Inaugural Thursday Night Ride

Brocyclists!

i'm so proud to report that the first Thunderin' Thursday (seriously that name is really stupid, someone come up with something else) came out really awesome. attending were alan, sara, brett, havilah, myself, and new brocycle member charles horn.

the group came together at starbucks, where the crazy people were hanging out on the patio as usual. a little water was collected before we left, and off we went to the official brocycle grand prix course, i.e., this big empty parking lot off of 1st avenue south near 20th street. after lots of loops and half-assed wheelies and figure eights and powerslides, we had to figure out what was next. so i suggested that we have a tournament of paper-rock-scissors (also known as rock-paper-scissors, but the former out-voted the latter in an official vote) to decide some sort of ride leader. this ride leader would then arbitrarily lead the group around the city.

charles & i, alan & brett, and havilah & sara each paired off respectively for a best-of-three. charles, havilah, and alan advanced. real tournament rules (byes, etc.) were immediately discarded and so havilah played alan, who then moved on to lose to charles. and so, in this precedent-setting moment, we set off into the north side, blindly following charles horn through red lights, down alleys, around staggering wasted homeless dudes, off-and-on sidewalks, up-and-down parking decks... until somehow we ended up at the phoenix building. there, dear mrs. sara cannon bid us good evening, and the ride continued back into the highlands, where it was decided we would acquire not only ice cream but some sort of beer to end the ride with. so off to the western market we went.

there, i picked up a box of ice cream sandwiches, and alan (CORRECTION: BRETT) somehow decided that a 12-pack of red stripe bottles would be a good idea. which it always is (if you're into that sort of thing) except when you need to carry it while riding a bike. unwilling to let the evening succumb to the tremendous hurdle this presented, we decided to walk it all to the park.

brett impressed the group with his ability to uncap a beer with the edge of a picnic table and the palm of his hand while havilah soaked up the spills with her bare feet. ice cream sandwiches were evenly distributed as well, and the evening carried on with many lovely conversations. these included:


1. The Slow Cooker

2. Brett's Coffee Soapbox
--2a. Fair Trade: Bullshit!
--2b. The Three-Phase Conical Burr Grinder, Holy Shit
--2c. The McWane Center's Utopian Coffee Setup
--2d. Starbucks and Why We Should Love It (Or At Least Respect It)
--2e. Progressive Roaster/Grower Relationships
--2f. Gripes About Local Coffee Drinkers/Distributors
------2f-1. Dumb Motherfuckers, Lattes, Etc.

3. Potential Bike Swaps (As Compared to Wife Swaps, or Perhaps Husband Swaps)

4. Installation of Bottle Cap Opener on Nearby White Oak
--4a. Perks for All Who Use the Park
--4b. Possible Environmental Ramifications
--4c. Discussion of Blight in Local Flora

5. Did You Know That Corn Needs Humans to Facilitate Its Growth?
--5a. Charles Loves Meat, Hates the Meat Industry

6. Other Smaller Conversations That I Don't Remember
--6a. The Meltiness of Ice Cream Sandwiches
--6b. Architecture or Something
--6c. Brett's Coffee Soapbox - The Addendum
--6d. Havilah's Coffee Soapbox
--6e. The Slow Cooker - Revisited

after it was mentioned a number of times that both Charles and Havilah really had to take a pee, we scooted up the hill to my and alan's apartment. Things sort of wound down there, and the night ended with a little bit of raising that left fist. this was a first, and very exciting for me. But maybe not anyone else, probably just me.

it was an amazing time. alan and i agreed that this is everything we'd hoped for in a concept like brocycle, and we are unbelievably excited about it. so thanks, guys!



commuter solidarity!