My biggest regret

Spirit of Tour de Tech Terrace lives on
Eric Braden/Columnist/Daily Toreador

The Tour de Tech Terrace is not what it sounds like. It's not a race. It's not a competition. Lots of people simply show up and ride bikes.

It is a coming-together, a rally. It is like a summit in which the act of riding bicycles en masse turns out to be more than just fun. It turns out to be a battle cry, a loud and emphatic essay on the value of "pointless" doings - or a reminder that pointlessness is in the eye of the beholder.

Founders Omar Abotteen and Aaron Blom famously came up with the idea for the Tour while drinking at a friend's backyard party in 2004. Every semester since then, with little fanfare and with zero corporate sponsorship, the tour has occurred, as if spontaneous.

It takes place in the sprawling and lovely neighborhood of Tech Terrace, south of campus. Attendance has increased nearly every year, with minor oscillations. The most recent Tour occurred April 18, and it was the biggest I've seen it.

The official count: 1,127 people, though that doesn't include those who joined in after the event began.

The path for the tour is determined in advance. Most people are on bikes, but you'll see a few people walking. Motorcycles are strictly disallowed. (At least one guy tried to join on his hog and was politely shooed off.)

There are 10 "stops" - houses where people park their bikes and roam around drinking beer for a little while before moving on. There have been tours where all of the participants fit in the backyard of each stop. This year was not like that; every stop took over the whole street.

Rest of column here.

I always wanted to do the Tour before I left Tech but sadly I never mustered up the courage. I guess the main hindrance would be that I would have had to rent a 3-wheel bike. Many of you may not know but I never learned to ride a bicycle. That's right, laugh it up.

So I now have a life of regret to look forward to. Damn!