Critical Mass may be useful in some places, but I saw pictures of the CM here in Santa Barbara and all I could think was that's the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

A dozen or two of ordinary folks out clogging up the roads, protesting the abominable conditions in the hell-hole that is Santa Barbara. You gotta understand, between the extreme weather conditions (70 almost all the time) and the monotonous Spanish-Moorish architecture and the plethora of outdoor sports here -- you have to travel a ghastly 10 minutes to get to the beach or the mountains and everywhere you go there are people enjoying outdoor sports of so many different kinds -- it's simply inhospitable! We cyclists are Suffering terribly. Woe is us!

I mean, c'mon what on earth are you protesting? What the hell is the point? If you want to do some real good for cycling, get down in the trenches and attend some boring planning meetings or something. Riding around like damn fools isn't going to achieve anything.