The unfortunate news is that Bob, one of the birds that has been with bike party since before I started doing it, has just got a job in Arizona. Good for him, he needed it. Bad for bike party, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. The better news was that he decided to celebrate by hosting a starter party to get people in the mood. I got there early enough that people were still having a good time.

        

It wasn't long before the party turned into a pre-ride, heading for the official start of the ride, Plaza Del Sol in Sunnyvale.

  

Participation in the theme, "Valentines Day Massacre", was very thin. I decided to augment my usual theme pictures with pictures of us waiting at red lights.

  

Sometimes the light changed before my shutter snapped. You can tell from the foot on the ground for some of the riders that the light had recently turned green.

Once the traffic flow got established this is what it looked like. A steady stream of bikes, plenty of room for evasive maneuvers if the guy in front of you fell off or whatever, but plenty close enough for interesting conversation with the people riding nearby. There was lots of party noise coming off the crowd, with conversation augmented by sound systems that ranged from small boom boxes to elaborate stereos on carts being dragged behind strong men.

  

I heard later that the whole ride was about 850 people. The vibe was fine.

     

At the regroup I had to look hard to find theme participation. It felt like playing "where's waldo".

     

Jodi's new tattoo shows awesome bike love!