What a fantastic ride last night! Around 1000 people passed the split where the ride took two routes, and a bit over an hour later everyone was back together again near Capitol and McLaughlin. Everyone seemed to enjoy their chosen route – even the hillsters who looped around in circles climbing above Evergreen valley! The strong energy, playful spirit, and all-around helpful, friendly vibe made the night amazing.
Volunteers really stepped up, with folks directing traffic right and left and helping to round everyone up at regroups – nice job with the soundsystems! Big props to the “Bumpin’ Beaners” and the big black soundsystem for great tunes and the help leading us out. Several volunteers even met up afterward, bringing the community together once more before bedtime. Share your reflections here in the comments – if we see any recurring themes, we’ll add to this post.
Please post & share photo/media links!
Mikey
January 16, 2010
Where can we watch the video that someone was taking of us from their car…?
Spliffer
January 16, 2010
All I want to say is the SJBP Experience was in full swing last night.
And it keeps getting better and better.
Kudos to the massive “all volunteer effort” that is the heart and soul of this Movement of Bike People.
I don’t think SJBP would be as good if weren’t an all volunteer labor of love.
Bike Party is my only dope, my only smoke, that gives me hope to cope.
Much love and respect for all facets of this fantastic bike party community.
Big ups Bike Party yeh!!!
moo
January 16, 2010
From what I could see, last night’s bike party went really smoothly. Traffic flowed a well as any of the rides I’ve been on, and the regroups were much tighter and less chaotic, espcially compared to the December ride.
The only lowlight was having two people take spills on the speed bumps at Evergreen Valley College before we organized some people to warn riders coming down the hill about them. It hadn’t occurred to me during the testride that the bumps would be so invisible in the dark. Something learned for next time.
L
January 16, 2010
I friggin’ loved this ride.
Riding on the East Side was DOPE.
Our route was SUPERB.
KEEPING IT SJ was SICK.
And the rest stops were GREAT!
I was mashin’ in the hills and bombing like a mad man!!!!!
I was super stoked.
I thought the new shirts this ride were dope too. I don’t know if they were new vendors or what, but some of the shirts were 10x better that what I’ve seen before.
All in all, this was one of the better rides out of the last few. All you that make it happen– I tip my hat to you. It seems like SJBP is getting better every month.
Garrett Birkel
January 16, 2010
Spirits were as high as ever this month, the regroups went well, and people were very respectful of red light (major turnaround compared to most of last year). Whoooo!!!
Pictures:
http://garote.livejournal.com/176811.html
Tyler
January 16, 2010
This was my first sjbp ride, but it was something special, I tell yuh. I live in the evergreen area, and to see like 1000+ biking in the streets of the neighborhoods i roam everyday is pretty cool. I was amazed by the turnout for the ride at eastridge. When the ride started, everyone was fired up and in spirits.
I rode the steep route, and when we left carolyn clark, I guess my dad and I unofficially led the ride up to evc cause some people didnt know where to go and we knew the way around, or we just were at the head of the pack. either way, it was an amazing experience biking at night through the neighborhoods in evergreen. It was great to see everyone in great spirits for last night’s ride. Can’t wait for the next ride.
scott
January 17, 2010
what a great ride, i’m kinda bummed that only 1000 people showed up. what was it that kept people away? it’d be interesting to know.
this ride was great and had great music and some great help by the “bumpin beaners” to lead out of the start and the regroups. but people just didn’t want to leave regroup #1. this is a recurring issue that needs help from everybody (other music trailers would help too)
some areas of concern:
- most should print out maps, directions
- we’re supposed to follow traffic laws
- own the right lane, ride straight
- leave right turn lanes open for cars to use if we’re going straight
- get off the sidewalk
- gotta stop for stop signs when (esp when) cars are there
- not stopping behind cars at red lights
- cutting corners (almost hitting cars)
- blocking traffic in/out of regroup #1-ridiculously annoying
- liquor stores – too damn many of em
- nowhere near enough BIRDs
- headlights? heard of em?
- stay in right lane
- stay on own side of road (not incl Tuers in this)
- the gas scooters & bikes – pls don’t show up guys
britton
January 17, 2010
Wasn’t able to make it due to a ridiculous cold/fever/illness/thing. I had horns and everything! Oh well, next month.
watani
January 17, 2010
fun times in the cold!
what was a beautiful sight was seeing bikes converge onto eastridge mall from all over the place…from capitol, quimby, tully. from all directions.
i took the harder route, along with about 200 riders, maybe less. nice challenging route which helped keep my body warm.
worthy mentionings:
+good climbs to heat the body
+dood down-hills to cool the overheating body
+more experienced riders on the harder route
+great route through evergreen district
-fixie/bmx riders not knowing/caring how to stop for a red
-crowding cars
-evergreen college regroup (after down-hilling for a 1/4 mile, entrance snuck up on all of us)
-motorized cycles. whether it’s CNG, gas, or electric, this is a human-powered pedal only party. man-up, grow a pair and pedal with us.
-aggressive motorists – it’s not that serious, give us a brake – it’s not that hard, just apply slight pressure on the brake pedal, tap the horn and proceed when safe.
all that said, it really was a great time and fun ride. can’t wait for next month!
b5125125
January 17, 2010
thanks for another good ride. THANK YOU!
testrides
January 17, 2010
Definitely concur with Nick, great ride and mad props to the music trailer guys. I’ll bet most people don’t realize how heavy those things are. Even the easy route had lots of ups and downs so to power an extra 100-200lbs is nothing short of amazing. All of us owe you big time for helping the sjbp vibe.
Tim talked at the last bike party volunteer meeting about cost effective sound systems for your bike rack, etc. This is a great option for two reasons. You don’t have to have “super powers” to pull a trailer and 20-30 people can still hear you.
If you have a trailer or any other sound systems, maybe we can share here or on another thread how you made yours up, some specs, costs, suggested place to buy the gear etc. To me, the more music the better!
For the bike party music trailer super heroes, thanks again!
testrides
January 17, 2010
Next ride – if “nerds” or “Revenge of the Nerds”
What area of SJ or near SJ do you think of with those themes?
Does this mean we ride around Google or their founders houses? j/k
Your thoughts are welcome, although we probably can’t work them all into one ride.
thoreauly77/ian
January 17, 2010
The Nerd theme makes sense to me if we go into the North East Side and through all the tech places, as well as the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Maybe, downtown –> Japan Town –> up Taylor –> and then start getting creative with it, do some loops, etc, maybe hit the base of the foothills in the NE? Very little traffic in most of those parts. Anyone want to ride around today and check some stuff out?
Townie Bill
January 17, 2010
Being a ‘newbie’ to Bike Party, I want to thank those BIRDS and others who selfessly pour themselves into this event which has brought so much joy to cyclist of all levels.
The “Running With The Bulls” ride will remain with us for a while and should inspire those of us who recognize that the SJBP is ours to nurture, grow, and ultimately OWN.
The Friday night glow has only now began to recede and in the Sunday morning coffee fog, I am having fond memories of the many really happy and friendly riders I met and shared this experience with. There was Brian who made the trip from Palo Alto on this fendered & mudflapped commuter bike. There was Alan who was sporting a cow hat complete with the horns, and there were those amazing music trailers bumping out the rhythm of the ride. High cudos to those who found the red matador wear and to Scott for the best (real) BullHorns of the night.
The preride from Oakridge was a pleasure but sparcely attended. The traffic cop at the mall was as enthused and ammused by the thought of a ‘pre-ride gathering’. Both of us were disappointed by the low turnout.
Arriving at Eastridge just as the DownTown pre-ride showed was another moment burned into my memory. As our numbers began to swell, I thought we might see as many as in October.
As we plan for our next ride, I will remain grateful for those in leadership of SJBP for the high level of dedication and commitment to this activity and applaud you folk for the joy and pleasure your efforts delivers to so many of us.
Thanks for another fantastic ride. Townie Bill
Slick Steve
January 17, 2010
THANK YOU ALL VOLUNTEERS AND SJBP BIRDS ROUTE TESTERS!!! WITHOUT YOU WE WOULDN’T HAVE SUCH AN AWESOME RIDE . SAN JOSE NEEDS YOU AND LOVES YOU!!!
routescouter
January 17, 2010
open apologies – especially for the bull riders – 20/20 hindsight made me think of the solution we should have used friday night cuz you guys attacked the (500ft elevation) sj hills so well —>
if we had you guys turn right at yerba buena & silvercreek and took the reverse (mellow) route into the brigadoon neighborhood and back onto king you would have met the “mellow” ride and u-turned….and not had to wait a single (cold) minute. mea culpa
we had to take the brigadoon neighborhood out of the equation this time on the mellow ride… we’ll correct that by hitting them up in a future ride.
thanks again for those that join the test rides. if you haven’t done so yet, you’re missing a great time. for those that want to feel what old school sjbp is, test rides are a good simulation of it.
Rockin Ed
January 17, 2010
It was a fun ride. Nice weather, music and company. Thanks to the BIRDs for their help.
I attend the pre rides and will continue to go, they are a lot of fun. I ended the ride with a few of the pre riders, that was cool. Nice to see the familiar faces and friends. Hope we will see some new riders there as well.
Rock on BIKE PARTY!
justin gallegos
January 17, 2010
Glad to hear that all went well.
bummed I couldnt make it out this time around…
Buuuut I was able to get a short ride with the group riding out from Campbell community center. Had a pleasant ride with them through the nice curvy roads of Dry Creek. Hard to just turn around when I wanted to just ride out to Eastridge so bad.
I think I will keep the third Friday open forever now. Seems like missing BikeParty is like missing your bday. Next time without question!
Spliffer
January 17, 2010
There isn’t much to complain about last Friday’s ride, except for the “usual suspects”; like: the “bike ninjas”, who insist on riding without lights in the dark of night and a majority of the “fixed-riders”, who have difficulty stopping at stop signs and for red lights.
But the top — most irritating — folks of the ride has to be the “mopeds and motorized bicycles”. I know I speak for a majority of bicyclists who attend Bike Party to mingle with and enjoy the company of cyclists and not to get their lungs polluted by the “nauseating exhaust” from the “gasoline-burning-motorized-bikes”.
Those “IDIOTIC-MORONS” need to get lost and go start their own group.
Why should well intentioned bicyclists bust their butts to attend bike party to breathe
“crappy carcinogenic” gasoline exhaust at an all bicycle event.
Heck, I have no problem dealing with exhaust on a normal bicycle ride around the metro area, however; I find it hard to take during bike party.
in fact, if you haven’t noticed, it is infuriating to no end for most of us.
So, to all you “killjoy-morons” on gasoline powered bikes, please stay away from bike party.
You are personae non-grata.
We have had it with you folks!!
I mean enough is enough with you pretenders!
Rapid Robert
January 17, 2010
I totally understand Spliffer’s (and others’) frustration and revulsion at the noise and fumes, but still hate exclusion. I don’t appreciate being excluded from all bike club and other organized rides because I don’t wear a styrofoam hat.
Seems to me, though, that bicyclists riding with a moped group would get dropped. Also, I heard on the ride that at least one of them helps with the ride logistics. It would be great if the one or two of them commented here.
Anyway, I wonder if it would be different if their bikes were burning biodiesel and smelled like donuts, french fries or fried chicken?
Wuss912
January 17, 2010
I loved the ride. Perhaps we also need a How we don’t ride list on the website.. (though i think that list would amount to don’t be an ass(or bring a stinky motor))
It’s hard to blame the cars for getting frustrated. if a car gets trapped in our ride they can’t get out as folks are passing them on both sides. I know i would get frustrated by that behavior.
we really need to focus on letting the cars go so that we can enjoy the ride without them.
By letting the cars go we give them the chance to see how fun and Great BikeParty can be so they can join us next month. Which would be Awesome!
For the Nerd ride. How aobut we go on a tour of the Various Frys Themes
Though google and the computer history museum in MV could be really cool too.
parker the hundie
January 17, 2010
where can we see the vid that the people in cars were taking
Tim
January 17, 2010
I liked the great costume ideas that people came up with. Various ways of making “horns” and attaching them to helmets or handlebars were all cool.
In the future, it would be nice to have a post or message thread where people can post possible ideas or suggestions for costumes a few days before the ride. This will help some of us less creative folks put together costumes and participate in the ride theme.
testrides
January 18, 2010
tim – good idea… that’s actually what we post the first of the ads for. (we have delivered two in the past – one for ride theme and general overview and one for all specific ride details 24-?? hrs ahead of the ride)
if we stress the costume more and get the ad out earlier, that should help.
John M
January 18, 2010
Missed last month…But these hills gave us a fantastic view of SJ. The ride itself was pretty rad. I met some people along the way and even managed to find friends at the regroups! People are still getting used to letting cars go first but stopping at red lights is all but fixed itself so keep up the good work. A few times people just stepped up and validated the BIRDS, way too awesome.
I look forward to next month.
Eber L.
January 18, 2010
Loved the ride. And I enjoyed it even more since I live on the East Side. It was like riding in my backyard – great route selection guys.
I also thought the challenging ride was a great idea, loved how it allowed riders to choose their fate – depending on how much of a challenge they wanted.
Good ride, props to all the music trailers and the volunteers – great job guys!
Spliffer
January 18, 2010
@ Rapid Robert – #20
I wasn’t trying to be snooty with my comment about the “motorized-bikes”.
I understand that the SJBP theme is about building community through bicycling and not about “exclusivity and pretension”.
However, my strong words against the “gasoline powered-motor-bikes” relates to safety.
Those “motor-bikes” are powered by 5 to 15 HP engines and travel at 3 to 5 times the speed of your normal bicycle.
One of these “motor-bikes”, running “hog-wild” in a typical Bike Party peloton, could unleash serious “mayhem”. It is at it’s core a “safety issue” my brethren. The noise and unhealthy exhaust just compounds the problem.
There is an unstated but obvious reason why bicyclists don’t join motorcycle clubs.
Likewise puss and dog — ponies and rabbits — don’t run together, eh…
Rapid Robert
January 18, 2010
Good points and well said.
watani
January 18, 2010
@spliffer @rapid robert @ anyone-concerned …
known fact: mopeds, scooters, motorized bicycles pollute more than cars, suvs and trucks. they’re not held to the same california standards as cars, suvs and trucks.
IMO we would be doing “building community through cycling” a disservice by including motorized bicycles. the mission is to bring people of all shades, shapes and endurances, out of their cars, clubs and homes, onto a bicycle. to say to our community that there is a cleaner and healthier alternative mode of transportation. turning a blind eye to one or some because they volunteer, would make us hypocrites.
whether is powered by chicken grease, petro or batteries, if you can’t power your vehicle (bicycle) by your own body power and not by a throttle, i respectfully ask … don’t bother coming.
moving foward, for those of us who despise these party crashers, lets just continue to “boo” them or maybe get a chant “you suck” or “go home”.
Wuss912
January 18, 2010
yeah 2 cycle motors are stinky and loud!
I don’t feel the same about electric assist as i can see it enabling some to make the ride that wouldn’t otherwise be able.
mtmatt
January 18, 2010
Bumpin Beaners are friggin awesome….made my whole night. Great ride everyone.
b5125125
January 18, 2010
I cruise with Bumpin Beaners and just wanted to let you guys know that we love leading every one out that night and as far as the radio system goes it’s set up like one in your car radio>amp>speakers and powered by heavy car batteries. We are looking into making lighter and smaller but just as loud. When we finalized the new trailer will post how we got it done.
360
January 18, 2010
Ride was great, but a little strung out. Hills were no problem and that group covered the 19 miles way quicker than the flats covered the 21. More people need to look at the map or turn-by-turn before the ride, Mayby 48-72 hour notice would be helpful. BIKE PARTY FOREVER!!
testrides
January 18, 2010
a question regarding the next ride/theme/route — when you think of “revenge of the nerds” or “nerds” what locations or companies or personalities or costumes do you think of?
Ryan Smith
January 18, 2010
One of the best things about Bike Party is how no two rides are ever the same.
This ride had lots of new elements to it, including the starting point, many of the roads, and having a major split/alternative route/steep section.
I was skeptical at first about having the ride split for so long – almost ten miles – but after riding it, i am so glad that Bike Party takes so many chances.
Despite my still-recovering knee, I took on the steep section, and it was wonderful! It had a great vibe and exposed a lot of people to areas of San Jose that did not exist to them before, along with some incredible views. And while going downhill at 30+ MPH on your own or in a small group is fun, doing it with a few hundred people in the dark is even better!
What we didn’t plan for on the steep section was the amount of adrenaline that the hills gave to everyone. No one stuck around at the re-groups for very long because the hills were just too exciting, and that contributed to the steep route being 40 minutes ahead of the mellow route. With some careful planning, we can easily do this again, and make it much more efficient.
Waiting 40 minutes at regroup #3 left me shivering, but it was worth it to ride the last few miles back with 1,000+ of us. The adrenaline of the hills was replaced with the rush of being part of such a huge crowd of happy people. Riding through my own neighborhood of Naglee Park was a treat, and ending downtown is always a good time. Coming up through the SoFA district club scene made it even more of a party.
BP just gets better and better each month.
Ryan Smith
January 18, 2010
I also I agree that something should be said or done to discourage dino-burners on the ride. It really is a buzz kill.
Tim
January 18, 2010
One additional thought about split routes. If the two groups are going to be based on some type of skill criterion (as opposed to splitting just for the sake of doing alternate routes) and will be apart for that long again, perhaps we can pre-plan alternative shorter and longer rides for one or both of the splits. That way, the BIRDs can keep in contact and add or subtract mileage to better sync up the the other side.
For example, if we had pre-planned an additional section/loop for the “steep” rider, then the BIRDs could have announced it after their regroup #2 after we realized that we were pretty far ahead in terms of time. That would have helped burn some time while the flatlanders made their way to regroup #3. Doing the extra cycling would have been far preferrable to waiting around in the parking lot for 30+ minutes while it got colder and windier.
scott
January 18, 2010
Yup Tim – Coulda/shoulda had the Bull Riders turn right on Yerba Buena at 25mph, cruised thru’ the neighborhood and then ran into the steers on King. LOL
Rapid Robert
January 18, 2010
I love the Bumpin’ Beaners!!! Really appreciate the deliberate departure from the regroup spot. I propose making that a ritual. Big loud trailer-o-tunes making a couple loops around the regroup space corralling the flockers into action, and leaving in a mass.
And to digress, I don’t like the motorized buzz-kill either. For me, it’s the noise and emissions. Electrical would have neither.
kristin
January 18, 2010
this was my first ride……..
and it was NICCCCCCCCEEEEE!!!!!!
yoshi
January 18, 2010
I’ll have to take blame for the rides not meshing well. I figured that there would be more people on the harder ride that would be really slow, but the riders self selected themselves really really well. We’ll know for next time to include mount hamilton on the harder route.
moo
January 19, 2010
Scott, Yoshi, et al -
You guys are too hard on yourselves for the rides not meshing. It’s not at all an easy task to predict how fast 100s of rides are going to get to a certain sport on the map. It wasn’t that big a deal for the bulls to be waiting around a little. I didn’t see anyone take off early from the 3rd regroup, which someone would have surely done if they were really restless. The break gave us some time to socialize and patronize the local fast food establishments if we choose to
. OK, maybe it was a little cold, but no big deal.
When we did the testride, I think one thing we forgot to account for was the variance in regroup time. The mellow testride beat the hill climbers by a good 20 minutes, but the testride regroups were much smaller (and I suspect those guys took a shortcut or something!).
One thing that would have slowed the hilly ride would have been the Voltaire->Aborn->Mosher Drive loop that we ended up skipping. It didn’t add much distance, but having to avoid running to each other might have slowed things down a bit.
I think one reason the self-selection worked well was having a hill approaching the split point. That made it pretty easy for riders to decide if the had enough of hills for a while.
I enjoyed the hilly ride, but it sounds like I missed some great regroups on the mellow ride.
routescouter
January 19, 2010
the issue was trying to mesh up the rides in a specific region of the ride. by having the (faster than expected) bull riders take over the mellow riders (reverse direction on their course) the bull riders would have automatically ran into the mellow steers at whatever point on the route. thus no wait. all were racking up our brains to figure out a solution.
going forward having a “hard” and “easy” or “long” and “short route is possible and is great to keep up the interest of the advanced riders. but it is challenging because we don’t have enough (active/all weather) BIRDs and non-BIRD volunteers!
we need a small team to recruit new BIRDs. if you have 2 or more bike partys under your belt (sorry test rides are good but don’t cut it) and you live the “how we ride” mantra and don’t mind voicing your opinion (hopefully in a humorous/creative way) and want to make each bike party better and more fun, join us!
plus the more brainpower we have the more we can think of how to make each of these rides work better. and BIRDs work best in flocks of 2-3 anyway… and goal of mt hamilton by sept 2010 yoshi? lmao
Spliffer
January 19, 2010
Hey Yoshi, your Mt Hamilton “punch line” is da best!
Loved it…
cerina
January 19, 2010
This was the best bike party in a long time..I loved that it started by my house on the eastside too and had a downtown ending!To me everyone seemed more together on this one..less lost and hardley anyone intoxicated..or well from what i can tell anyways!
Had a blast hope the next one is just as good!
JustinT
January 19, 2010
Wow, look at the comments! Ride On!
@Scott, @Yoshi
IMO all the stuff you guys do far out weigh any miscalculations. Your efforts are applauded.
Every new SJBP evolves into something greater than it’s last
—
@Everyone
I like that the theme was revealed so early. With that and the actual theme, this might have the most theme participation (within my experience)
The crowd is getting super creative with costumes. I love it!
—
@Tim
Yeah, A discussion about costume creations would be helpful and entertaining.
My take on the theme is high pants, bowtie, and taped up glasses, maybe suspenders —> http://bit.ly/82gXkV <— or anything StarWars (sry guys) or 90's video games style
—
@Wuss912
Nerds to Google and the Computer Museum sounds like an awesome route/idea combo.
—
#7 @Scott, #9 @Watani
Great (+,-) bullet points. certainly issues to promote. I really think it was the winter weather that kept the #'s down.
—
TY4 reading
i <3 SJBP
Brian
January 19, 2010
Check out this website for a nerd tour that was done by another group. Not all are applicable but may help.
http://www.videoi.com/~pietro/NerdTour
I liked the last ride but missed all the other people on the harder route. Comming up on the slower riders is a great idea for the future.
Looking forward to the test rides.
Maybe the moped guys don’t check this website out. If somebody knows who they are maybe you could make some a suggestion.
If they are just lacking real bikes, I will offer to loan them some for a future ride so they can see what it is like.
Ride Safe!
Kendra
January 20, 2010
What was with the lack of costumes?? I thought it was relatively easy to at least come up with a half-ass costume. I think it adds a fun element to the ride.
Seems like others liked it, but starting out in the East was a little bit of a hassle… West SJers and further had a hard time figuring out the logistics. My friends and I ended up parking DT and going with a pre-ride group (which was nice), but we were also with a new SJBPer and the extra 6-ish miles on top of the rest of the ride is maybe a little much.
Oh, and just curious, but what is with the last minute route changes? I have noticed the last 2 rides something happened… good thing a BIRD was around both times to let us know, otherwise we would have been screwed (I had printed directions, but I was still confused). Was there just no 2nd stop, or did my group just not make it?
And I agree with the a ceremonious Bumpin Beaner start at each stop, cuz we wanted to leave that stop (I think the last one) but couldn’t figure out which street we were supposed to go on, so we had to wait for such a movement.
testrides
January 20, 2010
@kendra
- we’ve already placed an ad for feb ride to promote costumes, etc (people’s fear about the east side [?!?] dampened the costumes quite a bit is a guess)
- we’re rotating all around the city, we promote parking and pre-ride options for all rides, may promote post-rides also
- last minute changes were due to too many riders taking too long on the route (too many went to 7/11s and quickie stops & taking far too long to get riders out of the regroup #1
- trying to mesh the rides – the bull riders charged up the hill even faster than expected…. so between this and too much time in regroup #1 and too much drinking regroup #2 was cancelled
- volunteers were posted and even chased down riders that went toward the brigadoon neighborhood
- we’ve always used music trailers to move the crowd (aka the couch) but even this did not work too well in regroup #1 [people weren't listening]
- riders need to study the route maps much more as we’re providing “mapmyride” maps, a “visual map” with key street names on it & turn by turn directions
david
January 20, 2010
“people’s fear about the east side” ?? please tell me you’re not serious. what kind of moron would be afraid of riding through tame east san jose ON A GROUP RIDE no less? people actually believe that anyone on bike party would be unsafe? and if you’re saying “well, unsafe if you’re wearing red in your costume” then you’re basically saying that mexicans are nuts and will charge anyone like a raging bull. ugh i thought most bicyclists were NOT ignorant fools.
my guesses for little dressing up are because the theme was annouced last minute. some people thought they already knew that the theme was “new years resolution” so they didn’t go back to the website yet again… or maybe just less people want to dress up in the winter… or maybe some people were offended by the theme because it sounded like “riding through the east side, where there are crazy mexicans who will come after you, is akin to running through the streets of pamplona where there are crazy bulls that will come after you.” or “the ride is on the east side, mexicans live there, they speak spanish, spaniards speak spanish and have the running of the bulls and all spanish speakers are the same so …”
anyway, sorry man, you are right about lagging at the regroup and i take some responsibility, although it’s odd you say people need to study the maps when the last minute change screwed those who were trying to follow the map.