This will be my first Fest and i will be staying at the days inn on SW 13th. I'm lazy and was thinking of bringing my bike but i also plan on being quite drunk. So i guess my question would be how lenient are the cops at Fest time towards druken cyclists.

i dont live in gainesville but the better question is do you actually want to be riding a bicycle on a street, in a college town, at night, full of drunk people, even if you are super sober bike guy with rabbit like reflexes... i wouldnt recommend this in any busy downtown area at night. not trying to bust your balls but be careful... it only takes once. i saw an insane crash last year in downtown gainesville where some asshole was going 80mph and smashed into some random car then they BOTH fled the scene.

lifelong bicycle rider here, almost 30 years old and never had a car.. only bicycle.. but riding downtown areas at night is not recommended, especially this weekend at Fest.. you couldnt pay me to do it..

also the answer to your question is yes. you will definitely get a drunk in public. you will also probably get a drunk in public if you are drunk in public. gainesville cops are good people, but they don't screw around during Fest.

yes you will. you can get a dui on any form of transportation. including bicycles, skateboards & roller skates

i've seen someone get a dui on one of those little ECV scooter things, not in gainesville, however still possible. I would suggest just walking or catching a cab. If you can find a few people to split the cost of a cab you probably wont spend more than $20 all weekend and it'll save you a lot of headaches.

The Holiday Inn is no more than like a 7 minute walk from all of the venues

yea you can get a BUI... but yea, as other people mentioned you're better off walking instead of trying to bike drunk. I've totally seen someone break their teeth on the curb in front of the Atlantic.

Thank you all for the input i guess I'll be leaving the bike, roller skates, and skateboard at home then. If I see any of you there i owe you a beer!

uniqueusername has good protips here. All of the venues are close together and easy to walk to! No need for a bike unless you want to ride around town (there is nothing else there...). I have been to 2 FESTs so far. The cops in Gainsville are pretty chill but don't fuck around. Don't mess with them and they won't mess with you. Also, be friendly! We're all there to have a great time and no one likes to be arrested for some dumb shit that can easily be avoided!
TL;DR: Get WASTED!!!!! But stay safe!

Gainesville has plenty to do homie. You just gotta look around. They have a couple of great hiking trails you can do in the morning if you aren't too hungover and see a bunch of buffalo and wild horses. You can also check out the springs near by too if you have a free day before or after Fest. Check the what to do in Gainesville thread.

at Fest 8 i witnessed a kid riding a bike drinking a beer with no hands. it was pretty great. it made me laugh.

The biggest thing for the cops is LIGHTS- front and back.

Whether or not you'd actually get a BUI probably depends on your definition of "quite drunk." I'd like to think you'd already want to be walking the damn thing long before it came to that, as busting drunk cyclists isn't really on their priority list.

Yeah, you can get busted for public intoxication, too, but it's not really an issue unless you're wiznasted and/or causing some sort of ruckus and/or urinating on something or whatever.

Whether or not to take the risk of biking downtown at night is a pretty personal thing.... I feel pretty safe as long as I avoid riding on the major streets like 13th, or like University, which is where that crazy fucked up accident happened last year. Nice thing about Gainesville is that there's always a side street, or at least a sidewalk if you're not feeling lucky...

ok as far as biking is concerned i think there is safety in numbers, the more people biking illegally, the better. its just that the stupidest of the drunk bikers are going to get popped and i am perfectly fine with that. the whole bike light law is complete bullshit, just keep your eyes on the road and watch for cars, just because you have a light doesnt make you any less likely to get hit. i bike around drunk all the time with no lights and i get away with it for the most part because im the shit. if youre biking in the middle of a major road with no lights at night then youre asking for it, but if you know back streets and stay away from the 5-0 you should be good. if you see a cop and are biking illegally the best thing to do is just hop off your bike and walk with it until you are out of sight. and dont act like a drunk idiot or a smartass if they stop you just give them your info and get on with it. make sure to keep all illegal items in your backpack because they can pat you down if they want to, memorize this phrase "i do not consent to any searches unless required to by law"

Yeah, chances of getting popped for not having a light are not too terribly high unless you are dealing with UPD, but in terms of bikers in the after-dark zone, it's definitely either the rule they are most keen to enforce and/or the excuse they are most likely to use to fuck with you. Given that one rolls the dice every time they head out after dark without a light, I finally decided to hedge my bets on that one. Plus, I have to ride home on a stretch of unlit rural road and dark bike trail where the chances of sideswipes, armadillo collisions, and even just big ass sticks in my path increase dramatically.

Ain't never had any real trouble with the police, here or elsewhere, but I did get stopped and frisked and generally harassed by a couple of dickwads from GPD on the thursday after this past Fest because I was standing at a crosswalk on Archer road after eating lunch, waiting to cross and I guess generally looking run-down on account of Fest aids, when I noticed my fly was down, and at the exact second that I turned around to zip it up they were driving by at 45 mph, and somehow they thought that I was either A) taking a leak right there at the corner of a busy intersection or B) Stuffing my smack and syringe down my shorts because I saw the cops coming. So, yeah, tryna cut down on the number of excuses they have to fuck with me now, so at least they're forced to continue to make up ridiculous shit like the aforementioned. I'd hate to go down because I couldn't be arsed to take the time to duct-tape a nightlight or something to my handlebars.