LOS ANGELES: Nine cyclists, eight of them Tibetan, and a two-member support crew carried the Tibetan Freedom Torch from San Francisco to the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate in a seven-day, 500-mile, media blitz bike relay down California's scenic Highway 1 from April 9 to 15.

The bike relay was coordinated and financed by Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet and Tibetan Association of Southern California. The relay followed events in San Francisco April 8-9 to protest the visit of Beijing's Olympic Torch in North America.

The Tibetan Freedom Torch is a symbol of the hopes and aspirations of the Tibetan people for freedom and justice and is being carried through 50 cities around the world between March 10 and August 8, where it will end at the Tibet-India border.

Riders included Jigme Norbu (nephew of His Holiness the Dalai Lama), Gendin Gyatso (escapee from Tibet), Rinpo (organizer of many rides), Dan Abellera (mechanic), Tempa, Tashi, Karma, Lotu (74 year old monk who spent 5 years in Chinese prisons), with Namgyal Dorjee in support. The goals of the Relay were to educate the general public in communities along the Relay route of China's human rights record in Tibet.

The ride started April 9 with a celebratory send-off by thousands of Tibetans at Ferry Field in San Francisco and coincided with the Beijing Olympic Torch's only stop in North America. The next day the Tibetan Freedom Riders made a Tibet presentation at Stanford University to about 80 people, helping re-start the Friends of Tibet group there.

They camped out one night at a campground on the beautiful Big Sur coast. The event was filmed by two TV camera crews riding in to San Luis Obispo. The third day they rode to Lompoc and then in to Santa Barbara. On April 14, the Tibetan Freedom Riders were invited to speak at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). However, the eleven member Tibet group was met by about 25 Chinese students with flags, bullhorns, posters and handouts. Some of the Chinese began arguing forcefully with few of the Tibetans. Others talked peacefully in the background. The campus police were called but were unable to separate the crowd.

The plaza began to fill up with students, TV crews and reporters. Finally the two sides negotiated, using their megaphones and the Tibetan Freedom Torch Riders agreed to share the remaining 40 minutes of their permit time. Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet representative, Kevin Young, and the Tibetan riders made shortened speeches and then listened to the other side.

Some speeches inflamed the crowd into more screaming at each other until everyone calmed down a second time and dialogue could begin again. It was a very unique public sharing of opinions and facts on the China-Tibet issues, at a major US University.

The next day, the Tibetan Freedom Riders rode to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for their permitted one hour speech, co-sponsored by the UCLA Asian Pacific Undergraduates. The Tibetans were met by three times the number of Chinese student demonstrators with three bullhorns. Police escorted the group through the angry crowd as curious students began to gather.

The Tibetan group had great difficulty in being heard over their chants of "Liar Liar Liar" by the Chinese students. Five minutes or so were given to the Chinese student speakers at the end of the event. Police escorted the group back to their cars but there were no further confrontations.

The Tibetan Freedom Riders then rode to Wilshire Blvd. and Normandie Ave, where they were welcomed by a group of local Tibetans and supporters. Together they marched to the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate, followed by speeches and chanting slogans, "No Olympic Torch through Tibet", "Stop the Killing in Tibet" and "Free Tibet".