The Bikewinter People

On 11 March I wrote that I had to meet a colleague at six. We met at on the corner and went into the bar and got beers. I saw the BikeWinter people but we sat outside where we discussed the more general stuff.  When we walked out and I checked with the bike people about the bike ride.

I had some time to I checked in at the apartment after I bought some beer.  Then I tidied the bedroom and grabbed the bike.  Back at the bar I was peeked through the window at the happy hour group when I sent a post about it to FB. I met several bike partiers from the happy hour and the five of us rode to Embarcadero.

At Embarcadero they said they would ride to Bike Party from West Oakland but I decided to catch the next train. I saw an acquaintance and we complained the train was late.  At Lake Merritt we had missed the ride so took 10th to Laney College and took Eighth Avenue to International. I caught the ride.

When I found the ride I zoomed up to the center of the group. We went up Fruitvale to Foothill and the ride ended at MLK park. I found my academic friend, a historian, and he was standing at the entrance. He gave me a beer and we discussed the applications we had submitted. We found the guys and greeted the others that passed by. We looked at each other’s bikes.  I introduced the historian to a planning nerd I knew.

The ride started to go around then and I saw my old riding partner with his roommate on the way out.  However, I wanted to stay with the historian. The five of us wrote together for a while. I lost them at Havenscourt. I remembered then that I had accompanied my friend on a ride through this neighborhood months and years before. We were in Plymouth for a while. I took pictures of cop cars.

We ended up at Booker liquor store for some reason. It was chaos. The green flag scraper bike had to get his run it seemed.  ONe of the organizers was at pains to get the group to go. I watched her organize.  The green flag was moving a bit later but it took time.  In that period I counted nearly 300 bikes as they passed me.

We took 90th to international and headed out to 105th. At Edes I saw some dudes harassing fancy some fancy ladies in a Dodge charger. I was with some fellows but turned back and insisted the five guys doing the harassing stop. One kid was with a group - he pointed to a shirt that said Oakland Bike Crew. Another guy had a big LED lamp. Once I had occupied the space nearest the driver’s window they started to disperse and I suggested the lady drive away. There were cyclists gesturing for her to roll on.

When the melee had dissipated I almost knocked over a fellow's bike. We crossed 98th and went to Jones and crossed the 880 to Sexton and went to Hegenberger.

It was around 1030 when we went under the airport connector and headed out to MLK Regional Shoreline. I stood at the bridge and watch everyone pass.  The historian and I hung out a bit later at the donut bike with a lady from Sacramento Tweed and a few others. I gave him a beer.

I left twenty minutes later. The ride to Colosseum was easy and I saw a fellow I knew on the platform. I talked about my life with him and then I took the train to Civic Center.

I copied this from my notebook on 031117 and posted it to the blog 031117.

Also had Delicious Wafers

On 4 March I wrote that the night before I had eaten a minimum and was ready to go at around 740. I went to the market and got beer before I found the Bike Party at the park as I had believed I would even though the webpage had said something else.

One older lady immediately glommed onto me and then some of the guys happened by. My friend’s riding partner found me and I started drinking beer. I saw a bike shop owner and remarked that he's never on the ride. I interacted with some new people and also saw regulars and other organizers.

We rode around the back of the stadium and then down to the pier. I opened a beer and stood with one of the guys. I found a photographer with with a person that I had met at East Bay bike party.

The photographer was open to the idea of a photo shoot. Her friend indicated she would go on a ride with me if she had time. After I left them the ride went up to Pacific and then I got a bunch of pictures. I got video through the tunnel.

We did a loop at Broadway and Park and then we headed up pork to Civic Center. I met people on the road. I noticed a political aide had gone – he had been riding with the bike shop owner. At Civic Center I stood with some programmers and data visualization people until my came by to get me to meet her boyfriend. I also had delicious wafers from a guy drinking fireball.

I noticed a lot of people have joined the ride along the way. The programmers told me about their project: snowplows and KDB respectively.  I left for the apartment and was asleep at 11.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.