Let me first say that the folks down in the bay really do know how to have a good time…
Hillary and I were in SF for the weekend and it was fantastic.
The event at Ritual started a little after high noon on Saturday.
There were five racers in the beginning - each had to, in any way they could, transport the 130 pound bag of green coffee via bike from
Ritual 1 on Valencia to Ritual 2 on Jerrold. We were thinking this wasn’t very far, but I am pretty sure 3 miles with that weight was far enough!
A couple of guys bailed out realizing that 130 pounds was a lot heavier than it seemed.
So it went like this:
Matthew from Ritual, with his POLIZEI helmet and bullhorn P.A. rode the BTR bike, we thought about trying to get Hill on the back also with her camera, didn’t quite work. So Matt rallied the troops from the Valencia location. There were a ton of people out, blocking traffic, placing their bets and buying raffle tickets for everything from bike shop gift certificates, free coffee, hats, books, you name it.
The second rider was Laird with an Xtra-cycle rigged to his bike - dude was clad in USA racing jersey and a powder blue motorcycle helmet.
Then we had old-school messenger Eric Zo (Zo bags) in these crazy turquoise balloon pants, and maybe a little eye-liner and a front load cargo bike much like Joel’s. (He seemed to be the favorite for betting)
So then there was Andy - the only guy that strapped the coffee to himself rather than his bike, with duct tape and some straps this guy ended up beating everyone on his road bike. Except for a little help in stopping, He killed it, and no one bet on him. Woohoo for the underdog!
So the race began…
When we arrived at the second location, everyone had some coffee, we drew some raffle prizes, and rounded everyone up to view the documentary and talk about our project. Great response - people were excited to see the footage, ask questions and throw down the cash for the cause. Ritual’s second location is beautiful, nesteld in the back of a nursery - you can wander around incredible plants with your coffee. I loved it there, very peaceful.
We took a break for an hour or so, found some food at a great Italian deli. Then it was on to the bar to drink for bikes. Matt found these two lovely lady bartenders at a little bar down the way from Ritual, Homestead - they donated half their tips from 3 until 8, small group, but I think everyone pulled their weight in cocktails.
We met some really great folks that were very excited to hang out and learn a bunch about the organization and what we are doing. We were blessed with some of the best weather I have ever witnessed there and it was all in all a fantastic weekend!
Thank you again to all the folks at Ritual and our new SF friends - totally a great event!
And Hillary and I had a great time.
Stay tuned for more event coverage.
Best,
Clara Seasholtz
Executive Director
