I wasn’t around this weekend. I took a much-needed breather and spent a few days with friends and family on the Coast in Seaside (hence the photo above).
I hope everyone got a chance to partake in some bike fun over the weekend. There was plenty to be had.
The Midnight Mystery Ride turned four of Friday (congratulations MMR!). Judging from the report on the MMR site, it didn’t go exactly as planned. Anyone care to enlighten us?
And on Saturday, there was yet another Bike Move. Dat Nguyen snapped some photos of the action.
Also on Saturday, the messengers held the Ladies of Havoc “anti-Valentines” Drag Race, anyone care to explain what that was all about*?
[*Update: Check out the full report on Tom Rolf’s blog.]
Then on Sunday, 1,500 or so of you did the Worst Day of the Year Ride. Check out the report and photos from Aaron Tarfman.
And of course last night there was a Zoobomb. Given the recent TriMet flap, I wonder if they had any difficulty on their way up the hill?
Go ahead, feed free to share your weekend bike adventures…
Thanks for reading.
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The MMR was actually really fun in the end, I think. It’s actually a bit too long and nuanced of a story to go into here. But the short version is that we attracted the interest of a few patrolling cop cars during the beer stop portion of the ride, which was at the Plaid on Killingsworth around Denver. The cops were actually all very very nice and cooperative. They were interested in what was going on, then once they understood (and seemed to have no problem with the entire concept of the ride), they just tried to get us to rethink our route to keep the group ride off of Interstate. The main officer we dealt with said he was only concerned for our safety considering that it was getting late, bars would be closing up shortly, and he was worried about us encountering drunk drivers.
Some confusion ensued because we ended up changing the final destination (not because of the PoPo, but because of security at UofP, where the ride was heading), and there was miscommunication within the group as to where we were heading and how we intended to get there. And meanwhile, a couple of cop cars occupied by nice but intensely concerned cops were sort of shadowing us as the ride meandered in a confused manner. They weren’t on us like hawks, but they were in the area and keeping an eye on the group.
As far as I could tell, though, for all the goofiness and techinically non-legal riding that followed, nobody was harrased by any of the cops at any point. I’d be interested in hearing if that’s not the case.
After reading the above post on the MMR,
I can tell you one thing.
It is difficult enough to get 3 or four bikes down to the area below U of P without attracting attention, let alone 150 bikes.
The U of P security will certainly see you, then they call the regular police, who come and kick you out.
It is very possible to go down and hang out there, by skirting west of U of P, having everyone shut up on the way in, and ride in in waves, not all at once(the neighbors will also call the police).
The land down there is a combination of county, federal, university and private.
I have been kicked out by a combination of such forces before. Plus, the Coast Guard has property down there too, and sometimes a Chopper will fly over, spot you, then send someone to kick you out.
I would never imagine, or attempt to, take the large group that is a MMR to that spot.
On that note, I would like to volunteer
my services to lead a MMR soon, as I have great idea’s for such a ride!
I think everyone on the MMR Friday night — including the organizer of that route — would concur with you, Dabby. This was one of the arguments of the cops who stopped to talk with us. When they were told what our destination was, they essentially asked us to reroute to another location where security would not end up summoning them back to deal with us. The main cop we dealt with, a guy named Daniel Liu, even went so far as to suggest we head to a nearby parking lot that would be empty at that time of night. Then he sent another cop down to the lot to talk to the security patrol to let them know we might be coming, and that it was okay with the police if we ended up there. Pretty exceptional cop behavior, if you ask me.
I was impressed at how *little* interaction there was with the police, considering that the ride routed right past the precint building on MLK, and the fact that a number of squad cars passed the group while members of the group were… um… a little loose with following the letter of the traffic laws.
The beer stop was, as always, interesting. And long – 45 minutes in this case. MMR is Slashdot for convenience stores. Have any of those guys ever freaked out at getting invaded by bicyclists?
Kudos to those involved who rolled with the punches and got things (re)organized.
Dammit, looks like I missed an excellent MMR! I’m in Tokyo on a business trip and am dying to get on a bike here. Does anyone know any riding groups in Tokyo? Because this place is a really interesting city for bikes. Everybody has one, they legally ride in the sidewalks if they’re afraid of the street, and they leave them out in the open, usually locked only with a rear wheel lock. No fixie sightings yet, but I’m going to a Keirin track race (people treat them like we do horseracing and greyhounds – just an excuse to gamble.
peejay, try Cycle Tokyo.
I met the folks behind it on Cycle Oregon last year.
Just an FYI ya’lls. I hear that MMR’s will no longer stop at plaid pantry or elsewhere for restocking your thermas with hot chocolate. The beer stop is now an ancient thing of the past when we had to bike uphill both ways.
I was annoyed with the police presence, but am glad to hear that they were constructive with the group.
All that said, I’ll be leading the March 9th MMR, so cross your fingers for zero police interaction and lots of one-on-one beatifull brand-new outdoor nature setting!
TirMet security and the PPD were out for ZooBomb this weekend too, but I didn’ see them hassling anyone, just shadowing the group and taking some pictures and video; I’m not sure if they originally planned on being there or if they just decided to show up after an ambulance call was placed on first run. Please, please folks, bring a helmet to wear when you come on a ZooBomb!!
I’d just like to apologize for not showing up for the ZB like I said I would — in public and in writing, no less! After spending the entire day helping a friend move house and then imbibing several brews, I decided it wasn’t the best idea. I feel like a loser, so I won’t make any more promises — I’ll just show up.
“The beer stop is now an ancient thing of the past when we had to bike uphill both ways.”
Well, depending on the route, you *might* have to bike uphill both ways. 😉