Bring Your Own Big Wheel 2024: The best race in San Francisco
The San Francisco tradition that probably rolled right under your radar.
By Jenneviere Villegas
While Lombard street gets all the credit, the actual twistiest street in San Francisco — Vermont Street at 20th — slumbers all year until spring, when hordes descend upon it straddling tiny, plastic trikes while my friend, dressed as Princess Leia with miniature tires instead of buns in her hair, yells through a megaphone:
“ARE YOU READY TO ROLL?”
Every year on Easter Sunday I clip on my walkie-talkie and join over two dozen volunteers as a cacophony of hollow plastic wheels echoes against the Victorian and Edwardian façades of the homes on Potrero Hill. After paying homage to the city permitting gods, and in every kind of weather, we keep a careful eye as hundreds of riders gather for the opportunity to sit astride a Big Wheel and throw caution to the wind as they pitch themselves down the serpentine street and let gravity do the rest. Pads and helmets are optional, but signing a liability waiver is required: You ride at your own risk, bish.
The annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel event has rolled 22 out of the last 24 years, and if you’ve missed it because you’ve been distracted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s Hunky Jesus contest at Dolores Park (no shade, those hunky Jesuses and foxy Marys are very distracting), you’re not alone. BYOBW is an unsung hero of amazing San Francisco culture that flies — well, rolls — well beneath the radar.
This year’s BYOBW, per usual, was not without its uncertainties. Rain threatened nearly all Bay Area Easter activities, so we were watching the weather forecast closely. But Sunday saw more riders and larger spectator crowds than I’ve seen in my decade-plus of volunteering, and the riders didn’t disappoint with costumes. Personal favorites: the He-Man riding a plush Battle Cat, a duo of gentlemen in lederhosen who tag-teamed their rides holding (sometimes full) beer steins, and a Rolleblade Ken who wore actual roller blades while also maneuvering his trike down the hill. Life in plastic is fantastic.
What began as a lark in the early aughts on Lombard Street has evolved into the annual, all-ages, donation-based event that serves as a bastion of San Francisco weirdness, championed by organizer Frog Gilmore, who is committed to keeping the artistic soul of the city alive. “I personally feel an incredible responsibility to keep BYOBW free to the public and to keep the event free from advertising so people can come together and partake in this hilariousness without having brands shoved in your face. We get enough of that on the daily as it is.” So say we all, Frog.
Read the code of conduct before you roll, but the rules are few and simple: Don’t cross the street during the race, and only bring Big Wheels or trikes that are made of plastic with plastic wheels. Why? In the words of the original rider, John Brumit, “It sounds way cooler and control is overrated anyway.” Traction, my friends, is for the weak. Plus, much like NASCAR, the crowds are here for the crashes.
Before the family-friendly event kicks off, eager spectators stake their claim on prime viewing spots, sometimes armed with blankets or camping chairs, while others grab seats on the hay bales that line the winding track. The festivities commence with kids — the under 13 crowd — getting the first hour to ride unencumbered by larger, less sober participants (to be clear, the street closure permit does not officially allow any alcohol, but what you do before you arrive is up to you).
Brandon Dodge, a new parent who has been coming to the event for 10 years, even showed me the custom rig he built for his 7-month old. The modified stroller, complete with Go-Pro, allowed him to safely take his precious cargo — Max — down his very first BYOBW ride. The crowd magnanimously cheers these tiny humans on as they navigate the street’s twists and turns, many of them trailed by parents who have clearly reached the, “I didn’t sign up for running, and I have made a terrible mistake” point about halfway down the hill.
Then, adult children queue up at the starting line and the spectacle that ensues is nothing less than pure, unmitigated glorious ridiculousness. In true San Francisco fashion, many riders arrive costumed. Gilmore says one of the biggest rewards she gets out of organizing, aside from working with friends and family members who volunteer to help keep all of the moving parts running, is “the pure joy I sees on people’s faces when they’re careening down the hill dressed like a leprechaun or a banana or Jesus in a tiara.”
While the word “race” gets bandied about freely at Bring Your Own Big Wheel, and there is a finish line of sorts, there are no discernable winners aside from those that make it down with only slight bumps and bruises and their Big Wheel still intact so they can carry it up the side stairs, catch their breath, and do it all again.
Is it your first time rolling? Gilmore has tried and true advice for first-time riders: “As you start to roll down the curves: Lift your feet up, lean back and activate your abs, clench your butt cheeks — and don’t forget to scream.”
As folks get tired, or when they’ve ridden until the wheels have quite literally fallen off, the heats thin out. And once the final group has rolled, the starting line is barricaded and the crowds begin to disperse. BYOBW is a “leave no trace” event, so our team of volunteers will spend hours picking up every piece of plastic, metal, trash, White Claw cans that were smuggled in under hoodies as if it were a high school football game, and hay (the hay gets donated to a local stable for horses to eat) to leave the hillside better than we found it.
And then, with the sound of plastic on pavement still ringing in all our ears, we stow our walkie-talkies for another year, and Frog starts planning it all, again.
On your mark;
Get set;
Roll.
Jenneviere Villegas is a Community and Marketing Leader based in San Francisco, and the founder of engagementalchemy.io
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More photos from Bring Your Own Big Wheel 2024
By Robert J. Pierce, used by The Bold Italic with permission.
