‘Burners’ abandon thousands of bikes in Nev. desert
By Ed Fletcher, Sacramento Bee
While abandoned bicycles at Burning Man, an annual weeklong counterculture event in the Nevada Black Rock Desert, is a normal – if undesired – occurrence, event organizers said this year 3,000 to 4,000 bikes were left and given to charitable groups.
Burning Man draws 70,000 attendees, including 15,000 people living outside of the United States, according to the group’s 2016 census data. Having a bike at Burning Man is essential equipment, with attendees riding multiple miles daily across the vast temporary city.
Many attendees – foreign and otherwise – buy inexpensive bikes specifically for Burning Man. In 2016, some 39 percent of attendees were there for the first time. Leaving no trace is one of the event’s key principles.