The Inaugural Madeline Avenue Bike Parade!

Get on your bikes and ride!

Holy cow! What a wonderful time the first Madeline Avenue Bike Parade (MABP) was! Even though my celebrity girlfriend Rihanna wasn't there.

While planning the MABP, my current, non-celebrity wife and I started coming up with perfect scenarios in our heads. Barb's big dream was that we would formally close the street. You know, making the parade safe and all that jazz.

Ha! Reach for the stars baby!

...Now grab that end of the table and help me move it into the street.

Spring's bike has a cheeseburger ding-ding!

My big idea was going to be an awesome opening ceremony - complete with a wonderful speech and a crowd-pleasing ribbon cutting. It didn't happen. Because as soon as we blocked off the street, Eli took off like he'd been shot out of a cannon. 

For about 10 seconds. Then he wiped out.

"Well, we got that over with nice and early," my friend Matt said.

Funny because it's true. Although, probably not so much if you're Eli's parents.

Spring and her cheesy burger bell

As someone who's a little too into biking, I've always admired those people who go the extra mile and get a little bell to let people know they're coming.

When flying down narrow trails or giant downhills, I've recently taken to just yelling, "Coming through!" a few times. 

When your vision is a bouncy mess because you're speed down a trail full of rocks, tree roots, and drop-offs, it seems a lot easier to just yell "Here I come!" than slam into a tree to slow down.

Am I right? Yes. I am.

Lookie-Lou Avenue

You can't have a parade without a crowd. And this was an awesome one.

It's magical

We even had wizards!

Tyler, daughter, Molly,

and the former President of Collyforni

Again, I'd like to thank everyone who participated. Riding a bike is a pretty important thing, especially these days. If we can encourage each other to ride our bikes as much as we can - instead of hopping in a car - we're headed in the right direction.

Even when it's uphill.

Biking is delicious