My family doesn’t really do “typical” or “normal” very well. Instead of the usual Mother’s Day brunch or large family event, my mom asked if we could all go on a bike ride.

While I originally thought of May as the month I would build my monthly running milage, my body might have other plans for me. I’m currently battling a bit of tendonitis in my knee, and I have to first rest and rehab before I can really be running much. I’m hoping that by the second or third week of the month I will be back to slowly adding miles, but it doesn’t look like it will be the massive running challenge I had imagined.

But that doesn’t mean that my May Miles challenge will go to waste. Instead I will use it to increase my swimming and biking miles. As frustrating as an injury can be, every injury is an important reminder or lesson, and it provides an opportunity to improve. For me my lesson was to listen to my body sooner instead of waiting for it to develop into a full-blown injury. And since my legs can’t pound the pavement as much as I used to or lift heavy at CrossFit, I am taking the opportunity to get back into swimming for the summer months and work on some technique and upper body strength at CrossFit (all while doing some super fun rehab exercises to get back in action). And with such beautiful weather, who could be upset about going for a swim?

“Ouch. Ouch. Bad. Ouch.”

Every third Friday of the month hundreds to thousands of people get together to dress up, blast some music, and ride through San Jose. For the past three years I have gone to the anniversary ride for the San Jose Bike Party, which is by far the biggest ride. This year more than 4,000 people joined the 24 mile ride.

This week has been absolutely brutal. Between midterms, group projects, the constant onslaught of interviews and writing for the paper and for class, and trying to find time to sleep, I unfortunately had time for little time for anything else.

But out of this disaster of a week I got a gem — my first byline. What was not only the most fun I had all week, the San Jose Bike Party was also the best research I have ever had to do for school. Check out my story!

San Jose’s Rolling Party

Riders decorated and lit up their bikes, blasted their music on speakers attached to their bikes or on a trailer towed behind them and dressed up as angels and demons in honor of the “Rapture” themed San Jose Bike Party on Friday night.

The San Jose Bike Party is a community bike ride organized and run by volunteers. On the third Friday of every month, people gather to ride their bikes around San Jose in different routes of about 20-30 miles with two stops along the way. The event draws people from all around the Bay Area, including Santa Clara students.

More than 4,000 people, many in costumes, hit the San Jose streets with their bikes in celebration of the ride’s fourth anniversary on Friday night. Their shouts of “Bike Party” and cheering echoed through the neighborhoods along the route.

“I like the energy,” said freshman Karina Soto, a San Jose native who participated in the Bike Party for her eighth time on Friday night. “(The Bike Party) is a lot of fun and everyone is really open and having a good time.”

To continue the story go to The Santa Clara  or pick up the paper on campus.

It’s the third Friday of the month and thousands of Bay Area residents are gearing up to make their way to the San Jose Bike Party. Today’s theme is “The Rapture” in honor of the potential end of the world tonight. They have asked everyone to dress up as angels and demons in case the prediction yet again does not come true and Harold Camping needs some help saving face.

If you are an avid cyclist or just want to have a good time with a few thousand other people you should come out tonight and ride with us. For more information check out SJ Bike Party.