'nother

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/s...p?id=21179&e=y

cccorlew

Huh?

WhyFi

Sounds more like a misguided pro-cycling group.

x136 

Sounds more like a lot of fun. Better yet, harmless fun.

'nother

WhyFi gets it :-)

I disagree that it's "harmless" fun, at least going by past behavior of this group. It is as bad, if not worse than CM, and does not in any way do anything positive for cycling advocacy. All it does is make all cyclists look like a bunch of *******s; hence, anti-cycling.

cccorlew

Couldn't agree more. Who are these ass hats to ride on a road clearly made for cars? What ever made them think they had a right to even one lane of a multi lane road? And trying to have fun in public is just plain wrong. They are probably the reason the world is scheduled to end on Saturday.

bigbenaugust 

I got this route sent to me from a co-worker. Love to, but can't. Actually, most of it parallels my commute, which would take most of the fun out of it.

'nother

I don't think you've ever seen these guys out on one of their rides.

Don't try to paint me as anti-bike as you appear to be doing. You couldn't be more wrong and your attempt to make a joke out of it is completely misguided.

This group is consistently unruly, breaking all kinds of traffic and other laws repeatedly, with no apparent attempts from their leadership (if there is any) to keep anyone in line. This is not advocacy; not cycling advocacy anyway. It's advocating anarchy at best; and maybe that's what they're out to do being "half political party and half street party" but it's not cycling advocacy. The genreral public who see these folks see nothing but a bunch of lawbreaking *******s; that view then gets transferred to any other cyclists they see.

WhyFi

Do you really not see the difference? Do you adhere to the "there's no such thing as bad publicity," axiom? This would be analogous to a bunch of automobile drivers holding regular, unsanctioned parades. How does clogging traffic and pissing people off, while showing a level of disregard that borders on contempt, further the efforts of cycling advocacy?

'nother

Precisely.

x136 

God I'd hate to go through life determining the political ramifications of every last thing I do. I'd sure miss being able to just do things because I want to and because it'd be fun.

Anti-cycling group? Claiming lack of rules or leadership? Worse than Critical Mass, a ride which sets out intentionally to disrupt traffic? You may need to recalibrate your hyperbolometer, there.

Sounds like traffic.

'nother

I have no problem with folks having fun, especially fun on a bike. I encourage it, but within limits. Especially the limits of established traffic and other safety-related laws. If they'd just manage to stop for a red light at a blind corner, or not run every stop sign on the route (while flipping off and yelling obscenities to anyone nearby), I might think differently. But that's not the case. And it's not just a few outliers; it's the bulk of the group.


So clearly neither x136 nor cccorlew have seen these folks out for a ride. I don't think you'd be saying the things you're saying if you had. Lip (ok, web) service is one thing; actually doing what you say is another. Unless things have changed drastically since the last time I saw them, they are not doing what they say. The fact that they claim advocacy and (intentionally or unintentionally) disrupt traffic is precisely the thing that makes them worse than CM.

WhyFi

Based upon previous rides (this is a monthly affair), the organizers know that it's going to snarl traffic despite them saying, "be good!" With that in mind, I think that it's fair to say that any subsequent rides, without additional efforts to address the problem, is intentionally disrupting traffic.

frantik

The first time I found out about Bike Party was when they took up all three lanes of 10th Street in downtown SJ. That street can see has speeds of 40mph+ even though the speed limit is 30. The majority of the riders had absolutely zero lights or even reflectors. I managed to squeeze by in one lane as drunk riders swerved around me. I was seriously concerned about hitting someone.

If you live along one of the streets where this party happens, get ready for what is basically a parade at 10 oclock at night

City streets are definitely not the best place to throw a party.

x136 

They ride by my house all the time, and I've seen them elsewhere a handful of times. Certainly not an unruly mob. The occasional person riding on the wrong side of an otherwise deserted road, and some people riding awfully fast for the conditions, but overall not something I'd be ashamed to be a part of. Only reason I never have is that I never think about it or don't hear about it until the day after.

Even so, I've heard that they've been cracking down on any excess jackassery of late.

frantik

well at least it seems we all agree bike party is plagued by excess jackassery

'nother

Are you sure we're talking about the same group?


Yeah I think this must be some other ride; either that or your standards are a lot lower than mine. I wouldn't be caught dead riding with these clowns (unless I had a sudden urge to prove to the residents of San José and surrounding cities that all cyclists are morons).


They've got a long way to go...the inaugural rides have done a lot of damage to this group's image.

frantik

yeah, a bunch of yelling and screaming riders, some with big ass stereos in tow is my experience

squirtdad

here is the link to their site. https://www.sjbikeparty.org/

I have not done a ride. I did watch them go through my neighborhood a year plus ago. It was a real mix. Some really well behaved, if loud riders. A lot of kids no lights, no manners, and too much alchohol. A handful of herb devotees. A coupld of really dangerous annoying people on motorized bikes.

watching the site for the last year...the organizers have tried to reduce rowdism.... secret routes, etc.... but there are still stories of excess (firework, beer, weed)

I have thought about going on a ride to check it out......but haven't so far.

zonatandem

Glad I don' live in CA!

UmneyDurak

Me too.

frantik

zing!!

TheHen

This still sounds like the behavior of motorists. It also sounds pretty close to the behavior of any group of cyclists that numbers more than a few hundred (with the exception of the obscene gestures and vocabulary words). Years ago (early '80s) things got so bad on the Davis Double Century that the CHP called in its helicopter and several units to crack down on the "riff raff" who were running all the stop signs and refusing to ride as far right as the officers thought they should. (They finally backed off when a CHP vehicle struck a cyclist.)

These rides aren't my style, but I see no reason for folks to be intolerant of them just because they are different from us.

frantik

... wait till you actually have to share the road with a "bike party".. then you might feel differently.

'nother

Definitely.

The behavior of this group is not "like motorists". Like *some* motorists, maybe. But not a semi-organized group of motorists who announce plans to engage in this behavior monthly. This is worlds apart from a rogue motorist who occasionally does a rolling stop at a sign, or maybe even runs a red light every now and then.


I'm not intolerant "just because they are different". I'm intolerant of many of their participants' behavior, which has been repeatedly demonstrated. Especially when they try to call that behavior "cycling advocacy".

Many negative consequences of this group's actions eventually affect me (and you, and anyone who rides a bike), but few positive ones do. It's already difficult enough to get respect from lawmakers and government agencies, and these guys make it worse. They do not help cycling, and actually harm it. They're like a handgun advocacy group going on a drunken, drugged-up shooting rampage in the name of handgun rights.