I read with great enjoyment your argument of a double standard.

Being blocked by cyclists is a terrible thing to happen when you are trying to raise money for a good cause.

I quote key points of your discussion in reverse.

“VERY hard to reach as they are a jetsetter and after 5 years have not been able to coordinate our schedules to meet”

“VIPs will RARELY rebook someone who is trying to get money from them for a cause”

These two points really make it seem difficult to meet these people anyway, without a mass of cyclists in between.

So I guess with a calendar of events you can know in advance which dates to miss, but what if these are the only dates available to meet with “Jetsetters” who “give big (like in the hundreds of thousands to even millions)”?

The answer is found close at home…

“Technological equipment my husband creates … reduces the need for face to face meetings”

And if you have more green technology than I can ever afford, just donate your own savings.

All the best.

VOR

Still don’t think the argument for the back part of the procession running reds is logical, in most other countries whomever has the green has the right to run over those who are running the red and it’s not even considered a ticketable offense even if it ends in death for the person running the red – you are lucky we live in California. Still, If we all don’t follow the lights then chaos ensues. It’s almost Darwinian if you don’t value your life enough to stop you kind of deserve trouble – maybe not death but at least a bit of pain of some sort.

I suppose if you see cars as ‘evil’ then you might think the behavour exhibited by some of your participants is okay – but I see engineering and science finding a better way to make them more efficient (such as a move to electricity which can be made from SO many more ecofriendly models) as solving the issue rather than taking away that option for people with longer commutes or who are carrying large quantities of things. Sure getting everyone to reduce consumption is a good thing but some of you are just as ridged as John Bircher’s and Birther’s on the other end of the spectrum.

I even asked them to move specifically stating it was a non profit fundraising appointment and I was told “no cars let through no exceptions” – sorry but exceptions happen and need to be made for people in cars for things like medical emergencies and cycles like mine where the greater good was at stake.

Thanks for finally letting me know it’s on the last friday of the month, this was the data I wanted to know many years before but after the first 3 queries being met with crude words I just didn’t ask anymore.

Conversely the Chicago group was very nice and told me where to see their calendar so I could schedule my appointments when I was there around their blockade. I’ve also heard good things about the Seattle group, so I don’t know if it’s more about SF Bay Area-ite’s rigid (facist – yes liberals can be just as facist as conservatives) interpretation of the philosophy but I take issue with that amount of rigidity of not letting anyone pass. Reasonable and intelligent people hear each case out and decide on a case by case basis if the person should be allowed to pass or be blocked.

http://www.sfcriticalmass.org/2010/04/30/argument-1/
http://www.sfcriticalmass.org/2010/04/25/argument-6-red-lights/
http://www.sfcriticalmass.org/2010/04/27/argument-4/

I’m not sure why you would like us to print a calendar — the ride takes place on the last friday of every month, and has done so for almost 18 years. Thanks again for reading and writing, and for your other good works!

A bit about myself and my husband – when at home in the US, I try to do as much of my work-work and school-work from home as possible to save on commute. I recycle well over the majority of what I use and my house has more green/environmental technology on it than you will probably ever be able to afford. Without getting into too many details the technological equipment my husband creates has literally increased the productivity of Doctors’ Without Borders, reduces the injury/killed-soldier rate of the US and UK militaries, reduces the need for face to face meetings thus lowering the carbon footprint of EVERY company/organization that uses it and ensures the safety of our President – among many other things. When abroad I am usually working my ass off helping a charity or non-profit of some sort get up and running or become more effective.

On the few days a week ‘at home’ I do have to ‘commute’ the majority of my commutes are done by a combination of my feet, some form of public transport, or adult tricycle (I cannot use a traditional bike because it aggravates my sciatica and doesn’t allow me enough room to carry my school books and/or equipment needed for work presentation). BART does NOT allow tricycles only bikes – which as I have said I cannot use for health reasons doing with lack of balance and because it cannot carry my equipment load. This makes it so that when I DO have to do a fundraising presentation more than the 4 blocks maximum I can wheel this equipment – which is 100% of them – before my back breaks down in shear agony and then cannot walk – I need to use my hybrid car to shelp the materials into the city or Berkeley or wherever is NOT my house in the suburbs.

I DO NOT appreciate getting blocked on the way to try and get to said agencies, businesses, banks and other potential high profile donors to give to my also noble causes such as HIV/AIDs in South Africa or water issues in Namibia, or literacy programs in Compton. The VIPs and organizations I try and get money from are filled with VERY busy – sometimes high profile – people who only give me a limited amount of time to present to them. If I miss my appointment they often will NOT reschedule

In the last seven years since moving back to the SF Bay Area Critical Mass has blocked me eighteen time causing me to lose fourteen appointments – like I said VIPs will RARELY rebook someone who is trying to get money from them for a cause- which is an estimated minimum of 70 thousand in total donations (as I ‘mode’ at least 5K a presentation done) which breaks down to approximately 64.4 thousand to the agencies and 5.6 K in personal income for myself. One of the appointments was with a person who if you CAN get to them has a tendency to give big (like in the hundreds of thousands to even millions) but is VERY hard to reach as they are a jetsetter and after 5 years have not been able to coordinate our schedules to meet – so really who knows HOW much exactly those served by the charities I help have lost because of your arrogance!?!?! I don’t know but what I do know is that because of this – and other times you have blocked me trying to get somewhere – I absolutely HATE YOUR ORGANIZATION!

Print a calendar for Pete’s Sake so people can schedule their appointments in those cities around your ‘faux-protests.’

Our route, schedule, and discussion group are open to anybody with a free Google account. Please join us. If you would like to bicycle all or part of the route, plan a convergence ride, or host riders passing through your community, please e-mail bike4peace@googlegroups.com. Please forward this and re-post to others who might be interested.

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