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The wrong way to do a moonlight cruise? Or right?
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http://www.bikehouston.org/content/blogcategory/14/40/
Moonlight Ramble
November 1st, 2am Houston
$25 registration fee.
8 or 20 mile ride.
You have to sign a waiver.
Now, they must be doing something right, as I've heard they literally have *thousands* of riders. But the idea of paying for it and having a waiver, police escorts, etc. just seems ... wrong.
I've been to a couple of those down there... They're actually pretty cool, though totally different from here (suprise!) There ARE a SHITLOAD of people. I didn't pay or sign waivers. pretty easy to slip through the cracks in such a large crowd. I recall seeing lots of families, lots of new bikes, full kits (spandex), and lots of people falling when they stop because of their new clipless pedals. Flat, easy terrain. Not a lot of beer or kegs or come one come all afterparties that I was aware of... And driving to a moonlight cruise does seem wrong on most levels, but I did have a great time. I also recall that when it was over, it was over. We quickly found ourselves all alone in downtown Houston afterwards... we were riding around waiting to hang out and meet new cool people, but they all trucked it out of there soon after it ended...
according to the website: "If you ride with the Ramble without paying you are a "bandit," another word for thief."
I can't say that the way they do their "ramble" is right or wrong, but it sure does seem LAME to me. But at least there's some organization to it and a firm date for the event, can't always say that about the full moon rides.
I guess some people really just like to pay for shit so they can get their "free" t-shirt and be part of a sponsored event. I'm not impressed by the open container & DWI laws & paid police escorts, waivers and mandatory helmet rule... god I hope this type of event never infects this city. There has to be a better way to raise money for bicycle advocacy.
... do not apply to bicycles in Texas. Bicycles are not motor vehicles, and the laws specifically say motor vehicles.
Sec. 49.04. DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED. (a) A person commits an offense if the person is intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle in a public place.
Sec. 49.03. CONSUMPTION OR POSSESSION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE IN MOTOR VEHICLE. (a) A person commits an offense if the person consumes an alcoholic beverage while operating a motor vehicle in a public place and is observed doing so by a peace officer
Sec. 49.031. POSSESSION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE IN MOTOR VEHICLE ... (b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly possesses an open container in a passenger area of a motor vehicle
... it doesn't matter what they put on their pamphlet. (Unless Houston has some local ordinances that do criminalize these things in non-motor vehicles, though that seems unlikely.) Note that many other states do not restrict these offenses to motor vehicles.
Of course, DWI may not fly, but a public intoxication charge is always an option. And a cop may not be that familiar with the law and may not realize that the law only applies to motor vehicles, so he may arrest you anyways. (And if you're drunk, you may not be able to convince him that he needs to look up the specifics of the law.)
yeah, I was a "bandit". I also have ridden to Shiner amongst the paying riders... I had coincidentally planned a bike ride along that same route that day. I was self supported, though. Never took their food or water offered to "participants". Had a ride official tell me I'd need to cease my ride at the next stop (Gonzales, maybe?) but I continued on to Shiner unimpeded. Did have another participant question my intelligence for not wearing a helmet... Mostly just shamed a lot of kitted out weekend (seasonal?) roadies on my panniered, old steel mountain bike with fattish tires, polyester western shirt, cutoffs (NOT "jorts"!) and checked Vans...
The full moon ride USED to have a firm daye, but now the monthlies add a little cornfusion. That's a pretty okay problem to have, though. Never realised High Times was such a strong reference for times and dates, but for me it's hard to look past the pretty pictures.
Bandits-FTW!
... but some people had forgotten how it was determined.
As for the monthly full moon rides, yeah, it's a bit more chaotic, but one tradition was the High Times calendar. Personally, I'd rather go for the fuller moon, and perhaps fudge it a day if we can to catch a weekend. (I wouldn't want to fudge it more than one day, however. Riding during the week is fun too, but weekends are easier for many to make.)
Perhaps the thing to do is to figure out all the optimum dates a year in advance and post them here. I'd probably go ahead do this -- people may argue with it, but at least they'll have lots of warning to argue about it.
As for being told you had to leave the route, I guess he was telling the cars they had to take another route too? Nice little power trip he was on ... :)
I've always wondered how one of these big group rides would act if a crew of people decided to have their own ride on the same course, amongst the big group ride, but not use their support or ending facilities. It'd beat the waiver/helmet rules, the cost, and all the other things that make the big events annoying to me, but would this cause some problems, like the occasional power tripping official saying you couldn't ride on a public road? Might be interesting.
They'd see it as an attack on them, on whatever charity they're supporting. Sort of how many people see Critical Mass as an attack on them rather than simply a bunch of people doing exactly the same thing that they're doing -- using the roads.
If they had advance warning, they'd blog about it, saying that the other ride is just doing it to mess with them and prevent them from supporting their important cause. They'd probably try to get the courts to prevent the other group from doing their thing.
During the ride, the police would probably be called, and it's possible that the police might actually order the other riders to stop/leave/etc., especially if the first ride had some pre-arranged police presence and the second did not. And if they didn't, there could be arrests. It would all be worked out in court -- if the road isn't actually closed, they can't stop the other cyclists -- but you'd still be arrested, have to make bail, pay legal fees, etc.
And either way, after the fact, they'd blog some more, talk about the attack on their very important cause, why would these mean people do this to them and the poor cancer (or whatever) sufferers? And many people would probably side with them -- after all, sure, you may still have the rights to ride on the road, but to pick that time to assert it? Why would you interfere with the cancer benefit? (Nevermind the fact that any interference that the cancer benefit suffered would have been soley the result of their own over-reaction.)
In following this thread, I began to think about how fun(ny) it would be to get a freaky contingent together and have our own group ride to Shiner (or wherever) alongside (within?) an already organized ride. Doug may be right, though the arrests seem a little extreme. They do have cops along the route blocking/directing traffic, as well as the aforementioned "ride officials".
Shit, maybe we could all ride out to Lockhart for BBQ on our own, anyway, some Saturday.
If we WERE to tag along to Shiner, I know of a cool little baitshop/beergarden/video store/convenience store down there that sells big draft Shiners for CHEAP. Usually, the Shiner ride is in April or May, so we have plenty of time to talk more about it.
I could get my pickup (full size) down there a day or two in advance to haul as of the bikes as we could fit back to Austin.