Moonlight Midnight Mystery Ride
The Moonlight Midnight Mystery Ride is a group bike ride that meets at 10 pm on the second Friday of every month at Centennial Square in Victoria. Moonlight because sometimes the moon shines down on us as we ride. Midnight because we are usually riding or at our destination at midnight. Mystery because the destination is a mystery to the people who show up for the ride, and those people are an interesting, un-planned group. I think we should all have more rides in more places, more often. I humbly offer up my experience in co-ordinating such events in the hope that you will be inspired to start a mystery ride of your own.
I advertise the ride with flyers and on the web, and right here, right now, but word of mouth is what really makes it happen. People will bring their friends along if they enjoyed the last one. If you're starting a ride of your own, one important thing to remember is to have it at the same time and place every month so people know where and when. Also, make sure that you're there every month. After all, someone has to lead the damn thing.
The key to leading any group event is finding a balance between the extremes that make up your group. A challenging part of leading mystery rides is connecting the fast people at the front and the slow ones at the back. Some participants want to race around, while others have regular mechanical problems they need to stop for. Some riders are mechanics who live for their bikes, others know very little about how to tune and maintain the rusty old bike they pulled out of the basement just before the ride. I encourage the mechanics to bring tools and help out when the need arises, and I encourage the others to check their bikes before the ride, especially the brakes and tire pressure.
When we stop for a break, some want to hang out, kick back and relax for half an hour, others want to GO after ten minutes or so. A show of hands -style vote usually works to resolve these differences, but sometimes it is more complex. Try to get a sense of when your group wants to get moving again; human beings are social mammals and will follow a crowd. When a few start moving boldly onwards, the rest of the herd will usually join, even if they just lit a smoke.
You find out a lot about people on a group ride. A few are born leaders just waiting for an opportunity to decide for everyone where to go and how fast. Sometimes these folks are very helpful and their energy and exuberance add to everyone's enjoyment. Other times they can cause a lot of confusion and difficulty for the leader who has planned the course and destination of the ride.
Sometimes part of the pack heads off in another direction, and the ride is broken up into smaller sub-rides. When this occurs I tell myself it's okay – whatever happens, happens. Chaos and confusion are a natural part of a Moonlight Midnight Mystery Ride, and if smaller groups are what we end up with, the group was probably too big to begin with.
I used to lead hiking daytrips, and I love to show people unique natural places and share my excitement in finding outdoor havens. Doing the hikes was easy, but encouraging people to enjoy themselves and each other's company was sometimes difficult, unless it just happened naturally. It is so gratifying to bring together a group that really clicks; people who have never met before go home at the end of the adventure feeling that they are part of a community that has shared a great experience.
The ride we had on October 13 was like that. We started with about 50 riders, went to a beach, and then to a hilltop as a large group. After stopping on the foggy hilltop, some people were ready to call it a night. At the bottom of that hill most riders headed back to town, and about 15 of us went down to the beach and had a little campfire. The size of our group and the atmosphere around our campfire brought out an intimacy and comfort that enabled former strangers to have an engaging discussion. That shared experience was the highlight of the night for me.
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