SecretSatellite

i just saw in the "forum suggestions" section that bikesnotbombs thought that there should be a place to discuss critical mass. well what better place than the car free forum, a carfree lifestyle friendly subforum of the advocacy forum. KERBLAUGH!! so, any cmers out there? and no, i' haven;t been drinking again

Guest

moved to more relevant forum.

Koffee

Mod

SecretSatellite

this is not a more relevant forum. this is a bunch of malarky. shennanigans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guest

Yes it is.

We can go back and forth like this all night, but just keep inserting my comments everytime you decide to reply, ok?

Koffee

SecretSatellite

but your comments dont actually answer questions. they just prove you're a moderator

lilHinault

What's "KERBLAUGH"?

madbiker555

Damn I wish I could find the audio link.

EDIT: The audio is from south park where mel gibson is chasing some people and he says KERBLAGH!

bikesnotbombs

lets talk about critical mass?
i ride most every month, the attendance varies from 10-30 for me.
it always proves to be fun, but sometimes people in cars cant get pretty angry at us, we once had a driver honk for a good 40 seconds before passing us. Anouther guy drove slow on purpose infront of us, most of the time though people in cars and pedestrians enjoy seeing us ride.

PainTrain

Thanks SS for giving me the motivation to figure out how the ignore list works.

lilHinault

Dang it, Secret, the Car Free Living whatever forum is for practical how-tos, seperate from politics, likes/dislikes of cars, comments on fat women driving Ford Festivas, how a cop threw an ice cream cone at ya at CM, etc.

Moderately political comments probably go into Advocaty and Safety, because Advocacy allows some leeway politics-wise, really political stuff probably goes into Politics.

Car-free is about how-tos. We probably have a thousand ppl a day reading that thing weighing the pros and cons of getting out of their cars and onto a bike. SUV jokes aren't going to change much, how-tos of how to carry that bag of cement on a bike trailer so you don't need the SUV will. How-tos, it's all about the how-tos.

catatonic

Will anti-car propaganda teach you about what type of gear will get you where you need? NO

Will politics help you in finding hte best route through traffic? NO

Has critical mass assisted you in proper bike parking? NO

Basically car-free is about how to get equipped to deal with such a lifestyle. I've done it, and it's far more htan using a bike to do waverything you would in a car...it's actually about learning what excess really means, and after a while practicality sets in.

Basically when you are in an area where public transit is a joke, and the only thing close is a grocery store and target, going car-free does involve a change in lifestyle beyond merely going from frou wheels to two. Actually I found it to be extremely rewarding.

recursive

I rode a CM one time. I doubt I'll do another. CMers claim they are trying to increase the visibility of cycling, which is fine, but my experience is that they are actually trying to inconvenience others. Screw that.

filtersweep

Advocacy through annoyance? Not my cup of tea either.

bikesnotbombs

i just do it because its fun...

Bikecourier

Just a note, Critical Mass in Toronto is covered on this website
Updated irregularly


https://criticalmass.servebeer.com

Bikecourier

also
https://bikecourier.servebeer.com

Roody

I would like to go to CM but I have to work every Friday night.

I like to read about CM, but not so much in the Car Free Section. There was a great thread in P & R a while back, and secret sat. wrote some good posts.

weezerbot

*bump* for CM!!

Any folks in the Phoenix area we are attempting to get CM off the ground again....

Please check out the new website at cmphx.org

Thanks,
weezy

natelutkjohn

So agreed beyond all getout, this is not a critical mass critisism, just a post that says that being car free DOES NOT mean you are pro-CM! Too many that I know think's it means that, and I am here to say, no it does not!

CM means you are anti-car and anti road rule (no matter what you say, the general behaviour is anti-raod rules) and being car-free is just pro-bicycle, pro walking, pro public trans, etc... at least for me....

catatonic

Exactly....I'm all for what CM is in concept....but not what it is in practice.

In concept it was a way to create a degree of bike congestion....now in some areas it's just a giant roaming roadblock....and I really don't see how that's going to improve things for us. It's just a matter of scale...

Jym Dyer

=v= Dunno about "anti-car propaganda," but Critical Mass does. It brings together carfree bicyclists who can discuss and compare gear in person. That's right, in person, which has an advantage or two over some silly webforum.


Will asking rhetorical questions about vague things like "politics" and answering them yourself help you in finding the best route through discourse? NO. But Critical Mass has taught me a number of great routes through traffic that I've since applied to my everyday life.


From comparing locks (you know, "gear") and locking strategies to rallying bicyclists to advocate for more bike parking or against things that would reduce it to every bike-valeted event being staffed by CMers, I'd have to say "YES," actually.