Blinky Man: Carson City tradition rides again this Friday
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Tue, 10/23/2018 - 7:54am
Event Date:
October 26, 2018 - 6:00pm
Blinky Man has quickly become one of Carson City's most popular events, and is now into its sixth year of existence.
This season's event is the 12th organized ride, and will take place Friday, October 26 beginning at 6 pm with the first stop at the Tap Shack at 112 Rice Street. The event is free and open to the public, and all are welcomed and encouraged to attend.
"Blinky Man was organized to be a fun free ride to showcase how bikeable Carson City is," said one of the event organizers Kyle Horvath. "Muscle Powered does their bike month ride but we wanted to enhance that effort by expanding the community around riding in Carson by doing more."
The event is a cross between a beer crawl, a costume party, and a large scale bike tour of Carson City. Participants dress up in costumes, and decorate their bicycles with lights, fur, glitter, and all manner of decoration.
"As the brainstorming session went on the original idea turned into 'A costumed, night time bike ride with lights' tour around the city with stops at local businesses," said Horvath. "We were inspired by other communities who host similar events. They call them 'Bike Parties' but the city wasn't keen on that so we called it "Blinky Man" in honor of riding around at night at Burning Man."
The route this year begins at the Tap Shack, and cruises through McFadden Plaza, the Feisty Goat, the Pour House, and Living the Good Life.
There is no set schedule, but usually each stop will last between 30 and 45 minutes before the group rides onto the next location. Gathering starts at the Tap Shack at 6 pm.
The local businesses have been very supportive over the years as the group "Cash Mobs" the business for about 30-45 min before we ride off to the next route and stop, said Horvath.
The event has grown from 50 people originally to almost 200 people.
There are usually two rides a year; one in June and the second in Fall, the Friday before the Nevada Day Parade.
A local artist, Joseph Stanton, has designed commemorative pins for the Fall ride that the Downtown Business Association Sponsors, and this year there will be patches for the first 100+ people to arrive.
Horvath until this year had been doing all the work for the event until he moved to Ely to take on the director of tourism position out here.
Now, Carson Now's very own publisher Kirk Caraway and local attorney Andrew (Drew) List have stepped in to take on the event, and this year will be the pair's first time as event organizers.
"My favorite part about the whole thing and the part I would like stressed is the creativity that occurs on these rides," said Horvath. "The costumes are amazing, the bikes are amazing, and the people are so positive and enthusiastic. It is exactly the community we were hoping to create 6 years ago. It brings smiles to the faces of everyone we pass by."
For more information, you can visit the event page here.
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