Yet again, 400-500 of us united on the streets last night to celebrate the best community-on-wheels this town has ever seen. We have some props and some proposals:
Props:
- Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, who awesomely corralled our ride down Los Gatos Boulevard and then back up Santa Cruz/Winchester by blocking traffic on side streets. What a wonderful reception! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
- Sweetness from our own riders: fire-spinning from Craig, the return of the music couch trailer from Greg and Rachel, continued support from Councilperson Oliverio, seriously dedicated and thoughtful planning from many, and the intensely amazing hard work by many, many volunteers to keep the ride on-route, together, and in one lane. Well done, all!
- Let’s not forget the best part: Wildly creative decorated helmets! Congratulations once again to the neon-mohawk battle “winner” and nice work, everyone.
Proposals:
- Last night we witnessed why it is important to follow bicycle laws, safety ideas, and guidelines of the ride. Following the rules is hard sometimes, and we need a LOT of help to keep the ride on-track. Several people were cited by Campbell Police for running a red light, not having lights on their bicycles, and at least one bicyclist collided with a car (tacoing a front wheel, I’m told) while riding on the sidewalk. We can prevent things like this, but we need help from all of our riders!
- Bike Party needs you! If you’ve been on 2-3 rides (or more), know how we roll and have the general sense of things, we NEED your help! We need volunteers to keep the ride moving – that means keeping us to one lane (when possible), reminding everyone to stop only at designated points rather than in the street, and generally keeping attitudes positive and safe. You have a choice: step up to help out, or watch Bike Party turn to mush. Step up, speak up!
Altogether, it was another great ride with lots of highlights and fun times – as we sit back and scroll through our pictures and recap good times with friends, let’s remember how rare this sort of large-scale community event really is…and think about what we need to do to keep it going.
DJ 2x Jo
April 18, 2009
Dear Bike Blog Readers,
After a long winter of being busy and not able to make the cold weather rides, I finally returned to the wonderful world of San Jose Bike Party. My first ride back of the season was actually the March “Psychadelic Robot Ride.” Although I enjoyed this ride, I didn’t have much time to prepare for it so I just kind of rolled with the route up to as far as I could. I had another commitment that night so I won’t write a review of it. At any rate, back to the point of this blog entry; “THE BATTLE OF THE HELMETS” 17 April 2009 Friday.
We arrived at Dick’s Center on Bascom Ave. SJ at about 7:40 P.M. which gave us plenty of time to eat our brown bag dinners, and prepare our bikes for the ride. There were already about 10-12 people in the lot already waiting for the meet up to begin. After enjoying two burritos from Juan More Taco in Fremont, Ca we prepared out bikes, checked our gear for the evening and donned our helmets! My friends Harry and Tim were on their way down to ride so this time we had more than the usual 2-3 riders in our group. Surprisingly we had more people come out and ride than planned but when it comes to bike rides THE MORE THE MERRIER!! We had 3 first timers and 5 veteran SJBP riders. There was a contest for best decorated helmet at the beginning of the traditional ride start announcements but I missed out on it because I was helping some people with tires. Harry found his tube was flat up arriving, so thanks to first time rider Tim that followed the “Cruiser Ride Checklist” Harry had a spare tube! First victory of the evening! The ride began heading south onto Bascom Ave headed for Campbell’s Rock Bottom restaurant parking lot. We got a little confused as to where to ride and ended up in the lot getting jammed with bikes going left, right and stopping in the middle of a moving bike lane. After getting back on course, we kept following the mass of bicycles headed through the city streets. MOST of the bikes were very peaceful, cool people being friendly to people on the streets, drivers and passers by. I felt sorry for this 4 door civic that got caught smack dab in the middle of the bike ride. Some riders were passing the car up on the driver side boxing it in the middle of the lane! I was calling out to the riders near me to keep right and let the car leave, but only one voice in a sea of hundreds is quickly drowned out. The route was well planned out with some long stretches of straight paths along city streets through down town strips, and SOME wide streets to accommodate cars AND bikes. This plan was GREAT, the RIDE went smoothly for most of us at least, A couple good and bad things about the “Battle of the Helmets Ride.”
GOOD =)
1. Well planned out route. Give gratitude to the SJBP planning committee. They work hard to plan rides!
2. The loop that leads back to the origin. Usually we end up @ SJSU and have to make a long haul back to Campbell in the cold after riding, tired, hungry and kinda quiet and lonely if you’re a soloist. It was great to unwind back at the lot with friend to talk about the ride!
3. Good vibes from some of the “guides” helping keep riders in line.
4. A BIG THANKS to the helpful Los Gatos Police!! They helped block traffic to keep the SJBP rolling together, AND helped a few riders that went down by giving first aid!!!
5. A BIG THANKS to the positive riders that would help others, show courtesy, respect and a love for SJBP and bike culture by just being cool!
6. A friendly hello and a wave to all the fun people in cars that would talk to SJBP riders friendly and to the party people on the sidewalks smiling and waving to us as we rolled by! You make the ride better!!
7. SUPER SAVAGE POINTS to the Unicycle riders and the hand cycle guy, you guys rock!!
8. To all the Bike Party positive people that help others, share a smile, a friendly conversation, cheer, and bring good energy to the ride, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!! Without you, the ride would become a disaster! Thanks for Rocking the Bike!!
BAD = (
1. First of all SJ Bike Party has more than once stated who is welcome and who is not. I’m not going to go over this again.
2. The South Bay Police agencies have BEEN very supportive of our ride simply by NOT SHUTTING US DOWN!!!! They could easily roll on SJBP at the first block and road block us in which would be a huge mess and literally destroy all that we have come to enjoy as our monthly pastime!
3. My point for #2. Don’t F it up by cussing out cops, littering & throwing things at motorists (they are just commuters, not bike rider killing terrorists).
4. Be respectful. If you want to talk trash to police and I quote “$!#@%ING PIG! GO GET A REAL JOB!!” Hey rider with the black beanie, SHUT UP!! Man up and say that to the officer’s face. Coward!
5. To the guys that got pulled over, I don’t know why you were sitting on the sidewalk by the police car, but whatever you did, don’t show up next time and do it again!!
6. To the crazy riders, don’t ruin the SJBP by riding against traffic on a 2 lane downtown respect drivers right to share the road with us! Don’t cross into a red light left turning intersection when cars are carefully trying to cross!! You’re asking for a trip to the hospital or funeral home!!
7. To all the people I saw and didn’t see crash, fall over, wreck or get hurt. This ride was themed “BATTLE OF THE HELMETS”. A fun way to encourage helmet use, and save some injuries and casualties!! USE THEM!!!
Peace and chain grease.
amek
April 19, 2009
we need a faster ride lol. and 400 or 500 people it seemed like our party was at least a mile long and 800 + people. helmets are cool but again you can be fully armed with hockey gear and one dumbass driver who cant drive can kill you. point is bike or car, pay attention to your surroundings.. there were plenty times when fools on bikes swerve into you or what ever and its just as bad.. some people gotta learn how to ride a bike. good ride. the last hilll was fuggin great but you people that cant ride your bike with out nearly clipping others need to wake up.
and FUXK the coppers.. lol. freedom of speech, it happens..
nick
April 19, 2009
Yeah, as far as safety goes, I think helmets are low on the list – riding in the correct lane position is absolutely the most important. Still, I almost never roll without mine, so it’s useful.
Scott
April 19, 2009
Nick, Jojo – Great summary. Great ride bombing down Winchester. The real heroes were the continuing awesome SJBP vibe and (surprisingly) the Los Gatos. Can’t believe how great they were… helping us out with road closures along LGB and part of Winchester and putting up with the break around 7/11. Great PR for them. They might be getting some heat from car drivers, so we need to thank police officers of ALL jurisdictions that are helping us!!
The bad PR is how some/many (?) are thinking we own the road. Hanging onto SUVs down Winchester, getting cars trapped and yelling at them, biking in all lanes (not leaving at least one open for cars on the wider sections of Bascom, LG Blvd and Winchester) is just crazy.
No need to be beligerant. We SHARE the road, not own it. Let’s keep this good vibes going as JoJo said.
DJ 2x Jo
April 20, 2009
Absolutely, NO NEED TO BE BELIGERANT.
First issue, Car drivers AND Cyclists both need to be responsible and alert of their surroundings. There are MANY DUMB DRIVERS messing with their radio, fooling w their IPOD, talking on their phones, we as good cyclists need to be SMARTER than them!! I agree!! But as stated in the SJBP guidelines, use a helmet, use lights, use good sense, be careful and ride responsibly. Those things can save lives and prevent disasters. Freedom of Speech is very important. This discussion forum isn’t about debating the right to Freedom of Speech. This is about preserving the San Jose Bike Party. Its about doing what is necessary to continue the monthly tradition so many people put their energy and time into to provide a fun Friday night ride for EVERYONE to enjoy and if a rider decides to exercise his or her 1st ammendment against the police that DIRECTLY affects the SJ Bike Party, then it becomes a concern for EVERYONE that is on the ride. The last thing I want is to show up on a Fri night with Police in Dick’s Center with a bullhorn warning riders they will be cited for riding in a group. Bicycling has never been a crime and I don’t want it to become one.
Amek
April 20, 2009
Lol. i highly doubt any of that will come anytime soon. im sure they can figure out its one persons problem and not the rest of ours. however if that person blames bike party then yea i can see coppers starting to come down on the bike party. and seriously im sure that issue will weed it self out if people actually read up on events and comments such as ours and CALMLY tell these people to chill out like i did with some hot head from the uk or something. with out challenging these people and just telling them to chill out would be helpful next time. thats just my idea. also what happens if our cappacity hits 1000 people what will happen with law enforcement wanting to shut it down etc. i can easily see this happening by the mid summer. lol. and what was up with partying at the dmv. lol. cameras ?
J
April 20, 2009
I agree with dj…
I saw a ton of idiots yelling at cops.. STOP IT!!
To many people not letting cars go by.
I saw one dumbass hit a car window and yell “fuck off” (were not rioting idiots)
I was confused at one point. The light turns red and everyone is screaming “RUN IT RUN IT” so are we supposed to run it.. or stop? I know the common sense thing would be to STOP but when everyone and their mother is running it, hmm doesn’t really make sense.
Anyway I really enjoy the bike ride its FUNtacular. I really hope the idiots don’t ruin it for the rest of us!
Next contest should be “best hippie costume” haha
Lauryn
April 20, 2009
Hello Bike Party,
My how big you have grown! From fixies to tandems, mt. bikes to road bikes and cruisers, it has been an amazing experience to see the bike community come out and advocate for cycling in SJ as a unified front. It’s been a tremendous journey from September 2007 with only 25 riders. As volunteers have pointed out, our growth is regularly at 20% each ride which is truly astounding! With that said, I have seen growing pains that hurt not only the image of San Jose Bike Party, but are also destructive to the environment and occasionally downright unsafe and disrespectful. Many people have started to articulate concerns about SJ Bike Party getting shut down. These concerns are reasonable if some of the behavior continues to take place. However, if we all do our part to keep SJ bike party clean, safe and respectful, that fear can be alleviated.
TRASH:
San Jose Bike Party advocates a healthy, fun and green alternative to cars. With that said, it is infuriating to see so much waste and disregard for the environment around us. On Friday, once the ride had departed from Dicks, I spent 30 minutes cleaning up trash from Bike Partiers. Furthermore, most of the trash is empty beer cans. We need your help. Please do your part to LEAVE NO TRACE. Clean up after yourself. Bike Party already has a ton of visibility with police and other city officials. Let’s not draw negative attention to ourselves by leaving empty beer cans and trash along our route.
SAFE RIDING-
In addition to it being the law, lights and helmets can save you from getting seriously injured on your bike.
SJBP provides tips for safe riding for a reason
A 500 person ride is going to be sluggish and there really isn’t anything that is going to change that-it’s the nature of the whole thing. If your not down, maybe SJ bike party isn’t your thing. Riding in one lane helps maintain order and keep drivers and police relatively happy. If we all do our part to adhere to this, we can hopefully avoid collisions with vehicles and confusion on the road.
Don’t get a “PUI”(Peddling Under the Influence)
Similar to driving, drinking and biking is a bad idea and you can get a DUI for this -once again, let’s not make SJBP have an image of a drunk bike ride. That will get it shut down. I saw a ton of unsafe riding due to intoxication. Just because we are with a large group does not make invisible to cars or other riders. Stay safe.
Respect-
Please don’t antagonize police. As many people have discussed, LG police were so helpful. And for the most part, Bike Party has been received so positively by the local police. We can avoid conflict if bike partiers adhere to laws regarding bikes.
People are going to drive cars. Bike Party makes biking more accessible to all sorts of people. The last thing anyone should want is to antagonize drivers and alienate people from joining the cause. If you want to wreak havoc and take over the streets-join critical mass in SF. There are some drivers who don’t understand, are aggressive or just don’t care. That’s life. As bike partiers we can step it up and rise above.
This is a great thing we have going and it keeps growing! Help make bike party a positive experience for participants and onlookers. Let’s work to be a positive force in SJ culture for years to come.
stuff
April 20, 2009
Is it just me? or how come we all decided to cut the route short? my friends and I were a little disappointed that we missed out of 5 MILES!
I tried telling people to keep on the route down winchester towards santana row and was close to the front, but when 100-150 people near the fonrt all a sudden start turning around cause someone in the middle tells people to turn and go through campbell it was near impossible.
Did we decide to change the route last minute?
nick
April 20, 2009
yeah, the route did get cut short – not intentionally. why? WE NEED MORE HELP to lead the route, direct traffic, call turns, etc. there wasn’t enough of it, and so the route got changed on us by people who didn’t know the route. a plan is only as good as its implementation – probably 15-20 different people were working to keep the ride on track, but it’s not enough when you’ve got 500+ riders. STEP UP, VOLUNTEER!
John
April 21, 2009
Another outstanding ride, really really enjoyed it again. Couple of suggestions (sorry if they are repeats):
The ride stewards might consider using walkie-talkies to communicate between themselves. We found that using them to keep the eight-or-so riders in our group in touch was a real help. Can’t help but think they would be really useful for real-time organizing, especially for rest stops and ride re-starts.
Fewer and/or better planned rest stops. The stop at LGHS and then the DMV seemed to be too close together. Church parking lots seem to be popular stops but they usually have really poor traffic funneling in and out of them.
Still, SJBP is a blast. Something I look forward to every month.
scottl
April 21, 2009
Great comments one and all, but I’m assuming that the only ones that are reading these comments are the ones that don’t need to hear it. So how do we reach them?
So yes we need more volunteers; we need a clear leading group that everyone knows to follow (with the correct route and exactly where to stop); and we need to ride in one lane as a rule not as the exceptional (omg we did it) event.
So please look for the sjbike party emails, ask how you may help AND if you can attend the planning meetings please do!
Holly
April 21, 2009
I can speak for the myself and the other three people who came with me on the April ride. We had so much fun, and having the super-long Winchester downhill part towards the end made my legs happy. I can’t wait until next month!
I can’t say how happy I am that I was assigned by school to go to this event last month. All of you, especially all of the volunteers, obviously care a lot about keeping SJBP a peaceful and friendly affair not all about bikes, but about friendship and community. I think you’re awesome!
On another note though, I have to say that I share the same concerns as the rest of you. This is only my second ride, but I’m scared that a few people might ruin it for everyone. I want to keep coming to these rides! I really hope that SJBP continues to be a respectful and fun ride because I saw a big influx of angry crazies from the March to the April ride. It made me sad to see people taunting drivers, hitting cars and riding recklessly.
Regardless, SJBP continues to gain popularity, and I’m so happy to see the police working through the night to make sure we’re all safe.
I’m excited to bring my friends, and I’ve even told my parents, to come on the May ride. See you then!
John
April 23, 2009
Scott, I don’t know there is a way to reach the meatheads who really do need to hear the important messages:
1. Don’t give the cops a hard time;
2. Don’t show up drunk or openly toke/imbibe on the ride; and
3. Wear a helmet and abide by road laws.
Adults who need to be told those things, they aren’t going to listen to it from anyone anyway. Unfortunately, people like that don’t tend to like to hear any criticisms of their own behavior or are very willing to consider that, gee, it’s not everyone else who’s wrong but instead it’s me (surprise surprise).
DJ 2x Jo
April 23, 2009
Does anyone know the guy that was riding the 3 wheeled hand cycle? I have an extra orange flag to give him to make him more visible.
DJ 2x Jo
April 24, 2009
I was thinking about how the cops would feel if some riders brought a very small gift like a tshirt or something and just handed it to them. How would they respond? How would that affect the SJBP?
Scott
April 24, 2009
I like the thinking “out of the box.” We were yelling to support the LG Police (and previous rides such as SJPD) and said “thanks” …. it led others around us to thank the great police assistance. A lot of “lead by example” is what Nick’s talking about I think. Also cool that Amber set up a forum on here so we can have even more conversations! Thanks Amber!
Milio
April 29, 2009
I know the 3 wheeled dude! Just bring the flag to the next bike party and I have him put it on!!!!!
dj 2x jo
May 1, 2009
Cool! Meet me by the Taco shop at the meet up. I will have it by the door. Waiting for you to pick it up:) I am glad it can go to a good use and help enhance someones safety! Ride on!
DJ 2x Jo
May 29, 2009
I left the flag by the Taco shop, no body showed up, so I put it by the post in the middle next to the drum set. Someone took off with it, but I don’t know who that was. Milio, I hope you can get the flag!! Good luck!