Boulder Cruiser Ride(s)
Yeah so last week I wrote a post that purported to be about a cool cruiser bike, but was really a platform for me to bitch about a local bike ride that I felt had fallen into a sad display of Boulder elitism. I railed against these people and their policy of requiring costumes and cruisers on the ride. Since that time, some of the people I was complaining about found my little rant, and posted some seemingly witty retorts; what they really did was show their true colors. Meanwhile, several other bastions of the true spirit of the ride emailed me off-line and showed me the seamy underbelly of the Boulder bikeride/cruiser/chill/hangout groove, and as you might expect, it ain’t pretty.
In the process, I got my shit straightened out. The good news is, the cruiser ride is dead. The better news is, the ride(s) live on.
Here’s the thing: The so-called “Boulder Cruiser Ride”, or “Happy Thursday Ride”, or whatever you want to call it, had exploded in popularity last year and a lot of the people who showed up were wasted college- and high school-kids who were only there to get fucked up (just like the rest of us). But there were too many of them and they kinda sucked at riding and they kinda had no appreciation for bikes, so they sorta sucked and had to go. I agree. But it became the opinion of some of the regulars that anyone showing up for the ride without a cruiser bike, or not in costume—a silly, silly habit of some of the regulars—should not be allowed to ride. Which I disagreed with. I said as much on the happy_thursday Yahoo list—that purported to be the mouthpiece for the ride but is in fact an odd collection of people that I have long since unsubscribed to—and got slammed for saying so. So I quietly bailed from the whole sad thing.
And then last week I saw a cool cruiser on a website while surfing one night and blogged about it, and I guess my little post devolved into a rant about the shitty attitude of what I perceived to be the consensus of the “Boulder Cruiser Ride” attendants. Turns out the ride was ruined by a bunch of hypocritical assholes who drive their SUVs in to Boulder from outlying towns to ride, and have taken over the long-standing ride tradition to serve their own egos and idiotic goals, ultimately leading to the ride being published in the local newspaper and the attendant rise in attendance which led to the problems that led to its demise. And I got flamed for complaining about that.
The best thing about all of that is that some of the very best people involved in the old Boulder Cruiser Ride have contacted me off-list and explained how my off-the-handle rant was out of line; it’s a good reason to have a website and an opinion. I’ve learned that with regard to the so-called “Happy Thursday Ride”, a few bad apples have fucked the entire batch.
The Boulder Cruiser Ride is no longer, but it’s all good, as we say. There are now several factions of people riding bikes around Boulder on Thursday nights; some of them are into bikes and bike culture, and some of them are egomaniacs with agendas—and there are loads of people in between. So I plan on venturing out this week and enjoying the benefits of evolution. I already know where the cool ride leaves from.
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7 comments
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Rob,
Been reading the whining posts for a while, most of these posts are targeted to me directly even though my name isn’t used specifically. I guess because I am the one that stood up to help the ride and so I am the one who is in the spotlight and as usual anyone that stands up to be a leader will get both praise and criticism. I cannot believe how mis-informed you are about the cruiser rides. It’s as if you are a tourist on this ride and have no idea of the history or the mechanics of what has made it last for so many years. Rather than actually find out this information you are grabbing all your knowledge from people who are belly-aching about issues they no idea about.
Yes, I am the so called “organizer of this ride, yes I drive my cruiser bike on an SUV because I found affordable housing outside of Boulder. As a Boulder native, yes born and raised in Boulder and a long time rider of the Thursday Night Cruiser rides (10 + years), organizer of the Cruiser Jam for the last 6 years, organizer of the ski jam for the last 3 years, organizer of the cruiser challenge (last 4 years), they guy that gets in front of the bull-horn every week to spout off upcoming cruiser events and safety tips for riding with the group; the guys that takes his time and energy not for himself but for the benefit of everyone that shows up to the ride, the liaison between Boulder PD, City Officials and the Thursday Night Cruisers, the cruiser parade liaison for the Boulder Parade of Light and the Kinetics parade and finally webmaster of the http://www.cruiserbikeride.org website,. I think that I might be the right person to talk to in regards to the Thursday Night Cruiser Rides and would love to talk to you about them to give you an idea of what has been going on.
Rather than thank me for keeping this ride alive, safe and police free for so many years, or thanks from using the website I created that you take advantage of or any of the cruiser related events that you may or may not had attended you have chosen to criticize me without even talking to me.
Do you have any idea that the thought behind closing the cruiser ride was not my idea? This was brought out by a community of people, a group of people, not just one individual. My role was in helping carry out the decision of the community. Did you know that the people who showed up for the meeting to discuss the future of the ride hardly wear costumes? Do you really think that any of us care if people where costumes or not as you have pointed out. Again, you are so far from the truth of it all. The only people that complain about it on your website gave very little feedback if any when the opportunity was given to them. Ryan wrote above, “Word” those one word answers are pretty much the only input these negative people gave. How about the fact that this wasn’t the actual end of the ride but rather the actual end of it being supported and assisted by people that were too tired to do it anymore and wanted nothing more than to just enjoy the ride without working to keep the city from shutting it down and trust me, they tried.
Let me ask you something, do you honestly believe we could shut it down? It’s not like it was a club or anything, it’s not like there was switch on the wall and we turned it off. People will do what they want to do. If they want to congregate and ride bikes on Thursday, so be it. Who will stop them, who wants to stop them?
You are right, the cruiser ride is in transition right now and there are many different ride starts and most likely all will come together again and soon. However, the real question is who will stand up and represent when the ride needs it most. Despite what many think the ride doesn’t just happen without the support of individuals.
I am happy to give you the history of the ride and help educate you on what has been going on with the ride as long as you stop flaming me without first talking to me.
Chris V.
All:
Chris V. & I have traded a few emails privately regarding this matter, and I think it’s put to bed. Personally, I am weary of the whole thing, and sorry for any ill will sprouting from my various rants.
Bottom line, all kinds of people ride bikes around Boulder on Thursday nights, and they don’t all agree on what makes that activity special or precisely how it should be gone about.
I wrote my own one-sided blog on the state of the Cruiser Ride. I’m hoping to use it as a soundboard to evolve the Cruising Spirit in a positive and optimistic manner. What has happened in the past, what currently is just is, but the future is boundless. http://www.steve-z.com/2007/07/12/i-have-a-dream-and-it-is-called-boulder-cruiser-night/
The Cruiser Ride brings a great deal of joy to my life. Each week I highly anticipate getting on my bike and cruising around town with a group of fun people. But like all largely populated events the good usually turns bad. People leaving trash, getting so drunk they swerve into big crowds of other cruisers, basically people abusing the ride. I just wanted to say thanks to Chris V. and whoever helps organize the ride. You’ve made a great thing possible and haven’t gotten the appreciation you deserve for dealing with the logistics. Thanks again,
-Zach
I guess you have a cruiser, Zach. Because this whole thing started because I was annoyed by Chris V’s desire to ask people who turned up for the rides on road bikes or other non-cruiser bikes to leave. No single person is “in charge” of that ride (or rides), never will be. I understand that you have loads of bad apples that can and have caused problems with the ride. I also guess the ride has once again reached critical mass for the season, and people are finding my posts about the way things were. If you read the comments here and the articles on Steve Z’s blog, you will see that this matter is put to bed. Chris V apparently still continues to present himself as “the organizer”, and that’s fine. Others have simply started their own rides and Thursdays offer people several options for tooling around and ringing bells.
well the boulder cruiser ride got TOO BIG… that’s the reality of it… 1100 people is impossible to manage… I think it’s great… but do they have to all ride from the same spot? if this many people are willing to come out and ride bikes, why not make it a fun social thing with your friends on a thursday, rather than expect someone (Chris V. in this instance) to manage the thing… I know he has spent jillions of hours keeping all this together, and as the official organizer of the DENVER CRUISERS, I know what it takes to keep all the wheels on the road… so if you wanna bash someone, bash all the people who don’t have the drive, the courage or the stamina to put up with a bunch of whiners who expect everything to be done for them… if you wanna complain about the BOULDER CRUISERS, then start your own ride and see how long you last… if you survive, then you and your group of pals have a new thursday tradition to celebrate…. this isn’t the first time the boulder ride has been CANCELLED… it’s happened before… (it was at 850 then) and they were chided in much this same manner then as now… there will always be claims (and boulder makes it an easy target)
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