Rina

Imagine the effort. Not only would you have to get up really early and bike 50-km at the height of summer, but you also have to do it while in costume. This is the sort of thing that regulars of the Firefly Brigade’s Tour of the Fireflies are only too glad to do every year. Most of the bikers did not go on costumes, but those who did clearly put a lot of effort into it. They get to be the stars of the show, of course.

The route was around 50-km long and passed through seven cities. Naturally, not a few motorists were inconvenienced, and the biker marshals had their share of brush-ins with indignant drivers. While most would just stop and decide to enjoy the sight of the bikers, some would be pretty pissed off. A typical exchange would go like this:


Motorist: Let me through

Marshall: Sorry sir, you’ll have to wait. You see, this is an advocacy ride for --

Motorist: I don’t give an effin’ shit, y’all get out of the street! I’m coming through!

Marshall: Good luck with that sir, but right now six thousand bikers are passing through and I really think you should wait.

Okay, I didn’t really see anything like that happen but you can imagine. I mean, what would you do if, on an early Sunday morning when there’s supposedly no traffic, and you really have to pee, your way suddenly gets cut off by several thousand bikers?

We spent the whole time running around taking pictures, then rushing off to catch a cab to beat the pack to the next station. I found myself wondering about the carbon footprint of the event in terms of such things, or in terms of motorists who were caught in traffic or had to take detours. But the tour’s whole idea, after all, is to make a splash. The whole idea is to catch your attention, and make you think, hey, if that kid, or that old guy can do it, so can I. Maybe this biking thing’s not bad at all.