I went on that crazy bike ride with an old buddy of mine and we had a blast. I’d say about 1,000 people showed up at the wee hours of Sunday morning to ride their bike in the moonlight. There were all kinds of people on all kinds of bikes. Kids on BMX bikes. Racer types on swanky $4,000 bikes. Moms and dads with basic hybrid bikes, towing one of their kids. And one guy towing not a kid, but his dog.

Then there was the guy in the recumbent bike who rigged a couple 2x4’s to the seat-back and mounted small speakers on the ends to play music. There were also morons who didn’t pay the $25 ride fee and didn’t wear a helmet. Even though they didn’t pay the fee, the helped themselves to all the ride organizers’ hard work in getting this event together.

There were two possible routes – one eight miles and one nineteen. My buddy and I planned to take the short route so as to get home at a reasonable hour, but when we got to the turn-off to take the short route, we said “aw, fuck it, let’s go the long way,” and kept going straight with everyone else. We didn’t see anyone taking the turn-off and didn’t much feel like riding alone. All the action was on the long route.

I’ve ridden early in the morning before, so I know what it feels like to ride through empty streets illuminated only by streetlight. But 2:15 isn’t exactly early in the morning. 5:00 is early. 2:15 is night. The people we saw weren’t trying to make an early flight to the airport. They had just gotten done partying, so we got lots of attention: some hoots, some hollers, and some, “What the hell is this?!” Every now and then cars would make their way through or around us, but for the most part, we had the roads to ourselves. It was really cool to ride through streets I’ve driven through countless times before. It was about 50 degrees and clear outside, so we lucked out with the weather. Traveling by bike (or foot) makes it easier to notice all the little things that usually slip by. That café I never saw. The bookstore that never existed. And the complete disrepair of some of our streets. Damn. They gotta fix that.

For those of you from Houston, this is the route we took: George R. Brown – Fannin – W Alabama – Edloe – Westpark – Rice/Sage – W Alabama again – Post Oak – Memorial – Allen Parkway – Dallas – George R. Brown. My buddy and I hauled ass down Westpark, Memorial, and Allan Parkway, which was really cool.

Overall, it was a fun time. Some people wore costumes or other weird stuff. Pretty much everyone was there to have a good time and take a leisurely ride, so if you don’t fancy yourself a hardcore cyclist, you’ll fit right in.

One conclusion I came to was that I need to get back on the bike. I had forgotten why I started riding to begin with. It’s so calming and peaceful.