Oakland is surprisingly a great town to live in as a cyclist. Although there are certainly plenty of neighborhoods one wouldn’t want to cruise through easy-breezy and carefree, (because you might get knocked out, robbed or bike-jacked) there are lots of bike friendly routes and ways to get around that don’t involve driving your car. For mountain biking, there is Joaquin Miller Park with its network of multi-use single track trails. Managed by the city, we can reach single track trails with only 3 miles of pavement to cross in order to reach it. And once a month, the East Bay Bike Party goes down. A cross between a rave on wheels and a tour of Oakland by bike, Bike Party has unofficially replaced Critical Mass with its positive vibe and celebration of all things bike.
Although things could be a lot better, we really don’t have it half bad.
This year Oakland celebrated Bike to Work Day with a block party in Old Oakland. A free street party to cheer on those that elected to ride their bike instead of their car, the event was filled with amazing energy. Planet Booty performed and entertain the crowd with their sound and booty shakin’ antics.
Like any good party, the line for beer was a social event in itself. Add to that games like a lifesized ConnectFour, 4 Square, and several video game consoles and there was plenty of stuff to do as well.
- Planet Booty gets down on the street.