One thing to note: Bike Party has no “official” organizers – if you want something to get done, step up and make it happen. That deserves reiteration:

If you want people to be calm and positive,
STEP UP AND BE VOCAL.

If you want people to avoid conflicts with drivers,
STEP UP AND GREET DRIVERS WITH A SMILE!

If you want the ride to stay on its planned route,
STEP UP AND HELP DIRECT THE TURNS.

If you want riders to pick up their trash,
STEP UP AND PICK UP A BUNCH OF TRASH!

Maybe you’re getting the idea. I’m one of many Bike Party volunteers, and I can tell you we need MANY MORE volunteers to help keep the ride going safely and smoothly. So STEP UP!

Bikers will get nothing in this world by being quiet…

But guys like those drunk clowns on the cruisers and other bikes are going to ruin it for everyone. Make book on it: the first time one of the SJBP riders has a physical run in with a motorist or (god forbid) a cop, it’s going to be over for SJBP right then and there.

A couple of clowns thought it cool to harass motorists who were just minding their own business as we passed… like just getting into their cars. And some young guys thought it would be cool to call the cops names as they passed us. Not cool, not smart, THOSE sorts of folks will ruin it for us all.

I think that SJBP organizers shouldn’t be expected to police riders any more than the rest of us, that isn’t their job. What they SHOULD do is encourage participants to shout down such behavior more and try to foster more of an atmosphere where such behavior isn’t going to be tolerated. Only if the whole group turns on such clowns will they get the message to be nice. That won’t happen unless SJBP organizers openly and more often encourage such shout-downs.

No one will be the person to first call out guys on their churlish behavior unless he/she thinks the rest of the group will back them up and also shout down the clowns.

(Maybe that should be the rallying cry: shout down the clowns.)

This is important, IMHO, because SJBP is going to get bigger and bigger. And as it does, it’s going to attract more dolts, only one of whom can ruin it all for all of us. Only if the crowd feels empowered to turn on such dolts and drum them out of the crowd will SJBP continue because if the crowd doesn’t, it won’t be too soon before one of those dolts ends SJBP.

Nick – Looking forward to the next SJBP planning ride… we could probably even go over a route with some variations ahead of the next planning ride! (to speed up planning) And go for a pre-ride also?!?

however, what you are asking us to do is virtually impossible. it’s like me asking you and others in your neighborhood, to police and enforce every driver in your zip code to not break the law while driving their vehicle. right, that’s impossible.

the best that we can do, which we do, is remind everyone the basic rules of the road. we can demand all we want, but, it’s up to the individual to either adhere or not. if not, suffer the consequences, ie: getting arrested.

and if this eases you any more-so, a cyclist did get arrested that night (before we got to oakridge mall). i could have talked the officers out of it, but he kept digging his own grave.

jacob, you’ll never truly understand cyclists until you yourself becomes one. if you don’t want to, it’s ok, cycling is not for everyone.

I would love to attend, but can’t find out any specifics. Please Help!