Bay to Breakers - Almost Inhibition Free

If it takes two to tango it takes skills to salsa. One thing is for certain, I don't have any. After my first ever salsa lesson on Thursday this is now a well established fact. However, the magnitude of how much I sucked at it was bordering on comical. Then to make matters even worse I believe this was a kind of Rueda de Casino, which means we had to switch partners all the time. I told myself this builds character as I introduced myself to yet another lady whom I was supposed to lead. "I hope it's OK that we just do the basic steps?" My newfound aspiring salsa seniorita responded with a patient smile and three seconds later with a canned OUCH.

After repeating the same impressive procedure with about 30 different women I thought to myself if it would be less embarrassing to walk down the streets of San Francisco in my birthday suit.

On May 16 it's time for the 99th annual Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco. It's a 12k race starting at Embarcadero St (Bay) goes through the city due west to Ocean Beach (Breakers) - course map. The first race was held in 1912 to cheer up San Francisco residents after the horrendous 1906 earthquake. From being known as the Cross-City Race to it's name change in 1965 up until today, Bay to Breakers is the longest consecutively run footrace in the world. With more than 110,000 participating runners in the mid 80s the race was recognized as the biggest footrace in the world. Pretty cool. Over the last few years ING has been the main sponsor of the event, and as they say on their website in their own special corporate way; Boston has their marathon, The Big Easy has their Mardi Gras, and San Francisco has Bay to Breakers.

To be completely honest the pull of Bay to Breakers is not its recognition by the Guinness Book of Records, the result of the significant cash prizes for the podium finishers or the actual race for that matter. The real attraction is the show, the craziness, the floats, the alcohol, the costumes, some very elaborate and some more, actually a lot more minimalistic.

Growing up in Europe I'm somewhat used to public nudity, like girls being topless at the beach, but the line is pretty much drawn there. Bay to Breakers only has two lines. The starting line and the finish line. This event is off the hook! In fact so much so that last year there was considerable controversy over new rules that were introduced which were supposed to limit alcohol, floats and the number of dudes wearing nothing but hats.True to the spirit of the event, no one cared and happily ignored the new restrictions.

This is the day you don't bother with recovery drinks or ice baths. The post race drink of choice is tequila, beer or anything else that requires a valid ID and that you were born in May 1989 or earlier. Bay to Breakers, it appears, is the day you can get away with more or less anything and the SFPD looks the other way.

It is the biggest event in San Francisco. The whole city comes out to join the party. If you live here there are few acceptable excuses for not joining in on the fun. If you live somewhere else and you wonder if it's worth the trip, the answer is obviously YES!

Leave your inhibitions at home and register.