SF Rave report and other things
John Draper
by John Draper
Back again for yet another report on the SF Rave scene and also a report
on the Bay to Breakers foot rave across San Francisco. For those not in
the know, Bay to Breakers is a San Francisco tradition, where more than
80,000 people participate in the craziest foot race, dressed up in
everything from Bevis and Butthead to StoneHenge, and everything in between.
First stop was the Blu Cube party in a small cramped home set in the back
of larger homes. The dance area was a converted garage, with a lot of
preparation done to keep the sound inclosed to prevent a noise problem.
This was the first time I took a girl friend of mine to a rave, only
because I had arranged for her to get a ride home so I can continue my
raving throughout the late morning.
Our own SFRavers provided the DJ'ing, and Laura spun the most amazing
acid trance I've heard in a long time. I thought I left the planet and
was soaring around the cosmos BIG TIME. Ethan did his usual stuff,
introducing us to some of his new record acquisitions, doing a technically
superb job.
Unfortunately, things had to shut down around 4 am or so, which was rather
unexpected for me. Dawn, the girls I was with took off back to Marin, and
I was dropped off at the Trocadero to attend VISION. By the time I got there
(About 4:45 am) there was a long line out in front, but thanx to a friend
who saved me a place, I was able to get in before they wouldn't let any more
people. WOW!! it sure was pumpin in there, as Tony was laying down some
pretty funkey tunes, sorta mixing it up with some pretty aswsome trance.
I never heard this kind of mix before, but I was on the dance floor almost
continiously, other than to chill out. This time, the Troc had some fans
around the dance floor that really made a difference in my dance energy.
By that time, I had almost forgotten that I wanted to run the 7.5 mile
Bay to Breakers race, but early in the morning, it started to rain
and I said "Oh S**t" what a bummer to be running in the rain.
I continued grooving to the tunes, going berserk from the awsome amount
of energy bouncing around all the way to the end (8 am). By that time,
the Bay to Breakers race already started, so I just left the Trocedero,
went up 4th St, and I could see the huge throng of people boogie'ing up
Howard, so I immediatley started running Bay to Breakers, as I merged into
the throung of more than 80,000 people, all going up Howard St.
The race was totally insane, and I felt great, with lots of energy,
although I had been dancing ALL NIGHT, I felt the change from dancing to
running to be less strenious than I thought. Although I'm NOT a runner,
and have never even jogged a lot, I took to a rather relaxed running style
and by the time I turned on 9th St, heading towards Hays St, I thought
this wasn't so bad after all. Origionally, I was expecting to just
run and walk the race, resting whenever I can, but that never happened.
In the Bay to Breakers, the route goes along Hays St, up about 400 feet
elevation over about 8 blocks, and is dreaded by the runners. This hill
was about the 2 1/2 miles into the race, with the 3rd mile just before the
top of the hill. About halfway up the hill, a lot of people were walking
at that point, but I happen to be luckey enough to find a band of runners
moving along at my pace, and literally got SUCKED up the hill, passing
quite a few people that looked a lot stronger runners than I was. Just
before the top of the hill, it got so crowded that it was impossible to run
anymore without pushing people aside, so I was skipping around parked cars
to get to the top without stopping. There was *SO* many people....
After I got to the top, I speeded up my running, and eventually turned
down Fell St towards Golden Gate Park, where I was to rouse Aaron who lives
on Fell St. He joined me there, and we were running together for a while
untel Aaron (Who didn't start at the beginning) wanted to sprint the last 2
miles. In the meantime, the miles were ticking away, and when I got to
the last mile to run, I opened it up, pulled out the stops and at this
point, I was passing everyone until I got to the finish. Of course Aaron
was far ahead of me by then, but we met at the finish line, gave each other
a message, and was partying a few hours at the Polo Fields. Aaron volunteered
to get the car (I wasn't about to pay $5 to take a bus back). It took him
15 minutes to run back to the car but 30 minutes to drive back due to the
heavy traffic. Aaron is a big time runner, so 5 minute mile is nothing
for him.
This was my FIRST Bay to Breakers, and for someone who never runs, I
thought it was amazing that I could run 7 1/2 miles. While in the Polo
fields, I did my yoga, and after that it felt like I never even ran the
race. Anyway, I made it back to Light-n-up, and was dancing all day,
wandering to the End Up and dacing there till about 5:30, as if I had never
even run the race.
This morning I feel slightly stiff, but not too sore, so I'm chalking
it up as yet another awsome weekend experience for me.
I hope that the others that went to VISION didn't get stuck in the traffic
nightmare, trying to cross the race. How many OTHERS participated in this
race?
More later, as always...
Cap'n Crunch - The crazy raver...