What organizers are trying to get rid of. photo: festivalgogo.com
The Bay to Breakers “race” is definitely one of my favorite 3 events in San Francisco (the other 2 being the old Halloween’s on Castro and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Fest). It’s one of those events where the unmatched imaginations of San Francisco comes to life in physical form. That ingenuity combined with SFPD generally not cracking down on anything and you get a powerful synergistic result. That result ends up being people dressed in incredible costumes, or not dressed at all, with complex floats resembling bars, penises, stages, stripper poles, bull riding apparatuses, boxing rings, and of course, more.
Living in Tahoe, I see about 7-26 people per day on average. I have always been a major people watcher, it’s one of my favorite activities. Bay to Breakers satisfies my voyeuristic tendencies for about a month. I mean, everything I wanna see is there: scantily clad women, beautiful naked women, costumes that defy imagination, people so drunk they can’t walk, and my favorite thing of all: happy people EVERYWHERE. There is also plenty that I don’t wanna see, namely countless fat hairy men, and people pissing and throwing up all over the panhandle. But, in reality, it’s all part of the yin-yang of life and none of it bothers me a bit.
What does bother me is that this year is supposed to be booze free and have no floats. The floats are often the most creative parts of the whole event. There are very few times in San Francisco when there are no rules and you can do whatever you want and act like a wild man as if you were in Mexico. These are cherished times and we’ve gotta protect them.
Q: How are they gonna enforce this no booze program?
A: The race has hired SFPD officers to patrol the event and take booze away from humans.
Q: Why no floats?
A: Because floats have “ …become alcohol delivery vehicles and magnets for unacceptable behavior.” says Bay to Breakers spokesman Sam Singer.
Yep, they are what you think they are. photo: sportressblogitude.com
Q: Can we still have fun, then?
A: “There is nothing that says you have to be sh#tfaced drunk to have a good time,” says Singer.
Ok, well, I guess it could still be fun. But, we’ll see. The fact that the forecast Sunday is for Thunderstorms, hail, gusty winds, and a high of only 51F aren’t going to help things. It’s gonna be a very interesting 100th Bay to Breakers on Sunday, May 15th, 2011.
The Bay to Breakers race generally attracts about 92,000 humans every year for it’s 7.25 miles course.
photo: sfcitizen.com