On Friday, I took a break from my busy schedule of drinking lemonade-flavored malt liquor and cussing to check out the inaugural SF Bike Party. About 300 people turned out for the music-full, SFPD-free ride around the city that looped around the city, hitting up Fisherman's Wharf, Alta Plaza Park, the de Young Museum, and Civic Center.
Undoubtedly the ride demonstrates the positive powers of the SF Bike Community, meaning everyone can get together to dance, drink, and, namely, ride bikes without being inconsiderate towards traffic and the law. But it was hard to completely get behind the party's strict adherence to the “stop at every red light” rule, as it seemed to be a detriment to the very community they were trying to create. Rather than maintain a peaceful, party-focused bike parade around the city, they ended up creating a string small packs of 30-40 people separated by an entire block. If you were unfortunate enough to be in the back of the ride, you didn't even make it to the party stops until the DJs were putting on their last song.
Hella breaks in the ride along the Embarcadero.
But, you know, maybe that's okay. If splitting up the ride means we get to bump Michael Jackson and Kid Cudi along the route, I suppose that's a tradeoff we can all live with. That said, it'd be a bummer if SF Bike Party turned into Critical Manners, a ride defined by their adherence to the law which is attended by no more than a dozen total commuter dorks who, when aggregated, appear to be nothing more than a typically-dense pack of old killjoys rolling down Market on the way home from their boring jobs.
But even if the ride has its shortfalls (perhaps it's just teething?), it's not everyday you get you see a few hundred blinking lights rolling along the waterfront.
