tour de strand en los medios

Cada mayo hay un evento de Anderson que es uno de mis favoritos: Tour De Strand. Consiste en ir en bici desde Santa Monica Pier hasta Manhattan Beach Pier (40km ida y vuelta) por el carril bici e ir parando en los múltiples bares que vas encontrando. Es una actividad genial, cruzando kilometros y kilometros de playa, redes de voleyball y marinas. Algunas instantáneas. Tardamos casi 8 horas e hicimos 7 escalas en bares... para los más deportistas, el carril bici por la playa continúa hasta casi 30km de punta a punta.

Obviamente, algunos fueron disfrazados (parte de la diversión) y también obviamente, la combinación de alcohol, sol, deporte y deshidratación afectó a algunos más que otros. He aquí la respuesta de la editorial de un diario local de una de las comunidades que atravesamos:

As anyone who watches 'True TV" can attest, Hermosa Beach is
portrayed across the country as a playground for drunken idiots whose
main cause is to drink, scream, urinate, and vomit upon the beloved
beachcscape. The latest exhibition in this lunacy is the so-called
pub-crawl. An apparent spin-off of the city-degrading "Ironman" event,
where local laws are pushed aside by the "look the other way" policy
of our police force, Pub-crawls takes place on every holiday weekend
or whenever the deranged masses tire of their lonely existence in
front of computer screens and decide to wreak havoc on the populace.
The origins of the pub crawl are unknown, perhaps half a dozen or so
friends getting on their bikes for a little bar-hopping. The latest
incarnation consists of a mob of 40 to 100 costume clad anarchists
intent on foisting their collective will upon anything and anyone in
its path. The apparent leader in this debacle is a Charles Manson
look-a-like, who, armed with bullhorn, hair spiked and dyed orange,
dressed to resemble Satan, leads this cult of losers from bar to bar,
and when arrived exhorts all into a frenzy of collective screaming and
chanting the likes of which should never be witnessed outside of a
fourth quarter Laker comeback. I suggest we hoist shovels, pitchforks
and torches and drive this un-godly horde back to the barbaric
flatlands from whence they came.

Lo mejor... "costume clad aharchist" y "charles manson look-a-like", que resulta que es un ex McKinsey jejeje. Respuesta de álquien de mi clase:

As a participant of the recent pub crawl, I am surprised by the
amount of vitriol with which you regarded our event and its
participants. These daytime beach activities do much to add to Hermosa
Beach's vibrant community feel; differentiating Hermosa Beach from
quieter neighboring communities such as Torrance. I strongly disagree
with your characterization of the participants. This particular event
was organized through the UCLA Anderson School of Business; I would
hardly regard 100 MBA students as "costume clad anarchists." The
organizers worked with bar owners to minimize the disruption to street
traffic, and specially designated 'lifeguards' monitored participants
to prevent the poor behavior you describe. I might also point out that
this particular event generated over $7,000 in revenue for local
businesses during off-peak, daytime hours. If you manage to extol
your fellow residents into driving back the "un-godly horde," be aware
of the adverse effects. Beyond the first and second order damage to
the local economy, the participants of this event are future bankers
and consultants that witnessed the Strand at its Saturday best.
Hermosa Beach's residential market depends on a constant inflow of
young professionals with the means and the desire to live there. If
you eliminate some of the factors that make the neighborhood
attractive to newcomers, then your immediate desire for short-term
order may have long-term consequences.

En fin. Nada de particular pero gracioso.