The road to Hell was paved with bike tires, city permits, creative costumes and live music as San Marcos’ most notorious tradition returned for its 12th year on Nov. 1.
Hell Ride is an annual event that brings riders together on bikes, skates, skateboards, scooters and all kinds of wheeled devices to travel from one house party to the next, enjoying local bands and camaraderie along the way.
This was the first year that the bike collective that hosted the event, the San Marcos Pedal Department, worked with the city to secure permits. Last year’s ride was shut down early by the San Marcos Police Department and resulted in fines for the organizers.
“To make stuff like this happen, you pour six months of your life and hundreds of hours into planning it, and to get shut down and slapped with all of the citations, … it took the wind out of our sails,” one of Hell Ride’s organizers Benny Rice said. “[But] Hell Ride’s not going anywhere. This year has renewed my vigor and excitement.”
Hell Ride returned this year with the same San Marcos spirit, just an earlier finishing time — 10 p.m.
With city of San Marcos permission and fees paid, wheels hit the ground at 6 p.m. and the hoard of riders traveled from Rio Vista Park to the first stop at a house on San Antonio Street in the Historic District to see Los Gatos 512 for an hour of cumbia and salsa dancing. The next stop was Private Park, located at 313 Nicola Aly, to get funky with Batooter and start a mosh pit during Our Last Daze.
The main organizers for the event were Matt Barnes, Ram Moore and Rice, and they all agreed that not much had changed for the event, other than the paperwork and the additional funding required. The city permit provided a street closure, which helped disperse the crowd from the yard during the first event. For years now, the Pedal Department has been providing a port-o-potty and making sure that an EMT is present due to the size of the event.
The community was not deterred by the possibility of police involvement as Moore said approximately 600 people showed up. The city did not send an officer to ride along with the group, just asked that it follow traffic laws and stick to the documented route.
“With us taking up so much of the city, though it’s for relatively short periods of time, it’s important to let emergency services know so they can route around us,” Moore said.
In Barnes’ opinion, what makes Hell Ride special is that it brings “all walks of life” from across the community together. Rice elaborated on that point, adding that the ride brings together different “bike circles” — from the weekend riders, the mountain bikers, the casual meetup riders and families who ride with their kids.
Hell Ride had less stops than in previous years and ended about two hours before, which the Pedal Department plans to continue in the future.
“I think that the way it went this year was perfect, and that will probably be the way Hell Ride looks from here on out,” Barnes said. “I think that we’ll continue to do that and really encourage local businesses and local residents to host events after that. That way the crowd is dispersed; there’s still fun things going on that night, but it’s not all under one roof.”
The costs have grown alongside the size of the event, which the Pedal Department used to pay for out of pocket. Residents came together to help fund this year’s event, or, as Barnes put it, “Hell Ride is paid for by the love of the community.” The group hosted a fundraiser at Tantra in addition to having a Go-Fund-Me page. Rice said they plan to have an even bigger fundraising event next year.
San Marcos Pedal Department was started as a way to ride with friends during the pandemic as a safe, socially distanced activity, but broadened as restrictions were lifted by hosting some bike races and social rides. But Moore said the main focus of the group these days is Hell Ride.
Learn more about the San Marcos Pedal Department by following them on Instagram @sanmarcospedaldepartment.
