Cycling Meets Tunes Meets Do-Gooding

Super-Mega Ibrahim Explosion
To understand why there was need for a Super-Mega Ibrahim Explosion, you have to know what happened. It would probably help if you knew 'Ibe' (Eeeeb), but I didn't so maybe just explaining will help. 
Ibrahim 'Ibe' Myers lives and works in the Camel City. He has held a myriad of jobs downtown, mostly tied to food service/bartending among many of the restaurants along 4th Street. His self-ascribed love for the city extended to having the zipcode tatooed on his inner arm. So be it. Lots of folks knew Ibe.
He was riding home from work on evening and ran into a car. Ibe wasn't wearing a helmet and he was riding on a road that descends dramatically downhill. I know that I have gone in excess of 40 mph on that road myself.
All this is to say that Ibe is in the hospital, with mounting bills and a difficult road ahead.


That's when all those people who knew him stepped up. 


First there were the rides around downtown to show solidarity. Then the helmet drives. Then the PayPal donation site came up to defray costs. Finally, there was the concert. About twenty bands playing over the course of an afternoon and evening, big raffle, arts and crafts, kids area and food and drink. All donated for Ibe. Cool. 

I knew I'd have that day free and, with my morning ride under my belt, I figured I was up for the hat trick of cycling events for the weekend.

I came to the Millenium Center in the early evening and was heartened to see the bikes lined up outside.

I'd not been to the Millenium Center before. It is a two level, cavernous space, with lots of nooks for bands to play in. Kind of cool. The back porch was overflowing with cool kids with plenty of tattoos, smoking and chatting up. Inside, the bands were playing and rotating and there was a little something for everyone. 

The arts and crafts were being sold with the profits going to Ibe's fund. There were raffle items all over the place as well. Amidst it was an area for free helmets, mostly sized for kids.

One of the cooler raffle items was this custom built bike, painted with designs of Manchester United. Apparently, that was a passion for Myers. The item was actually auctioned in between concerts and went for $1300. It was purchased by the manager of Jimmy John's, where Ibe worked most recently. The guy said it would sit until Ibe was able to ride it. VERY cool.

I didn't fare well in any of the raffles. I had secret hopes for the All-City bike, but no such luck. One of my friends won dinner at a local restaurant, which was good. I saw all kinds of familiar faces. I ran into one of the owner of Mock Orange Bikes, as well as other parents from my kids' school and a bunch of my former co-workers. It was great seeing so many folks out there, though I felt there were too many of the hipster cyclists relative to other folks in the cycling community. In fairness, the hipsters represented.

Two bands caught my eye. I'd heard about a he and she duo called Honey Rider for a few months now. They put on a frenetic, ball peen hammer to the temple  performance. VERY cool.

Honey Rider

The other band is one of my faves, called Jews and Catholics. They were the headliner for the evening and they did not disappoint. What used to be a he and she duo is now a powerful trio and they beat the hell out of my ears. VERY good stuff.

Jews and Catholics tore it up.

In all, a great night and a lovefest for a guy that's had it bad. When all the funds were tallied, almost $20,000 was collected, which is impressive as all-get-out for a grassroots, quickly put together event.

The next day, it was reported that Ibe had been moved out of ICU and had squeezed someones fingers.

It's all a gift. When we can come together and prove we're all a little more alike than different, it's good. When we can do that and share our love of the bike, even better.