# Critical Mass



## craigd (Apr 3, 2007)

Hi guys, not sure if this is going to open a can of worms, but what are your thoughts about critical mass.

I see its big in the US and there is following starting to emerge in Aus as well. I have often contemplated joining one of there rides, but whenever I look at the ride topic there's always some sort of disruption involved.

I think its a great idea to spread the word of the benefits of cycling , but im not convinced causing motorists problems is the way forward. I think motorists cause them selves enough problems without us.

Anyway would be curious to hear of your thoughts/ experiences with this group

craig


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

A bunch of self-important a-holes who happen to be cyclists...Here's a recent taste of their behavior:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/04/BAGLRP2LEI8.DTL


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## craigd (Apr 3, 2007)

OHHHHHH dam mate that is not good, what sort of turn out do you get on the rides there, luckily over here there are only around 20 or so people i guess on these rides,

Although the sydney group did bring sydney harbour bridge to a complete standstill not long ago, completely out of order

NOT A GOOD WAY TO SPREAD THE WORD


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

San Francisco rides used to get hundreds of people...I think it's around 100-150 or so now.

Their idea of advocacy is spreading the word through as confrontational a message as possible. Why not just go out and slash tires? They could at least have the balls to really be against the system...

20 people in a town with very little cycling awareness could actually be a good thing. Take up a lane on one of the main thoroughfares and obey all traffic laws, don't cause a nuisance besides the space you're taking up. The public can understand and respect that message,

Silas


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Critical Mass is a mess.


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## Hollywood (Jan 16, 2003)

I've been on organized urban rides with well over 1000 riders. But they take place at 10pm on Friday nights, not 5:30 rush hour when people just want to get home. At 10:00 they are much more supportive and encouraging, more in a party state of mind rather than "you're between me and my kids" or something. BIG difference a few hours makes...

I would never participate in confrontational rush hour masses.


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## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

This is probably a very regional message, but hopefully even an Aussie will get the reference.

Critical Mass is as much about Cycle Advocacy as Ice Fishing is about catching fish.


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## ARP (Mar 7, 2002)

*Have you ever watched the movie "Forrest Gump"?*



craigd said:


> Hi guys, not sure if this is going to open a can of worms, but what are your thoughts about critical mass.
> 
> I see its big in the US and there is following starting to emerge in Aus as well. I have often contemplated joining one of there rides, but whenever I look at the ride topic there's always some sort of disruption involved.
> 
> ...


Classic line from the movie sort of sums up the whole critmass thing; Stupid is as stupid does.


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## centurionomega (Jan 12, 2005)

*on the boring side of whatever*

I am a SF resident and have been on a few critical mass rides. My biggest impression is that it is trying to create a rush hour situation for bicycles. Since when is hanging in wheel to wheel traffic fun? The pace is about 3 mph, and many people get off their bikes to walk uphill in the middle of the road. Also, the Muni rail tracks are popular places for people to lose control and fall off of their bikes. 
For the most part, the confrontations I have witnessed were about 50/50. A car gets to close to a cyclist, or hits the cyclist, and the 30 or so people who happen to be riding by at the time really give the motorist grief.
The size of the rides here in SF would be closer to about 500+ people I would say though. It is fun if you have a bunch of friends with beers in their panniers, but if you are just trying to get home at a reasonable pace, I would suggest avoiding critical mass.


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## Doggity (Mar 10, 2006)

I don't this kinda s**t is helping us at all...like we don't already have enough a-holes with attitudes on bikes! Now we get 'em all in one place, and amplify their attitude. NOT good.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

I agree . . . but to be fair, it's hard to get people fired up about legislation, ordinances, and budget policy,


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## Henry Chinaski (Feb 3, 2004)

I did some of the first ones in SF in the early 90s. They seemed like a good idea at first but they got stupid and out of control fast.


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## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

And how does CM help? To the avg. motorist, it promotes a "separate but equal" cycling agenda--- ie. stay on bike paths, on the sidewalk--- anywhere but the roads.

I hate CM-- there is nothing good about it. Back in the day, in Mpls, they even took it to the freeways one afternoon.




Pablo said:


> I agree . . . but to be fair, it's hard to get people fired up about legislation, ordinances, and budget policy,


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## texass4 (Oct 13, 2005)

I didn't even know CM took place in my town until last week. I was about a mile or so from home nearing the end of an evening training ride after work. My normal route home takes me right through downtown, and last Monday I rounded a corner and came across maybe 30-40 cyclists puttering along in the right-hand lane. Most were busy looking around and paying attention to everything but themselves, traffic, and the road ahead.

Admittedly the CM nature of their presence didn't dawn on me at first. I said hello and then asked what they were doing. I barely got a grumbled hello out of them and then got an even less enthusiastic confirmation that it was indeed a CM ride. This was right before several of the riders ran through a red light because they weren't even paying attention...not due to a showing a defiance/right to the road! After that I just turned right and road away from them on the way home.

Are there some sort of disgruntled feelings between the lycra/skinny tire set and the CM urban riders? The whole thing left me pretty much stumped.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

filtersweep said:


> And how does CM help? To the avg. motorist, it promotes a "separate but equal" cycling agenda--- ie. stay on bike paths, on the sidewalk--- anywhere but the roads.
> 
> I hate CM-- there is nothing good about it. Back in the day, in Mpls, they even took it to the freeways one afternoon.


I agree. I don't like it either and it probably does more harm than good. I was just trying to point out that it's a (misdirected) attempt to get people excited.


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## MellowDramatic (Jun 8, 2006)

A teammate of mine and I have decided to create an anti-CM movement known as "Insignificant Volume". Participants would ride at the same time as a Critical Mass ride, and would follow all rules of the road, take up no more space than necessary, and make every effort possible to avoid posing problems with traffic.


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## SRay (Mar 15, 2005)

I was at the critical mass, and I was there when the person got hit.

You know what I liked best about the aritcal in the SFGate is how they showed a picture of a van with broken glass, but they fail to show the biker who was ran over by that very same van.

of the 500+ rides at the mass, only one person physicaly took aggression out on a car. That makes up 0.2% percent of the critical mass population.

Here are a few shots I took that night of "self-important a-holes" that happen to be biking

<div style="width:500px;text-align:right;"><a href="https://beta.zooomr.com/photos/Kona/909306/" title="Zooomr Photo Sharing :: Photo Sharing"><img src="https://static.zooomr.com/images/909306_a76af60f86.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="102_3003" border="0" style="border:1px solid #000;" /></a><span style="float:left;">102_3003</span> Hosted on <strong>Zooom<span style="color:#9EAE15;">r</span></strong></div>

<div style="width:500px;text-align:right;"><a href="https://beta.zooomr.com/photos/Kona/909310/" title="Zooomr Photo Sharing :: Photo Sharing"><img src="https://static.zooomr.com/images/909310_f808df8e2f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="102_2973" border="0" style="border:1px solid #000;" /></a><span style="float:left;">102_2973</span> Hosted on <strong>Zooom<span style="color:#9EAE15;">r</span></strong></div>

<div style="width:500px;text-align:right;"><a href="https://beta.zooomr.com/photos/Kona/909324/" title="Zooomr Photo Sharing :: Photo Sharing"><img src="https://static.zooomr.com/images/909324_f52d6585c8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="102_3029" border="0" style="border:1px solid #000;" /></a><span style="float:left;">102_3029</span> Hosted on <strong>Zooom<span style="color:#9EAE15;">r</span></strong></div>

<div style="width:500px;text-align:right;"><a href="https://beta.zooomr.com/photos/Kona/909326/" title="Zooomr Photo Sharing :: Photo Sharing"><img src="https://static.zooomr.com/images/909326_6aa47cd03c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="102_2954" border="0" style="border:1px solid #000;" /></a><span style="float:left;">102_2954</span> Hosted on <strong>Zooom<span style="color:#9EAE15;">r</span></strong></div>

<div style="width:500px;text-align:right;"><a href="https://beta.zooomr.com/photos/Kona/909325/" title="Zooomr Photo Sharing :: Photo Sharing"><img src="https://static.zooomr.com/images/909325_0c32f7cbaa.jpg" width="500" height="386" alt="102_2972" border="0" style="border:1px solid #000;" /></a><span style="float:left;">102_2972</span> Hosted on <strong>Zooom<span style="color:#9EAE15;">r</span></strong></div>


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Man...that biker who was run over must be in rough shape. Too bad they RODE away from the horrific crash, leaving the police and motorist wondering what's what. They are probably dead in a ditch somewhere in Japantown....right?

It's not that I expect cyclists to have any innate consideration about others, it's something I expect of all people. If you don't have it...then go slash some tires and sit in the middle of the street a la tiananmen square. Don't be a wuss, ride with a thousand other people so you feel half safe, and then let the mob mentality of a few idiots take hold until they've got half of San Francisco against cyclists...


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

I gotta tell you, those pictures of the SF critical mass looked pretty harmless, right up until the fourth pic where I'm seeing cyclists on both sides of the double yellow line... That's just plain stupid, and that's just ONE of the reasons CM gets a bad reputation as "self-important a-holes."

There may have been a time when CM served a purpose for bicycle advocacy- that time has passed.


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## SRay (Mar 15, 2005)

I guess the rider was in the wrong for being in the road, and it was his fault that he got hit by the van. The driver of the van was a total victim. 

I find it hard to believe that the rider rode off, I heard his spokes pop under the weight of the van.

Being that you claim to be a biker I would not expect you to have any innate consideration for a rider that was just ran over by a van, I expect it of all people.

No where in the report from the SFGate was slashing tires brought up.


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## ChuckUni (Jan 2, 2003)

SRay said:


> I guess the rider was in the wrong for being in the road, and it was his fault that he got hit by the van. The driver of the van was a total victium.
> 
> I find it hard to believe that the rider rode off, I heard his spokes pop under the weight of the van.
> 
> ...


So I guess the cyclist was a total victim? 

You know....IF someone was honestly hit on purpose by the van driver do you think the best solution is to attack the van? PR genius huh? Worked so well for getting the message across....


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## SRay (Mar 15, 2005)

I do not agree or think that smashing the vans windows was the right thing to do. What my argument was is that the generalization that everyone in the mass is a group of "self-important a-holes” is wrong. And I pointed out that only about 0.2% of the people there hit a car with some object. And there were not any reports of slashed tires. I never took any political side of the message of the mass. And even on the side of the cars, there was only one car that hit a bike, most of the cars were stopped in their lanes and cheered on the riders as they rode by. I am not trying to defend the mass, only to defend the majority of people in the mass who are just having a good time on a bicycle.

So, I do not feel that smashing a window was at all called for, or acceptable.

The van driver did not hit anyone on purpose, I am pretty sure of that.

I do think driving off after you hit someone was not a smart thing to do also.


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## ChuckUni (Jan 2, 2003)

Self important a--holes may be a bit strong...but in the public relations sense you do have to question the logic and effectiveness of promoting cycling via pissing off drivers by hogging/blocking the road...especially during rush hour.

Share the road has to go both ways IMO....if not cyclist will lose every time.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

In general, Critical Mass rides are a bit like gay pride parades . . . fun tougne-in-cheek for those involved, but to the outside world, it just re-inforces negative stereotypes.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

The rider wasn't there when the police showed up, right? I could be wrong on this, I've been reading lots of stuff from 'witnesses' on the internet, and I'd believe you before I believe most of them. But the missing piece of the reports is the ambulance arriving, or the police interviewing the rider who was run over. Generally in these situations if there was no injury then it's not really a crime, which appears to be the case here.

As for slashing tires, I'm trying to make a metaphor. Critical Mass is no longer a non-violent protest. Sure, most of the people are fine, but if you're responsible for assembling a mob every month then part of the group's actions are on your hands as well...And if your goal is to make a statement about the hatred of cyclists by cars and visa versa, then why not just go out and slash tires, or sit across market street?

If it was about having a good time on a bicycle...then they could do it in the park when it's closed to cars every sunday.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> And there were not any reports of slashed tires.


While SilasCL's comments were intended as a metaphor, a limo driver did have a tire slashed:



> Next there was a loud pop -- as someone slashed the limo's tire.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic...AG0SP504J1.DTL&hw=critical+mass&sn=002&sc=972


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## btrutta (Nov 19, 2004)

texass4 said:


> I didn't even know CM took place in my town until last week. I was about a mile or so from home nearing the end of an evening training ride after work. My normal route home takes me right through downtown, and last Monday I rounded a corner and came across maybe 30-40 cyclists puttering along in the right-hand lane. Most were busy looking around and paying attention to everything but themselves, traffic, and the road ahead.
> 
> Admittedly the CM nature of their presence didn't dawn on me at first. I said hello and then asked what they were doing. I barely got a grumbled hello out of them and then got an even less enthusiastic confirmation that it was indeed a CM ride. This was right before several of the riders ran through a red light because they weren't even paying attention...not due to a showing a defiance/right to the road! After that I just turned right and road away from them on the way home.
> 
> Are there some sort of disgruntled feelings between the lycra/skinny tire set and the CM urban riders? The whole thing left me pretty much stumped.


I've had a very similar experience where I live. Rode up on one that I thought must be a group ride of some sort going real slow, then noticed mostly urban bikes and no one really paying much attention to the road. Saw a couple of folks I recognized but defintely did not feel welcome so I said hi and just rode on. Strange encounter.

These things don't seem to do much for gaining respect from motorists around here.


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

I think CM is important to the city's cyclist, but its a shame when the 1%er abuse the CM power. This does not help the cause.


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## disraeli (Apr 29, 2007)

A report from one of the top US bike friendly cities:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/04/is_critical_mass_deflated_in_p.html

My take is that those who bike every day, bike; and those who don't, don't.

The one day variance is made up of retards who want to prove that they are using less of a global footprint than they really are.

Van fodder all of 'em.


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

disraeli said:


> A report from one of the top US bike friendly cities:
> 
> http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/04/is_critical_mass_deflated_in_p.html
> 
> ...



Interesting piece. Maybe Oregonians are different than Californians. 

But I think that the author's view that CM cyclist have made a large negative impact on financial resources is incorrect. Especially when bicycles are compared to cars. Think of all injury accidents, property damage, road rage, pollution, insurance, pay checks, real estate, concrete, asphalt and middle east oil cars consume.


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## Hjalti (Feb 26, 2004)

*Instead try...*



craigd said:


> Anyway would be curious to hear of your thoughts/ experiences with this group
> 
> craig


I think that in some places CM works well, a bunch of people getting together to celebrate bike culture, and demonstrate for equal rights to the road. Seattle seems to be like this. Other places its used as a way to try to stick it to 'the man' or whomever the counterculture angst is against today. Jerks are going to be jerks, whether they are on a bike or in a car. SF has a high population of both types, it seems.

Try Critical Manners instead.


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## kaotikgrl (Dec 14, 2006)

.....


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## wipeout (Jun 6, 2005)

I've always wanted to follow the Critical Mess riders to their cars and wait for them to drive off. Then, I'll ride slowly in front - my own little protest.


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## disraeli (Apr 29, 2007)

*The very notion that there are people*

out there who are driving to participate in CM doesn't bode well for the future of our species..


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