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Critical Mass
A monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists' right to the road.
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Good for Me
Good for me (2/3)
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Good for the community (2/3)
Good for planet
Good for the planet (1/3)
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Over-hyped
Over-hyped (1/3)
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Doesn't work (1/3)
Reviews
1 star rating
March 24, 2008
Just a Mess
How green, or ecological, or sustainable, or earth-friendly are idling cars being held immobile on city streets? It doesn't really matter whether they're blocked by Hummers or bicycles. Fumes for a good cause are still fumes.
None of the reviewers here who come out in favor of Critical Mass sound like inconsiderate people, so it's a little surprising that they don't seem to have factored in the more unsavory aspects.
First of all, those (surprisingly few?) drivers who "exhibited bad behavior" upon finding themselves volunteered for a traffic jam of someone else's making. It's great to think that participants feel "liberated", but why should people who are using public roads trying to get somewhere pay a price? I know that I don't want to. How would all those happy riders feel if someone decided that making them late to work would be a good time? Is it all right if it's done on pogo-sticks?
Then there's that helpful police presence, conducting traffic, calming those stupidly irate drivers. News flash here - San Francisco residents don't pay cops so they can supervise joyrides. Uniformed police have better things to do, and they'd be doing it, if they weren't needed on the streets to prevent the city-wide gridlock that used to occur when Critical Mass came out.
The idea that Critical Mass encourages bicycling strikes me as flat-out silly. Not only does it create waves of bad will, it makes it that much harder for anyone to support bicycling. Bike lanes, awareness campaigns, anything that helps is going to take public money and a committment on the part of public officials. Not many of them want to come down on the side of a cause that exists to disrupt.
Last weekend I listened to my sister teach her son that it's not all right to have fun when it hurts other people. He loves to throw oatmeal at breakfast, but no one else at the table is amused. At 21 months he hasn't picked up on this yet - what's your excuse?
Sam's keywords: bicycling
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2 star rating
March 22, 2008
We used to call it "hypocritical mass" :)
These are the guys that matter: http://www.sfbike.org - San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.
They do a lot of work for improving bicycle riding in the city. They work through the right channels. Critical mass is more of a burden. Agree with Jenn, a lot of guys that don't normally ride bikes and a few angry bike messengers that create bad rep for the rest of the riders.
Maybe it had some contribution in the past, today the bike coalition is the important group.
Elli's keywords: bicycle riding bike coalition
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1 star rating
March 21, 2008
Riding your bike is critical, mass is not
After living in San Francisco for many years without a car - using my bike as my primary means of transportation - I admit to having participated in a few Critical Mass events. As someone who daily rode a bicycle on all the busiest streets in San Francisco, I found that the event tended to attract two groups of folks who don't do much to help the general cause of cyclists.
First group are those folks with a chip on their shoulder -- they ride in CM and get out their anger and frustration banging on cars, and yelling at drivers and pedestrians. They feel a need to be superior. They set an example for the second group -- those folks who rarely ride their bikes in the city because they feel it is "too dangerous." This second group are not all very experienced cyclists -- either in the city or in large groups. They are out for a joyride, doing something for a thrill and pretending it is for a "cause." They don't pay attention and swerve or turn in ways that endanger other cyclists and don't take responsibility for their obliviousness.
We don't need Critical Mass. It really creates a lot of hostility toward cyclists. Many times I have been cut off by a driver who would speed up to turn left in front of me as I approached an intersection -- often yelling "faggot" or "go back to critical mass" (neverminding the fact that I am distinctly female in appearance and riding alone on a non CM day).
What we need is more cyclists riding their bikes as a matter of routine. Nothing thrills me more than to see congestion in the bike lane on Folsom St as folks head from the Mission to offices in SOMA and downtown. Attend bicycle safety and awareness events (see the SF Bike Coalition - www.sfbike.org).
Jenn's keywords: sfbc san francisco bicycle coalition bicycle
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User Comments:
Adam W. says:
No way! Critical Mass is one of the only real protest 'marches" left in America. The people riding in it are doing something - they are forming together as a group and showing how large the cause for bikes is. There are... more »
5 star rating
March 20, 2008
Critical Mass Is Critical
I rode in critical mass for the first time last month, and it was an incredible experience. I recommend it for anyone in a city that hosts one and owns a bike.
The best thing about it was that it was so communal. I expected it to be all bike messenger guys, and i kind of expected it to be really hostile. it wasn't either! The bike messenger/anarchist crowd was definitively there, but so where the hippies in their tie dye, the weekend warriors in their tight biker shirts, the goofballs dressed up in all kinds of weird outfits, and even lots of people, just like me, who were there just to be part of something bigger and better than themselves.
I also really liked how communal it was. Everyone would take turns leading the route, and whenever we got to a cross street some people would make sure to stop so that no cars could come through and hit all the bikers. Also, while there was a little unnecessary antagonism toward the cars, pedestrians were very much looked out for. At one point an old lady was trying to cross the street (it sounds like a stereotype, but she really was a little old lady) and all these bikers jumped off their bikes and stood in front of her to make sure no one hit her who wasn't paying attention.
Plus, there was just the awesome feeling of bombing San Francisco's hills at 35 mph and not worrying about getting killed.
Great time - everyone should do this!
Adam's keywords: pedestrian bike ride
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5 star rating
September 4, 2007
Critical mass - celebrate riding your bike!
I feel compelled to write a review as a photo of me participating in last week's critical mass is posted here. The idea of participating in critical mass has appealed to me for months, no, actually years. I first heard of it at a friend's party, and then saw it live in action coming down Polk Street while I was grocery shopping one Friday evening. What appealed to me was the somewhat organic and unorganized nature of the event. The energy that I saw and experienced was celebratory and freeing. It's also a great way to connect with your local community and friends while exploring the city on your bike and not have to worry about traffic lights, directions, crazy drivers. The veterans have this thing down, giving the right of way to public transport and traffic controlling intersections for the safety of both the driver and riders.
Such a cool, easy green event - all levels of bike riding welcome!
Haru's keywords: bike bicycle critical mass protest explore your city bike riding
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5 star rating
September 1, 2007
awesome!!!
in a word, ****ing-awesome!!!
this was my first ever critical mass. the police were quite useful and "cooperative" - they ran interference at intersections for massers to keep us in one smoothly flowing pool. most motorists and passersby were amused. only a few exhibited bad behavior (swearing, throwing water bottles, trash, running over bikes)...
i really enjoyed this ride, it was perfect weather (slightly cool) and we did a couple-a tunnel runs (stockton and another one)... biked along market, chinatown, SOMA, ended in mission area. when my friends and stopped to grab food and beer for a while, we later saw some bicyclists pass by, continuing to ride. what a wonderful night!! :)
with burning man on this week (arson, suicide notwithstanding), the mass was pretty small--postage stamp size?--but still sizable. it was great!! I took photos also, which i'll upload sometime soon and post up here. sufficed to say, it was quite the tame event. so much for liberal media hype!!!
Ken's keywords: does this belong bicycle cycling alt.transport.us yum critical mess mass bikes 2.1 stereo free event
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User Comments:
Elli A. says:
Yeah, and they block public transportation busses as well ;) more »
Adam W. says:
An art teacher once famously critiqued his student's modern art project by remarking that Picasso had to learn the rules of art before he could break them. Similarly, your sister is teaching your nephew the norms and... more »