Review: Midnight Madness Ride

Well before I ever owned a bike, I bookmarked the Midnight Madness Fun Bike Ride on my computer because everyone who'd done it had raved about it. Which is how I ended up cruising with a couple of thousand other cyclists last night around some of San Diego's most scenic spots.

I went with my friend Justin, another Midnight Madness first-timer. Justin has a lot of experience with bikes and was even a bike tech on a transcontinental tour. He's basically my Penelope's general practitioner -- doing routine check-ups upon request to make sure all her body parts are functioning properly.


We ran into another friend, Peter (below), who's a speed demon. He was riding with his brothers, who looked equally fast. We never saw them after the start. Around that time I ran into the executive director, who turned out to be someone I run with on Saturdays in our track club training program. Who knew!


Prior to the ride, Hostelling International San Diego organizers held two contests, one for best costume sponsored by Alaska Airlines and one for best lights on a bike by REI. It's hard to capture the zaniness with my point-and-shoot camera, especially when I had to change batteries during the competition. There was some real creativity, and there were plenty of other people who wore unconventional attire that evening, everything from pajamas and formalwear to inflated stars and monkey suits. This one group of Mexican mariachi singers toting a Tijuana mutt was a favorite, with people bellowing Frito-Bandito-like noises all night whenever they passed by.

This is blurry, but these superheros placed in the lights competition.


This year they had a wave start, with 200 cyclists heading onto Harbor Drive every 2.5 minutes. We somehow managed to be in the front of the third wave, which was a good position but full of super-slow starters. It took a while to get going, and I'd shed down to a short-sleeved T-shirt and was anxious to warm up. I never did, but I had enough distractions to keep my mind off the chilliness.

There were unicycles, a ton of tandems, even some three-seaters along with just about every type of two-wheeler you can imagine. One guy that won a lot of crowd support rode a small plastic Hot Wheels tricycle the entire 20 miles. He also had a plastic monkey on his back.


I stopped taking pictures once the ride started. You'll have to take my word that the course was exceptionally scenic, even at 1 in the morning and included Harbor Island, Shelter Island, Point Loma, Old Town, and downtown all lit up. The spectators toward the end were lit too, it being close to 2 when our wave finished and lots of folks were dumping out of bars after last call.

I was nervous about crashing. I'd never ridden at night. I'd never ridden with other people, and so close. I'd also never had to stop and start repeatedly for traffic lights and trolley crossings. I actually got pretty good at starting back up without my front wheel wavering (the source of a couple of collisions I witnessed). And I managed to stick with Justin the entire time, despite having a heavier hybrid and thicker wheels and a little lack of confidence.

There were a couple of pelaton-style crashes at the beginning, and a few lone wipeouts at random spots, but for the conditions and number of costumed characters and cruisers on the course, it was an impressively safe evening. All my weekly hill training paid off too. The inclines on the second half were a cinch, and I took the sharp left at the bottom of a short steep hill like a pro -- if only to get away from some middle-schoolers screaming and using their feet for brakes.

If you live in San Diego, and even if you don't ride a bike regularly, you should consider doing this one next year. Come look for me, because next year I think I'm arriving in costume.