Blog: Entries Tagged With 'bike-party'

San Jose Bike Party was supposed to have a third test ride tonight, but it was cancelled because everything was worked out during the first two rides. The guy who sends out the SJBP emails also blogs regularly about bike events all around the Bay, and through his blog I found out about Modern Ohlone, a ride that happens yearly. They were doing a 20-mile test ride in Sunnyvale tonight, so I figured I'd join and do a ride tonight after all.

I went expecting actual Ohlone people, but the ride was merely named in honor of them, not actually consisting of any. About 17 people showed up, I was able to talk to most of them, and some told me about various rides that are popping up all around the Bay that probably amount to something going on nearly every night.

We had rest areas at Baylands Park, a hill next to the SMART Station that covers what used to be a landfill (nice views though), and atop the parking structure at the Sunnyvale Caltrain Station. There was a lot of pot smoking at each rest area, which is cool if that's peoples' thing, but the smoke bothered me. The ride was also cut several miles short because people were getting tired and wanted to hit up a bar. Again, that's cool, but I'd prefer to ride the whole thing out with minimal stops.

The most awesome set of wheels was a recumbent trike belonging to a guy named Cosmo. He had a windshield attached to it decorated with EL lights, headlight fixtures, a phone mount, and a sound system with amp powered by a 120V battery.

I like the smaller rides more than those with thousands of people. I can get to know everybody when the ride is small, things don't get hectic on the streets, and people are less inclined to ride/act like idiots, because if they do, everybody in the group will know.

After his May 21 rapture prediction failed, professional nutcase Harold Camping decided that May 21 was actually a silent judgment day, and the real rapture would occur on October 21. Well it turns out he was right. The rapture commenced at 8pm PST, as wheels hit the streets in San Jose Bike Party's 4th anniversary ride.

This month's theme was appropriately named "The Rapture" and riders were encouraged to show up as angels or devils. In honor of the 4th anniversary, there were four start locations: Santana Row (northwest), Berryessa Theaters (northeast), Campbell Community Center (southwest) and Eastridge Mall (southeast), all converging at the first regroup in downtown San Jose. Riders from all corners of San Jose, being raptured up into a great multitude to rule the streets for a night. Genius, if you ask me.

According to the Bike Party website, there were over 4,100 riders in attendance. The first regroup was in the parking lot of the Children's Museum and it was packed full. There were the usual Bay Area food trucks present, amateur fireworks, and a guy putting on a fire dancing show.

Thankfully I didn't see any motorized bicycles this time- those are not fun to ride behind. I did see a couple on razor scooters (they must've gotten tired pretty quickly), as well as a bamboo bike.

Unlike the past two rides I've done, I saw nobody hurt this time, no ambulances, and very little police presence (maybe most of them got raptured). I saw only one police car, and it was just passing through and drove off. Compare that to last time where there were squads of police at some intersections handing out tickets to red light runners. Despite the lack of police presence, I saw only a couple of red light runners this time. I guess people are becoming more behaved, or the troublemakers are active mostly during the summer, as somebody mentioned on the forums.

It was a great ride tonight. Thanks Harold Camping, we wouldn't have had a rapture ride without you!

Kenny and Bao joined me this month for San Jose Bike Party's monthly ride. This month was Post-Apocalyptic August and the route took us 27 miles through San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas and back. An estimated 3500 riders were in attendance.

The regroups were fun albeit a bit long. There was jousting at the first regroup between a mountain biker and a BMX'er. Several food trucks followed us between the three regroup locations and were bustling with business from hungry riders. Amongst the rides I saw were a guy towing a tall table with a functional grill mounted on top, a guy riding a monowheel, a unicyclist, and a guy towing a car seat. Somebody even set off small fireworks when we were passing through uninhabited land in Milpitas.

I saw a lot more police this time, which I think helped deter most of the red light runners. SJPD, SCPD and MPD were camping at certain intersections, at the regroup locations and patrolling parts of the ride. Despite that and the organizers' requests to ride safely and courteously, I saw and heard about some stupid behavior by some of the riders. Too many people were also riding with no lights. But fortunately the vast majority of people this time seemed to be riding courteously and following the law.

I was chilling at home around 11:30pm when I heard loud music outside going slowly by, too slow to be from a car. Peering out the window, I watched hundreds of bicycles pass by, some sporting multi-colored LEDs and some towing sound systems, and lots of people sounding like they were having a good time.

A quick Google search told me it was San Jose Bike Party, a ride around South Bay held the third Friday of every month. Tonight was science themed. The last six miles of the route passed by my house. I decided I might as well join and get some exercise and see what the fuss was all about. I caught up with the mass at a regroup in Santa Clara University where I saw probably over a thousand cyclists, and soon we were off to the final destination at Taylor and 9th in San Jose.

The ride was fun, but with so many people it got crazy. A lot of people were naturally clumped at the head of the group, causing problems with traffic flow and creating a Critical Mass mob mentality. People rode in the left lane even when there were cars behind them. People blatantly ran red lights and sometimes didn't even check cross traffic before doing so. I saw two fallen riders, one of whom had paramedics at the scene all around him. I can guess how that happened.

Bike Party is designed to be fun and safe, with calls for safety on their website and volunteers along the ride to make sure things go smoothly. But some people disregard safety and the law, making the rest of us look bad. Hopefully that will improve.