Bike Derby
- "The Bike Derby embodies what is described by commentators foreign to our culture as Oberlin's 'quirkiness.' The contempt for convention and rejection of normative standards that are Oberlin's hallmarks find no higher expression than in the destruction of vintage bicycles; part performance art, part athletic contest, part tragedy, the Derby defies classification... The Derby is nothing less than the collection and amplification of the peculiar tensions bred by life at Oberlin..." [1]
In the past, on a nice day in the spring, a large group of people looking to have fun would gather in Harkness Bowl with various beat-up bikes, tire rings, impromptu jousting poles, ropes, viking or pirate or ninja costumes, and occasionally a keg or a band.
These people would then mount their bikes and engage in a very fun, mildly disorganized Bike Derby. Expect bike jousting, races, biker pulls, and other nonsense. A crowd gathers and fun is had by all. A bonfire, onto which destroyed bikes are sometimes thrown, signals that the derby is over and always always gets the cops and fire department to come and get mad at Harkness.
- "In 1993, former Dean of Students Pat Penn officially prohibited the continuation of the annual event after receiving several reports of student injury, derby-related bike theft and damages to grounds caused by the infamous bonfire of bikes that traditionally marked the end of the event." [2]
[edit] External Links
- Videos of the 1992 Bike Derby: part 1 (8:34), part 2 (10:04)
- an article berating the lack of Bike Derbies in recent years, published in OOO (October 1997)
- "A Bike Derby Memory for OSCA’s 50th Anniversary", a philosophical look at the Derby, in the Review (20 April 2001)
- "Biker Daredevils Relive Derby Days", article about the 2001 Bike Derby, back after a seven year hiatus, in the Review (27 April 2001)
