Party on the RAP

The first Saturday of the month, August now, the steamy month, and the Ride Around Pomona was steaming right along with it. I can never quite figure out the RAP - sometimes there are barely enough riders to fill the width of a traffic lane, while other times, like today, it is a veritable party on two wheels. And even more so when the Music Man comes out to ride, pulling that trailer rig with dual-speaker sound system. If you lived along this morning's route and were not awake by 9:00am you may have been woke by the sound of tunes rolling through the streets. Additionally, the mic made it easier to hear the words of MC Marcus at each of the stops along the way, all artistic in nature, some going back to the WPA days of the 1930s, and others (the Redwood Sculpture Garden at Ganesha Park / Fairplex) much more recent.

Beside my usual shout out to Marcus for organizing and leading this ride each month, and to Eric for his prolific photo taking (my battery died part way through, so did not take as many this time), I want to give some special recognition to Stephanie. I hope, by putting her on the spot, she isn't embarrassed, but she is one of those young people who reaffirms one's faith in humanity, and the future. Stephanie is a frequent RAP rider, and proud resident of Pomona, who takes a sense of civic responsibility to heart - today, while stopped at Garfield Park, I happened to notice she was picking up trash. It wasn't requested of her, she wasn't being paid, she just wanted to do her little bit to clean the park. Cool.

Ride Around Pomona - the first Saturday of each month.

This guy! He went to extra lengths to take our group shot this morning. Thanks.

leader of the pack

the gathering

on any given ride i figure i have, at best, one shot at getting Doug in the picture.

almost got him.

on the road

think my framing was off a little

off the front

the mob

on the road again

when regular beer is just not enough

Music Man and the mob at Garfield Park