Vancouver Critical Mass getting massive

Police say the ride has grown so large they have given up trying to rein in participants, even those breaking rules, such as riding without a helmet or blocking traffic.

“The fact of the matter is that Critical Mass has reached a critical mass of civil disobedience,” said Vancouver police Insp. Rick McKenna.


Fucking A!

Need a better reason to invite more people you may not have invited otherwise to the mass tomorrow?

Cops suck especially when involved in a mass.

I am a regular cycle commuter and, as such, believe in the need for bicycle visibility and awareness. That said, I am disappointed in the approach Critical Mass participants are taking to bicycle education.

The Critical Mass Facebook page suggests that the group's goal is to "reclaim the road," and it did just that by causing gridlock on the Lions Gate Bridge last Friday. Pictures from the Facebook page show masses of stationary cyclists, many not wearing helmets, blocking every lane.

Any environmental benefits of this event are negated by forcing hundreds of cars to idle for more than an hour. The only thing being accomplished here is the further angering of motorists who find their weekend camping trips being delayed.

We cyclists have a duty to obey the rules of the road, which include wearing a helmet and riding single file. We cannot expect motorists to respect our presence if we're not respecting theirs.

Some blogger posted this drivel and somehow it came up along the article linked through this post.

Thought I would post it to show how some motorists COMPLETELY miss the point of something like critical mass by citing the cars inefficiency due to the slowness of our bicycles.

This guy needs to wake up and realise you are always being inefficient by using a unsustainable fuel source that is harmful to others especially cyclists due to their close proximity to the motorist not to mention a little thing called climate change that still gets scoff's now and then.

E.g.
Dumb person 1 "Wow its so cold out and its the summer!"
Dumb person 2 "So much for that global warming thing!"
Dumb person 1&2 "Hahahahahahah!"

Anyway the point of critical mass is not to enrage motorists or be a inconvenience although those do occur they are warranted due to the general inaction by our government and the majority of Canadians in the ballot box.
The point is we need to change in a multitude of different ways, the bad habits have to go and we need to let go of our old fondess for lazy motor vehicles.

Consumerism is a addiction that needs to be kicked.

I can never understand why CM always seems to degenerate into cyclists vs. motorist shtick. Why is the fact that so many strangers are coming together, communicating and experiencing their city in new ways lost on so many? Should we not be extending an invitation to everyone to come experience CM instead of telling how stupid they are?

I've had some great convo's with the held up motorist's im corking or sitting with in gridlock about why we are doing a critical mass and how we need to get more responsible as a society etc.

I have never called a motorist a idiot in a critical mass except once when a suv nearly hit a guy to my right at high speed and im pretty sure the motorist in his glass and steel coccoon couldn't hear me for shit especially @ 60 kmph he was doing... Fragmented masses from "police assisted" masses are such a pain. (The police force us to stop @ all reds and the mass fragments... YEA)

Anyways I just hope their isn't a police pressence but I know their will be.
fingers crossed

Critical Mass sucks - plain and simple.
It is very telling that the top poster says:
"Fucking A!
Need a better reason to invite more people you may not have invited otherwise to the mass tomorrow?
Cops suck especially when involved in a mass."

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[Most of this comment has been disemvoweled for being nasty and rude, and for suggesting violence on those who disagree with them. Read our moderation policy.]

I have no idea what benefit to cyclists can be found in CM rides. Am I missing the point? Is CM just about rattling cages, about espousing a different world view, and not about "cycling" at all? I take my piece of the road every day, and hopefully gain a little respect and goodwill from some motorists as I demonstrate that it can be done without too much hassle. What does CM do?

Critical Mass is fun to ride in. It is a celebration of cycling.

It also happens to a be pure application of the "safety in numbers" effect. That hundreds (or thousands) of cyclists choose to ride together and happen to squeeze out motor vehicles is merely a happy by-product for CM's participants.

Come meet your friends, and make new ones! Last Friday of the month, 6:00pm at Spadina and Bloor. Bring your smiles and a bike. You can even a friend.

Rantwick, I think you pretty much have it. CM has little to do with cycling other than you have a bunch of people with cycling in common. CM creates a space that allows people to freely exchange ideas. It is a place to socialize and communicate in a way like no other. Sadly, it is typically defined by its cycling aspect and usually as a conflict because that offers the simplest, dumbed down, explanation.

It threatens people, especially the authourities, because you have this mass of people who come together, who get along and do not need babysitters. It throws a lot of people because CM is "organic", never stays the same and is always growing.

Rantwick, I think you do more to advance cycling with your daily commute than CM does once a month. That's fantastic!
However, you don't get pedestrians cheering you on or drivers honking in support - the attention is fun for many riders. Many are in for the social aspect as well, most want to rattle cages but with a smile.

The number 1 reason of why people don't ride bikes is because they don't feel it is safe. I never feel safer on a bike on the road than in the middle of critical mass. I was planning to do a bike ride with some friends last friday anyway and then remembered it was a CM day so I said lets just join the mass it will be more fun to be able to ride side by side and not have to worry about what might kill us all the time.

As for the rest of the people in cars or walking on the sidewalk it startles them out of their expectations of the way the city is, sparks the imagination a little bit and while there are exceptions to the rule, it often seems to put smile and wonder on the faces of those who stumble upon us.

go here > www.CriticalMassSucks.com

How about the Santa Claus Parade or the Labour Day Parade?

I'm with yabikes - for me it is about being able to ride, if only for an hour or two a month as most people driving a car do every day: without fearing for my life throughout the ride. I don't like the sometimes-confrontational behaviour some folks have towards drivers. That said, I've rarely seen it in Toronto. Most often when cars are stopped, the corkers are very polite, thanking drivers for waiting.

A few notes:

• CM is a "regular coincidence". Just as nobody calls the rush hour commute a parade, requires everyone to follow a predetermined route, or get a permit, the same is true for a group of cyclists who happen to meet up for a ride.
• One of the points that I think folks miss is that there's a point to keeping the mass together through a light even if it changes. Keeping the mass together prevents cars from getting embedded within the group posing a hazard to the cyclists. In other words, the police are not protecting and are only serving drivers. They are doing a disservice to cyclists and putting them at risk by splitting up the mass.
• People also need to maintain their perspective. This is an event that happens once per month, providing a small inconvenience to a small percentage of drivers on 2.5% (1 out of 40) of their commutes for the month. It's insignificant enough that many drivers I know didn't even know that it existed until I told them. And as people have pointed out above, while some may wail, tear their hair and gnash their teeth at the "first world problem" of waiting an extra cycle at the stoplight, most of my interactions with drivers and pedestrians have been very positive.