Riders bunch up hilariously near the end of their
1,000-foot waterslide ride down 21st Street. They started at Lower Gold Camp
Road and ended up a little ways past Rio Grande Street. 21st was closed between
Lower Gold Camp and Argus Boulevard for the occasion.
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Photo fun: A good day to slide - watery times on 21st Street Aug. 15
With skies clear and temperatures and the upper 80s, a reported 4,500 people took
watery tube rides down 21st Street between Lower Gold Camp Road and Rio
Grande Street during the 10-hour "Slide the City" event Aug. 15.
The ride, comparable to a backyard slip-and-slide - only 1,000 feet long - required
the closure of the usually busy arterial street for most of the day between Lower
Gold Camp and Argus Boulevard (by Bear Creek Park). However, midway
through the day, police at the scene had reported no serious traffic jams.
The 4,500 number came from the UpaDowna Facebook page. A local outdoor
education nonprofit, UpaDowna organized the event in conjunction with the
national Slide the City organization. People paid about $40 each for three or more
rides, using inflatable tubes they had brought or bought at the event.
The photos above and below were shot during the event.
This was the Slide the City scene the afternoon
of Aug. 15, looking north up 21st Street. The stoplights are at Rio Grande Street
(the end of the ride) and Lower Gold Camp Road (at the top). At the bottom of the
slide, the used water was being pumped into nearby Bear Creek.
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A view of the sliders as they approach the finish,
as seen from a hillside in Bear Creek Regional Park above Rio Grande Street. On
the far (east) side of 21st Street, participants trudge back up to the start on Lower
Gold Camp Road to get another run in.
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Another shot of the Slide the City finish,
showing a wet spill that all involved seemed to find amusing. A pad under the
sliding surface made such mishaps less painful. Speeds also were not that
excessive, estimated at perhaps 10 mph, tops.
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Westside Pioneer article and photos
(Posted 8/15/15;
Business:
Events)
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