cant forget the chicks on bikes

Controlling CM is damage control for the whole community. CM cannot be saved in DC but it can be restrained from making a bad name for all cyclists. Marshalls can make people behave, a light hearted tone will make us appealling and draw recruits.
Some wise behaviour on our parts can make a decent political tool out of what has been up to now the PR equivalent of monkeys throwing feces.
If we want to get anything done we must control the message of CM.

My mom is Welsh.

yeah, we do all need to watch that.

last year a cromwellian cut off a driver, who honked, he responded things escalated the guy threatened to throw a juice bottle and the kid maced him.

Great PR for us, we mace drivers. That what we want to be known for.

No fight, are you kidding?

july 22, tour de lemond, three person race

i'll be out of town, but see www.dcbca.org for details.

RDM, do you understand my previous post now? not all the pirates want to play safety marshalls or even ride in CM, nor spend the time to mold it into what you want it to be. the pirates didnt form to make any political message or do advocacy work for DC. when you speak/post please use "I" as your subject and not "the [DC] Pirates" and for that matter "CM". i'd be more than happy to help setup a private forum for anyone interested in making DC's CM safe and less likely to have legal problems, but please refrain from claiming it to be The DC Street Pirates.

I'm all for having weekly or bi-monthly parade-style rides promoting safe riding and fun maybe even law-abiding, but those are only two or three aspects of CM, the beauty of CM is that its very open to whatever anyone brings to it. there was a whole big thread about it recently, and there is no specific agenda, the only problem is that people try to make their individual agenda's the Critical Mass's agenda. perhaps you can call it DC Bicycle Parade or something.

again anyone who wants to join WABA and help in advocacy, or volunteer at Chain Reaction, or ride in CM, is more than welcome to, likewise they are free not to; its not for any of us to tell anyone else what to do with their time.

PM me if you want to come celebrate the fixing of my bike tonight around 8 at my place on on 17Th & T St. There will be beer.

However, quite of few of the people in this forum are interested in influencing CM.
I didn't claim that it was a pirate thing. It belongs to whomever attends.

we are discussing what the pirates reaction ought to be to fridays' CM. It was both a debacle and pirate packed.
Most of the pirates were bothered by how it went and see plenty of room for improvement.

Dave and I already serve as marshalls, baldy RCP, Joel etc. are all having a discussion about it.

The pirates didn't form for any reason at all. It was Me and Julie and then a little later Dave, biking from bar to bar, drinking on my porch etc. When I started working at Chain Reaction, Julie and Dave continued with events on nights when I was teaching youth, adult and police classes as well as volunteer nights.

Eventually Peter, and few others began to join up, some have remained, some have moved on.
But we don't keep track b/c there are no cards, no one in charge and no dues.

It seems that those who ride with pirates are pirates and those who post here are pirates and that what pirates wish to discuss is pirate business.

I don't think it is anyones right to approve or dissaprove of what the others do and I resent it.

it's not dc street bureaucrats...

BTW it is FREE SLURPEE DAY!!!!! at all 7-11's

bike advocacy is everyones job.

Ben,
That's not true at all- about the pirates, who started it when, etc.

I'll edit this later to elaborate (no time now). But I'm not dead, and revisionist history isn't helpful.

Julie

*waves at Julie*
I'm really curious to hear how we got started with the pillaging - I look forward to the story.

Looking forward for when you make it back for a visit.

according to page two it began in afrika-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka--no wait that was the Chem. Bros. single

ok, here's what i'm going to say about this.

The pirates were hatched over time. Dave and I used to ride and call ourselves pirates for riding against traffic and terrorizing people in general.

One of the first pillages, the Tri State Margarita Relay of '05, was conceived on Ben's porch after a CM. Ben didn't come, however, nor do I remember him attending any of the '05 pillages.

The first unofficial DC Street Pirate pillage was to the Old Dominion Beer Festival 05. It was insane, hot, drunk, and involved lots of jerkey. The second pillage, which was called a Pirates event, (correct me if I'm wrong here Dave) was unnamed and resulted in us being drunk at Mickey's on M street, and there was a photo of the group, which included emayex, Dave, DC Emily, possibly sean?, and myself. The margarita relay was, if I recall right, #3.

More to the point, though... this isn't an organization, and it belongs to whomever shows up, but there are some basics to it. Like, it's based on three principles: drinking, biking, and fun. Unspoken principles include inclusiveness of all people, bikes, and drinking abilities, and interest in all sorts of riding.

I'm hearing about friction lately, and it makes me unhappy. (Almost pouty even!) Y'all, stop trying to steer a ship that doesn't have a rudder! Want to pillage? Plan it! Like CM? Go and bring pirates, but remember that it's not a pirate event.

Pirates did come out of CM originally, this is true. But people need to stop trying to assert leadership/principles/shape, and people need to stop being disrespectful of eachother. This is a group with some history.

Also, I personally think that people who make sexist/inappropriate comments should be sent packing, so that the group can continue to grow and thrive. This is, of course, up to you, but it's become a growing problem, I hear. I ask that pirates think hard about what you say and whom it might offend or alienate. You'll notice the female numbers are still low.

Thanks Julie. Double plus to the call for inclusivity and anti-"ism."

Yeah, I quoted myself. +1. Go me! And go you! all of you. Lets just get back to riding bikes cuz we ain't all gonna' agree on this one. Sorry if I said anything to fan the flames. But lets all shut the **** up allready. We gotta' host Evan tomorrow so put yer lovely, nice, smilin faces back on and lets freakin party on bikes!

big thanks to kingpinjoel, poopncow, and ryand for fixing my first bike tonight!
clear the roads...
(yes I am going to buy a front brake)

http://static.flickr.com/45/187748710_fef78afa58.jpg

im excited about dc as a whole. i think you are all nice people, so i think you need to stop pissin on your own friends feet. unless of course your friend is into that...

Nice. Congratulations, sorry I couldn't help. Stupid job.

So I was just watching Futurama and I noticed sumpin. It was a flashback episode and Fry was delivering pizzas on a bike! Word!

Love love love that episode. You coming tomorrow? Shirley Temples...

hey, has anybody run into any of these around dc? i guess an artist has been making this stuff and putting them all over the place in ny and dc.

Jules, I believe your memory is failing you.

I was in fact along for the tri-state margarita rally, It was one of the last events before events were scheduled in oddly frustrating conflict with my obligations at chain reaction. I am not one for the names of events, I tend to ride and be done with it. But I remember another ride ending at courthouse in the early fall at that mexican joint with the glass bathroom door. What about the tandem ride that started at the jazz garden? Then there was a night that ended at Galaxy hut, as well as whatever the barenjager ride was when we tried to set Peter up with that bevy of beauties at wonderland. Another night when we rode up to visit elisa. Then there was another ride beginning at 14th and K and then heading to cap hill (dave had just gotten his bailey) I met LBK and we went to tunnicliffe's before I had to head off to visit my friend christy who was home, sick. I remember that one with extra clarity b/c I wanted to stick around and play that night. But friends in need come first.

Then there were various polo games, including the one that was played while I was in the hospital with my glasses in my cheek and no pirates to be seen.

2005 was a rough year.

Those are awesome! Haven't seen any of them though. I'll be out tonight but not 'til late.

+1

Hey Ryan,
That's mark jenkins I've got one of his pieces here at my place. Hadn't seen the guy in the hoodie yet, He's been doing the tape shell pieces for a while now. My buddy has a Vespa, I have a crutch. Every once and a while you'll just come across one on the street.
Good times building bikes and riding last night. Thanks for your help.

Joel

Yeah, there was one down at Gallery Place; saw it on Saturday, July 1.