Bike to Radiohead

Alternative titles:

• Bike 1000!
• There are two colors in my head
• The fog is changing colors
• When I was a kid we used to bike to concerts uphill both ways

I was so excited to see Radiohead at the Outside Lands Festival — the first night concert in Golden Gate Park. I got home late from work and after waiting for a taxi for a while, I couldn’t wait any longer and decided to bike to the concert. I underestimated how much ascent there would be to get there but I just kept Radiohead on my mind as I pedaled away.

When I finally arrived at the free bike parking area, people were cheering and I couldn’t understand what was going on. It turns out that I was the 1000th bike they were parking that evening and though no prize was being awarded, I could at least do a quick blog post to congratulate myself.

This was my second Radiohead concert and it proved to be the better of the two. The “venue,” if you can call it that, was really cool and the fog, lit by slowly changing colored lights from behind, was the perfect complement to the music.

The stage was lit with a matrix of led lighting strands to create an animated 3D rain-like effect. After wondering why they didn’t play one of my favorite songs, Everything in its Right Place, the encore began and in my usual ability to name a song after a few beats and one note, I immediately grinned as they started in with an extended version of the song.

Given the public transit and general transportation mess, I was glad I took my bike, despite the wait to get it from parking. The ride home was mostly downhill and I was home in no time and looking forward to meeting up with my brother and some other friends for the next two days of the festival.