Southern California - LA Times Critical Mass Article

The article is about Critical Mass starting in San Francisco, but also mentions Santa Monica.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-criticalmass12aug12,0,714397.story?track=mostviewed-storylevel

Intersting article. In my opinion CM is the second worst thing ever to happen to cycling - beat only by doping.


Rob

I'm torn. On one hand I understand what they were trying to accomplish, but on the other I was cringing as I read parts of the article. I think the more we get along with drivers and encourage them to also get on bikes, the safer the roads will be.

I like the idea of taking back the streets.

taking back the streets?????? I wasn't aware streets were invented for bikes.

wait for it...

i want to go up to sf for the 15 year anniversary.

Generally, CM is cool and they have a good message.

When people step over the line and start smashing car windows, however, it does way more harm than good to that message.

I never did liked CM. What little improvements were made between motorist and cyclist, CM simply destroys that. It creates more animosity between motorists and cyclists.

i enjoy critical mass because i get to ride my bike. who in this forum doesnt like riding bikes?

I <3 CM. It was nice how the article credited them with a lot of the improvements made and rights earned by cyclists in SF.

Intersting article. In my opinion CM is the second worst thing ever to happen to cycling - beat only by doping.


Rob

I disagree. Doping just makes professional cycling look like a joke. Critical mass makes all cyclists look like jerks.

There are good and bad points about CM, or any event for that matter. If cyclists in CM observe traffic laws...like stopping for people in crosswalks, it wouldn't be too bad. Hitting or denting cars for no reason is a big no-no and even I would take out a few people with extreme prejudice and without reservation if that happened to me...there's a point where people can't cross and everybody has a different tolerance level, so it's better to err in the safe side. There are some horror stories in that article and probably most of the cyclists in CM are regular people...it's the few that decide to go crazy is what gives the event a black eye and attracts the wrong type of attention and subsequent laws that penalize everyone. SF, imho, isn't a very bike friendly place and the majority of the streets and lane widths are really a tight squeeze. To be honest, I used to walk to wherever I wanted to go (Chinatown, The Wharf, Financial District, etc) or take the bus...and that's starting from 14th St and Mission and don't have to worry about finding a good, safe place to lock up my bike.

It’s amazing how these stupid anarchists victimize the most innocent people, the pedestrians.

i enjoy critical mass because i get to ride my bike. who in this forum doesnt like riding bikes?

You don't need CM to ride a bike. It just pisses drivers off. I ride my bike for recreation and excercise, and I encourge my friends and others to ride. I don't try to shove it down their throats, I don't have a "one less car sticker", and I don't think cyclists should be trying to tell other people how they need to live. If you want to be effective and get changes for cyclists, support your local bike clubs and organizations that interact with the Government. Don't go out and create a traffic jam to remind others that bikes can piss off drivers just as effectively as other cars.

Whatever.:)

hey markw, can you squeeze any more generalizations into your future posts?

taking back the streets?????? I wasn't aware streets were invented for bikes.

You might find the early efforts of the League of American Wheelmen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Roads_Movement) interesting.

I'd be fine with CM if they didn't cork intersections and do pointless donuts in intersections tying up traffic in all directions (do they do that in other cities, or is that a San Diego thing?).

We all have to realize that most of us are both drivers and bike riders.

I'd be fine with CM if they didn't cork intersections and do pointless donuts in intersections tying up traffic in all directions (do they do that in other cities, or is that a San Diego thing?).

the donuts and laps around traffic circles are the fun part!

jesus christ, people, it's one night out of the month. so you're 5 minutes late to your dinner reservation, big deal. it's not like this happens every night or even every friday night.

speaking of CM.. when is the LA or SD one? thanks...

santa monica is every first friday, meet at the pier.
www.santamonicacriticalmass.org

san diego is last friday of the month.
www.myspace.com/criticalmassride

- tks for posting the link...

- interesting article...

- i commuted via bike from the financial district up to my apartment at Bush and Hyde for nearly four years in the late 70s, but never experienced serious problems with motorists... the most problems (of my own making) were with bus drivers who didn't see me, prompting a more 'take' my lane approach, with the most critical movement during a takeoff at a light while a bus moved back into traffic following a stop just past the intersection (i usually waited for the bus to go - but on some portions of the hill one could walk faster than a bus starting off from a stop!)...

the donuts and laps around traffic circles are the fun part!

jesus christ, people, it's one night out of the month. so you're 5 minutes late to your dinner reservation, big deal. it's not like this happens every night or even every friday night.

This is incredibly faulty reasoning. It's still something that is:

1) Very inconsiderate.
2) Off putting to people driving around.

If I walked up to you and smacked you in the face on the last friday of the month, which made you five minutes late for your dinner reservation, because it was fun for me, I'm still an ******* for doing it.

Whoa, cool, I hit filter! I never hit the filters!

This is incredibly faulty reasoning. It's still something that is:

1) Very inconsiderate.
2) Off putting to people driving around.

If I walked up to you and smacked you in the face on the last friday of the month, which made you five minutes late for your dinner reservation, because it was fun for me, I'm still an ******* for doing it.


+1 CM is counterproductive and, yes, we ARE all drivers as well as cyclists. You'd think, based on some opinions, that none of us drive cars and that motorists are these "out-to-get-us" sub species. :rolleyes:

as a bike commuter id really like to NOT be held accountable for what some(see! i said SOME...) of these knuckleheads do....last thing i need is some clown bearing down on me due to what some other clown did to him a couple of nights before....if thats yer idea of "helping" the local cycling community let me be one of the first to say no thanks....

cm is different in every town. la bikers arent as aggro and full of homeless street kids like the one in sf. but you guys dont want to hear any of it because your minds are already made up.

cm is different in every town. la bikers arent as aggro and full of homeless street kids like the one in sf. but you guys dont want to hear any of it because your minds are already made up.

That's not true, Tyler. I've yet to see you show up on one of our rides, if even to introduce yourself. So, instead of assuming that we have our minds made up and that we are stuck up or snobby, or whatever, why don't you first MEET US? Perhaps, if you did, more of us would be inclined to come out to meet your group.

Oh, and your buddy coming on here and posting the MR Big Ass Summer Ride and joking around about the drinking, not wearing a helmet, etc. and then metioning me in his post, doesn't exactly endear me to him or the group in general. Why don't you guys actually BE cool instead of trying to ACT it. Just post your rides and invite the group. No need to keep kicking a dead horse and then getting attitude when no one seems all that friendly to your gig. Just a thought...

why not just have a parade?

we are making jokes. i guess we understand them better than you because we are friends? its just the same way we dont understand all the jokes everyone else makes.

its a pretty lame joke then dude...

we are making jokes. i guess we understand them better than you because we are friends? its just the same way we dont understand all the jokes everyone else makes.

Fair enough, Tyler, and I can certainly understand that. But making a joke at my expense isn't very nice (although, with that said, I'm pretty tough and not crying in the corner over it). My point to you is that you've been in here awhile as has ddave. It's not like anyone has treated you guys unfairly or rudely. But it seems sometimes you guys are pushing this edgy thing that isn't necessary. You guys put great pics in the "Who are you..." thread and you are both welcome on any ride posted here. Likewise, it seems there are some riders here interested in the MR rides. Seems mutually harmonious, does it not?

we are just naturally edgy then i guess.

i can feel it....

cm is different in every town. la bikers arent as aggro and full of homeless street kids like the one in sf. but you guys dont want to hear any of it because your minds are already made up.

I did ride with the San Diego Critical Mass. I got so uncomfortable with how it all went that I ditched when the ride stopped in front of a liquor store next to a bar in South Park. I'm not judging anyone who decides to ride with CM, I'm sure they're fine people. I simply choose not to be involved with it because of behaviors by some of the group that I would rather not be associated with. I have also been very specific about what I don't like about CM, the corking and the donuts.

Go ahead, tell me all of it. I've been there.

my friend with one arm got a gun pulled on him at a ride in san diego. i dont remember if it was critical mass or what.

by another rider?

Intersting article. In my opinion CM is the second worst thing ever to happen to cycling - beat only by droping.


Rob

corrected.

This is incredibly faulty reasoning. It's still something that is:

1) Very inconsiderate.
2) Off putting to people driving around.

If I walked up to you and smacked you in the face on the last friday of the month, which made you five minutes late for your dinner reservation, because it was fun for me, I'm still an ******* for doing it.

Whoa, cool, I hit filter! I never hit the filters!

i use faulty reasoning, yet you compare riding bikes to physical assault? WOOOOSSSHHHHHHHH.



Oh, and your buddy coming on here and posting the MR Big Ass Summer Ride and joking around about the drinking, not wearing a helmet, etc. and then metioning me in his post, doesn't exactly endear me to him or the group in general.

i was poking fun. i copypasta'd that whole description from here (http://midnightridazz.com/viewStory.php?storyId=528). the only thing i added was the last line. see, on other boards i post on, we poke fun at each other and everybody doesn't get butt hurt about it. they take it in stride. it seems you guys have your minds made about about critical mass and tyler and me.

it seems you guys have your minds made about about critical mass and tyler and me.

Sigh...:rolleyes: I give up.

the guy that pulled the gun on him was a black guy in a nice car that didnt like alot of bikes splitting the lane around him at a red light. they yelled some stupid **** at one another and then he fired a shot into the air before running the red light and driving off.

the guy that pulled the gun on him was a black guy in a nice car that didnt like alot of bikes splitting the lane around him at a red light. they yelled some stupid **** at one another and then he fired a shot into the air before running the red light and driving off.

Good to know it was a black guy?

Good to know it was a black guy?


But he was ballin' in a nice car!

yeah i bet that he went to go penetrate a white woman against her will and drink some grape kool-aid when he sped off from the red light.

the guy that pulled the gun on him was a black guy in a nice car that didnt like alot of bikes splitting the lane around him at a red light. they yelled some stupid **** at one another and then he fired a shot into the air before running the red light and driving off.

Mmmmm.

That hardly ever happens to me.

CM is like talking politics, no one is going to change any ones minds here. Give it up.

Wonder what'd happen if they started a CM ride around the Rose Bowl on Tues/Thurs nights . . . j/k

CM is like talking politics, no one is going to change any ones minds here. Give it up.

Or religion...or sex..and, well, I was hoping it would be like talking sex, personally. I'm deeply disappointed.

Wonder what'd happen if they started a CM ride around the Rose Bowl on Tues/Thurs nights . . . j/k

And named it the Critical Peloton? :p