The route was intentionally circuitous, following as many pink-canopied streets as possible through East Van. It was an enjoyable pace, easy enough for the handful of kids on the ride to keep up. However, the route went up & down hills quite often, which was a struggle for some of the parents pulling trailers. Since we were such a large group, we needed to brake down all the hills.
Eventually, the riders got spread out & separated into a few smaller groups when we were stopped at lights. Finding our way was still easy, as there were arrows marked in chalk on the roads at all the turns & several volunteer riders waiting at intersections to direct us. Earlier in the ride, because there were so many of us, drivers just had to stop & wait a few minutes until we passed. But as the riders spread out, the drivers were just forcing their way through impatiently, rather than letting us pass together. I didn't see any major conflict between riders & drivers, but it meant I had to focus on riding defensively as I usually would on my own, instead of enjoying the ride & chatting with friends, like I'd been able to do earlier.
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| Climbing on our "portable jungle gym", aka, Yuba Mundo |
It was great to get out & bike around with so many other people--we saw five other families we knew & a few people who we'd met once on other rides. Ending the ride at the farmers market was definitely a great decision--lots of space to picnic & lots of food trucks & vendors to buy food from. I look forward to doing this ride again next year!
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