That news piece is quite a joke. First, the one woman with glasses was there and she was way out of control from my point of view. Second, that woman with the neon yellow jacket wasn't even at the scene.Hmmm...Third, like I said from in my previous post there was no one hit or lying on the ground etc. At this point in time it looks like a bunch of D!(% Heads trying to save face after acting like animals. If that would have been me in that van surrounded by hooligans there would have definitely been people lying on the ground with tread marks. Don't f#(% with someones family, period!

I wonder if CrazyHorse is enjoying the free air time. You'd think SFBC would want to conduct their interview a little further from their offices in the Tenderloin, just for appearances.

i got 20 says those kids wouldn't have been so quick with the u-locks if it had been a man instead of a woman and two kids. chicken**** to wil out on a chick with kids - bottom line

looks like the van has tinted windows. i doubt the bikers had any idea

sorry adam, i'm not buying that. vans with smoked glass aren't full-on gangsta tints that you can't see through, and the law prevents windshields from being tinted at all.

whatever though - i feel like CM brings out the worst in everyone, drivers and cyclists. it's a confrontational thing, and tempers get heated, people do things they normally wouldn't. i really feel it's now totally counter-productive, sets cops against cyclists in general, pisses people off in general, and achieves absolutely nothing positive to offset that.

Isn't the A and S forum up there somewheres? (huge thread there already)

to say Critical Mass is a political event anymore is a pretty thin statement. it seems that a majority of participants could care less about any sort of political action or message, they are simply out to take back a bit of authority for all the times they've been threatened by a car.

The woman was obviously freaked out, swarmed by droves of cyclists @ 9pm? She was scared, she tried to leave the 'scene' because its obviously no place for a car. Cyclists swarm, they get bumped, and there's the excuse to exact 'revenge.' Its a shame that both parties are trying to spin themselves into victims.

Both should take responsibility, and we should all look forward to this happening again next month... I'll see you there!

i'm willing to bet that on the bike side, there was one escalator with a u-lock, a dozen angry people, and a few hundred people acting perfectly rational.

i'm also willing to bet that on the car side, there was one person driving in a threatening and possibly dangerous manner.

who's to say what any of us would have done in any of those shoes?

maybe, just maybe, those of us who weren't there can withhold the harsh judgement.

it's not harsh to say that this kind of publicity tars us all as cyclists. clearly no-one was hurt, whatever the nature of the "collision," and attacking a car with women and kids in it is lame. it doesn't help anyone advocating for cyclist rights, it reinforces the negative perception the cops have of cyclists, and if i get hit on my bike i want the cops who come to the scene to be supportive of my claims, not assuming i'm some kind of radical ne'er-do-well who got what was coming to him

hoard mentality is a hellofa drug.

Here's another critical mass

^^ oof!

i agree with you, eddie. i think it's worthwhile to condemn that behavior without writing off all of critical mass - mostly because the people i've known who have been enthusiasts of CM have been decent, wonderful, kind, respectful, and smart people who wouldn't stand for that **** that happened in SF.

BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! More photo shop!

Entertain me!

i think i'm going to hit the santa monica critical mass tonight. anyone else going?

Nobody since today is not the last friday of the month. Or is that how you roll in Santa Monica?

thats how they rollz in Oaklandvilletownburg.

that ***** deserved it for being fat and driving a minivan

end of story

bunny hop for the win.

Oh, and I love how the mom put them in their Catholic school uniforms for the newspaper photo.

In my experience these things don't happen without being provoked I think the woman is enhancing her truth to make herself seem more innocence

I think she had something to do with provoking the cyclists

Everyone check out the expression on the face of the guy running over the Russian. He is clearly saying 'OH NOES'

As for CM, I think there is a political message to it. The problem is that no one is really sure what it might be.

Not to beat a dead horse. But I saw the whole "Critial Smash" minivan scenario go down. The woman knew she hit the cyclist - she hit her brakes before she hit the gas. The cops on the scene wouldn't let the cyclist press "hit and run" charges unless he took an ambulance ride. He said "F-that, that's bullsh*t" and rode off. You can read my account here: www.urbandelicious.com .

FYI - Matier and Ross are working on another 1 sided Critical Mass story about a limo driver.
There's a political slant to this whole thing: The decision on healthy Saturdays in GGP takes place April 9 which Matier opposes and is trying to
push anti-bike sentiment. Otherwise none of these stories would had even made the news.

more like oh noes this dudes belly might break my carbon!