Last Saturday night, some friends and I rode in Denver's annual Moonlight Classic. It's a ride through Denver in the middle of the night that benefits Seniors, Inc.
Thousands of people take part in the ride dressed in costumes and ride bikes adorned with glowsticks and other lights.
There are two waves - a family wave and a gonzo wave, and two different courses, an 8-mile and a 15-mile course. Before the rides begin, the grounds in front of the state capitol become a carnival-like atmosphere with music, booths and bicycles of all types. We grabbed a few iced coffees and some energy drinks and then took our place in the pack.
We decided to ride the 15-mile course of both waves. The start of the ride is chaos. People are riding very closely and very slowly. There's lots of weaving and near-misses as weekend-warriors clip in and out of pedals and try to keep their balance. The family wave was a bit less crowded and allowed us to ride it quickly once we got out of the pack.
The gonzo wave is a different story. We were in the pack for most of the ride, but it gave us a chance to view the course and watch some of the other riders. We stopped at a couple of the rest stops and fueled up with cookies, granola bars and Vitamin Water.
After the second ride, we came back to the Capitol and had breakfast burritos.
I tried filming the cool parts of the ride with mixed success. Here's the unedited result (although for some reason parts of it repeat).
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