Alt Bike Culture - zoo bomb?

i was invited, visited, and loved a site called www.zoobomb.net ya gotta check this out! this group is having a blast in portland oregon and im wanting to make a road trip up there (im in kansas city) and ive started a new custom 16" modified bike for the occosion! i really dig these kinds of events. fast eddie outty

I live on the hill these guys ride down. I've seen some of them them do some pretty stupid things. Ride down a hill at top speed, at night, with dark clothing and no lights, no helmets, blowing through stop signs on their way down. 1, 2, 3, 4 cyclists blowing the stop sign. I know the streets there, and the traffic. I've seen the cars racing up the street through that same intersection. Why were those Zoobombers not killed that night? Because there was no car at the intersection. But they couldn't have possibly known that no car was approaching. If those particular riders keep doing that, they're going to find out about it, though.

Zoobomb if you want to, but use your brains.

ZooBomb is about 3-1/2 years old, every Sunday night from 20 to 200 cyclists roll up to five runs in all kinds of weather, plus ride in special events like the ZooBomb Century, Winter and Summer minibike Olympics and the Mt. Hood Bomb, there have certainly been some injuries but not one fatality.

You don't have any personal experience riding ZooBomb, do you?

I thought so.

No, I don't have any personal experience riding zoobomb. But I do know my neighborhood, and the zoobombers don't. I walk it every night. I know the traffic. I know the streets. I know the intersections. Anybody who rides full speed at night, in dark clothing, with no lights, and blows a stop sign where I saw them do it is asking to have their brains splattered all over the street. And it will happen if they keep blowing that particular stop sign. Guaranteed.

Then we can round up a posse and lynch the "cager" who killed a cyclist.

If somebody reads that as anti-zoobomb, they need to brush up on their reading comprehension skills.

there have certainly been some injuries but not one fatality.


you forgot to add "yet"

No, I don't have any personal experience riding zoobomb. But I do know my neighborhood, and the zoobombers don't. I walk it every night. I know the traffic. I know the streets. I know the intersections.
ZooBombers know the streets, traffic patterns and intersections as well as you do, they've collectively ridden this hill hundreds if not thousands of times. There is a reason ZooBomb is a late Sunday night activity, at that time there's less traffic and less risk.

you forgot to add "yet"
My daily commute is more dangerous than ZooBombing.

ZooBombers know the streets, traffic patterns and intersections as well as you do, they've collectively ridden this hill hundreds if not thousands of times. There is a reason ZooBomb is a late Sunday night activity, at that time there's less traffic and less risk.You don't even know which hill I was referring to, so no, they don't know it as well as I do. And I've seen cars going through that intersection at all hours. The zoobombers I saw were trying a route I never saw them take before. That intersection is blind, because it's on a hill, meaning that whatever street the cars are on, they can't see what's coming from the cross street in either direction. That's why there's a stop sign at the intersection-- to make traffic stop before proceeding, so the cars can see what's coming the other way. Only it's not a 4-way stop sign-- it's a two way stop sign. Cars on one of the cross streets must stop, cars on the other cross street just proceed through. And yes, some of those cars are speeding. Even if the cars were going the speed limit, there is no way on Earth the driver of the car would see the zoobombers I saw that night until it was too late. And there is no way on Earth the zoobombers would see the car either.

Not that they were even looking for cross traffic as they blew the stop sign.

I suppose in the end, it's all gene pool stuff.

How 'bout putting a name on the specific intersection?

Intersection of SW Park Place and SW Saint Clair. Riders going downhill (obviously) on SW Park. Stop signs on SW Park, none on SW Saint Clair.

I figured that was the intersection. One of many tried and true ZooBomb routes, if you've only seen ZooBombers there once, you're not paying as close attention as you claim. FYI, standard ZB practice is to yell 'car' or 'clear' if a hazard is or isn't present, respectively. IMO, it's safer to run the stop than risk locking up a coaster brake at high speed and crashing. Make no mistake, there are risks to ZooBombing; it's about either speed or fun, depending on who you ask.

I'm paying more attention than they were. They didn't even look to see if cars were coming. I know, because I was on the corner, watching in disbelief.

Like I said, it's all gene pool stuff. Too many humans crowding other species off the planet anyway, so if some Zoobomber wants to blow the stop sign on a blind intersection, fine with me.

Obviously you are more risk-averse than the ZooBombers.

It's called intelligence. Supposedly a hallmark of the species.

Supposedly.

Whatever.

:rolleyes:

Jeez, that thread title had me nervous for a minute there! ;)

A local chopper club (MC3) just started doing this in Vancouver this past year.
Except, they go up the SFU hill.. and call it SFUbombing of course.

Some of the SFUbomb bikes are pretty hardcore. Chainrings so big they're almost scraping the pavement. I think one of the criteria is that they have to fit in a duffel bag to ride the bus up the mountain.

..I think I'd rather ride something a little more stable

Using public transit to get up the hill and riding little bikes are both part of the fun.

http://www.zoobomb.org/albums/album40/album42.highlight.jpg

http://www.zoobomb.org/albums/Takin-Over-Washington/pict0125_1_IR.highlight.jpg


http://www.zoobomb.org/albums/ZBMB2004/GoldMedalTeam.highlight.jpg

Any photos of the bicycle "mountain" across from Rocco's?

OK, I need to eat a big slice of humble pie...I was wrong. The Zoobombers were NOT blowing the stop sign at that intersection. I took a look today on my way to school, and the stop sign is on Saint Clair, not Park, so they were (mostly) obeying the law (with the possible exception of speeding).

Thanks for setting the record straight, Blue Order.

I've been curious about these little bikes. I didn't think they had hubs and bottom brackets that were strong enough for big people to go bombing down a hill on. What do you do to set one up?

Some of the bikes come straight from the Goodwill, $3, white MX3 tires, coaster brakes and all, that's what you'll find on the 'pile'. Other riders soup their bikes up with higher gearing, better wheels/tires/brakes/etc. Smaller is better, 16" wheels are 'standard minibike' size, BMX bikes are cheating; what you want are kids bikes, oldschool schwinns, etc. Some folks ride boards, scooters, Barbie cars and all kinds of strange contraptions down the hill. Fast Eddie is more serious about building straight-up gravity bikes, but some pedaling is required on most ZooBomb runs. I've got one Huffy that's been on a lot of ZooBombs, but all that's left from the original bike are the frame and handlebars. My typical setup is a coaster brake w/ one rim brake, banana seat, dyno lights, BMX tires. Even the stock library or pile bikes - mostly xmart junk - actually take a lot of abuse before they give up the ghost.

wow, ive never talked w/ a russion super model! unless ya count the "mail order bride" fiasco lol the rear axl in coaster brake hubs are the same diameter as the rear axl in a 26" bike. the front axls are often the same size too so they'll hold an adult. the frames are smaller but they'll hold also, just hard to fit an adult on one, especially with my 30-something waistline! i have got to hit one of those events sometime, its a 2 day drive from here in kc but it just sounds like too much fun! fast eddie outty

Thanks Randya, Fast Eddie. Makes me think twice every time I see a little bike at a thrift or in a dumpster..."Hey, I could be going 50 mph downhill on that!"

To fit a larger adult on a 16" kids bike, you move the seat back and up and the handlebars forward to horizontal, if that makes sense. You can use BMX seat posts or substitute a mountain bike handlebar for the seatpost.

to fit an adult on a 16 incher its probably - in most cases - necessary to mount a sissy bar and bananna seat (there is 2 different ways to do this,) you could also put trick pegs on the front wheel for your foot rests. its doubtful (from my "testing") that you will ever turn so hard that this would be a problem. since my 16" coaster - or zoobomber - is a gravity bike, that's what im doing. i removed both pedals, cut off the left pedal stem, bolted a rod to the right pedal stem, left the chain, so that when i pull back on the rod bolted to te pedal stem it turns the rear wheel sprocket backward and engages the coaster brake. having my feet resting on the front trick pegs help to keep the front end steady while i have one hand on the handlebars when braking this way. just a thought. i think that the coolest think about bicycles is that they allow riders/builders to be as creative as the imagination will allow with a relatively simple technology. just a thought, fast eddie outty

ps im glad y'all arent arguing about the zoobombing anymore!

Me too. Who knew? I admit I'm an idiot and the argument vaporizes...

This may sound strange but on Navy bases when a platoon runs by an intersection road gaurds are posted at intersections they wear reflective vests and stop traffic, til everyone has passed.Those two or three people then rejoin the platoon.This might be an idea for Zoobomb. Hint, hint.

chicago, i ride with some guys not too far from you, are you a rider James H Haury? Fast Eddie outty

I ride fixed gear folding bicycles sometimes on the weekend if the temp is 32f or higher in winter . :Di live in the community at the end of the blue line.

from the few times ive bombed the hill, the vast majority of riders were wearing helmets and did have lights. if a car is in fact coming up the hill, the riders in the front yell "car" and there is a certain daisychain effect so the riders in the back here the warning and are prepared. yeah, zoobombing is not exactly the most PC of riding events, but they always pay their trimet fare and atleast are breaking traffic laws with the least amount of traffic on the road. i personally find critical mass riders waaaaaay more annoying and offensive. ehh, my 2 cents.

I'm glad that we've gotten to an understanding about whether or not zoobombers are "technically" breaking the law, but it seems a moot point. Obviously some people on this forum are of the mindset that bodily risk and "fun" are mutually exclusive. I call those people "squares" and vote that they should be relegated to the "old fogies" section of the forum, where they can discuss safety vests, bike lanes, the brightest and most annoying lights, and "those damn whipper-snappers"

Please allow the rest of us to do harm to our own bodies, and to sing the praises of doing so.

"fight war, not wars!"
"bomb hills, not nations!"

I remember the days of zoobomb on mondays.

By request, some pics of the bike library, or 'pile', located at the corner of SW 10th and Oak:

http://static.flickr.com/23/94963734_ab97e64c1b.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/36/94963746_e3f548d0cf.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/12/94963717_6f778719ed.jpg?v=0

For more ZooBomb pics, go to: http://www.zoobomb.net/images-index.html

i think bikes are awesome, and gatherings like the zoobomb are especially awesome cuz their all about gravity speed! i live in kansas city missouri and even though the roads here are some of the most bicycle UN-freindly in the nation, we have a large and growing biccyling community. bike lanes are something that only exist in part of town that have money and then only in the last 10 years or so. i say ride on! thanx to the russian supermodel for the pics, i wish there were a gravity gathering like that her in KC. me and some other extreme riders - i ride gravity speed bikes and they all ride streetluges - do have an annual gravity gathering in the oklahoma mountains just west of the arkansas border every memorial day. its my favorite gravity riding event of the year. we typically reach speeds between 55 and 70+ the luges go 70+ but i have never been passed 63mph. we also get together in st louis every labor day. this year in oklahoma we have riders from kc, st louis, oklahoma, arkansas, and illinois. at least im part of some kind of gathering! fast eddie outty

www.freewebs.com/gravityracing/

Zoobomb bikes go really fast.

Sometimes you crash, sometimes you crash.