2012 9 to 5 on my 925

I rode GMG’s annual 9 to 5 all night scavenger hunt this weekend. Fun stuff!

The weather called for rain, so I pulled the full fendered Redline 925 (appropriate bike name, too!) out and hit the road.

We started at Gasworks Park at 9:00 PM. Greg from GMG gave a quick perfunctory speech from under a double rainbow (what does it mean??) and handed out the 1st of 3 manifests that we would have to collect throughout the night.

With odd things on the list such as a business card from a total stranger; photos of a team member onstage with a band; a rootbeer barrel candy;a tutu we had all night to collect items and photos from anywhere we chose from around the city.

I formed an impromptu team with Tom from the Seattle Bike Blog and a pair of his friends.

As we rode through the Fremont area, we heard a house party with a live band from the street. We crashed the party for a quick photo with the band and headed out. On our way through Fremont, we stopped a random pedestrian and inquired if she had a business card. As luck would have it, she had a whole stack of them in her car!

A quick stop at Hale’s for some coasters and photo ops. One employee even drummed up the courage to sing Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” while we videotaped him for extra scavenger hunt points.

We also crashed a psychedelic “bar mitzvah”  taking place in a temporary geodesic dome where Matt convinced a drunken party goer to part with his tutu. And thus, our team name “the Bar Mitzvahs” was born.

This guy was running security at the psychedelic Bar Mitzvah!

The Bar Mitzvahs made our way to Dick’s Drive In in Wallingford to collect receipts from late night customers.

We hit Trabant for one last shot of late night espresso and we were off!

There was a mandatory midnight check in point at the I-5 Colonnade mountain bike park where we refueled on snacks and energy drinks. We received a second list/manifest and were free to wreak havoc!

After a few stops around the downtown area (including the jail….one of our riders works there), we rendezvoused with fellow participants for a photo at Pike Place market at 1:30 AM. Then we shot over to west Seattle for a photo op and extra points. There were some antics involving a team member climbing atop a Honey Bucket for a picture as well….

Then it was back to the U District for the last mandatory stop. Somebody suggested we ride on the I-5 Express lanes to save time. Since the lanes are closed all night long, we had a 4 lane highway all to ourselves. One lane for each bike!

We met up at Ly’s Donuts (one of the few 24 donut and coffee shops in the city) where we received a third and final manifest.

The Bar Mitzvahs pulled back into Gasworks Park at 4:45AM to tally our points from the evening. 225 points.

While we didn’t win, we still had a lot of fun riding all night and the rain held off. I’m definitely looking forward to riding again next year.

Here’s the video footage.