The first victory in my search for on theme shots was this suite of bike bells. They were all squeeze toys, but the squeal was loud enough to get attention. It was like somebody had found a place that sold them and got one each for their party. I found them just after the sun went down. I got distracted by things like having some of Moya's jello shots, so it was a while before I was taking more pictures.

     

The theme was "Under The Sea". It wasn't one of the themes that grabbed the popular imagination in a big way. Looking for participation resembled looking for a needle in a haystack.



I enjoyed finding this school of fish.

        

Sponge Bob Square Pants? What sea did he crawl out of?

        

     

Lots of sharks in this sea!

        

     

     

See the waves on that green bike?

I stopped to bird the corner of Sylvandale and (????). I'd yell out "BIKE PARTY! RIGHT TURN!" as people got near. Most of them were following someone else that got it right.

        

After a while the stream of bikers turned into a trickle, a clump every now and then followed by more and longer gaps. I started using the time between partiers to meet the woman I was birding with. Turns out that she is a local volunteer. She just heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on. She got caught up in the joy of bike party. She said she is going to join us in our next ride.

        

She claimed tealy blue was close enough to undersea that I should take their picture. I didn't argue. Lots of sharks in this sea.

  

I wish I'd taken closeups of those women's fish faces. They were awesomely well done.

        

There was a big drama for the police on the East Side of San Jose that night. Some sort of shooting and hostage situation. What it meant for bike party was that we had to reroute around the action zone at the last minute. I knew nothing about it except that the ride went off the directions at one point. I just followed and hoped for the best. It worked out great.

        

Dora and Nick "under C". At least that sounds right... Maybe you have to be a silicon valley guy to really get it.



When I got back to the flea market parking lot cars were streaming out, kicking up dust. For some reason it reminded me of a tamer version of the exodus from burning man.

     

Me, I pedaled to the start from downtown San Jose. I'm not taking a car to a bike party!

        

The burning man effect was emphasized by the guys spinning beats and rapping from a table in the parking lot.

        

To get home would have taken me two more hours of pedaling. I just wasn't looking forward to that. Luckily Renee was up for doing a good deed. She gave Super Mike and I both rides home. Thank you Renee for giving my bike and I a ride back to Mountain View!