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Creating a pedestrian outline
BURNING
CAR, or
A MIDNIGHT BEACH RIDE
Photos by Vince Vitale
After Thursday night's TIME'S UP stencilling, there were a few calls for a ride out to Ocean Beach. It was about 9:30, warm and even muggy, as though the New Yorkers had brought some East Coast summer weather along with their stencilling gear. About a dozen of us headed up through the Wiggle, dropping folks at home and our way to the park. By the time we got to the park there were just seven of us left-four locals and three out-of-towners.
As approached the beach and crossed Chain of Lakes road, we noticed an old station wagon sitting in the trees at the side of intersection, steadily revving its engine. Smoke was starting to drift up from the underside, and when we approached to ask if the driver needed help we noticed that he was completely tanked, and we stepped over the stop sign he'd taken out. We tried to call the police, but when our single cell phone failed to turn on, we spent a few minutes debating whether to ride out of the park and look for a pay phone.
At
that point we noticed that the smoke under the car had turned to real flames,
but the stupified driver made no move to get out despite our shouts. Our two
fearless Canadians came to the rescue, pulling the driver from the car, while
one of us raced to the 'burbs for a pay phone, and the others (perhaps more
wisely) flagged down passing cars asking for a cell phone.
In a few minutes the police and fire departments were on the scene. SFFD doused the car thoroughly, and the driver, who could barely stand, ended up in the back of a cruiser. One of the officers told us that he'd been involved in a hit-and-run 10 blocks away just a few minutes before. We gave a couple of statements and pointed out to the cops (repeatedly) that the bikers were the good guys.
We considered applying a "ONE LESS CAR" sticker to the smoldering wreck, but there was too much officialdom present. Instead, we rode the few remaining blocks to the Beach Chalet, where the rest of the evening passed without incident. A few pitchers of fine beer later, we headed for home. The ride through the park was serene and beautiful.
One more spontaneous bikesummer event. One less car. A beautiful night.
