Bring Your Own Big Wheel
April 11, 2007 7:04 AM Subscribe
Photos and videos of the 2007 Big Wheel race down Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in America." (Or is it?) Official BYOBW page [warning: very loud music on pageload] (via)
Then again, it may not.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:16 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:16 AM on April 11, 2007
That looks fun as all shit.
posted by The Straightener at 7:23 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by The Straightener at 7:23 AM on April 11, 2007
Why are so few of those Big Wheel drivers actually driving Big Wheels?
posted by Bugbread at 7:29 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by Bugbread at 7:29 AM on April 11, 2007
Big Wheels, Green Machine, it's all good.
I wanna get a Big Wheel for my nephew so he can learn about the joys of pedalling down steep hills and maybe breaking a bone or two. Builds character. And I swear there's a connection between the banning of Big Wheels and the rise of emo -- learn about real pain early and then you won't spend your adolescence crying every time someone says something mean to you.
/need coffee
//NOW
posted by spoobnooble at 7:35 AM on April 11, 2007
I wanna get a Big Wheel for my nephew so he can learn about the joys of pedalling down steep hills and maybe breaking a bone or two. Builds character. And I swear there's a connection between the banning of Big Wheels and the rise of emo -- learn about real pain early and then you won't spend your adolescence crying every time someone says something mean to you.
/need coffee
//NOW
posted by spoobnooble at 7:35 AM on April 11, 2007
Yeah, busting a tooth out after a nasty Big Wheel face plant and projectile vomiting after twenty straight minutes on a Sit and Spin pretty much crystallizes the awesomeness of being 6 years old.
posted by The Straightener at 7:42 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by The Straightener at 7:42 AM on April 11, 2007
Gorgeous, thanks!
Having just done the Lombard Street run (at a more stately pace, as typical tourists), I bet we had the typical thought as we typically did our thing.
"Oh, the poor folks who live on this terribly expensive street must get driven mad..oh well, har, har, har...".
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:43 AM on April 11, 2007
Having just done the Lombard Street run (at a more stately pace, as typical tourists), I bet we had the typical thought as we typically did our thing.
"Oh, the poor folks who live on this terribly expensive street must get driven mad..oh well, har, har, har...".
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:43 AM on April 11, 2007
If you want to relive the joys of this ride on your own, but on Adult Big Wheels [link via metachat]
posted by drezdn at 7:46 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by drezdn at 7:46 AM on April 11, 2007
drezdn: unfortunately, those have been discontinued.
posted by desjardins at 7:55 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by desjardins at 7:55 AM on April 11, 2007
The merest mention of Lombard St. makes me hungry for corned beef.
posted by breezeway at 7:55 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by breezeway at 7:55 AM on April 11, 2007
if you follow the link from that article about the adult big wheels, you'll notice they discontinued almost all the models that even vaguely resemble the original design. bummer, wish I had known about that when they were still being made.
posted by inthe80s at 7:58 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by inthe80s at 7:58 AM on April 11, 2007
desjardins, that might be good news for me as I was considering going into the adult big wheel market.
posted by drezdn at 7:59 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by drezdn at 7:59 AM on April 11, 2007
San Francisco's steep hills, such as the 40 degree inclide of this section of Lombard street, required unique solutions for the pre-auto era, such as cable cars and crooked streets.
San Francisco has a lesser known but more crooked street: Vermont near McKinley Square But it is not nearly so nice.
posted by eye of newt at 8:07 AM on April 11, 2007
San Francisco has a lesser known but more crooked street: Vermont near McKinley Square But it is not nearly so nice.
posted by eye of newt at 8:07 AM on April 11, 2007
I remember going to SF when I was a little kid, and the only two things I cared about seeing were the Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard St.
Thankfully, my dad gleefully ignored the speed limit, and I was screaming with delight and sliding back and forth in the back seat.
posted by Clamwacker at 9:11 AM on April 11, 2007
Thankfully, my dad gleefully ignored the speed limit, and I was screaming with delight and sliding back and forth in the back seat.
posted by Clamwacker at 9:11 AM on April 11, 2007
This may very well be proof positive that San Francisco has the most adults suspended in perpetual adolescence of any city on earth.
posted by mert at 10:49 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by mert at 10:49 AM on April 11, 2007
Zoobomb^ in Portland is weekly, which makes it exactly 52 times the awesome.
posted by zakj at 11:25 AM on April 11, 2007
posted by zakj at 11:25 AM on April 11, 2007
For what it's worth, Vermont St. in SF looks to be even crazier crookedness-wise.
There are many neat cities - I'll admit that there is a certain spirit of fun in SF (like the aforementioned Big Wheels event) that can even charm the heart of a hardenned cynic like me. And I will say that people in the Bay Area are incredibly friendly - I don't know if it's a West Coast thing or what, but it's all very polite, which is nice. And the event was quite jovial and fun and a reminder that just because you're an adult doesn't mean you can't be childish once in a while.
Having said that, the event itself was quite surreal - from what it looks like, *hugely* crowded as compared to previous years. The problem is that a bunch of folks showed up who seemed more interested in getting liquored up and raising shit (like walking all over the gardens the people alongside Lombard have - not cool). I suppose that's inevitable - it's just sad that it inevitably has to happen.
posted by rmm at 8:35 PM on April 11, 2007
There are many neat cities - I'll admit that there is a certain spirit of fun in SF (like the aforementioned Big Wheels event) that can even charm the heart of a hardenned cynic like me. And I will say that people in the Bay Area are incredibly friendly - I don't know if it's a West Coast thing or what, but it's all very polite, which is nice. And the event was quite jovial and fun and a reminder that just because you're an adult doesn't mean you can't be childish once in a while.
Having said that, the event itself was quite surreal - from what it looks like, *hugely* crowded as compared to previous years. The problem is that a bunch of folks showed up who seemed more interested in getting liquored up and raising shit (like walking all over the gardens the people alongside Lombard have - not cool). I suppose that's inevitable - it's just sad that it inevitably has to happen.
posted by rmm at 8:35 PM on April 11, 2007
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posted by MaxVonCretin at 7:13 AM on April 11, 2007