Already with a mass of cyclists in tow, Mike Stulberg rolled up to Greater Victoria’s Selkirk Trestle to find another crowd that was cheering, dancing and ready to join in on the fun as it lined the wooden bridge.
It was one of Stulberg’s favourite moments from when hundreds of people cycled together through Victoria during his bike rave on Saturday, May 11.
As disco, house and other electronic beats sounded from speakers mounted to a bike trailer, the group cruised through the city’s cycling routes, some donning costumes while others had lights and balloons fixed to their rides.
“I loved that there were people of all ages. There were little kids who were having the time of their lives and there was some older people too,” Stulberg said. “Everyone understood the assignment, it was definitely a carnival on wheels.”
He first heard about bike raves while living in Seoul around a decade ago and joined a ride there that rode along the riverside cycling trails that split South Korea’s capital city. He can’t quite recall whether he used a rental or a bike-share ride, but Stulberg does remember taking in the interesting architectural bridges and how they lit up as the mobile rave rolled by.
“It’s just a really fun moving festival so it really stuck with me and so when we came (to Victoria), it just stood out as a place that would take to it,” he said.
Hundreds attended a bike rave that rolled through Victoria on May 11. (Courtesy of Chris Istace)
Knowing Victoria has a strong electronic dance community, the organizer first ran the idea of holding a bike rave by an online group of those music lovers and heard a lot of enthusiasm for it. Despite many people responding to a Facebook event for the bike rave, Stulberg still only expected a fraction of the around 300 people who ended up attending.
That crowd really brought it, the organizer said, as the cyclists made their way from the junction of the Galloping Goose and Lochside trails down to the Dallas Road waterfront – making several stops along the way to get off their bikes and dance.
“It’s pretty cool to have a party that takes place in a bunch of different locations,” he said.
The ride’s energy extended beyond those on bikes as Stulberg said people passing by in cars were cheering them on through open windows and others walking by gave them lots high fives along the way. He also recalls all the picturesque moments, like the hundreds of attendees dancing to music – which was all curated by artists from Victoria and Vancouver Island – at the Johnson Street Bridge as the sun set.
Stulberg and his fellow organizer are “still basking in the afterglow” of the event, which included many attendees coming up to them and expressing how grateful they were for the bike rave. He said it was nice to see an idea be met with so much support from the community, and he has every intention to hold more bike raves in the future.
“It felt like a pretty overwhelming success.”
To follow updates about future bike raves, people can follow @victoriabikerave on Instagram.
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