Originally Posted by
bluegoatwoods
One poster here, in another thread, referred to CM as "old fashioned, in-your-face-protest. Not asking, but telling" and stuff like that. I approve, at least in those places that are truly bike-unfriendly.
But it's beginning to seem that, like some other protest movements, after an initial sincere period it has been infiltrated by anti-social misfits who really don't care very much about the principle, but are only interested in behaving like fools with the protection of other fools.
It's a shame.
Though I will admit that I don't know exactly what happened, the police version of events has more the "feel" of the truth than the bicyclists version.
It is unfortunate--and probably inevitable--that a group like CM would run into problems like this. They have no rules, philosophy or leadership. It's incredibly easy for a few loudmouths to take over a ride, and evidently it happens sometimes. It's really too bad, because their basic message (Take the street) is quite appealing to a lot of cyclists.
But we probably should keep in mind that there are thousands of CM rides every year all over the world, but only a few erupt into mayhem.