Posted on 09/28/2007 5:42:33 AM PDT by period end of story
Tonight's Critical Mass in San Francisco marks the 15th anniversary of the rebellious rolling ride that locally has propelled the bicycle movement into the political mainstream and globally has been copied by hundreds of cities.
What began with four dozen bicyclists riding together up Market Street on Sept. 25, 1992, has turned into a monthly happening that regularly draws thousands of participants pedaling along the streets of San Francisco, at times drawing both praise and scorn.
The monthly Critical Mass rides are part political statement and part roving street festival and now are firmly part of San Francisco's cultural fabric.
Critical Mass has no organized leadership. The rides are promoted by word of mouth and over the Internet. The only constant is that they are held the last Friday of the month and start around 6 p.m. at Justin Herman Plaza at the foot of Market Street. The routes are fluid, often determined on the spot.
It is not uncommon for the mass rides to tie up automobile traffic for an hour or more just as people commuting by car or bus are trying to get home at the end of their workweek.
The rides on occasion have erupted into clashes - some verbal, some physical - involving cyclists, police, motorists and politicians. But they also have served to raise awareness that the streets are not just for the benefit of the private automobile.
"The role of Critical Mass has been a double-edged sword," said Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, an advocacy organization with 7,500 members that works independently of Critical Mass.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Moonbats.
it’s called show and go and in my community it’s just a bunch of (usually old guys) people who show up at a certain location (usually a bar) on a certain night and ride 30-40 miles and come back and drink beer.
As a sometime cyclist I would never think of joining up with these idiots. They give cyclists a bad name.
In May, Critical Mass was on the front pages again when the driver of a minivan carrying five children found herself in the path of hundreds of cyclists and ended up with her rear window smashed, allegedly by a cyclist using a bike as a weapon. Some witnesses at the scene said it was the driver who started the fracas when her vehicle struck a cyclist.
Over the years, drivers have reported that cyclists have spat at them, reached through their windows and hit them, and pounded on their cars;
How to handle ‘Critical Mass’ bicyclers, My experience at Bio 2004:
To: liberallyconservative
Oh, OK...
After moving less than half a block in 20 minutes (one block away from from Moscone), a bunch of bicyclists started riding between the cars, leader with a bull horn, shouting something about taking over the streets.
He had the horn pointed back wards so I didn’t hear him coming. Durn! he got away!
However, I popped my door open in front of the third or so cyclist in the string. (I did look first to make sure he had room to stop).
He screams “You effin’ clymer!!!” (OK, I cleaned it up a little, so sue me...)
I looked up smiled sweetly and said “That makes two of us...”
Totally messed them up. They had to stop and regroup. His buds split leaving him with two young “ladies” to protect him from the mean man in the car. Boo fricking hoo
I closed the door and he started to pass by and continued to berate me. When he was adjacent to the door I popped it open at him, not to hit him, but to persuade him to move along.
He darn near fell off his bike trying to dodge me.
“We’re going to call 911!!!”
“Don’t bother, I’ll call for you” which I did. (The line was busy)
He and the two chicks decided that it was past their collective bedtimes or something and split.
Felt GOOD...
3,573 posted on 06/08/2004 5:57:17 PM PDT by null and void
As a frequent nearly hard core cyclist, I have nothing but contempt for these clods. THey are not cyclists. They are just idiots riding bikes.
Good job. I bet that guy with the bull-horn was a real piece of work.
You can’t advocate anything in San Francisco without also hating something. It is not enough to be out in the fresh air riding a bike, you also have to hate the people in cars. It is not enough to embrace an gay lifestyle and do whatever you want with whomever you want, you also have to despise the “breeders” and the religious.
Dunno, all I ever saw was his back.
We should withdraw the U.S. armed forces from the anti-military City of San Francisco, and they can form the leading edge of the San Francisco Army.
Is that the picture we have? Does that help explain why the Democrat Party has reached "critical mass" and is about to explode, with Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco as its leader. such as she is, in the House?
Congressman Billybob
Watch for trouble in Minneapolis during tonight’s ride. Last month’s ride turned violent and is still being investigated. Or, shall we say, the police are being investigated because they had to use some force to get the thing under control. Some of the same anarchists that will be in the Twin Cities during the RNC have infiltrated the group of riders and are stirring the pot.
And cagers hold grudges. Create enough bad will, and people will die. Not deliberately, but in those situations where people were formerly polite, many will remember a Friday they were two hours late, and in making a judgement call, may be less than charitable.
When I had a long commute, sometimes I would get stuck behind cyclists, some of whom rode two abreast on my winding country road. I would despise them.
Then, when I got home, I would change, and take my evening bike ride. On the way to the trails, I would be menaced by cagers in the Soccer Mom Death March.
I think I can be impartial. I have a heavy bike, at 34#. Many vehicles weigh a hundred times that, and the Physics is not negotiable.
Anybody know the link to the video of the SUV with the internally mounted power "mini-gun"?? That is the appropriate answer to these jerks.
At the rate things are going, these guys are going to be in for a surprise when they find out they’ll need to buy carbon offsets to compensate for excessive exhalation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.