We are traffic
Monday, April 09, 2007
I recently participated in my first Critical Mass here in Boston, and while it was not as eventful as the Critical Mass in New York or San Fransisco, it was not without it's moments.
Critical Mass has a name and a meeting time, and that's about it. The meeting time is usually the last Friday of the month and the name refers to the amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The basic idea is that all the bike riders of a particular city congregate at a certain point and, together as a single mass, bike around the city with no predetermined route simply going where the group wants to go. The ride has no set length and riders simply flake off when they get tired of biking or, in my case, when the mass goes by their apartment. Critical Mass is not an official organization or protest, and there are no leaders or goal to the monthly ride and it is simply what the participants make of it. Critical Mass has the effect of increasing motorist awareness of cyclists, as it is pretty hard not to notice a swarm of 200 or so cyclists on the roads, as well as pissing off a few already irate motorists (the Critical Mass in Boston takes place at 5:30, rush hour, on Friday). For the most part participants abide by the traffic laws, with the exception of corking. Corking the drivers is an attempt to maintain formation and prevents cars from trying to squeeze their way into the group, and causes a few drivers to honk and shout. Some to try to use their cars as weapons, threatening the corks, even though for the entire procession to pass it takes around 2 minutes.
The cycling snobs quite frequently looks down their noses at the CMers referring to participants with pejoratives such as anarchist and hippie. While it is true that Critical Mass has no leader and lacks any organizational structure (and therefore accountability), Critical Mass is apolitical and fiercely so. Case in point: Organizers for an group called a28.org wanted to co-opt the April ride to make a political statement, however on the email list participants were quick to cry foul. It was a bit surreal to bike around Boston with such a large group of cyclists and quite a bit of fun. Below are pictures from the ride.
Critical Mass has a name and a meeting time, and that's about it. The meeting time is usually the last Friday of the month and the name refers to the amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The basic idea is that all the bike riders of a particular city congregate at a certain point and, together as a single mass, bike around the city with no predetermined route simply going where the group wants to go. The ride has no set length and riders simply flake off when they get tired of biking or, in my case, when the mass goes by their apartment. Critical Mass is not an official organization or protest, and there are no leaders or goal to the monthly ride and it is simply what the participants make of it. Critical Mass has the effect of increasing motorist awareness of cyclists, as it is pretty hard not to notice a swarm of 200 or so cyclists on the roads, as well as pissing off a few already irate motorists (the Critical Mass in Boston takes place at 5:30, rush hour, on Friday). For the most part participants abide by the traffic laws, with the exception of corking. Corking the drivers is an attempt to maintain formation and prevents cars from trying to squeeze their way into the group, and causes a few drivers to honk and shout. Some to try to use their cars as weapons, threatening the corks, even though for the entire procession to pass it takes around 2 minutes.
The cycling snobs quite frequently looks down their noses at the CMers referring to participants with pejoratives such as anarchist and hippie. While it is true that Critical Mass has no leader and lacks any organizational structure (and therefore accountability), Critical Mass is apolitical and fiercely so. Case in point: Organizers for an group called a28.org wanted to co-opt the April ride to make a political statement, however on the email list participants were quick to cry foul. It was a bit surreal to bike around Boston with such a large group of cyclists and quite a bit of fun. Below are pictures from the ride.
- http://picasaweb.google.com/gobikey/BostonCriticalMassMarch07
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass
- http://critical-mass.info/
Labels: bike, biking, boston, critical-mass, cycling, General
posted by eric at
4:58 PM
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