What is Critical Mass?

Riders take a whimsical detour through the parking lot at 16th and Bryant on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2010.

After the New Year’s Eve Critical Mass in San Francisco, some of the veterans who helped start this blog, along with a few others, had some discussions online. We decided to excerpt this discussion as a retrospective on the last ride, and actually, taking it more broadly, a retrospective on the past couple of years. Kes had proposed a route about ten days ago to general enthusiasm and we prepared a xerocratic flyer (pdf) with the route on one side and a brief text on the other. People were generally enthusiastic at Peewee Herman Plaza when they got the flyer, but the proposed route was only followed as far as 8th and Harrison, after which the ride went back around to the center of the city. Here are some of the back-and-forth thoughts we had afterwards:

Hugh: Chris, Dave, ‘Deep and I rode the front and tried to keep it on the route, but there were many more people who wanted to do the usual. Union Square, blah blah blah. The usual “no route” crew was augmented by a large contingent of LA Midnite Riddaz who shared that agenda. (The folks on the tall bikes—glad they came out, but… Whatever.) Had a few interesting and friendly arguments with people who had the following familiar opinions:

* Critical Mass has to be downtown and on major traffic arteries
* Critical Mass has “never” had planned routes
* Critical Mass is a protest.
* It’s more “anarchist” if the people in front make the decisions

At this point, I am very discouraged about our ability to change this perception. I think that over the next year, we may see an exodus of people who are social riders with a party sensibility migrating to Bike Party, leaving the people who believe Critical Mass is a protest on the last Friday. I could be wrong, but from what I have seen, the Bike Party folks are very well organized, putting real time and energy into their ride, and have a good group dynamic.

Chris: Not surprised to read Hugh’s missive this a.m. He and I and Kes were talking throughout the ride yesterday and sharing a lot of disappointment with the turn of events. From the outset in Peewee Herman Plaza a lot of folks seemed happy about the planned route but a few folks were already grumbling that it was somehow “authoritarian” or evidence of “control freakness” to publish a proposed route. Two older guys in their 50s were adamantly against it on those grounds, and argued with me for a while. I tried to explain the notion was one of self-control, self-management, producing together an interesting relationship to San Francisco’s geography, but they really weren’t buying it. So they might have been among those who were anxious to break from the prescribed route. Certainly a number of young riders, whether those from LA or SF, or the anarchist-inspired, were articulate and insistent on their idea that Hugh summarized well in his four bullet points. Clearly, these notions are historically false, but they do summarize well a growing sentiment among people who show up…

Read the rest of this entry »

Last night was the Halloween ride, traditionally the one ride of the year you don’t want to miss, for all the obvious reasons: the incredible costumes, the end of the beautiful October weather, the last warm ride for a few months… This year’s Halloween lived up to expectations. It was warm (if a little drizzly), the costumes were amazing (hard to believe you can pedal dressed as a banana), and the vibe was overwhelmingly positive and fun.

photo by Steve Rhodes

photo by Steve Rhodes

Glad to see some No on L (the stupid Sit/Lie law) joining us. This stupid proposed law is an attack on our public space, and public space is what Critical Mass is really all about. Let’s vote it down! (More info at Sidewalks Are For People.)

photo by Steve Rhodes

These are some scary clowns:

photo by Steve Rhodes

Speaking of clowns, who was leading the ride last night? Seriously, some lame ass decisions being made at the front. After a good decision to leave on Embarcadero, we made some pretty bad moves. Coming up Bay to Columbus was a bad idea — bikes had to hop a curb. And then, instead of heading into North Beach via Columbus, we turned around and headed back the same way we came to go to downtown. Nothing wrong with downtown, but did we have to ride almost the entire way on Market Street? For those who may not remember what happens with Critical Mass on Market Street: there are grates, lots of them, and rail lines that are slippery in the rain and difficult to cross. (One reason why exiting on Embarcadero was a good idea, hello?)

At one point, it seemed we were going to visit Union Square, but no, we turned back to Market. At another, we were on our way to the Castro, but no, we turned right on Guerrero. That’s when I split!

I concluded that people in the front of the ride were lost. Seriously, if you’re going to ride at the front and call the route, you must have a passing familiarity with the city layout! Or at least bring a map!

(Alright, I know I’m being a crank. I could have ridden to the front and shared my enlightened advice, but I’m hoarse with a throat cold and couldn’t raise my voice above a whisper all night.)

photo by Steve Rhodes

photo by Steve Rhodes

photo by Steve Rhodes

Tyrell Voitkampf also got some good shots:

photo by Tyrell Voitkampf

photo by Tyrell Voitkampf

photo by Tyrell Voitkampf

Hey, we put the word out for more sound systems to join our ride on Halloween. With that many more people, we need that much more sound to keep it festive! We were happy to see that the good folks from the East Bay Bike Party joined us. The EBBP rides the 2nd Friday of the month, and it leaves late, so you can ride after the East Bay Critical Mass!

photo by Tyrell Voitkampf

Joel reported a nice encounter he had towards the end of the evening: “Best of all, saw someone riding alone near my house after I left the ride. She was glowing. I asked her if she’d been in the Mass. She said, ‘Yes! but only for two blocks. It felt so good to be in that crowd! I’ve heard of it before but never saw it. I was just on my way from school and there it was. I loved their energy. It changed my life. Now I feel ready to face my heavy school work and I’m so happy I got to experience that.'”

See y’all next month!