On Saturday, Bike East Bay's annual Pedalfest at Jack London Square in Oakland brought out bicyclists of all shapes, sizes, ages, and colors to celebrate what makes bikes wonderful. Below are some the day's highlights. All photos by Melanie Curry.
Rock the Bike offered live music, powered by audience members pedaling stationary bikes.Rock the Bike offered live music, powered by audience members on stationary bikes.
The PingPong Bike brought games to anyone who wanted to play.The ping pong bike brought games to anyone who wanted to play.
Testing out the handmade cycle contraptions.Testing out the handmade cycle contraptions. She wants to be the driver.
The Karaoke Bike offered mobile entertainment of varying quality, enthusiastically delivered.The Karaoke Bike's mobile entertainment of varying quality.
Bike East Bay's Robert Prinz grades bike locking skills in a contest to see if participants could safely secure a bike against theft.Bike East Bay's Robert Prinz grades a contestant's bike locking skills.
A different--not recommended--way to lock a bike.One way to lock a bike--which probably wouldn't pass get a good grade.
The BMX tricks did not fail to thrill.
A homemade mini penny-farthing?A homemade mini penny farthing.
A giant quadricycle penny-farthing?A giant quadricycle penny farthing.
There were lots of bike contraptions to try.There were lots of bike contraptions to try.
Yes, this is a bicycle.Yes, this is a bicycle.
One of the day's thrills was the amphibious bike race, which required participants to ride into the estuary, make their way out around a buoy and back, and then ride onto land again. The short videos below show how a few hardy souls rose to the challenge.
Here the winner emerges from the water and rides away while his competition is still adapting their bike for land.
Streetsblog California editor Melanie Curry has been thinking about transportation, and how to improve conditions for bicyclists, ever since commuting to school by bike long before bike lanes were a thing. She was Managing Editor at the East Bay Express, editor of Access Magazine for the University of California Transportation Center, and earned her Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley.
According to data from UC Berkeley’s Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS), in 2023 alone, there were 167 fatalities and nearly 1000 people suffered serious injuries due to red light running and traffic light violations.
