A change-up in routes taken by a large group of bicyclists through Lamorinda Friday raised concerns of a crash ultimately realized by participants – along with the blood pressure of traffic-weary commuters caught behind the colorful mass of partying bikers.
The rolling Bike Party – an organized, regularly scheduled but impromptu meet-up of cyclists hoping to carve out a place for themselves in a car-centric world – was dubbed “The Birds and the Bees Ride” and was meant to roll through Lamorinda from Orinda to Walnut Creek BART with stops at the Lafayette Reservoir and Olympic Boulevard staging area.
What sounded like a nice, leisurely nighttime ride through suburbia quickly went off the rails, however, when hundreds instead of the usual dozens of riders arrived at Orinda BART, quickly snagged commuters unable to pass them on Moraga Way, triggered at least one hard crash and some harsh words from non-riders…