First let me share my understanding of how the successful version of CM started. Simply put the cycling advocates were pushing for cycling improvements and the organized CM rides helped support their cause by showing both popular support for cycling as a well as people protesting in the streets over the lack of cycling improvements. It was the combination of cycling advocates and CM riders that helped turn the tide but at the end of the day it was the cycling advocates and not CM that worked out the deal for San Francisco to start accommodating cyclists.
When I was involved with CM ~90+% of the riders wanted a friendly ride with a cooperative spirit with motorist. They just wanted a party on wheels or a just a local bike ride with other people. And indeed our best rides and the most publicly well received rides where ones with costumes or cyclists playing music or just generally displaying a pure party atmosphere. The worst ones were a CM of about 10 cyclists trying to block all of traffic on Pratt St. while they traveled 6mph. If you don’t have the mass you cannot be a Critical Mass IMHO.
The group finally died a natural death when a few bike messengers filled to the brim with ire tried to take over the group and go out hunting for confrontations. This is what the name Critical Mass attracts and this is NOT the spirit of Baltimore cyclists which is why I think the group died.
Next, Baltimore is moving and making tremendous progress in accommodating cyclists. Yes Government does move at glacial speeds but in Baltimore’s case things are moving faster then the usual glacial speeds in accommodating cyclists.
The Mayor and a lot of her cabinet go on weekly rides from City Hall, this is an incredibly cool thing. And a disruptive and belligerent CM could seriously undermine our work in creating a better and more bikeable Baltimore. If the goal of a CM ride is to help encourage better cycling conditions a well penned email will work a thousand times better then what any CM ride could possibly hope to accomplish.
If the goal is to have a cool get together and bike ride through the city then call it anything but Critical Mass and just go out there and have a fun bike ride. I strongly believe in regards to all things about life on this planet is that once you lose the fun, you have become the problem and not the solution.
I strongly encourage you to get involved with the folks at Velocipede as they are more or less the new and improved Critical Mass for Baltimore and they are doing wonderful things to help get more people into bikes and out there on bikes not to mention an incredible assortment of cool people to hang out with.
http://www.velocipedebikeproject.org/