Comments on: Bring Your Own Big Wheel

By: Halloween_Jack

Halloween_Jack — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:51:00 +0000

I saw a dude ride one of those during RAGBRAI last year. It was very cool.

By: Ruby Griffith G

Ruby Griffith G — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:47:00 +0000

It’s true Tim, there is a lot of plastic carnage but a lot of the “vehicles” were purchased from thrift shops so they are second hand. I’ve been lucky enough to have the same big wheel since 2006 (with some repairs) and I know some of the people with mod bikes bring theirs again and again. It’s the first timer noobs who usually do the “I just bought this from a toy store to destroy it” thing, much like the PFC. I’m such a dork I’ve had the same PF pillow since 2008, granted it’s only been out twice. We (the Big Wheel organizers) also had a great local recycling company donate their time and labor Sunday to provide extra refuse bins as well as sort all the garbage and recycle as much as possible this year. We are happy to report that thanks to them 93% of the garbage, which includes big wheel parts, was recycled.

By: Tim H

Tim H — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:28:00 +0000

Awesome.

In NYC an event like this would result in me seeing abandoned, broken Big Wheels stuffed in every nook and cranny of the city for a weeks to come and miles away.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:31:00 +0000

Are you from Peoria? San Franciscans would (correctly) consider President Obama to be quite far to the right.

By: eviladrian

eviladrian — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:13:00 +0000

They put it in a big pile, light it, and dance around singing “Hail Obama!”

By: Rick Hargett

Rick Hargett — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 02:16:00 +0000

This was my first time racing after watching from the sidelines last year. I had such an amazing time!… made six runs down the hill during the 2 hour event. The time consuming part is making your way back to the top through McKinley Park with a massive crowd of people carrying all manner of riding toys. There are some great videos showing up on Youtube.

Thanks to the BYOBW team and volunteers for continuing to make this happen – for 12 years in a row.

By: Mark Dow

Mark Dow — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 02:03:00 +0000

I imagine he feels like Luke Skywalker on his way to take down an AT-AT.

By: LogrusZed

LogrusZed — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:52:00 +0000

Put a loft-bed in it and you’ve got a split-level or a duplex.

By: Bhautik Joshi

Bhautik Joshi — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:08:00 +0000

It’s a ‘no trace’ event – awesome volunteers after the event stay behind to clean it up – they’ve done so ever year that I’ve attended (5 years now!).

By: Spieguh

Spieguh — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:47:00 +0000

And knowing is half the battle!

By: Tim H

Tim H — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:21:00 +0000

Good grief that sounds old mannish.

By: Tim H

Tim H — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:18:00 +0000

So what happens to all the stuff when people are done with it? Do people take it all home? Is it donated to a charity? I see these type of events in NYC, the giant pillow fight is a good example, and the amount of waste left behind by the “good clean fun” is disgusting.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:45:00 +0000

You learn to think of a walk-in closet as a cozy bedroom.

By: Ruby Griffith G

Ruby Griffith G — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:40:00 +0000

It was an awesome pleasure to roll down the hill with Red Dingo and Big Red One flanking me (I was Princess Leia, and no we didn’t know each other previously). Those snow speeders took the cake with new costume ideas this year. I heart those geeks. Next year, sound effects and maybe Imperial speeder bikes?

By: phlavor

phlavor — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:15:00 +0000

I’ve made it work out here for eleven years and I don’t even have a college diploma. I think you should give it a shot.

By: nickelrocket

nickelrocket — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:14:00 +0000

TIM, TOM and JOE! I’m so proud of you guys. Next Year, AT-ATs.

By: Cowicide

Cowicide — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:11:00 +0000

I have never seen more range of emotion in a photograph in all my life…

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7108/7059767109_9e91c20c9d_b.jpg

By: phlavor

phlavor — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:09:00 +0000

I was part of group B holding down the hay bails at the apex of turn three. My whole family is going down next year.

By: Cowicide

Cowicide — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Now can everyone in these photos add a caption that explains how they can afford to live in San Francisco and yet still find the time to have fun projects? Anyone without such captions will be assumed to be trustafarians. ;) [yes, I'm jealous, that should be obvious]

By: Logorrheac

Logorrheac — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:46:00 +0000

Looks and sounds like the Kirby Derby in Raleigh! Kirby St is steep, with a 90-degree turn; people get dressed in ridiculous costumes and race soapbox derby cars down the hill. It is an event full of HM’s: http://kdd.gamil.com/

By: philllies

philllies — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:44:00 +0000

Warning to the elderly , don’t bigwheel after dark while intoxicated.

By: Bhautik Joshi

Bhautik Joshi — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:24:00 +0000

….and it’s also worth mentioning Joe’s callsign on the side of the speeder was ‘Red Dingo’, and the other two were ‘Big Red One’ and ‘Red Velvet’. We’re classy like that :P

By: Warren_Terra

Warren_Terra — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:23:00 +0000

See also this photo from the photoset. It's not the same guy (more hair), but it's someone from the same team (same outfit and same idea) - possibly the guy in the background of the photo above, facing the other way. Either they had two assemblies or they took turns riding with the assembly.

By: Bhautik Joshi

Bhautik Joshi — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:22:00 +0000

O HAI INTERNET. Those are my pics, and thankyou boingboing for the post!

That’s my friend Joe, who along with two colleagues at work hand-built the snowspeeder outfits.

By: franko

franko — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:29:00 +0000

one of the all time great things about san francisco is that everyone will take any excuse to wear a costume, and then they will do it to an incredibly geeky and/or hilarious degree.

By: dculberson

dculberson — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:27:00 +0000

While I would definitely have had a blast there, I also had a great weekend! Spring is an awesome time to have fun.

By: Dean Putney

Dean Putney — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:25:00 +0000

I went to this yesterday as well. This is apparently a Must Attend event, practically everyone I know was there.

Here’s a little video: http://youtu.be/YcZZKItA5kU

By: RHK

RHK — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Vermont Street – the real Lombard Street.

By: goldenearth

goldenearth — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:17:00 +0000

When everyone is costumed, only those who arrive without costumes can be said to be truly costumed – OM….

By: The_Tim

The_Tim — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:08:00 +0000

I feel that this is an appropriate place to mention the High Roller, an adult-sized big wheel:
http://www.highrollerusa.com/

I discovered them on Kickstarter, where they had a successful campaign to raise money last October: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigwheelrally/the-high-roller-adult-size-big-wheel-trike