San Jose Bike Party - 25 Miles of Non-Stop Fun

I can't believe I did this! The ride, at 25 miles, was the longest in Bike Party history and 11 miles further than I had ever ridden my bike in one day. San Jose Bike Party occurs every third Friday night of the month and my usual approach is to plan on going and then at the last minute come up with some excuse not to go.  Well this month I had no intention of going, in fact I had other plans (which got rescheduled). So here it was Friday night and I was really tired and it was really hot and I was just sitting around trying not to be miserable.  Then I read a comment on my blog that said "Maybe I'll see you at the Bike Party tonight" and I decided to just do it. The pre-ride started at Woz Way in downtown San Jose but the real start was over at Mission College in Santa Clara.  Once I got to the start of the ride I couldn't believe my eyes.  There was a vast sea of bike riders, thousands they say, and everyone totally amped up and ready to roll.  Some riders pulled sound systems so there was plenty of music and the theme was "Gender Bender" so there were plenty of colorful people cross-dressing to entertain us and the atmosphere was exhilarating. For one night a month bicyclists rule the rode.  They fill the streets, make tons of noise, go a little crazy (but stay safe) and just have fun. And I have to say I amazed myself. One of the stops was at a four story parking garage and just about everybody rode to the top floor.  I don't do hills and I was just going to wait it out but it sounded like so much fun up there on the roof that with some encouragement from a fellow rider, I rode to the top.  It was FANTASTIC! I hooked up with the good people from Bicycle Express who embraced the Bike Party rule of "No one left behind." They stopped and fixed a broken chain for a guy and stopped again to repair a flat tire for someone.  It was 1:30 a.m. when they dropped me back home.  What a night.