DO
• talk to stranger, bystanders, bus riders, motorists – welcome people to join us next time
• help cars stuck in mass to exit to the right
• stop regularly if you’re in front (no matter how slowly you think you’re going, gaps are opening up behind you)
• stop at red lights when in front to allow the rest of the ride to “mass up” behind.
• keep going in dense packs through red lights to stick together and keep it safe for everyone.
• fill gaps; Critical Mass depends on bicycle density to displace cars.
• remember that pleasure and friendliness are more subversive than anger and blaming.
DON’T
• race ahead to block cross traffic before the Mass has arrived
• ride into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road
• pick fights with motorists, even (especially) if they’re itching for one
• fail to turn and twist through the city to make the ride more interesting
• forget to smile and wave and talk to strangers!
• imagine that you are morally superior just cuz you’re on a bicycle (you’ll be in a car again soon enough)
• hesitate to tell other Massers what you think of their behavior, whether good or bad. Talk to each other!
• forget – we are all responsible to make Critical Mass what we want it to be.
DO: make friends with (and s’mores for) motorists.
See fig a: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vsgoliath/1459073650/
here is the essay I wrote that appears in the 2009 slingshot organizer – it is on similar lines.
thanks, jesse
Bicycle Critical Mass
Critical Mass bike rides are spontaneous, leaderless rides that begin at specific times and locations in various cities around the world. Since no one organizes the rides, the rides have no agreed agenda or demands. They aren’t a protest. Instead, when we ride on Critical Mass, we’re living the world we would like to see — filling the streets with bikes, laughter, human speed, clean air, engagement and life. At Critical Mass, we can bike down the street safe from speeding cars — together — empowered by our numbers. Critical Mass is a celebration.
Critical mass rides sometimes enrage car drivers because bike traffic competes with car traffic for space on the road. Cars have their critical mass 29 days of the month when bikes get crowded out — it’s called rush hour! Critical mass is a single day when bike traffic briefly outnumbers car traffic. Maybe in 50 years, bikes will outnumber cars everyday. As concerns about global warming increase, people are searching for alternatives like bikes. A community of cyclists is developing — demanding respect and some space on the road.
Even though every ride in every city is different, frequent Critical Mass riders (mass-holes?) have been learning ways to make our rides better. Here are some tips for riding in Critical Mass or creating your own:
• Ride Slow, talk fast – The key to a successful Critical Mass is having enough bikes riding close enough together so as to take up all or at least one lane of a road. That makes riding in the zone filled with bikes fun and safe. To keep the ride together, the people in front have to bike really slow — un-naturally slow. If the front goes fast, the ride will quickly get too thin and break apart — allowing angry car drivers into the breaches. Riding slow is actually a great opportunity to meet your fellow riders, sightsee, smell the flowers, or catch up on life with friends.
• Smile and Wave – It is inevitable that you’ll eventually meet an irate motorist. When this happens, its is best to de-escalate and meet anger with joy. Don’t take the bait to stop your bike and argue — just keep moving and ring a happy bike bell. Keep in mind the point of Critical Mass — to have fun riding our bikes together. Most mass-holes don’t want to intentionally delay traffic — rather, we want to be traffic and ride. When a ride gets angry and confrontational, you’ll quickly lose a lot of riders — and they won’t want to come back next time.
• Mass Up! – If you’re at the front, it’s up to you to notice if the ride behind you is getting too thin or spread out. If it does, stop at a red light and wait for the ride to mass up.
• Adjust tactics depending on size – If a ride is huge, it may take up all lanes and run traffic lights to keep things moving and together. These behaviors don’t work if you’re on a small ride — it just pisses drivers off, makes the ride look arrogant, and turns the ride into a stressful battle, not a fun party. If the ride is tiny, consider just taking a single lane and obeying all traffic laws. It can help to turn frequently so cars are not backed up behind you.
• Determining the route – Some rides use a system called “xerocracy” in which anyone who wants can hand out a xeroxed flier suggesting a route. Other rides discuss and agree on a general route before the ride. Some have a typical route they repeat ride after ride. Others pick their route on the fly — whoever is in front makes the decision at each intersection about whether to turn right, left or go forward. Watch out about going in circles! It can be nice to discuss a fun place to end while you’re riding— a park, the shore, a bar, a good place to watch the sunset, etc. Some rides end at parties, bike film festivals, political events or outdoor bike-in movies.
• Dress up and decorate your bike! The more fun and beautiful a ride is, the more riders it will attract and the less angry motorists will become. You can include bikes with sound systems, pass out snacks, or have theme costumes: a Halloween ride or a bike prom ride, etc. Some riders carry signs or hand out fliers to explain what is going on to people the ride passes.
• How to start a ride – If your town doesn’t have a ride, anyone can start one by simply picking a meeting spot and a time and place. You don’t need permission since no one is in charge! The most popular time is 6 p.m. on the last Friday of each month — but any time will do as long as you keep it consistent. Then you announce the ride for a month or so and get all your friends to go. You can put fliers on bikes you see locked up around town. Once you’ve had your first ride, hopefully word of mouth will keep the ride going into the future. If police show up at your meeting spot, keep in mind that Critical Mass has no leaders and thus no one can really speak to the cops on behalf of the ride. Bikes have a right to ride together if they like — just a happy coincidence! — and don’t need permits to do so. If the cops demand that you get a permit, ask them if they make cars get a permit for rush hour!
you guys should formalize this list and make it a dedicated page in the navigation. this site is going to receive a shit ton of visitors and while you are not THE voice of the mass, you are A voice of the mass. people are going to be looking to you for answers whether or not you like it.
The negative/aggro vibe that I get from many CMers is the one thing that has made me really hesitant to participate in the past.
We need to make it clear that CM is an inclusive, safe, and positive force for change.
I would also suggest adding having consideration for Muni – I live in DuBoce Park and more often than not, wind up getting stuck in a N or a J that can’t get out of the tunnel because CM isn’t letting trains through. Each Muni train is a lot less cars every day and it’s really frustrating to see your stop, but can’t get the last 100 feet to it for 20 minutes.
Great list!
A bunch of us a few years ago tried to reinstate the best spirit of critical mass and it worked partially but not for long. It turns out that the effort to take back the ride from the assholes who use the safety in numbers to take out their (usually, let’s face it) petty frustrations (that are sometimes deadly serious, I know) on unfortunate motorists is harder than it seems. They are not easily convinced that critical mass is not about ‘taking it to the motorists.’ And it only takes a few of them to ruin the spirit of the ride for everyone. So it takes a lot of us to change that. It was easier in the old days when the dominant spirit was good, and the assholes were in the minority. It will be harder now but we can certainly do it.
In that earlier effort, we produced this flyer, check it out. Better yet, print out hundreds of them and circulate them on the ride. It will literally take thousands of these flyers to have the desired effect.
pdf format: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6p6ZIKDbIi_ODZiYjRhYjktYWMzOC00NDQwLTg3ODgtZWYyYjY0MzFhYjBk&hl=en
doc format: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Aap6ZIKDbIi_ZGZobnQyNjRfMTBkZ3Q0cHZnNw&hl=en
Don’t be an a**hole. Don’t be hostile to cars just for the hell of it. Don’t take all the lanes. Don’t drive your SUV into SF from Fremont to ride in CM. DO stop for peds. Don’t ride on bus routes if at all avoidable. Don’t ride on Van Ness or Market. Been there, done that. Do have an adventure.
[...] distributed at the ride, a book was published). Once or twice a year someone shows up with a flyer addressing the culture of the ride, or prepares a suggested route, but in general, cultural production, once so essential to the [...]