Chant at lights… anybody got one? I’m thinking of something similar to what people might do at sporting events (baseball games in particular). Someone had one like, Stop at red lights, surive the night… kind of morbid but it’s short, makes people think, and is probably easily chant-able, and might be fun.

I had the same mind about trash, specifically recycling. I have plans to turn that aspect into a game, to at least influence people to think about cleaning up their trash, if not actually recycling at my potential solution. (I’m keeping it under wraps right now, since It’s still in the works)

[mod/tr: stay toward the front is one option, not way at the front. also - look for a music trailer - either Rollin Thunder (he has a yellow siren) or Bumpin Beaners... they usually have a good crowd around them. thanks for staying sober!]

[we hope the loudest music trailers can ass an outside mic. even then we'll only reach part of the group at a time. the din before bike party is surprisingly loud to overcome]

I’m going to try to make it to the Sunday test ride, perhaps we can discuss it then.
(Since others feel that, even after 313 comments, we can narrow the focus much better on a test ride than 313 comments in a post-ride reflections possibly can.)

I remember during the Vietnam war, a common phrase was, ‘The Jungle Is Neutral’. Try it, if you google
it, by the time you type
the jungle is
Google finishes it with the word ‘neutral’.

I bring that up because, though many of your points are true, they don’t only work to BPs DISadvantage, they also work to BPs ADvantage.

Rides have gotten longer as the party got bigger.
Ok, for whatever reason, the hub decided to do that, that was their choice.

Bigger party means more adolescent peckerheads wanting to mess it up.
True, but the longer/bigger party impacts the goobers as well as the good.
If a goober says,
‘oh, that’s too long, I don’t want to ride.’
you can be sure that there are one or more good riders that are also saying,
‘oh, that’s too long, I don’t want to ride.’
I would imagine, probably more, because groups of goobers probably aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer and their friends can convince them they should go anyway.
Whearas groups of good riders are probably better socially adjusted and can think of other entertainment options for a Friday night.

It’s a lot easier for me to convince my friends to join me on a shorter distance than it is to say, ‘hey, SJBP is riding THIRTY MILES this Friday night, want to come along?!’
They either think it is a race and don’t come, it’s too far for them so they don’t come, or they recognize that it is not going to end until way later than they’d like to be up, so they don’t come.
Goobers want to be out regardless and have no curphew; legal, parental, or physical.
Good riders think about consequences and recognize. Hmmm, 30 miles, it’s not a race, we’ll probably average around 10-12mph, there are three regroups that will probably take about 20 minutes each, that gets me ending the ride around 12 midnight at the earliest, maybe much later if the route is crowded and we are going much slower. Naah, not worth it, I want to do ___ on Saturday morning.
Of course some could dispute my numbers. Those of you with computers on your bikes, what are your average speeds? I know mine are a lot slower on BP than they are on my daily commute. We all start at 8, when do most people end?

Facebook and Twitter made the party grow exponentially last summer.
Yes! Right on! Isn’t that great!

also increasing the number of peckerhead party poopers only out to piss people off.
And increasing good riders as well. May 2010 was my first ride.

Going back to short rides at night, now that the immature know what’s happening will only encourage them.
I agree, it will encourage the immature. But it will also encourage the mature. The jungle is neutral, the streets of SJ are neutral.
And like I said above, I think MORE good riders will join shorter rides which will help make the ride more positive.

Unless there is a strong police presence, because those kids are cowards as well as stupid.
Realistically, if it’s just the police versus the goobers, the goobers will be able to melt into the crowd and disappear.
But if good riders help the police by calling in bad riders so, as the goober rider progresses along the route, the good rider is telling the police the direction they are headed, their description, etc. then the police can be there waiting to get the bad rider at a good intercept point.
Just like when you follow a drunk down 101 and call 911 telling them where you both are and describing the car the drunk is driving. it dials the cop in so they can know exactly where to strike.
Similarly, if you see a cop trying to stop a goober and the goober flees and you tell the cop, I’ll call 911 and chase them down for you… The cop’ll probably tell you not to since this is 2010 and they don’t like citizens doing things like that.
But, cmon, how fun would that be?! You and your group chasing some thugs that are fleeing the cops, and you telling the cops where the bad guys are headed.
Look at how much joy we all had watching ‘douchebag mike’ get his just reward courtesy of the police. Imagine if you could have had a small part in making that happen.

Thanks for your points Rapid Robert, but I don’t think shorter rides will make more goobers want to ride and less good riders want to ride. Perhaps I’m wrong.

With 34 rides under our belt, does anybody have any statistics as it pertains to: Number of riders, total distance, number of regroups, season/weather, neighborhoods visited, (anything else quantifiable?).
Putting actual data with the opinions would, I think, help clarify these thoughts and observations.

Ride safe,

David
Rider 44

[mod: see comments at bottom of RR's comments. lets all share ways he can "take back the ride" at a series of rides before the next bike party]