Here is an article by Ann Marie Awad on the Midnight Mass
Buffalo's Midnight Bike Ride: a glimpse of bike culture, a party on wheels, an exercise in anarchy, and plain good exercise
The corner of College and Allen is overcome with a small horde of people and bikes, both in all shapes and sizes. College kids sipping beers, adults chatting, repair-savvy men and women alike squatting in front of tires pumping air—all of this packed onto the sidewalk and slightly overflowing into the street and the gated parking lot.
Suddenly, a group of riders honk their horns, ring their bells, and for a second, the crowd goes silent. Then, after a brief shuffle of noise, the crowd divides into shouts. “Gates Circle!” “Glenn Falls!”
The shouts go back and forth until evidently a consensus is reached: The first stop will be Gates Circle. In minutes, everyone assembles and the drove of bicycles takes off down Allen, all the while clogging the streets while turning on to Delaware. They fly through red lights, overflow into car lanes. This is Buffalo’s Midnight Bike Ride.
Moe Potter is new to the ride. “I started riding it in June. Before that, I hadn’t ridden a bike in over 10 years,” Potter says. “A bunch of us actually get together a few hours before it every Sunday and have dinner, hangout, and ride to Allen together to meet up with everyone else.”
As the group reaches Gates Circle, some riders do laps around the fountain, yelling and shooting fireworks. “I almost got hit. I was not happy,” says Kate Bobbett, one of the riders, after the ruckus has ended. “We’re just a bunch of kids who wanna have fun and sometimes there’ll be someone who wants to act stupid and ruin it for everyone else.”
“It’s really devolved,” adds James McMillan, another rider. “Two years ago, going down towards Tifft Nature Preserve, there was about one third of the people who were really rowdy. There were cops involved.”
The group starts to divide. Some ride off to the next mysteriously decided destination, some retire their bikes for a while and sit on the grass in small groups, and some go home. A police officer pulls up to a small group of riders. “What’s up with all the bicycles?” he says.
One rider replies, “I dunno, they went that way.”
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The Midnight Bike Ride appears to have no hierarchy, no organization, but every Sunday, close to 100 riders experience a common impulse to gather and ride. Some semblance of order is found in the ride’s Myspace page. No one person claims to moderate it, but the site details another incident at Tifft farms this past April: “It’s cool to go to the nature preserve and hang out, if we’re being respectful about it. But we don’t live there; the deer and the geese do. And by trashing the place and being disrespectful, we do them a disservice.”
Jenna Murray is a frequent Midnight Bike Rider.
The page also offers instructions on what to do in the event of an encounter with the police. “I personally have not [had trouble with the police],” says Matthew Schaefer, another rider. “I have, however heard thrilling stories, jam-packed with police chases and fence-jumping.”
In recent years, the community of active bicyclists in the city has swelled and sought improve conditions for their brand of alternative transportation. It’s a community as diverse as they are fast—and boy, are they fast.
In 2005, Greener Options Buffalo, a division of the Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo, started Buffalo Blue Bicycle, which operates a bike lending program and a volunteer bike shop. “Very early on, we collected bicycles by garbage-picking them,” says Justin Booth, leader of Greener Options’ environmental initiatives. “As word spread about what we were doing, more bicycles were acquired than we knew what to do with. The community bicycle workshop was launched as a community resource open to the public three days per week. Anyone can come to a regularly scheduled workshop and learn bicycle repair and maintenance and even build their own bicycle from the hundreds of used bicycles recycled through our program each year.
“At the workshop, sweat equity also counts as dollars, allowing volunteers who help build a bicycle for us to have access to our tools, bicycles and parts to use for themselves,”
So far Buffalo Blue Bicycle has been a hit. On any given night that the workshop is open, all the work areas are crowded with cyclists young and old, building or customizing bikes. “My goal was to not be a helpless woman and actually learn how to fix things for myself,” says Stacy Sauvageau, a volunteer at the shop. “I was also hoping to become skilled enough to help other people learn how to do the same.”
Gregory Wilder, the workshop manager, is proud of what Buffalo Blue Bicycle manages to accomplish. “I think it’s getting more people on bikes; people that wouldn’t be able to afford bikes.” Sauvageau agrees: “I think the program helps people who are financially disadvantaged, as well as people who have a desire to learn to fix bikes that may not have the proper resources to do so.”
However, Buffalo is not kind to bikes. In the entire city, there are approximately seven miles of road that include bike lanes. In 1996, the Common Council adopted a bike route network plan that proposed 128 miles of bicycle lanes in the city. Obviously, that plan fell by the wayside. “I think there are three streets in Buffalo with bike lanes and they all run north and south and none of them are connected,” Wilder says. “I think Buffalo needs a lot more bike lanes.”
Green Options Buffalo seeks to do something about this. The organization worked with the city to adopt a “Complete Streets” ordinance amendment.
“The policy works to ensure that when a roadway is designed, constructed or maintained, equal consideration will be given to commuters of all kinds—including bicyclists, pedestrians, public transportation users, children, people pushing baby strollers and the disabled,” Booth explains.
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While people like Wilder and Booth are committed to improving conditions for the city’s bike-riding community, the Midnight Bike Ride professes no such agenda and occasionally sends a few mixed messages. “I get really angry when they leave like cans of beer all over the place,” Bobbett says. “Pick up after yourself, you know? They’ll also throw stuff in the lake. It really upsets me.”
Bikers gather each Sunday night at the corner of Allen and Wadsworth Streets.
Riders also have a tendency to get injured.
“I haven’t personally had a bad experience, but I’ve seen some people fall from being intoxicated on the ride and get seriously injured,” says Jenna Murray. “It’s happened to a few of my close friends. And it’s actually really funny.”
“A few of my bad experiences involve falling off my bike and hitting or cutting my head,” Schaefer says. “I didn’t even remember falling.”
With incidents like the fireworks on this ride, or the disturbances at Tifft Nature Preserve on previous rides, and various run-ins with unfriendly police, the Midnight Bike Ride has earned a reputation much different from that of a Critical Mass ride. Critical Mass bike rides, held during the afternoon rush hour on the last Friday of each month in cities across the country, including Buffalo, are purposeful and organized, and follow a code of conduct, and are often (though not always) tolerated by police. Critical Mass rides aim to raise consciousness about biking as a means of transportation.
Christopher Fecio has participated in both the Midnight Bike Ride here in Buffalo and a Critical Mass in San Francisco. “Compared to the Critical Mass in San Francisco, it really isn’t much of a big deal,” he says. “For one, since it’s every week, it takes away from some of the power that the Critical Mass has. Obviously, they both have some things in common, such as the dedication of the riders to the idea that cycling isn’t dead.”
Fecio had a good time on the Midnight Bike Ride. “It was a really enjoyable experience. More or less, it is just a bunch of people who like cycling and drinking and they get together and do both. It was enlightening to ride through some parts of the city and down some streets that I hadn’t experienced before.”
Unlike Critical Mass, the Midnight Bike Ride does not promote any political agenda and does not recruit riders into its ranks. Its vagabond image is the largest part of its charm.
“It’s just word of mouth,” Bobbett says. “I would call it a freak party, in a way.” Read more: http://artvoice.com/issues/v8n40/midnight_ramblers#SlideFrame_0#ixzz0u9wJrM76
I went out for one of the Tuesday night rides at the Donaldson Center in Greenville. I have been thinking about doing the ride a number of times, but doing these things for the 1st time is always so much easier with a friend. In this case my riding buddy Andrew had called me and invited me to go along with him. I am so glad I did.
The Tuesday night rides are organized by ability groups. The cool thing is, that each group is still quite large because there are hundreds of riders that show up each week. I chose to ride in the C3 group. The "C" stands for country, and it is a 34 mile ride. The C1 and C2 groups would most likely be faster than i could handle. The "A" and "B" groups ride a 7 mile loop that they race around 5 laps on... very very fast. I didn't want to overestimate my abilities, so staying with the C3 group would be fine.
We didn't have much time to spare when we arrived. By the time we got the bikes unloaded the riders were about to go. Quickly we lined up and took off on our way. The group was quite large and I had an absolute blast. There were a few sprint points that the group surged out at 27-28 mph, then calmed down and spun along at a reasonable 18 mph pace.
I am looking forward to going again. I may have been in the upper portion of riders for the C3 group, but I haven't gotten the age and wisdom yet of some of these guys. They knew just when to attack, and just when to ride on my wheel and let me do all the work out front. I love it. The strategy of it all is addicting! Maybe the C2 group next time?
I had the most incredible ride last Saturday morning with my friend Austin over on the Isaqueena trail. It was a beautiful morning... the calm AFTER the storm. The night before there was a big thunderstorm, and it had even hailed in some areas. But this morning was just perfect. The leaves were still wet, so they hit you with a plump smack as you went by. The trail was slick and a bit slow, but the morning was so peaceful I didn't want to ride that fast anyway.
Isaqueena is a great place to take riders who don't have as much experience, but still get in a good ride yourself. The asphalt road runs across the top of the hill, and two long dirt roads run down to opposite ends of the lake. This creates a box with a grid network of trails in-between. The great thing is, that if your buddy gets tired and wants to go home, just send him up the road. If he wants to go off by himself, he really can't get lost. Just meet him at the car when your done.
Austin and I started out by taking some logging roads off to the the side of this main trail block closest to the Six Mile Water Tower. This ride is an an enjoyable logging road on the way up, and some fun single track on the way down. I noticed that the trail has been modified to adjust for some big trees down after a big storm last year, and I really like the new trail route.
After tooling around over there for an hour or so, we made our way back into the main block where we picked up the lake trail. This trail is gorgeous.... and fast. But man, if you don't like riding on the 18 inch path, you may find yourself over the bank and in the drink in a hurry. I like "the rock" crossing about halfway down the trail, a technical spot testing your balance and use of momentum.
After passing the rope swing by the time we made our way to the dam and climbed back up the other dirt road. At the top of the main climb we turned back into the woods onto a trail we call "center line" trail.... I'm not sure what the real name is. This trail is flat and fast. Again, this is a perfect trail for a beginner to leisurely ride if they choose, or for a more advanced rider to really drop the hammer and fly!
This trail carried us back across to the parking area we began at. It took us just 4.5 hrs to get around the trails that morning. The fun thing is, there are still many more trails to add into the ride. Maybe next time we can go for longer!
I started out the morning in good spirits, because I had laid everything out the night before, pinned my number on my jersey, stuck my bike number on the bike, and filled my bottles full of Gatorade. I found last year that doing these minor details on the morning of the ride take up a lot of prep time when you are so anxious about the ride.
Last year, in 2009 I did the Assault with Mark Pittman and Andrew Turner rode with us to Marion. This year however, i would be on my own the whole way. On my own that is, with a thousand other riders doing the same thing. My strategy in 2010 was different, in that I saw from last year that I had lost a great deal of time at SAG stops. This year I wanted to stop less, even if it meant riding slower so as not to get as fatigued. If my bike was rolling, I would be gaining ground. If I was at a SAG stop, I was gaining nothing. I also changed my nutrition this year. I brought most of the food I would eat with me. This included Cliff bars, Gatorade Gels, and a 5 hr energy drink.
In 2009 I took a bunch of cell phone footage of the ride, and tried to document the experience. I had every intention of doing the same thing in 2010, but I rode in large groups for much of the way to Marion, and I needed both hands on the wheel. After that, I was too focused on the climb to care.
The ride was much organized much more smoothly this year, and at 6:30am we promptly off on our way. No waves of ability riders or anything like that. This morning we were just told to go have some "fun." I tried not to get caught up in the adrenaline of passing too many people too early. I found this out a year ago as well. If you appear to be a strong rider early, a group will form on your rear wheel and let you do all the work for them until you tire out. I would not be the sucker doing all the work this time around. I did choose to bridge the gap forming early between the main pack and a fairly large group going out ahead. Once I used the burst of energy to do this, I just sat in easy in the middle of the new pack and tried to do as little work as possible.
Things were going good, and I was feeling great until BAM! I hit a pothole that sent one of my water bottles bouncing off into the grass. I though about it for only a split second, then eased off the road and ran back for it. If my goal was to not stop at the SAG's, then I would need every bit of Gatorade in that bottle. I couldn't believe how many riders went whizzing past in the 20-30 seconds it took me to retrieve the bottle. I bet 150-200 riders passed me, and just like that I was alone. Oh no!.... stopping may have been a huge mistake!
I got back up to speed, and began the work of reeling back in the fast moving pack disappearing ahead of me. I was not going to be able to catch them alone. I looked back to see the main field surging towards me about a half mile back. I decided to ease off and wait for them... I did not want to do all the work alone and tire myself out. I kept waiting and waiting, then when it was about to swallow me up I put my head down and pedaled as hard as I could to get up to speed. It is kinda like coming up the on-ramp on the interstate.... the hardest part is merging into traffic.
I was able to do it. I got into the top 15 in the pack anyway, and again tried to let my body recover from the toll it had taken on me to make it back into a group. We gradually picked up the pace, and started catching and passing riders who had fallen off the pack up ahead that I had been in previously... Then it became obvious that the riders up front were doing all they could to catch the other pack. More power to them! I would just let them do the work, and hang on as long as I could!
Then BAM! another bump, and my water went careening off the road again! Are you kidding me! I stopped again, now really unsure of what might happen. I ran to pick it up this time, so that I would be back on the road before losing any more time. Now, there were no more big groups coming. I did however, jump in with a group of 3 which became 4 then 6-10 riders. This was a much more manageable group, and we all had a similar pace that we wanted to ride. In this group I took my turn at the front, before returning back into the pace line and catching my breath.
I stayed with these guys until mile 42 where many off them pulled over at the SAG stop. Sticking to my plan, I rolled on past the SAG and connected back with some of the original riders I had been with. I stayed with them all the way to the top of Bill's Hill where I took my 1st SAG stop at mile 47. Bill's Hill wasn't nearly as bad this time around. I just pedaled through it and went on my way. I was reminded of 2008 when I was only going to Marion. That year I attacked the hill because I had nothing to lose, and passed riders all the way up the hill. That was fun! I held my stop to 4 minutes, got the fluids I needed and got right back on the bike. This is the hardest part. Getting on the bike when you know you haven't rested yourself yet. But really? How do you expect to get rested. You can't get on the bike and pedal.
From here it was rolling hills all the way into Marion. Around the 65 mile point I realized that the guys I was with were pushing it harder than I would be able to maintain. I also had a contact about to blow out of my right eye because of the wind in my face. I eased off, stopped quickly to readjust my contact lens, and rode into Marion alone. I stopped at the Marion SAG. This would be my 2nd stop, where I drank the 5 hr energy drink hoping to get a little boost up hwy 80. From here as you can see on the map below. It just goes up and up. I had taken me 4 hrs to cover the 75 miles into Marion, and it would take me almost that long to climb the remaining 25 miles or so.
From here, the story line gets really boring. I hit the base of the climb at Hwy 80 and tried to lock in at 6 miles per hour. Then, I tried to do this continuously for the next hour. Yup. That's right, struggle each pedal turn to keep moving at 6mph. Like how fast my girls could ride when they were 2 years old!
I took my final SAG stop at the Blue Ridge Parkway. From here the climb is not as steep, but fatigue had set in to the point that I could get over the 6mph barrier. Same story... just plod along hoping you don't give out before reaching the top. Some guys passed me like I was sitting still. Others passed me multiple times, because they would stop at the SAG's but I would keep on rolling.... Like the tortoise and the hare.
As the miles turned slowly over, I spent a lot of time thinking about Josiah. I remembered riding the Assault in 2009, 2 days before he would be born, and all the anxiety that surrounded his entrance into the world. Then I thought through all the "mountains" Josiah climbed in his short lifetime. I knew that no matter how hard this ride was for me, it is just a blessing that I am able to do something like this.
Erin's Dad likes to remind me that Josiah just kept pedaling. It didn't matter how steep the climb, how difficult the gears on the bike, or how tired or thirsty he might have been. Josiah just kept pedaling until the very end of his life. So... that's what I did. I pedaled harder faster and stronger. In the final 2 miles I began to realize I would still have gas in the tank at the end. I picked up the pace even more (like up to 9mph...wow we're flying now!) I began passing people in the final stretch. People who had gone by me even an hour beforehand. I stood up on the pedals for the final 500 yards and tried to push it through the finish.
I couldn't. I eased off 20 yards from the top, sat down and turned the pedals a few more painful revolutions. The clock read 7:46 - a personal best. Sure, tons of people beat me up the mountain, but I had a fantastic time.
Maybe I can use this verse in my post next year.
Isaiah 41:15 "Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff."
This will be the 2nd year I have ridden the Assault on Mt Mitchell. I was very distracted a year ago, because the ride was 2 days before my son Josiah was born. I really had a hard time focusing on the training rides a few weeks before the ride, because in the back of my mind I was pretty certain that Josiah would be born early and I wouldn't even go out and ride at all. However, I was able to complete the Assault...in 8.5 hours. I was disappointed in my finish, but it was good to get out there and do it.
This year, I have trained better and ridden more. However, this week is Josiah's birthday which is a constant reminder that he passed away in January this year. The Mt Mitchell Assault is a week from today, and I hope to ride it well in honor of Josiah's life. Still, I expect it to be tough. I don't have anyone specifically that I am going to do the ride with, so it could turn out to be a lonely day. Hopefully, it won't be as long as last year...
I am riding the Assault on Mt Mitchell again this year. It is a 100 mile ride from Spartanburg SC to the top of Mount Mitchell on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC. With it looming just weeks away, I needed to get in a 100 mile training ride over the weekend. So, I mapped it out from my in laws house at Lake Keowee to my house in Greer. The ride is about 60 miles, so I would need to build in a detour to get the extra 40 miles. Therefore, I decided to alter my route over the infamous Caesar's Head, and send myself through Flat Rock, right near the Carl Sandburg home before returning home.
View 101 mile ride from Lake Keowee to Greer, SC 29651 in a larger map
This was a great plan on paper, but it was less than perfect in real life. The day started by my front tire exploding a flat, when I sat my apparently-too-fat-butt down on the seat to take off. Now I was down to having no spare tube, and hadn't even left the driveway. The rolling hills on Highway 11 took a much greater toll on me than I had expected, although the beautiful day kept my spirits high. I reached the base of Caesar's Head 30 miles in a little more winded than I would like.
I groaned my way to the the State park at the top. I needed to stop and buy some Gatorade, granola bars, and rest. I also drank a Pepsi on the suggestion of another rider there, and it did seem to rejuvenate me quite well. I rolled over the backside of the mountain freezing cold because of the sweat I had built up on the ascent. In time I would be sweating again.
After that, I spent the rest of the day talking my self into continuing the ride. I had totally wore myself out in the climb. I still had 70 miles to go, and I didn't feel like being on the bike at all. For this reason, I would never recommend to anyone to do a 100 mile ride solo. It just messes with your head way too much. After a stop in Flat Rock, and a 5 hour energy shot, my spirits began to improve. Then I reached Callahan Mountain followed by Pack's Mountain just a few minutes later soon after passing the 70 miles in mark.
I was spent. again I argued with myself about quitting. I rolled along painfully, trying to maintain a 18 mph pace on the flat and 10 mph on the climbs. I was miserable. Finally, at 96 miles I gave in. I quit, and threw in the towel. I called Erin to come and get me. I called her with only 4 miles to go. I just didn't want to do it. I am convinced I could have finished, but I had lost all desire to continue. When the desire is gone... what's the point? There is a life lesson in there somewhere, although I am not sure that I want to talk about it right now. You know, the life lesson about giving 110% effort every time? Today I settled for 96%
Andrew and I got up early on Saturday and went over to the sunshine bike shop's hour of power on Saturday morning. I admit, I was pretty intimidated going there, because I had heard and read a lot about it, so I didn't want to get there and not be able to keep up. So, I brought Andrew along so that if we both fell off the back we would have someone to ride with.
Fortunately the turnout Saturday wasn't too big, I think there may have been 10 riders. We left the bike shop at 8am, even though the website swore if everyone wasn't ready by 7:45, the train was leaving without you. Andrew and I both rode strong. We kept up with the group on all of the flat sections, and even led the way up some of the climbs. It was nice to ride with a group rather than being out there alone, and everyone was friendly and courteous just like it said they would be. We covered almost 30 miles in just under 2 hrs, and had quite a bit of climbing without even going out toward the really big hills. All in all, it was a great ride!
So, if you are intimidated like I was and like most people are their 1st time going to a group ride, find a friend to go with you, and give it your best. You might find it wasn't as scary as you had made it out to be!
Kinda like walking into a new church for the 1st time.... hmm...something to consider?
original video source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSsPYJdVvuY&feature=player_embedded