DropDeadFred

https://youtu.be/PF7uY9ydMYc
friggin hipsters


oh yeah...that lady in the car is nuts...

Juan Foote

I don't participate in Critical Mass rides. This manner of asshattery goes on much too often. Recently at one of the Atl rides a guy got in a fistfight with a motorist. I want cagers ON our side.

wi.flash

That is ridiculous. I would have been so pissed if I was driving.

Here is another from the side link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ER2T...eature=related

DropDeadFred

asshat hipsters....

DropDeadFred

i was going to post that one originally...its where i got the link from...thats in brazil...nuts huh?

Juan Foote

If you have never attended, these are meant to be non-violent protest of the way automobiles act as if the road is theirs. Cyclist purposefully block off major roads and intersections, ride slowly along, acting as if the motorists don't exist much like they do us. The problem is it almost always ends up in one or more confrontations just like what you just saw.

DropDeadFred

well...things like our ride of silence which had a police escort and permit from the city. There are proper ways to do things and people like this seem to miss the point. They are still breaking the law by riding like this, and they aren't bringing awareness to anything. They are breeding hatred and resentment

Juan Foote

+1

ErichM

Totally agree. I'm a roadie and if I was in a car behind that **** I would want to get into a fist fight as well.

GP

People don't hate cyclists because of CM or a few hipsters. People hate cyclists because of middle aged roadies that run signs and lights, take up the whole lane and generally act like ******bags.

kenji666

If cyclists want to "get even" with motorists, why don't they dive bomb down a hill at 45 mph into an intersection and run into cars? Maybe that will thin down the herd of stupid cyclists.

urbanknight

Exactly.

The definition of insanity according to Albert Einstein: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

Northwestrider

People just hate people that are different than themselves. I've never done a CM, but in this case, it seems to me the motorist was clearly at fault. Anger is a powerful force hey. I hope the kids foot was ok.

dahut

Okay, lessee -
First, there was no excuse for that motorist. If there is a God, or karma, some bad juju is gonna come down.

Now, as for the bicycling blockheads in the vid....

I'm gonna get in a mass cycling group with a lot of other people, riding slowly all over the road? Is that about right?
Many of my fellow riders are probably stoned, if looks mean anything, and most seem to think good sense = FTW.
So, once on the road, we'll ride around as willy nilly as we wish... we'll make a show for all those mean old cars.
We'll tempt them, we'll taunt them and forget that they weigh about 20 time more than we do, right?

And in return, we expect people will respect and honor us for our efforts? Is that about it?

I believe the word used here is "asshattery?" I like that. I'll also add childish and naive.

PS I rarely find motorists "ignore" me as a cyclicst. Quite the opposite is true, in fact.
While there will always be a few dimwits in their own little world, most drivers I encounter do not appear to be oblivious to my presence.

DropDeadFred

Not THE reason...but it definitely doesn't help...it's bad enough people are uncomfortable on the road with us...let's get a group and take up ALL of the road and piss them off...

you first

spock

You are absolutely right. If CMs didn't exist, motorists would love cyclists. That's like so true and stuff.

urbanknight

You're absolutely right, but that doesn't mean to ignore the fact that the cyclists were also breaking the law and invading people's rights. The guy still didn't deserve to be viciously mowed down like that, but he also can't be surprised that one out of the hundreds of people he was taunting and provoking was insane enough to take the bait.

ErichM

Just as an aside: Thank you for attributing that to Einstein. People often say that phrase without the attribution, and I wonder if they don't actually think that is the definition.

rizz

The problem with these types of events is that they are encouraging riders to *not* ride the bike correctly. No helmets, often a lack of lights and they seem to like to run at dusk or later, and they block the roads which is technically against the law. Add in the way they often block side traffic (illegally) and run lights (illegal) plus a host of other things and it's making the situation worse, not better.

Don't support critical mass: it's spreading all the wrong ideas and none of the good ones and often to the younger crowd was just propagates more of this careless behavior.

Nachoman

Big deal. some cyclists slowed down some drivers for a few minutes.

dahut

Dont worry, you have my vote against it.

urbanknight

I think it's more important that that. It's people willfully impeding the rights of other people. If someone paints graffiti on a building, so what? People just have to see unsightly markings and the owner just had to get a pint of paint to cover it up. Big deal, right? If someone parks their car in a dedicated bike lane, the rider just has to check for traffic and move over. Big deal, right? If someone pushes the door close button instead of holding the door because you're calling out to hold the elevator door, you just have to wait for it to come back. Big deal, right?

The big deal is common courtesy. Why bother doing something that has a negative effect on someone while having no positive effect for you or anyone else?

spock

https://lacriticalmass.org/index.php/...8-comeprepared

https://news.yahoo.com/los-angeles-la...143559936.html

Coincidence? It might be that freedom to assembly does work.

halfspeed

Cyclists aren't hated because of law-breaking cyclists or CM. Cyclists are hated because motorists feel entitled to drive a minimum of 5MPH over the speed limit at all times and cyclists in the road interfere with maintaining that fiction. CM and other bad cyclist behavior just provides motorists with excuses to behave the way they want to anyway.

Commodus

CM is just about providing a vision in which the car is not the center of the world. I think this is a good thing. Sure, some people get involved in it and act inappropriately. Okay.

I don't think it's about getting the drivers to respect us. A lot of people say this, "HEY GUYS! DRIVERS JUST WON'T LOVE YOU IF YOU GET IN THEIR WAY LIKE THIS! MAYBE IF WE WERE JUST BETTER AT GETTING OUT OF THEIR WAY THEY WOULD LOVE US ENOUGH TO STOP KILLING PEOPLE!!!"

But that's not the issue, and it never was. CMers don't care about getting drivers to respect us, or care about us, or like us or anything else. CM was born from frustration at living in a world in which the primary mode of transportation transforms and destroys the landscape in which we live. Thousands of fatalities each year, smog choking the air, highways stretching thousands of kms that belong to the commons, yet we can't use unless we purchase membership to this ridiculous club? Should we start another war to procure some more fuel? This is all okay?

And yet you dumbasses, riding around on what may very well be the solution, continue to defend the problem. That's the beauty of our system, those most victimized by it are its staunchest defenders.

I mean really, when you're stuck in traffic and see this sea of autos, don't you ever think that maybe this is a little crazy? When you see a gigantic concrete structure in the middle of some of the most expensive land in the whole country dedicated to housing these things, this seems normal to you?

That's the real problem, not a couple of hippies who maybe get a little too enthusiastic in the midst of their demonstration.