Bells on Bloor, make up for lost massing?

What makes a Critical Mass ride a "real" CM?

I'm sure the police will be at Bells on Bloor. Probably invited, actually. During previous rides they helped cork the intersections, though of course there was a need for the regular riders to help cork too.

In my opinion the police neutered the critical mass on the 29th.

The difference between the April mass and the May mass is the difference between a real mass, and a stressful and dangerous ride with little corking and alot of rogue motorists inbetween the mass.
(Not to mention multiple splits in the mass that destroy the event's coheshion due to lack of corking.)

Sorry vic I don't think the cops are corking anything. They only did it @ turns and never during straight reds on the 29th so I doubt anything different will happen today (if the police show).

I hope the cops don't show but im doing the full mass either way.

One tip to block traffic is to never put your feet on pavement. You need to keep "moving" one cop told me after I straight corked traffic, they didn't bother me when I blocked traffic this way.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting here, but it sounds like the "critical mass style" you're talking about is testosterone and aggression towards motorists. If you watch any of the critical mass films which interview the organizers in San Fransisco, they've gone to great lengths to avoid that kind of "style" - to the point of telling young testosterone fulled looking-for-a-fight cyclists to get lost.

Sparking fights and intentionally pissing off drivers is not only unnecessary, it's counter-productive. These people will come out and vote against us during city elections, and are will become more hostile to cyclists every other day of the month.

The point of CM and BoB is to celebrate cycling and to demand the right to do it safely. Corking is necessary to CM safely, but it's not intended to anger drivers. If you're looking release your own road rage by starting a fight, please do it while on foot, and don't give cyclists a bad name.

The asshole attitude of many participants is the primary reason I don't attend CM most of the time, even though I'd like to be involved.

That said, the bike cops did a piss poor job of corking the BoB ride today. While I appreciate that some of them were doing a great job, many of seemed to just be out to have a nice leisurely ride. I'm glad there were plenty of volunteer marshals to help out.

Critical Mass is about groupthink and a lack of rules/leadership/planning.
(therefore it isn't a protest but a "happening")

Bells on Bloor had many rules as well as a very large police contingent, I prefer Critical Mass's loosey goosey mentality far more than the strict nature of Bells on Bloor. Just my opinion.

I can see why some people want that kind of "security" but that isn't what happens on the streets on a day to day basis as well you do not get to have any real contact with motorists. At critical masses during corks I find myself chatting with motorists alot about Critical Mass and I realise alot of the motorists have very similar values. Police officers ruin this interaction by hogging the left and dumping exhaust infront of us with their motorcycles and cars.

I miss cop/rule free masses (common sense/communication is all you need).

I think the police did an excellent job at Bells On Bloor today, they allowed us all to stay together, disabled traffic lights to keep the flow going, and prevented cars from breaking us up.
I wasn't within earshot of any intimidation of cyclists and didn't see any ticketing either but I could be wrong. I remember seeing Michael the trumpeter getting hauled down last year but didn't see anything similar this time.
I'm curious, did the organizers get a permit for this event? If so, it seems like the smart route to go with so many riders.

"The point of CM and BoB is to celebrate cycling and to demand the right to do it safely."

CM and BoB are two different types of rides. BoB has some specific goals and an organizing committee.

CM is very different. Fluid and organic. While some will claim that it improves cycling or use it to get even with drivers, it is a lot more about socializing and having an open political forum. Any cycling improvements that come out of CM are by-products of it. The result of two advocates coming together at CM, exchanging ideas, decide that they have similar goals and then decide to meet outside of CM to pursue those goals.

The cops have been with CM since day one, sometimes they are dicks and sometimes they are agreeable. You can either make them an issue or go on with meeting new people and exchanging ideas with them. Did everyone miss all of the passerby's that were exchanging smiles and waves with us? ...even with such a large police presence.

Think about what you did at CM most. Willing to bet that was talk to friend, someone new or interacted with someone on the street. Even with the cops being as stupid as they were, I managed to say hi to over 100 people. I know that because I handed out 100 flyers.

Critical Mass is a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world.[1] While the ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to cyclists,[2] the leaderless structure of Critical Mass makes it impossible to assign it any one specific goal. In fact, the purpose of Critical Mass is not formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city or town streets on bikes.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass

Bells on Bloor is not a Critical Mass it is a parade.
Some people like B.O.B, but Im not one of them.
I'll stick to the real masses.

Critical Mass participants have insisted that these events should be viewed as "celebrations" and spontaneous gatherings, and not as protests or organized demonstrations.[5][6] This stance allows Critical Mass to argue a legal position that its events can occur without advance notification of local police.[7][8]

I'm curious, did the organizers get a permit for this event? If so, it seems like the smart route to go with so many riders.

You should see the million strong masses in european cities. They don't need permits, they ARE traffic. As my above quote mentions, permits undermine what a critical mass is.

PPPat, when I asked about permits, I was referring to the Bells On Bloor which has organizers and a defined route - I wasn't speaking of Critical Mass.

I wouldn't even think about getting a permit or charting a course for Critical Mass but I like the idea of guidelines for corking, staying peaceful and respecting pedestrians. I'd also like more noise from the quiet Torontonians as well but that might be asking too much. ;-)

This is not definitive, but I believe that I heard that Bells on Bloor had no permit. I might not have heard correctly.

Svend I never thought you were talking about critical mass. I was referring to your statement of their being so many people so a permit would help. As well I was responding to other commentors around the subject of critical mass and what it means (especially Random Cyclist, the "default name people" seem to be very misinformed alot of the time).

Okay, I'm glad you didn't misunderstand me PPPat. You could be right that permits wouldn't help. :-)

I suspect there wasn't a permit for Bells On Bloor, otherwise there would have been more barriers and signs. We'd only be on display like a Santa Claus Parade and the event would have been less organic.

I posted a few times as "Random Cyclist", but only because when I tried to log in as "Svend" the program would say someone was already registered with that name. It failed to recognize I wasn't registering!

BTW, it's spelled "a lot" not "alot". Just teasing ya! ;-)

You cannot get a permit for CM unless you are willing to provide insurance for it and a map at the very least. If you were to apply for a permit you would go through City Hall to get it.

Another option, is that you go to the police and come to an understanding about what everyone can expect from the ride. The cops will lay down what they expect and what they can and cannot do for you. While I have taken this route for other events, I would never do it for CM. It was way too intrusive.

Haha.. million strong? Are you kidding, Pat? The biggest mass in the world even was in Budapest this year, with 50-80 thousand ** participants. And that's because it's only a **twice yearly ride (with permits) and it's a fad... no one in that city bikes during the rest of the year. There are more cyclists on the roads in Calgary than in Budapest.