Tonight was the opening-night party for Bike Bash, a weekend celebrating bikes and bike culture in New Orleans, sponsored by Metro Bicycle Coalition, Plan B, and RUBARB. I was excited to ride my bike to a place where lots of other folks were riding their bikes. The crowd included lots of NOLA Bike Polo team members as well as many MBC members and friends. I don’t know most of these bikers, so I was a little nervous, but at the same time, it felt a little like I’d found my people. I snapped this photo of folks sitting around and chatting while goldsprints sign ups went around. I’ve never seen goldsprints, and let me just say they are fun, fun, fun. I didn’t know most of the racers, but I found myself cheering them on (usually whoever was on the blue bike–matches my eyes) and getting in to the competition. Dudes were going over 50MPH! That’s serious racing, man. This was just the first event among many, and I’m looking forward to a weekend of bikes and bikers and biking. And yes, I’ll be getting there by bike.