Celebrate Easter with a Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race!
Participants in the 9th Annual San Francisco Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race are being threatened with tickets. According to SF Gate, the online arm of the SF Chronicle:
Police officials said late Tuesday that they are still reviewing the event and have not decided whether they will ticket Big Wheel riders. Organizers, who have reached out to neighbors with events such as a fundraising barbecue last week, hope to convince city officials that they can run a free and safe event without expensive permits or corporate sponsors.
“If this doesn’t work out, there will be no legal way for people to get together without people paying money,” lamented Tom Price, who is helping to organize the event, which will take place around the corner from his house at 20th and Vermont streets around 4 p.m.
Oakland resident Jared Hirsch said organizers are using their money to provide portable toilets and encouraging participants to act responsibly. He said the race could be a model for other events.
“This is about community, about getting people off their couches, getting people involved and creating our own fun,” Hirsch said.
A Burning Mom who is involved with the event emailed to say, “Two prosecutors and a rep from city hall have confirmed that the arrests would not be prosecutable if they choose to arrest racers. It’ll be really unfortunate if this event and everything like it disappears just because of one irresponsible pillow
fight mess.”
Wrote one commenter to the article: “So, this gets a crackdown but Critical Mass doesn’t? Once a year, this event shuts down a stretch of one block that sees no traffic, but it needs shutting down. Plus, the organizers are working their butts off to make sure the event causes no problems. Critical Mass is designed to disrupt as much as possible, and they get police protection. I’ll be out on there my Big Wheel. Write me as many tickets as you want.“
Read more about the demise of fun in San Francisco here: http://www.sfbg. com/blogs/ politics/ 2009/04/death_ of_fun_sfpds_ crackdowns. html
Here’s a video from the 2006 race which was held on Lombard Street in San Francisco.
Hmmn, we FFArtRiders may need to expand our wheeled chariot selections next year and add a Big Wheel Race of our own! Palm Street anyone? How about a flash mob FLASHDANCE on the Promenade on Prom Night May 1??
My Burning Mom friend in the thick of this emailed to share these words of celebration and advice:
We didn’t just take “no” for an answer, nor did we just get upset about the police. Instead, we worked with City Hall, the police, the neighborhood, and the public, and came up with a plan together.
The police have responded to input from City Hall and decided that they will NOT be barricading the road nor, we are told, will they be issuing tickets to Big Wheelers. (two days ago, it was “racers will be
arrested!”)
They’ll send a squad car to observe and make sure we make good on the promises we’ve made about being responsible, but the Big Wheels are gonna run!
SO….SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
BIG BAD BIG WHEEL ACTION
Seriously, last year, the kids had a great time. If you’re planning to come or you know friends who are coming, I would love help telling people two things:
++ please leave the booze at home this time. c’mon, it’ll be fun. hang out and be a big dumb kid with the rest of us big dumb kids.
AND
++ please don’t litter or trample the vegetation on the hill – pick up your own broken big wheel bits and dismembered body parts!