
From the tenth floor of her Marina del Rey apartment, Tara watched as a small puff of smoke appeared in the Palisades hills. Within hours, this wisp would transform into a devastating wildfire, forcing thousands to evacuate. What happened next reveals the extraordinary resilience hidden within Los Angeles communities.
Drawing from her experiences during 9/11 (when she lived across from the Pentagon) and a previous home disaster, Tara leaned into her role as a central hub for information sharing and resource coordination. Through cycling club WhatsApp groups, she connected those in need with those who could help—creating a real-time support network that proved crucial during the chaos.
Her simple philosophy, "This is what we do," encapsulates a profound approach to community responsibility that transcends any expectation of reciprocity.
The conversation explores how communities built around shared interests, such as cycling, developed bonds of trust that proved invaluable during crisis. As Tara explains, "When you ride in a Peloton at 25 miles an hour down PCH, you're putting your life in the hands of the people around you." This foundation of trust enabled an immediate, coordinated response that helped countless displaced residents.
Beyond emergency response, we discover how Tara's intentional community-building through women's cycling groups demonstrates principles that create resilience before disaster strikes. By creating inclusive spaces where "no one gets dropped" and everyone feels supported, these communities foster connections that become lifelines during crisis.
How do we maintain this sense of community without requiring tragedy to activate it? What role should technology play in enabling rather than replacing genuine human connection? Join us for this powerful exploration of how adversity reveals our true capacity for compassion and collective action.
Shared Ground is produced by Sean Knierim and Allan Marks. Thanks to Cory Grabow, Kara Poltor, Corey Walles (from The Recording Studio) for your support in launching this effort.
For more stories of resilience & rebuilding, kindness & generosity: visit shared-ground.com and subscribe to Sean's substack. We invite you to share your own stories of resilience at the Shared Ground website - whether in response to the January fires in LA or other situations.
Follow us at seanknierim.substack.com, Instagram, or wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc).
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sean Knierim (00:08):
Today we have a special guest, someone that's
become really important in mylife and the life of a lot of
people around the LA communityTara.
Tara, thanks for joining ustoday.
We have come to know each otherin the last year, but really
got to know each other in thelast few months.
So yeah, as we're starting alot of these episodes, these
(00:30):
began with the fires that camethrough the Palisades fire, the
Eden fire here in the LosAngeles region and we're just
curious to talk to people we'vecome to know like.
What was it like as you think,back to January 6th, january 7th
, january 8th?
Can you take us through whatyour experience was like during
those days, tara?
Tara Kriese (00:43):
Absolutely so.
As you mentioned, we've gottento know each other a lot over
the last few months, but itstarted last fall because we
ride bikes.
We're in a cycling clubtogether and it was a bright
blue Tuesday morning and I livein the marina in big glass
towers, and my view I'm veryfortunate goes from the far
western edge of Malibu all theway down to the marina, looking
(01:05):
right at the Palisades, and Ican see all the way back to
Mandeville.
Sean Knierim (01:09):
Which floor are you?
Allan Marks (01:10):
on.
I'm on the 10th floor you havea ringside seat.
Tara Kriese (01:13):
And a whole glass wall, so I effectively have, you
know, the biggest flat screenever of the area.
And I usually actually do aride on Tuesday mornings.
But I had some work meetingsthat I could not skip and ride
my bike.
And so I'm sitting at my deskand it is between 10 and 11.
And I'm thinking, oh, theyshould be getting back pretty
soon.
And I look up, there's justthis little poof of smoke
(01:36):
starting to come up, and I knowone of the climbs is really
close to that.
And so I messaged a few of theriders and I'm like hey, are you
guys anywhere near Amalfi?
And I learned they're just downand they start sending me
photos of being underneath it.
And I start texting a fewpeople around going guys, this
looks like Palisades is on fire.
And I text our good friend Drewand I say, hey, drew, it looks
(01:58):
like there's a fire in thePalisades.
And I get a text back about 20minutes later and Drew goes yeah
, we're getting out.
Sean Knierim (02:05):
And Drew lives about five blocks from where my
house was.
He lives about a block from thehigh school where my daughter
went to school.
Tara Kriese (02:12):
That's right.
Sean Knierim (02:14):
So Temescal.
Tara Kriese (02:14):
Kenya.
Sean Knierim (02:14):
He lives just below Polly, right off Temescal
yeah.
Tara Kriese (02:17):
And, hey, what do you need?
I've got a Land Rover.
Like, do you need me to comeover and throw stuff in the bag?
Like, what do you need?
And over the course of the nextcouple of hours I end up
becoming this central point forour cycling communities.
I'm in two cycling communitieshere in LA.
I'm in Lagrange, the one thatSean knows me from, and
Grandmasters GMC and both clubshave a WhatsApp community and
(02:38):
pretty quickly the WatchDuty appcomes to surface.
Really early on A friend textedto me and I end up putting it
into the communities and what Ilater learned was that a whole
bunch of friends of ours wholive in the Palisades were able
to get out or direct spouses,children on where to go because
we were able to disseminate thatapp really quickly across many
(03:01):
hundreds of people Over theensuing days.
You know, obviously I'm textingSean, finding out whether or
not he is getting out anddifferent friends, and I start
to learn just how many in ourcommunity are either displaced
or losing their home in realtime.
Sean Knierim (03:14):
We were talking in a prior conversation, alan,
about.
For me and some others, I'mcurious how this hit you, that
there was such this overwhelmingnumber of different emotions
that were hitting me, and Ifound that just staying in
action was really important tome, even if I didn't know what
the hell I was doing.
In that action, you actedreally quick.
(03:35):
You became an organizing force.
You started helping my family,all of these other families.
Can you talk us through a bitabout how you were feeling and
how you responded to it?
Tara Kriese (03:44):
Two things informed that for me.
The first is I lived across thestreet from the Pentagon on
9-11.
Yeah, directly across thestreet, my front window.
Here's the window theme again.
Yeah, watch out where I live.
Allan Marks (03:58):
I don't want to be anywhere near my view.
Tara Kriese (04:00):
I do my window.
I looked at 495 and on theother side of 495, so I was on
Army Navy Drive and on the otherside was the Pentagon and the
side of the building they gothit.
The plane went right over me andmy father-in-law lost many
friends that day.
He was government and he wasdefense intelligence and I
remember the feelings ofhelplessness in that moment
(04:22):
because there literally wasabsolutely nothing we could do
in that moment.
And then fast forward to 2012.
I had a very similar.
It wasn't a fire, it was areverse um furnace event, an oil
furnace that, uh, in order toprotect the furnace from blowing
up, actually forced all the oilthrough all of the air vents in
my house.
But they treat it like a firebecause it's the same soot
(04:45):
that's in a fire that goes allover everything.
And it was Christmas Eve whenit happened and we were
displaced and we lost a lot ofpossessions and all of my
daughter's toys.
My daughter was very young atthe time and I remember the
feeling of losing home, losingplace, losing safety, losing
connection, losing neighbors,losing all of those things, and
(05:05):
we ended up having to movebecause the air quality in the
home was such that my daughtercouldn't because of other health
concerns couldn't breathe it.
So I know what it felt like andI had a fraction of what you
guys were going through.
Allan Marks (05:15):
Can I take a moment ?
I want to tease that apart, ifthat's OK with you, because in
9-11, when you're across thePentagon and it's struck by a
passenger jet, no one.
When you're across the Pentagonas it's struck by a passenger
jet, no one knew.
I mean, you knew what happenedbecause you saw a plane hit a
building, but that was in afinite box.
Between that and what washappening in New York, there was
a lot of confusion about whowas behind it, what was going on
.
Most importantly, I think, if Iremember that day, what would
(05:36):
happen next?
Yeah, where?
What other cities?
There's this fear that waspervasive, a lot of which had to
do with just not really knowing.
When people are venting an oilburner into your home, you know
what's happening.
You do actually haveinformation, as tragic as the
loss still may be.
For you personally, when you'relooking at the fire in the
Palisades from the marina andyou have a role to play as kind
(06:00):
of the central communicationshub for people, that agency, the
urgency of what you're doingprobably does change the
experience somewhat.
Tara Kriese (06:07):
The other thing that was very familiar from that
day to what was going on withthe Palisades that day and then
Altadena, was this feeling oflike there's another shoe to
drop, there's another shoe todrop, there's another shoe, like
it just kept coming.
You kept learning, and it wasthis kind of constant piling on,
of impact, of gosh, what what'snext feels pink, as the pilots
would say, with the flameretardant.
Allan Marks (06:29):
I remember when the fire broke out in runyon canyon
in hollywood yeah, you know,there's a couple days later,
closer to where our family lives, and because the winds were not
as extreme at that point, thefire department was able to
squash that fire immediately andsave what would otherwise would
have been, you know, a similarconflagration in that part of
the city.
Yeah, um, the palisades was ina uniquely unfortunate position,
as was altadena, with the edencanyon fire of the fires
(06:52):
breaking out in an urban area atexactly the same time as the
windstorm was was happening.
So it was.
It was extraordinarily tragicand nothing really anybody could
have done about it yeah.
Tara Kriese (07:02):
But to answer your question like what, what?
What I drew on in that moment toget to the point of wanting to
act is.
It's been a central theme for meacross what I do, whether it's
career, whether it's parenting,whether it's friendship One of
my personal values is just doingwhat I would want others to do
for me, whether or not theyactually doing what I would want
(07:24):
others to do.
It's how I've parented my childand in that moment when people
don't even know what they needlike they can't even verbalize
what they need, sometimes theyjust need someone to say I'm
doing this for you, I'm takingcontrol and taking this off your
plate, or I'm here and I'mready to do it.
If just knowing that someone'sthere and ready to do it and
that people are around becauseit can be such a lonely, scary
(07:45):
like I am, in loss I am, I don'thave words, I don't know how to
respond, I don't know how toreact, and knowing that someone
else is there at the ready to bea shoulder, to hang on and to
grab, like that, is that thatthat gets you through the next
five seconds or five minutes,and that idea for me of wanting
to do for others what I wouldhope and pray somebody would do
(08:06):
for me.
That's, that's how I acted inthat moment and that's how I
always I tried.
Sean Knierim (08:10):
So I want to come back to that idea of a conduit
in a minute, because I'd love tohear about some of the things
you saw flowing through theconduit that you and others were
acting on.
But there was something.
Each time I tried to thank youfor about three months, you
would say the same line everysingle time of this is what we
do, and it was.
We talked in a with Nina in thevery first one of these about
(08:31):
how many people we said thankyou to.
That said it's nothing, it'sright, this is the least I could
do, but this is what we do isreally stuck with me.
Why, why is this what we do?
Is it because of those oldexperiences, because of where
you came from?
Like what is there acommonality of other people
you've seen that would just saythis is what we do.
Tara Kriese (08:50):
I coined it.
The idea was always there, butit got coined between me and a
dear friend.
Jared Duby Got thisself-serving agenda folks in
there and Jared and I we'vealways had this mantra of if you
can help someone, if you canbring others along, if you can
pull others up, you just do itbecause it also means you got
great people around you.
And those environments aren'tnecessarily right for kind of
(09:12):
pulling people for culturallyfor the right reasons.
They're much more about thebottom line and making sure the
bottom line happens.
And do I look great?
But Jarrett and I always wereones to make sure that we took
care of folks, that werecommended folks, that we made
sure great people got greatopportunities.
And when he and I were bothgoing through some particularly
(09:33):
rough times, we stepped in foreach other without asking and we
started coining this.
It's just what we do.
And then we had a dear friendof ours who lost a spouse who we
just anchored around and didn'teven give them a choice.
We kind of swooped in and likeyou're going to let us help you
here, you're going to let usstep in.
And it was Steve.
You don't have a choice, it'swhat we do, it's what we do, and
so this idea of it's what we dois really it's a way of
(09:56):
behaving, it's a way of existing, because you can tell me all
day, stop and don't help, and Iwill.
I'll stop if you'd like me tostop, but I'm going to come in
and I'm going to help youbecause I'd hope that somebody
who has clearer mind when I amat loss, would step in and say
I'm taking this off your plate.
Sean Knierim (10:13):
So, as we think back to that conduit that you
were acting as during that time,what are the things that were
flowing through that conduit,tara, like?
What were the things thatpeople needed, that people
offered?
What will you remember lookingback?
Tara Kriese (10:23):
The first thing I'll remember is the cycling
community is one where we have avery unique uniting silver
thread that goes, or goldenthread that goes, between all of
us and that when you ride in aPeloton in places like PCH at 25
miles an hour, you know, andriding off people's wheels at
six inches off their wheel intraffic, you're putting your
(10:44):
life in the hands of the peoplein front of you and beside you
and behind you and you do buildan unsaid sense of trust and you
don't realize, I think, at thetime, how far those bonds go and
in that then becomes thiscommunity that can and does wrap
around when people are in need.
And so the kind of things thatI saw were everything from just
(11:04):
basic information and likewhat's up, what's down, what's
going on where, how and when to.
I left with the shirt on myback.
I need clothes, or I don't know.
I haven't eaten in two daysbecause I'm too busy, you know,
doing this and I can't eventhink about it.
Or someone needs to find a wayto get up there to get my dog to
more kind of longstanding.
(11:25):
How do we start to help findingpeople places, extra bedrooms,
extra homes, vacation homes forpeople to settle.
It kind of spanned the gamut oflife and some of it was the
mundane and the simple orseemingly overly simple to
getting bikes for people,because a lot of the way that
cyclists process things is whenthey're on the bike, either
(11:46):
alone or in.
A lot of the way that cyclistsprocess things is when they're
on the bike, either alone or ina group, or the way that they
let go is when they're back in agroup.
Two more complicated things,like we've got a lot of
architects and we've got a lotof folks that do real estate,
real estate development, likequestions starting to get at
what do I need to be thinkingabout?
So being that central point ofbeing able to use this kind of
(12:06):
communication platform that wehad across the two groups and
then that wide communityspanning like every kind of
facet, using that to move thesepeople faster towards solutions
or help.
That was the kind of underlyingthread of it all.
Sean Knierim (12:21):
And something important here is, like you,
with Lagrange, had set up aWhatsApp channel for the club to
be able to communicate moreeffectively, even before that
became an important thing.
I'm laughing because right now,I'm about to take a drink of
water out of a water bottle.
I did not think about which oneI was going to bring, but this
is my favorite water bottle.
Tara connected a lot of us justto get water bottles and kit to
(12:42):
be able to ride with, becausewe didn't have this stuff coming
out of the houses.
My son is an aspiringprofessional road cyclist and
you have been incrediblyinstrumental in supporting, in
pushing the club to supportthese young riders and
supporting my son in general.
One thing I explored this before.
Like things, this is a waterbottle.
This is a little plastic thing.
It's my.
This is what I have next to mybed today and it's something
(13:05):
that's important to me.
I needed a water bottle on theon the bike.
I needed something to drinkwater in anyway, but it also has
a lot of other meaning, right?
So, as you helped people eitherget back on bikes or get kits,
anything you can think, have youobserved other folks that have
strangely emotional connectionsto water bottles like this, like
I have, like.
What have you seen as peoplehave received, not just
(13:26):
necessarily yours, but we'veseen Pedal Mafia, rafa, all of
these other bike shops showed upfor the community, at least
here on the West side, have youseen connections forming between
people and things?
Tara Kriese (13:36):
Yeah, I have.
We have a good friend, drew,finding that lost his home and
his you know his bike.
He didn't, he didn't grab anyof it.
Funny enough you know, two dayslater he's at Helen's buying a
bike and that was the toppriority.
It's the way cyclists behavebut you got to get back out
there.
But you know, you realize whenyou have a hobby like that or
(13:56):
there's a thing you do, thereare certain things you gravitate
to or that you wear, that youlike, and one of Drew's favorite
brands is this brand Ostroy.
Alex Ostroy is the founder ofOstroy.
He is cycling royalty here inLA.
His grandfather was part of theoriginal Lagrange racing team.
His parents are still here intheir 80s and 90s and they both
(14:17):
ride and he makes stunninglybeautiful, super artistic, and
drew had a bunch of his stuffand I know that was the thing
that drew was like sure I've.
You know pedals been great androbson and he's.
He's so overly gracious aboutmaking sure he's grateful for
those things.
But I got to ride with alex acouple weeks ago and tell alex
(14:40):
about drew and alex made surethis amazing care package showed
up, pulled up a shopify thingand he saw just how much drew
really loved this brand.
And drew now is attached tothese pair of bibs that they're
black bibs but they have anespresso machine on the rear,
which is when you're riding,you're looking at somebody's
butt the whole time.
Allan Marks (15:00):
You're right, and they are unless you're wearing
the yellow shirt unless you'reriding.
You're looking at somebody'sbutt the whole time you ride,
Unless you're wearing the yellowshirt.
Unless you're yes, If you'rewearing the yellow shirt, he's
in the front.
Tara Kriese (15:04):
You're in the front , but everybody else does.
I stare at Drew's butt becausehe's always in front of me.
Sean Knierim (15:07):
It is hard to get in front of Drew on rides.
This guy is a much strongerrider than I will ever be.
Tara Kriese (15:13):
He is a beast but he loves now and they are his
thing and I know that it's.
It's that little thing.
That is just this connection tothe before, but brought forward
in a new way, with this funstory wrapped around it, and
then just also the little thingslike that.
He had gloves because of thekits that we put together and he
(15:34):
had a water bottle and couldget on a bike and all of those
things.
So there's something about kindof just getting back to the
practice of doing something thatis so familiar and it's with
the people that you do that,even though everything around
you.
He would talk about how he'dcome out on Saturday mornings
and ride with us on whateverride we were doing, but then he
would be jumping right back tosix hours of project management,
(15:55):
him and his wife just at thetable.
Allan Marks (15:59):
But that return to normalcy in a way way, and it
depends on return to communityWhether it's the cycling
community in that case I want tocome back to, because you used
to work community a number oftimes.
If I was listening closelyenough, I heard you mention
trust, the trust of, for example, the riders in the Peloton,
which is immense.
(16:20):
I heard empathy.
It's what we do because we wantsomeone to do it for us.
You put yourself in someoneelse's shoes.
You know what that would feellike and what you'd hope to have
if you were, in that own senseof, either in peril or loss.
The communities that burnt, thephysical spaces that we often
think of as a community, aredispersed, but in some ways,
(16:40):
what you're describing iscommunities of interest,
communities of trust and ofempathy among people that rely
on each other now more than theydid before.
Do you think the communities inLA and I use plural on purpose
do you think the communities inLA in some ways are actually
stronger now because of what somany people have gone through?
Tara Kriese (16:58):
I do.
I think we've far exceeded ourown expectations of what is
truly here in the form of trustand empathy and commitment and
an intentionality behind takingcare of those around us.
I think people throw all kindsof stones at LA and I get it.
I mean Hollywood's here andthere's a lot of vapid stuff
(17:19):
that goes on, but what I saw.
I won't go anywhere else nowbecause, knowing the mindset of
the folks that are here, wedon't want you to go anywhere
else and have another window tolook out of.
Sean Knierim (17:33):
No, no windows.
Let's stick with this windowfor a while.
The window's done.
Tara Kriese (17:37):
But also if I think about coming back to the idea
of community and how everyonewatching what happened in LA,
some total was just amazing.
I mean, people wanted, thosewho were impacted, people wanted
for nothing in the immediatemoment, like everyone just
jumped through and made sure theimmediate needs were there.
And I have a friend in townthis week that's part of our
(17:58):
cycling club but she lives onthe East Coast and she's members
of cycling clubs there.
It's part of our cycling club,but she lives on the East Coast
and she's members of cyclingclubs there.
But she commented on how,watching from afar, because she
had two daughters here butthey're both in their late 20s,
early 30s and they both havegreat jobs here and partners
here and because of our WhatsAppcommunity, because of what we
were communicating in thatWhatsApp community, she was able
(18:19):
to manage her daughters.
One lived in Santa Monica andgot evacuated right and the
other one lives in WestHollywood and they were near the
Runyon fire, right and beingable to triangulate.
When your daughters are callingyou, screaming, scared, out of
their minds, not knowing what todo and not having any other
family here, jumping in andsaying to Deb, like I'm mama on
the West Coast.
I got this right let's movethem around, let's take care of
(18:40):
them.
She's like people where I liveare not like that, like there's
nice people, but I don't seethem wrapping around people in
the way that.
I've watched multiple times nowthese communities whether it's
a personal tragedy, an isolatedevent or a group and there's
something about people here inthis community that really wrap
(19:01):
around others and that's why Iwon't go anywhere.
Allan Marks (19:05):
So let me take that a step further, maybe in a
different direction, if I may.
So if you look at responses totragedies, community tragedies
you look at the fires here, youlook at what happened in Maui,
the Lahaina fire.
You look at the southeast afterhurricanes, you know Asheville
and along the Gulf Coast, to saynothing of things overseas
Communities respond in certainways, hopefully with a view to
(19:26):
the commonality that everybodyhas, yeah, and those who can
survive it can maybe becomecloser.
How do we create that lasting,like authentic sense of
community without a tragedy tospur it on?
Tara Kriese (19:40):
I think it was here .
But there is something aboutwhen you live life outside and
can be with others outside andyou spend so much more time with
people.
I think because of the uniqueclimate set up here that allows
people to spend more timetogether versus kind of alone in
your house in suburbia or aloneyou know New York, I think.
(20:02):
Think people it's a similarthing because the way of life is
living out of your box, yourteeny tiny shoe box.
Allan Marks (20:07):
So you see that you're in restaurants, you're in
mass transit, you're in publicparks, you're in areas where
you're getting together withother people yeah, and there's.
Tara Kriese (20:14):
There was a lot of overtones to what happened here
too.
I lived in brooklyn heightsduring covid I.
I pick them, let me tell you um.
I moved into my apartment onfebruary 20th 2020.
Allan Marks (20:25):
Yeah tell me where you're moving next.
So I can, I will, I will, Iwill I'm going.
Tara Kriese (20:29):
Seattle was fine for 10 years, but, um, there was
a, there was a similarity inthat community.
I was so proud to be in newyork and live in new york
amongst that community, watching, you know, even though we
couldn't get near each other,still feeling very, very
connected.
And so I think it is about howwe live and then the opportunity
(20:49):
to engage, find common ground,even though we may have
different views and differentpolitical opinions, different
desires, I think getting tosocialize and be together.
That happens here, and I thinkpeople would look at this place
and think that we don't,especially at the big mansions
in Bel Air, but I think we do somuch and I think it's unique to
(21:09):
this area because of the wayyou live.
Sean Knierim (21:12):
So there's a way that you live that's there,
that's inherent to location.
But as we think about what wecan learn from the experience
here and the experience thatyou've been living through, tara
, that could be extendedeverywhere, something I've
learned from you is that there'san intention that can be put
into further confirming,supporting, strengthening that
trust in that community.
(21:33):
I mean, you're doing somethingright now intentionally to
support women in cycling.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthe experience of what you're
trying to lead with others, butalso what we can learn from that
in terms of building communityanywhere where we inhabit?
I don't think I'm doing it Toprepare for wherever Tara moves
next and looks out a window andwe're going to need this
resilience.
Tara Kriese (21:53):
I promise I'll tell you.
I don't think it's thatcomplicated.
I think it's be what you wantto see in the world.
You know, I think leadership isactually a very simple idea.
I think you both do it very,very well what do you want to
see in the world?
right.
Well, in this case I wanted tosee and have a place, a forum
for female cyclists that justfeels like community and that is
(22:18):
so much what that sport tendsto be, and to also kind of pull
together a lot of the reallypowerful athletes that I would
see.
You know, on this ride I'd passthis woman over here she's
riding alone, or this personwould tell me so-and-so rides
and I would hear these storiesof women kind of dispersed but
not coming together becausethere was no unifying place for
(22:39):
women to do that.
And when I came into cycling Irode a bike when I was young, I
mean you know we all had our 10speed and I'd ride it to the
pool, into the park, get to thehouse some kid, a friend's house
, you'd throw it on their frontlawn.
That's how everyone knew whereeverybody was.
Allan Marks (22:53):
Playing cards in the spokes.
I remember that too.
Tara Kriese (22:54):
Playing cards in the spokes.
A hundred percent.
And it was after my banana seat.
Allan Marks (22:58):
We started with that, with the little plastic
things, with the little pom-pomson the side.
Tara Kriese (23:02):
But it was great.
But I hadn't ridden a bikesince I was 26 years old and
when I was now three years ago,a friend of mine who had been a
cyclist forever had introducedme to a club that rides for
cancer every year.
And they do this insane500-mile, 40,000 feet of
climbing six days to raise moneyfor City of Hope here in LA.
(23:23):
To climbing six days to raisemoney for City of Hope here in
LA.
And I'm a huge, huge proponentof doing crazy acts of
physicality to raise money andget people to give money for
cancer, because there's been alot of cancer in my family.
I threw myself into it and inthree months went from basically
never writing to doing thattour.
And there was a lot of hazinginvolved in getting me ready and
it was a very kind of maleforward, tough testosterone, you
(23:47):
know, shoving me into Pelotonson PCH and scary lots of panic
attacks on PCH.
And I just thought there'sgotta be, there's gotta be a
different way to bring peoplewho are interested into the
sport and then also to havewomen feel like it's okay to say
, hey, how do I signal that way?
Or how does this work?
How do you ride off somebody'swheel six inches when you're
(24:08):
going 25 miles an hour?
Like ask questions?
And so I ran for the board ofour cycling club.
I got onto the board and I evenwhen I was running I made it
really clear that I waspassionate about women's
initiatives and furthering thecase for women being in sport
and then also the social of itall and bringing community
together, because it's what I do.
But I started with let's justthrow a ride on the calendar.
(24:32):
Every Saturday I'm going tostand at this corner and
hopefully other people show up.
The first time it was five,next time it's seven.
Sean Knierim (24:41):
How many now?
How many last weekend?
Tara Kriese (24:42):
Last week there was 18 and there were six people
who were away.
Yeah, but it was 18 of us andyou know the ride we took.
That was a hard ride.
Our deer mountains have beensomewhat closed off to us
because of the fires.
For those who don't know, thePCH is still closed.
It's typically three lanes, oneway you know, so six lanes
(25:02):
across or down.
Allan Marks (25:04):
My dream is it would be opened gradually, when
they're able to do so slowly, sothat it's cyclists and runners
and rollers only for the firstweek.
Even that would be so amazing.
Tara Kriese (25:14):
We would lose our minds.
I mean, we are so, so wantingto get back into those mountains
because that's our playground,you know, climbing 3,000 feet to
the top of Mul mahalan driveand looking out over the
wildflowers, I mean there isit's, it's uh pretty.
Yeah, we cyclists hate to driveto rides and there's always a
(25:35):
lot of like I don't mind.
We, you know, threw bikes onracks and we drove and it, you
know, in traffic, it, traffic,it's an hour and a half, but in
the morning, when you leave atsix o'clock in the morning, it's
, you know, only about a halfhour.
And we drove over to Westlakeand we started Westlake.
We did a full valley, 20 milesbefore we started climbing, and
we did Potrero up to theWestlake climb, which hits a 20%
(25:57):
incline at one point, and thendid all of Mulholland, even the
park.
Sean Knierim (26:01):
For listeners that don't know cycling, 20 is a
large, big number for trying toclimb.
Allan Marks (26:06):
It's like scaling a cliff.
Sean Knierim (26:07):
I mean stairways go up 20% climbs, but yeah.
Tara Kriese (26:11):
Yeah, it's kind of like that.
Allan Marks (26:15):
I don't know if I can say this on the podcast, but
I do remember.
This is going back many yearsago.
I was doing a century in Ojaiand there's this climb coming
out of Lake Casitas.
As you head, it was like afigure eight.
So you're heading back towardsthe coast and you're climbing up
.
It was really steep.
I had a mantra to get therhythm going.
As I was standing, you know,trying to get my pedals to go
back and forth, back and forth,and you get a rhythm going,
(26:36):
climbing this incredibly steepthing with, you know, my lowest
gear, and the two words I keptsaying to myself were blank, you
blank, you blank you, but I gotthat rhythm going and I got up
there and, yeah, I miss that.
Tara Kriese (26:51):
Yeah, I have a couple.
Allan Marks (26:52):
I had younger knees then too.
Tara Kriese (26:54):
Yeah, I have a few words that I probably shouldn't
say on the podcast that myfellow female writers like to
say.
They know what Tara's favoritewords are.
But yeah, we got to mahalan,west league of mahalan, at the
intersection.
It's kind of a notable placefor cyclists to regroup and wait
, and philip, who was leadingthe ride, and I get there and we
just both start tearing up likeit.
(27:15):
Just it was such a momentbecause, first of all, we now
can see burn areas, but youcan't see burn like nature.
Nature's fine, nature's got itcovered like nature's.
Allan Marks (27:26):
We are not so fine, but last week going out there.
Now I'll tell you it's also abig fire hazard and an invasive
species.
But the mustard was all inbloom on the hills going out
toward thousand oaks and agoraand westlake village and with
the oak trees studding thesehills, a blaze in yellow and
green.
It was just, it was absolutelystunning.
Tara Kriese (27:48):
To that point.
When we drove out in themorning, the sun's just coming
up, so all of the flowers areclosed, so the mountains were
green, bright green, looked likefur.
But when we drove back in theafternoon, the same mountains
glowed yellow.
They were bright yellow andjust seeing it and getting to
ride and then also there's suchthere's a significantly fewer
(28:10):
cars in the mountains right now,just because there's no traffic
egress.
It was heaven.
It was absolute heaven beingout there and we had the best
time.
But more importantly is thatwe've created this community
with this group of women.
Now no one gets dropped.
It's a safe place.
You can talk about anything youneed to.
You can ask anything you needto.
We go as slow as the slowestrider.
(28:31):
It is not about watts, it isnot about speed, it's about fun.
And how different is that?
Sean Knierim (28:47):
from when you're with the all-women cycling group
doing that, when you're withcompared to compared to, say,
lagrange or other cycling groupsthat are mixed.
I mean, I'll let you speak tothat.
It depends on the ride andwho's involved in the profile of
it.
There are some rides that it isall out and people are racing
and pushing and trying to seewhat they can do to get their
personal bests, to see what theycan do to get their personal
bests.
What I found on a lot of theLagrange rides and I think this
(29:07):
has a lot to do with some of theleadership that are there now
is it breaks off and you getoptions Like some people can
push if you're having that kindof good day and you can roll,
which I think is reallyrepresentative of what a lot of
these performance communitiesthat are leaning forward are
trying to do.
You have the opportunity topush if you want to, but it is
not only accessible and possibleto hold off and have a social
(29:29):
pace and be able to talk tofriends, but it's actually
accepted and supported andthat's something that's hard to
put in place.
And I'll tell you last night Iwanted to make sure you heard
this Tara Alan and I weretalking about this conversation
and looking forward to it andsaying what are we going to ask
and how are we going to worktogether in this?
And I mentioned that I reallywanted to make sure that we had
a chance to hear from youtalking about building this
group of women writers.
(29:50):
My son, he's 20 years old.
He's an aspiring writer.
He put his hand up and startedyelling and he was so excited
that you were being interviewedhere.
Some of the pushing that he'sfallen into.
But he's seen these women whohave supported him, have
nurtured him, who are textinghim at night and saying show up
at six in the morning to ridewith us, because we want to be
(30:11):
part of this.
That's what he was reallyattracted to.
Two weeks ago, one of the womenyou've mentored and supported
for years, aiden had fallen andwas coming back to a race and
Morgan walked up to him and saidno, aiden, get out there and
ride.
Tara Kriese (30:32):
Tough up and go.
We're creating a much morevibrant community that now feels
like a 20-year-old racer and a43-year-old woman and an
82-year-old woman could ride thesame rides and we're all going
to get there and we're all goingto have a great experience, or
we're going to get help if we'renot having a great experience.
And it wasn't that hard.
It's just a simple like makingsure everyone knows.
There are multiple ways to dothis.
Sean Knierim (30:51):
Which creates a great environment for everyone
that's involved.
So, tara, if we back it up, athesis that Alan and I have been
talking about is resilience,the kind of resilience we need
in the world in which we inhabitnow.
Underlying that resiliencehaving kindness and generosity
without necessarily anexpectation for reciprocity.
As you think about that, and asyou've lived through this
throughout your entire life,what do you think about that
(31:14):
idea of kindness, generosity,what kind of?
How would you define theresilience that we need to try
and inculcate in this worldwe're living in?
Tara Kriese (31:21):
I think it's so much more about people than it's
ever been, and then it's everbeen then it's ever been Okay,
and the reason I say that is andI was part of the creating the
problem um 20 years in tech, uh,the, the isolation that is what
(31:41):
we are living in this time.
It's so easy to be isolated.
Scott Galloway talks aboutwhat's challenging young men
right now and how everythingfrom gaming, the algorithms in
social media and people aren'tleaving their homes, people
aren't engaging in community.
Now more than ever, I think itis crucial for people to get out
(32:04):
the devices way.
The devices can enable themeetups, can enable the
communities, can enable theinformation sharing, but they
were meant to enable that, notreplace.
But I think to your point.
I think it's about trulylistening and feeling like that
human or humans are with you.
Allan Marks (32:26):
Yeah, yeah.
Tara Kriese (32:27):
Are here in this moment, sharing the moment, and
I think that's been lost due tothe over-reliance on tech, and
what should have been anenabling function has now been a
replacing function.
Allan Marks (32:38):
What makes you the most optimistic or the most
hopeful now?
Tara Kriese (32:41):
I think our kids, more than anything, seeing it's
twofold, it's seeing truecommunity do like what we just
witnessed small and large acts,but also our kids.
I'm watching them even shoulderthe chaos that is right now
right and they amaze me withtheir resilience, with their
(33:01):
understanding of kind of broaderworld events.
They are, they have a level ofself-awareness, I think, at such
a younger age, and a propensityto do something about it.
I think about your daughter,maria, like I mean blew my mind
that she is only a senior inhigh school, wise beyond her
(33:21):
years, and her understanding ofinclusiveness and community was
so front and center and present.
I think about them and theirability to wield themselves in
the world that just I have somuch hope that they're going to
be the breaker of chains, if youwill, on some of the things
that are holding us back as abroader, a broader society, and
(33:42):
I get so excited about that.
Sean Knierim (33:43):
So, tara, I am grateful for a lot of reasons
that you are in my kids' life,helping them get where they're
going for the community thatyou're bringing to this town and
what the intent you're bringingin.
I hope people who are listeningto this come out in nutty
clothes and go up mountains withyou so that you get a chance to
get to know Tara better, as Ihave.
We're also really thankful that, as we close this off, I'm Sean
(34:06):
Kinnear.
I'm really grateful that youjoined us for this episode of
Shared Ground.
Allan Marks (34:10):
Yeah, tara, thank you very much, and for both me
and Sean, thank you very much.
We appreciate your listening tous and look forward to
exploring more themes aroundresilience and grit and
community and generosity andgratitude.
Sean Knierim (34:22):
This has been another episode of Shared Ground
, a podcast about resilience andcommunity.
Allan Marks (34:28):
Follow us on your favorite platform or learn more
at sharedgroundcom.
Sean Knierim (34:33):
That's shared-ground.
com.
Today we have a special guest, someone that's
become really important in mylife and the life of a lot of
people around the LA communityTara.
Tara, thanks for joining ustoday.
We have come to know each otherin the last year, but really
got to know each other in thelast few months.
So yeah, as we're starting alot of these episodes, these
(00:30):
began with the fires that camethrough the Palisades fire, the
Eden fire here in the LosAngeles region and we're just
curious to talk to people we'vecome to know like.
What was it like as you think,back to January 6th, january 7th
, january 8th?
Can you take us through whatyour experience was like during
those days, tara?
Tara Kriese (00:43):
Absolutely so.
As you mentioned, we've gottento know each other a lot over
the last few months, but itstarted last fall because we
ride bikes.
We're in a cycling clubtogether and it was a bright
blue Tuesday morning and I livein the marina in big glass
towers, and my view I'm veryfortunate goes from the far
western edge of Malibu all theway down to the marina, looking
(01:05):
right at the Palisades, and Ican see all the way back to
Mandeville.
Sean Knierim (01:09):
Which floor are you?
Allan Marks (01:10):
on.
I'm on the 10th floor you havea ringside seat.
Tara Kriese (01:13):
And a whole glass wall, so I effectively have, you
know, the biggest flat screenever of the area.
And I usually actually do aride on Tuesday mornings.
But I had some work meetingsthat I could not skip and ride
my bike.
And so I'm sitting at my deskand it is between 10 and 11.
And I'm thinking, oh, theyshould be getting back pretty
soon.
And I look up, there's justthis little poof of smoke
(01:36):
starting to come up, and I knowone of the climbs is really
close to that.
And so I messaged a few of theriders and I'm like hey, are you
guys anywhere near Amalfi?
And I learned they're just downand they start sending me
photos of being underneath it.
And I start texting a fewpeople around going guys, this
looks like Palisades is on fire.
And I text our good friend Drewand I say, hey, drew, it looks
(01:58):
like there's a fire in thePalisades.
And I get a text back about 20minutes later and Drew goes yeah
, we're getting out.
Sean Knierim (02:05):
And Drew lives about five blocks from where my
house was.
He lives about a block from thehigh school where my daughter
went to school.
Tara Kriese (02:12):
That's right.
Sean Knierim (02:14):
So Temescal.
Tara Kriese (02:14):
Kenya.
Sean Knierim (02:14):
He lives just below Polly, right off Temescal
yeah.
Tara Kriese (02:17):
And, hey, what do you need?
I've got a Land Rover.
Like, do you need me to comeover and throw stuff in the bag?
Like, what do you need?
And over the course of the nextcouple of hours I end up
becoming this central point forour cycling communities.
I'm in two cycling communitieshere in LA.
I'm in Lagrange, the one thatSean knows me from, and
Grandmasters GMC and both clubshave a WhatsApp community and
(02:38):
pretty quickly the WatchDuty appcomes to surface.
Really early on A friend textedto me and I end up putting it
into the communities and what Ilater learned was that a whole
bunch of friends of ours wholive in the Palisades were able
to get out or direct spouses,children on where to go because
we were able to disseminate thatapp really quickly across many
(03:01):
hundreds of people Over theensuing days.
You know, obviously I'm textingSean, finding out whether or
not he is getting out anddifferent friends, and I start
to learn just how many in ourcommunity are either displaced
or losing their home in realtime.
Sean Knierim (03:14):
We were talking in a prior conversation, alan,
about.
For me and some others, I'mcurious how this hit you, that
there was such this overwhelmingnumber of different emotions
that were hitting me, and Ifound that just staying in
action was really important tome, even if I didn't know what
the hell I was doing.
In that action, you actedreally quick.
(03:35):
You became an organizing force.
You started helping my family,all of these other families.
Can you talk us through a bitabout how you were feeling and
how you responded to it?
Tara Kriese (03:44):
Two things informed that for me.
The first is I lived across thestreet from the Pentagon on
9-11.
Yeah, directly across thestreet, my front window.
Here's the window theme again.
Yeah, watch out where I live.
Allan Marks (03:58):
I don't want to be anywhere near my view.
Tara Kriese (04:00):
I do my window.
I looked at 495 and on theother side of 495, so I was on
Army Navy Drive and on the otherside was the Pentagon and the
side of the building they gothit.
The plane went right over me andmy father-in-law lost many
friends that day.
He was government and he wasdefense intelligence and I
remember the feelings ofhelplessness in that moment
(04:22):
because there literally wasabsolutely nothing we could do
in that moment.
And then fast forward to 2012.
I had a very similar.
It wasn't a fire, it was areverse um furnace event, an oil
furnace that, uh, in order toprotect the furnace from blowing
up, actually forced all the oilthrough all of the air vents in
my house.
But they treat it like a firebecause it's the same soot
(04:45):
that's in a fire that goes allover everything.
And it was Christmas Eve whenit happened and we were
displaced and we lost a lot ofpossessions and all of my
daughter's toys.
My daughter was very young atthe time and I remember the
feeling of losing home, losingplace, losing safety, losing
connection, losing neighbors,losing all of those things, and
(05:05):
we ended up having to movebecause the air quality in the
home was such that my daughtercouldn't because of other health
concerns couldn't breathe it.
So I know what it felt like andI had a fraction of what you
guys were going through.
Allan Marks (05:15):
Can I take a moment ?
I want to tease that apart, ifthat's OK with you, because in
9-11, when you're across thePentagon and it's struck by a
passenger jet, no one.
When you're across the Pentagonas it's struck by a passenger
jet, no one knew.
I mean, you knew what happenedbecause you saw a plane hit a
building, but that was in afinite box.
Between that and what washappening in New York, there was
a lot of confusion about whowas behind it, what was going on
.
Most importantly, I think, if Iremember that day, what would
(05:36):
happen next?
Yeah, where?
What other cities?
There's this fear that waspervasive, a lot of which had to
do with just not really knowing.
When people are venting an oilburner into your home, you know
what's happening.
You do actually haveinformation, as tragic as the
loss still may be.
For you personally, when you'relooking at the fire in the
Palisades from the marina andyou have a role to play as kind
(06:00):
of the central communicationshub for people, that agency, the
urgency of what you're doingprobably does change the
experience somewhat.
Tara Kriese (06:07):
The other thing that was very familiar from that
day to what was going on withthe Palisades that day and then
Altadena, was this feeling oflike there's another shoe to
drop, there's another shoe todrop, there's another shoe, like
it just kept coming.
You kept learning, and it wasthis kind of constant piling on,
of impact, of gosh, what what'snext feels pink, as the pilots
would say, with the flameretardant.
Allan Marks (06:29):
I remember when the fire broke out in runyon canyon
in hollywood yeah, you know,there's a couple days later,
closer to where our family lives, and because the winds were not
as extreme at that point, thefire department was able to
squash that fire immediately andsave what would otherwise would
have been, you know, a similarconflagration in that part of
the city.
Yeah, um, the palisades was ina uniquely unfortunate position,
as was altadena, with the edencanyon fire of the fires
(06:52):
breaking out in an urban area atexactly the same time as the
windstorm was was happening.
So it was.
It was extraordinarily tragicand nothing really anybody could
have done about it yeah.
Tara Kriese (07:02):
But to answer your question like what, what?
What I drew on in that moment toget to the point of wanting to
act is.
It's been a central theme for meacross what I do, whether it's
career, whether it's parenting,whether it's friendship One of
my personal values is just doingwhat I would want others to do
for me, whether or not theyactually doing what I would want
(07:24):
others to do.
It's how I've parented my childand in that moment when people
don't even know what they needlike they can't even verbalize
what they need, sometimes theyjust need someone to say I'm
doing this for you, I'm takingcontrol and taking this off your
plate, or I'm here and I'mready to do it.
If just knowing that someone'sthere and ready to do it and
that people are around becauseit can be such a lonely, scary
(07:45):
like I am, in loss I am, I don'thave words, I don't know how to
respond, I don't know how toreact, and knowing that someone
else is there at the ready to bea shoulder, to hang on and to
grab, like that, is that thatthat gets you through the next
five seconds or five minutes,and that idea for me of wanting
to do for others what I wouldhope and pray somebody would do
(08:06):
for me.
That's, that's how I acted inthat moment and that's how I
always I tried.
Sean Knierim (08:10):
So I want to come back to that idea of a conduit
in a minute, because I'd love tohear about some of the things
you saw flowing through theconduit that you and others were
acting on.
But there was something.
Each time I tried to thank youfor about three months, you
would say the same line everysingle time of this is what we
do, and it was.
We talked in a with Nina in thevery first one of these about
(08:31):
how many people we said thankyou to.
That said it's nothing, it'sright, this is the least I could
do, but this is what we do isreally stuck with me.
Why, why is this what we do?
Is it because of those oldexperiences, because of where
you came from?
Like what is there acommonality of other people
you've seen that would just saythis is what we do.
Tara Kriese (08:50):
I coined it.
The idea was always there, butit got coined between me and a
dear friend.
Jared Duby Got thisself-serving agenda folks in
there and Jared and I we'vealways had this mantra of if you
can help someone, if you canbring others along, if you can
pull others up, you just do itbecause it also means you got
great people around you.
And those environments aren'tnecessarily right for kind of
(09:12):
pulling people for culturallyfor the right reasons.
They're much more about thebottom line and making sure the
bottom line happens.
And do I look great?
But Jarrett and I always wereones to make sure that we took
care of folks, that werecommended folks, that we made
sure great people got greatopportunities.
And when he and I were bothgoing through some particularly
(09:33):
rough times, we stepped in foreach other without asking and we
started coining this.
It's just what we do.
And then we had a dear friendof ours who lost a spouse who we
just anchored around and didn'teven give them a choice.
We kind of swooped in and likeyou're going to let us help you
here, you're going to let usstep in.
And it was Steve.
You don't have a choice, it'swhat we do, it's what we do, and
so this idea of it's what we dois really it's a way of
(09:56):
behaving, it's a way of existing, because you can tell me all
day, stop and don't help, and Iwill.
I'll stop if you'd like me tostop, but I'm going to come in
and I'm going to help youbecause I'd hope that somebody
who has clearer mind when I amat loss, would step in and say
I'm taking this off your plate.
Sean Knierim (10:13):
So, as we think back to that conduit that you
were acting as during that time,what are the things that were
flowing through that conduit,tara, like?
What were the things thatpeople needed, that people
offered?
What will you remember lookingback?
Tara Kriese (10:23):
The first thing I'll remember is the cycling
community is one where we have avery unique uniting silver
thread that goes, or goldenthread that goes, between all of
us and that when you ride in aPeloton in places like PCH at 25
miles an hour, you know, andriding off people's wheels at
six inches off their wheel intraffic, you're putting your
(10:44):
life in the hands of the peoplein front of you and beside you
and behind you and you do buildan unsaid sense of trust and you
don't realize, I think, at thetime, how far those bonds go and
in that then becomes thiscommunity that can and does wrap
around when people are in need.
And so the kind of things thatI saw were everything from just
(11:04):
basic information and likewhat's up, what's down, what's
going on where, how and when to.
I left with the shirt on myback.
I need clothes, or I don't know.
I haven't eaten in two daysbecause I'm too busy, you know,
doing this and I can't eventhink about it.
Or someone needs to find a wayto get up there to get my dog to
more kind of longstanding.
(11:25):
How do we start to help findingpeople places, extra bedrooms,
extra homes, vacation homes forpeople to settle.
It kind of spanned the gamut oflife and some of it was the
mundane and the simple orseemingly overly simple to
getting bikes for people,because a lot of the way that
cyclists process things is whenthey're on the bike, either
(11:46):
alone or in.
A lot of the way that cyclistsprocess things is when they're
on the bike, either alone or ina group, or the way that they
let go is when they're back in agroup.
Two more complicated things,like we've got a lot of
architects and we've got a lotof folks that do real estate,
real estate development, likequestions starting to get at
what do I need to be thinkingabout?
So being that central point ofbeing able to use this kind of
(12:06):
communication platform that wehad across the two groups and
then that wide communityspanning like every kind of
facet, using that to move thesepeople faster towards solutions
or help.
That was the kind of underlyingthread of it all.
Sean Knierim (12:21):
And something important here is, like you,
with Lagrange, had set up aWhatsApp channel for the club to
be able to communicate moreeffectively, even before that
became an important thing.
I'm laughing because right now,I'm about to take a drink of
water out of a water bottle.
I did not think about which oneI was going to bring, but this
is my favorite water bottle.
Tara connected a lot of us justto get water bottles and kit to
(12:42):
be able to ride with, becausewe didn't have this stuff coming
out of the houses.
My son is an aspiringprofessional road cyclist and
you have been incrediblyinstrumental in supporting, in
pushing the club to supportthese young riders and
supporting my son in general.
One thing I explored this before.
Like things, this is a waterbottle.
This is a little plastic thing.
It's my.
This is what I have next to mybed today and it's something
(13:05):
that's important to me.
I needed a water bottle on theon the bike.
I needed something to drinkwater in anyway, but it also has
a lot of other meaning, right?
So, as you helped people eitherget back on bikes or get kits,
anything you can think, have youobserved other folks that have
strangely emotional connectionsto water bottles like this, like
I have, like.
What have you seen as peoplehave received, not just
(13:26):
necessarily yours, but we'veseen Pedal Mafia, rafa, all of
these other bike shops showed upfor the community, at least
here on the West side, have youseen connections forming between
people and things?
Tara Kriese (13:36):
Yeah, I have.
We have a good friend, drew,finding that lost his home and
his you know his bike.
He didn't, he didn't grab anyof it.
Funny enough you know, two dayslater he's at Helen's buying a
bike and that was the toppriority.
It's the way cyclists behavebut you got to get back out
there.
But you know, you realize whenyou have a hobby like that or
(13:56):
there's a thing you do, thereare certain things you gravitate
to or that you wear, that youlike, and one of Drew's favorite
brands is this brand Ostroy.
Alex Ostroy is the founder ofOstroy.
He is cycling royalty here inLA.
His grandfather was part of theoriginal Lagrange racing team.
His parents are still here intheir 80s and 90s and they both
(14:17):
ride and he makes stunninglybeautiful, super artistic, and
drew had a bunch of his stuffand I know that was the thing
that drew was like sure I've.
You know pedals been great androbson and he's.
He's so overly gracious aboutmaking sure he's grateful for
those things.
But I got to ride with alex acouple weeks ago and tell alex
(14:40):
about drew and alex made surethis amazing care package showed
up, pulled up a shopify thingand he saw just how much drew
really loved this brand.
And drew now is attached tothese pair of bibs that they're
black bibs but they have anespresso machine on the rear,
which is when you're riding,you're looking at somebody's
butt the whole time.
Allan Marks (15:00):
You're right, and they are unless you're wearing
the yellow shirt unless you'reriding.
You're looking at somebody'sbutt the whole time you ride,
Unless you're wearing the yellowshirt.
Unless you're yes, If you'rewearing the yellow shirt, he's
in the front.
Tara Kriese (15:04):
You're in the front , but everybody else does.
I stare at Drew's butt becausehe's always in front of me.
Sean Knierim (15:07):
It is hard to get in front of Drew on rides.
This guy is a much strongerrider than I will ever be.
Tara Kriese (15:13):
He is a beast but he loves now and they are his
thing and I know that it's.
It's that little thing.
That is just this connection tothe before, but brought forward
in a new way, with this funstory wrapped around it, and
then just also the little thingslike that.
He had gloves because of thekits that we put together and he
(15:34):
had a water bottle and couldget on a bike and all of those
things.
So there's something about kindof just getting back to the
practice of doing something thatis so familiar and it's with
the people that you do that,even though everything around
you.
He would talk about how he'dcome out on Saturday mornings
and ride with us on whateverride we were doing, but then he
would be jumping right back tosix hours of project management,
(15:55):
him and his wife just at thetable.
Allan Marks (15:59):
But that return to normalcy in a way way, and it
depends on return to communityWhether it's the cycling
community in that case I want tocome back to, because you used
to work community a number oftimes.
If I was listening closelyenough, I heard you mention
trust, the trust of, for example, the riders in the Peloton,
which is immense.
(16:20):
I heard empathy.
It's what we do because we wantsomeone to do it for us.
You put yourself in someoneelse's shoes.
You know what that would feellike and what you'd hope to have
if you were, in that own senseof, either in peril or loss.
The communities that burnt, thephysical spaces that we often
think of as a community, aredispersed, but in some ways,
(16:40):
what you're describing iscommunities of interest,
communities of trust and ofempathy among people that rely
on each other now more than theydid before.
Do you think the communities inLA and I use plural on purpose
do you think the communities inLA in some ways are actually
stronger now because of what somany people have gone through?
Tara Kriese (16:58):
I do.
I think we've far exceeded ourown expectations of what is
truly here in the form of trustand empathy and commitment and
an intentionality behind takingcare of those around us.
I think people throw all kindsof stones at LA and I get it.
I mean Hollywood's here andthere's a lot of vapid stuff
(17:19):
that goes on, but what I saw.
I won't go anywhere else nowbecause, knowing the mindset of
the folks that are here, wedon't want you to go anywhere
else and have another window tolook out of.
Sean Knierim (17:33):
No, no windows.
Let's stick with this windowfor a while.
The window's done.
Tara Kriese (17:37):
But also if I think about coming back to the idea
of community and how everyonewatching what happened in LA,
some total was just amazing.
I mean, people wanted, thosewho were impacted, people wanted
for nothing in the immediatemoment, like everyone just
jumped through and made sure theimmediate needs were there.
And I have a friend in townthis week that's part of our
(17:58):
cycling club but she lives onthe East Coast and she's members
of cycling clubs there.
It's part of our cycling club,but she lives on the East Coast
and she's members of cyclingclubs there.
But she commented on how,watching from afar, because she
had two daughters here butthey're both in their late 20s,
early 30s and they both havegreat jobs here and partners
here and because of our WhatsAppcommunity, because of what we
were communicating in thatWhatsApp community, she was able
(18:19):
to manage her daughters.
One lived in Santa Monica andgot evacuated right and the
other one lives in WestHollywood and they were near the
Runyon fire, right and beingable to triangulate.
When your daughters are callingyou, screaming, scared, out of
their minds, not knowing what todo and not having any other
family here, jumping in andsaying to Deb, like I'm mama on
the West Coast.
I got this right let's movethem around, let's take care of
(18:40):
them.
She's like people where I liveare not like that, like there's
nice people, but I don't seethem wrapping around people in
the way that.
I've watched multiple times nowthese communities whether it's
a personal tragedy, an isolatedevent or a group and there's
something about people here inthis community that really wrap
(19:01):
around others and that's why Iwon't go anywhere.
Allan Marks (19:05):
So let me take that a step further, maybe in a
different direction, if I may.
So if you look at responses totragedies, community tragedies
you look at the fires here, youlook at what happened in Maui,
the Lahaina fire.
You look at the southeast afterhurricanes, you know Asheville
and along the Gulf Coast, to saynothing of things overseas
Communities respond in certainways, hopefully with a view to
(19:26):
the commonality that everybodyhas, yeah, and those who can
survive it can maybe becomecloser.
How do we create that lasting,like authentic sense of
community without a tragedy tospur it on?
Tara Kriese (19:40):
I think it was here .
But there is something aboutwhen you live life outside and
can be with others outside andyou spend so much more time with
people.
I think because of the uniqueclimate set up here that allows
people to spend more timetogether versus kind of alone in
your house in suburbia or aloneyou know New York, I think.
(20:02):
Think people it's a similarthing because the way of life is
living out of your box, yourteeny tiny shoe box.
Allan Marks (20:07):
So you see that you're in restaurants, you're in
mass transit, you're in publicparks, you're in areas where
you're getting together withother people yeah, and there's.
Tara Kriese (20:14):
There was a lot of overtones to what happened here
too.
I lived in brooklyn heightsduring covid I.
I pick them, let me tell you um.
I moved into my apartment onfebruary 20th 2020.
Allan Marks (20:25):
Yeah tell me where you're moving next.
So I can, I will, I will, Iwill I'm going.
Tara Kriese (20:29):
Seattle was fine for 10 years, but, um, there was
a, there was a similarity inthat community.
I was so proud to be in newyork and live in new york
amongst that community, watching, you know, even though we
couldn't get near each other,still feeling very, very
connected.
And so I think it is about howwe live and then the opportunity
(20:49):
to engage, find common ground,even though we may have
different views and differentpolitical opinions, different
desires, I think getting tosocialize and be together.
That happens here, and I thinkpeople would look at this place
and think that we don't,especially at the big mansions
in Bel Air, but I think we do somuch and I think it's unique to
(21:09):
this area because of the wayyou live.
Sean Knierim (21:12):
So there's a way that you live that's there,
that's inherent to location.
But as we think about what wecan learn from the experience
here and the experience thatyou've been living through, tara
, that could be extendedeverywhere, something I've
learned from you is that there'san intention that can be put
into further confirming,supporting, strengthening that
trust in that community.
(21:33):
I mean, you're doing somethingright now intentionally to
support women in cycling.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthe experience of what you're
trying to lead with others, butalso what we can learn from that
in terms of building communityanywhere where we inhabit?
I don't think I'm doing it Toprepare for wherever Tara moves
next and looks out a window andwe're going to need this
resilience.
Tara Kriese (21:53):
I promise I'll tell you.
I don't think it's thatcomplicated.
I think it's be what you wantto see in the world.
You know, I think leadership isactually a very simple idea.
I think you both do it very,very well what do you want to
see in the world?
right.
Well, in this case I wanted tosee and have a place, a forum
for female cyclists that justfeels like community and that is
(22:18):
so much what that sport tendsto be, and to also kind of pull
together a lot of the reallypowerful athletes that I would
see.
You know, on this ride I'd passthis woman over here she's
riding alone, or this personwould tell me so-and-so rides
and I would hear these storiesof women kind of dispersed but
not coming together becausethere was no unifying place for
(22:39):
women to do that.
And when I came into cycling Irode a bike when I was young, I
mean you know we all had our 10speed and I'd ride it to the
pool, into the park, get to thehouse some kid, a friend's house
, you'd throw it on their frontlawn.
That's how everyone knew whereeverybody was.
Allan Marks (22:53):
Playing cards in the spokes.
I remember that too.
Tara Kriese (22:54):
Playing cards in the spokes.
A hundred percent.
And it was after my banana seat.
Allan Marks (22:58):
We started with that, with the little plastic
things, with the little pom-pomson the side.
Tara Kriese (23:02):
But it was great.
But I hadn't ridden a bikesince I was 26 years old and
when I was now three years ago,a friend of mine who had been a
cyclist forever had introducedme to a club that rides for
cancer every year.
And they do this insane500-mile, 40,000 feet of
climbing six days to raise moneyfor City of Hope here in LA.
(23:23):
To climbing six days to raisemoney for City of Hope here in
LA.
And I'm a huge, huge proponentof doing crazy acts of
physicality to raise money andget people to give money for
cancer, because there's been alot of cancer in my family.
I threw myself into it and inthree months went from basically
never writing to doing thattour.
And there was a lot of hazinginvolved in getting me ready and
it was a very kind of maleforward, tough testosterone, you
(23:47):
know, shoving me into Pelotonson PCH and scary lots of panic
attacks on PCH.
And I just thought there'sgotta be, there's gotta be a
different way to bring peoplewho are interested into the
sport and then also to havewomen feel like it's okay to say
, hey, how do I signal that way?
Or how does this work?
How do you ride off somebody'swheel six inches when you're
(24:08):
going 25 miles an hour?
Like ask questions?
And so I ran for the board ofour cycling club.
I got onto the board and I evenwhen I was running I made it
really clear that I waspassionate about women's
initiatives and furthering thecase for women being in sport
and then also the social of itall and bringing community
together, because it's what I do.
But I started with let's justthrow a ride on the calendar.
(24:32):
Every Saturday I'm going tostand at this corner and
hopefully other people show up.
The first time it was five,next time it's seven.
Sean Knierim (24:41):
How many now?
How many last weekend?
Tara Kriese (24:42):
Last week there was 18 and there were six people
who were away.
Yeah, but it was 18 of us andyou know the ride we took.
That was a hard ride.
Our deer mountains have beensomewhat closed off to us
because of the fires.
For those who don't know, thePCH is still closed.
It's typically three lanes, oneway you know, so six lanes
(25:02):
across or down.
Allan Marks (25:04):
My dream is it would be opened gradually, when
they're able to do so slowly, sothat it's cyclists and runners
and rollers only for the firstweek.
Even that would be so amazing.
Tara Kriese (25:14):
We would lose our minds.
I mean, we are so, so wantingto get back into those mountains
because that's our playground,you know, climbing 3,000 feet to
the top of Mul mahalan driveand looking out over the
wildflowers, I mean there isit's, it's uh pretty.
Yeah, we cyclists hate to driveto rides and there's always a
(25:35):
lot of like I don't mind.
We, you know, threw bikes onracks and we drove and it, you
know, in traffic, it, traffic,it's an hour and a half, but in
the morning, when you leave atsix o'clock in the morning, it's
, you know, only about a halfhour.
And we drove over to Westlakeand we started Westlake.
We did a full valley, 20 milesbefore we started climbing, and
we did Potrero up to theWestlake climb, which hits a 20%
(25:57):
incline at one point, and thendid all of Mulholland, even the
park.
Sean Knierim (26:01):
For listeners that don't know cycling, 20 is a
large, big number for trying toclimb.
Allan Marks (26:06):
It's like scaling a cliff.
Sean Knierim (26:07):
I mean stairways go up 20% climbs, but yeah.
Tara Kriese (26:11):
Yeah, it's kind of like that.
Allan Marks (26:15):
I don't know if I can say this on the podcast, but
I do remember.
This is going back many yearsago.
I was doing a century in Ojaiand there's this climb coming
out of Lake Casitas.
As you head, it was like afigure eight.
So you're heading back towardsthe coast and you're climbing up
.
It was really steep.
I had a mantra to get therhythm going.
As I was standing, you know,trying to get my pedals to go
back and forth, back and forth,and you get a rhythm going,
(26:36):
climbing this incredibly steepthing with, you know, my lowest
gear, and the two words I keptsaying to myself were blank, you
blank, you blank you, but I gotthat rhythm going and I got up
there and, yeah, I miss that.
Tara Kriese (26:51):
Yeah, I have a couple.
Allan Marks (26:52):
I had younger knees then too.
Tara Kriese (26:54):
Yeah, I have a few words that I probably shouldn't
say on the podcast that myfellow female writers like to
say.
They know what Tara's favoritewords are.
But yeah, we got to mahalan,west league of mahalan, at the
intersection.
It's kind of a notable placefor cyclists to regroup and wait
, and philip, who was leadingthe ride, and I get there and we
just both start tearing up likeit.
(27:15):
Just it was such a momentbecause, first of all, we now
can see burn areas, but youcan't see burn like nature.
Nature's fine, nature's got itcovered like nature's.
Allan Marks (27:26):
We are not so fine, but last week going out there.
Now I'll tell you it's also abig fire hazard and an invasive
species.
But the mustard was all inbloom on the hills going out
toward thousand oaks and agoraand westlake village and with
the oak trees studding thesehills, a blaze in yellow and
green.
It was just, it was absolutelystunning.
Tara Kriese (27:48):
To that point.
When we drove out in themorning, the sun's just coming
up, so all of the flowers areclosed, so the mountains were
green, bright green, looked likefur.
But when we drove back in theafternoon, the same mountains
glowed yellow.
They were bright yellow andjust seeing it and getting to
ride and then also there's suchthere's a significantly fewer
(28:10):
cars in the mountains right now,just because there's no traffic
egress.
It was heaven.
It was absolute heaven beingout there and we had the best
time.
But more importantly is thatwe've created this community
with this group of women.
Now no one gets dropped.
It's a safe place.
You can talk about anything youneed to.
You can ask anything you needto.
We go as slow as the slowestrider.
(28:31):
It is not about watts, it isnot about speed, it's about fun.
And how different is that?
Sean Knierim (28:47):
from when you're with the all-women cycling group
doing that, when you're withcompared to compared to, say,
lagrange or other cycling groupsthat are mixed.
I mean, I'll let you speak tothat.
It depends on the ride andwho's involved in the profile of
it.
There are some rides that it isall out and people are racing
and pushing and trying to seewhat they can do to get their
personal bests, to see what theycan do to get their personal
bests.
What I found on a lot of theLagrange rides and I think this
(29:07):
has a lot to do with some of theleadership that are there now
is it breaks off and you getoptions Like some people can
push if you're having that kindof good day and you can roll,
which I think is reallyrepresentative of what a lot of
these performance communitiesthat are leaning forward are
trying to do.
You have the opportunity topush if you want to, but it is
not only accessible and possibleto hold off and have a social
(29:29):
pace and be able to talk tofriends, but it's actually
accepted and supported andthat's something that's hard to
put in place.
And I'll tell you last night Iwanted to make sure you heard
this Tara Alan and I weretalking about this conversation
and looking forward to it andsaying what are we going to ask
and how are we going to worktogether in this?
And I mentioned that I reallywanted to make sure that we had
a chance to hear from youtalking about building this
group of women writers.
(29:50):
My son, he's 20 years old.
He's an aspiring writer.
He put his hand up and startedyelling and he was so excited
that you were being interviewedhere.
Some of the pushing that he'sfallen into.
But he's seen these women whohave supported him, have
nurtured him, who are textinghim at night and saying show up
at six in the morning to ridewith us, because we want to be
(30:11):
part of this.
That's what he was reallyattracted to.
Two weeks ago, one of the womenyou've mentored and supported
for years, aiden had fallen andwas coming back to a race and
Morgan walked up to him and saidno, aiden, get out there and
ride.
Tara Kriese (30:32):
Tough up and go.
We're creating a much morevibrant community that now feels
like a 20-year-old racer and a43-year-old woman and an
82-year-old woman could ride thesame rides and we're all going
to get there and we're all goingto have a great experience, or
we're going to get help if we'renot having a great experience.
And it wasn't that hard.
It's just a simple like makingsure everyone knows.
There are multiple ways to dothis.
Sean Knierim (30:51):
Which creates a great environment for everyone
that's involved.
So, tara, if we back it up, athesis that Alan and I have been
talking about is resilience,the kind of resilience we need
in the world in which we inhabitnow.
Underlying that resiliencehaving kindness and generosity
without necessarily anexpectation for reciprocity.
As you think about that, and asyou've lived through this
throughout your entire life,what do you think about that
(31:14):
idea of kindness, generosity,what kind of?
How would you define theresilience that we need to try
and inculcate in this worldwe're living in?
Tara Kriese (31:21):
I think it's so much more about people than it's
ever been, and then it's everbeen then it's ever been Okay,
and the reason I say that is andI was part of the creating the
problem um 20 years in tech, uh,the, the isolation that is what
(31:41):
we are living in this time.
It's so easy to be isolated.
Scott Galloway talks aboutwhat's challenging young men
right now and how everythingfrom gaming, the algorithms in
social media and people aren'tleaving their homes, people
aren't engaging in community.
Now more than ever, I think itis crucial for people to get out
(32:04):
the devices way.
The devices can enable themeetups, can enable the
communities, can enable theinformation sharing, but they
were meant to enable that, notreplace.
But I think to your point.
I think it's about trulylistening and feeling like that
human or humans are with you.
Allan Marks (32:26):
Yeah, yeah.
Tara Kriese (32:27):
Are here in this moment, sharing the moment, and
I think that's been lost due tothe over-reliance on tech, and
what should have been anenabling function has now been a
replacing function.
Allan Marks (32:38):
What makes you the most optimistic or the most
hopeful now?
Tara Kriese (32:41):
I think our kids, more than anything, seeing it's
twofold, it's seeing truecommunity do like what we just
witnessed small and large acts,but also our kids.
I'm watching them even shoulderthe chaos that is right now
right and they amaze me withtheir resilience, with their
(33:01):
understanding of kind of broaderworld events.
They are, they have a level ofself-awareness, I think, at such
a younger age, and a propensityto do something about it.
I think about your daughter,maria, like I mean blew my mind
that she is only a senior inhigh school, wise beyond her
(33:21):
years, and her understanding ofinclusiveness and community was
so front and center and present.
I think about them and theirability to wield themselves in
the world that just I have somuch hope that they're going to
be the breaker of chains, if youwill, on some of the things
that are holding us back as abroader, a broader society, and
(33:42):
I get so excited about that.
Sean Knierim (33:43):
So, tara, I am grateful for a lot of reasons
that you are in my kids' life,helping them get where they're
going for the community thatyou're bringing to this town and
what the intent you're bringingin.
I hope people who are listeningto this come out in nutty
clothes and go up mountains withyou so that you get a chance to
get to know Tara better, as Ihave.
We're also really thankful that, as we close this off, I'm Sean
(34:06):
Kinnear.
I'm really grateful that youjoined us for this episode of
Shared Ground.
Allan Marks (34:10):
Yeah, tara, thank you very much, and for both me
and Sean, thank you very much.
We appreciate your listening tous and look forward to
exploring more themes aroundresilience and grit and
community and generosity andgratitude.
Sean Knierim (34:22):
This has been another episode of Shared Ground
, a podcast about resilience andcommunity.
Allan Marks (34:28):
Follow us on your favorite platform or learn more
at sharedgroundcom.
Sean Knierim (34:33):
That's shared-ground.
com.
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