The first and only time the Aeolian Ride came to San Francisco was way back in 2004 when SFist was but a fledgling operation, and when the performance-art-meets-bikeride event was first started. In the last decade Aeolian Rides have happened in 20 different cities, passing through San Jose in 2010, and now they're coming back on May 14 to the Bay Area, to the bedroom community of San Ramon.

Here's the deal: You have to sign up here and reserve your suit (at the moment there's just 26 available) and helmet, and then show up at lunchtime, at 11:30 a.m., at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon.

From there, riders will don their puffy white inflatable suits — they're like windbreakers with holes along the front that catch air and inflate big white parachute-like things on the back — and take off in a fluttering white parade.

As artist Jessica Findley, the founder of the ride, puts it, cyclists become like "inflated sculpture[s] on bicycles, transforming the landscape of each city. The effect is a sort of joy loop: those riding feel the elation of being a child at play, dazzling bystanders who become giddy, returning joy to the riders."

Get over there quick and sign up, assuming you can get to or are already in San Ramon on Thursday.