A little while back, I wrote an article titled Critical Massholes, in which I explained why I no longer participated in the Critical Mass bike ride (it’s in my blog’s archives, which aren’t working right now; I promise to fix that soon). In the article, I wrote that the actions of Critical Mass members — ignoring traffic signals, hogging the road in an attempt to “get back” at cars, picking fights — hinder rather than help the cause of urban cyclists like myself. These people make up a small part of Critical Mass, but they are influential. There’s always a group of them in any city’s Critical Mass.
I’ve just been told about an attempt to counter these people in San Francisco: Critical Manners. Here’s a brief description of the event:
Critical Manners: a revolutionary act of courtesy. Come put the nice back in the bike world with Critical Manners! A helmet-wearing, bell-ringing, blinkie-sportin’ good time for you and all your bike friends. Practice synchronized signaling, single file riding, stopping at stop signs and NOT blowing red lights. Critical Manners will brake for pedestrians, trolleys, and even the occasional SUV. If you’ve ridden in Critical Mass, you know about the “testosterone brigade”. Maybe it’s time you rode with Critical Manners — We take obedience of the law ridiculously seriously.
If you want to find out more about this event, see this discussion in Google Groups.
Toronto cyclists who still participate in Critical Mass: can we do this here? I’d rejoin Critical Mass if we took this idea and ran with it!
3 replies on “Critical Manners”
wow this is so-unhip it’s amazing its bum doesn’t fall off. where do I sign up?
@Hamish Grant: Hey, Hame!
Well, if you’re in the San Francisco area, it’s happening on Friday November 9th — meet up at northeast corner of Larkin and Grove (where Civic Center Plaza is) at 5:30 p.m.; the ride starts at 6.
Since you and I are both in Toronto, one of us will have to get the ear of the more influential folks at Critical Mass Toronto to get the ball rolling here.
Joey,
I, like you, used to enjoy critical mass in Toronto, until it got out of hand.
I think I recall seeing you ride with your accordion slung, and stopping to play some nineinchnails along the way. Those were the days when someone would hand out bicycle cards and clothespins and 75 cyclists would cruise down the streets “motoring” along, and celebrating the youthful innocence of bicycle riding. (what was that, like, 10 years ago?)
I, also like you, stopped riding with this group when they got too aggressive, pushing and yelling at pedestrians and car drivers, and strangely, even other cyclists!?
I’d be there if Critical Manners were to show up in Toronto. Sounds like a good balancing out of the cyclist representation in traffic.
/rd