So I'm hearing through the wires that there will be a Critical Mass ride in Tacoma on April 24th from 6-8pm starting at Jefferson Park (North 9th and Madison).
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Not sure if we'll make it, but I've never attended a Critical Mass ride and haven't heard of one in Tacoma before. Might be worth checking out...
3 comments:
I'll be avoiding it like the plague.
I know that the "idea" is good, but in practice, all it does is piss off motorists and create conflict.
The whole "corking" intersections does nothing to make the average commuter want to get on thier bike or make them friendly towards cyclists.
After the last incident in Seattle, (and in other areas) I want to disassociate myself from CM as much as possible.
Hopefully, the Tacoma group will set a good example instead of just pissing people off and creating conflict, but these things do have a way of getting out of hand in a bad way.
I blogged about this after the incident in Seattle last year.
http://awildcelticrose.blogspot.com/2008/07/critical-mass-or-critical-mess.html
Ms. Celtic Rose has been busy blathering all over the internet telling people that CM is evil, and the dirty radical anarchist hippies are coming to make everyone hate bicyclists. This saddens me.
I tried posting a comment to her blog entry, but it has not appeared, and may be in a moderation queue. Or has already been moderated? Anyway, I wanted to share some thoughts:
I find Ms. Rose's response to Critical Mass quite offensive. At least two persons from the TWBC (who identified themselves as such) arrived, spoke arrogantly to a friend about the 'dirty radical' element in Critical Mass, then proceeded to say rude, and generally awful things to participants.
It is inappropriate to ride up on someone without a helmet, and sneer at them, spitting out a comment about how they must not value their life, then sprint away to another part of the ride. I would have to say, both participants from TWBC were completely rude.
It is fine if TWBC does not support the aims of CM, but they were nowhere to be seen when another friend was nearly run down by a driver, and a fellow CM'er got off their bike and planted it in the road blocking the driver, until the in-trouble cyclist could pedal away.
I could and should probably address the outrageous tone about "the anarchists" in the post (scary, I know), but I'll leave that for another day.
I hope in the future the TWBC members will at least be civil to CM'ers. We are all fellow bicyclists, after all.
Lisa,
Why is this some sort of crusade with you? You apparently have never attended a CM. You posted that uninformed blast after the 'last incident' (hmm... been boringly going on monthly ever since without any incidents) where it was shown that the initial reports were fabrications by the media and the driver who retracted and apologized in The Stranger.
I'll be attending CM this month. I'm not going to judge people, I'm going to ride my bike with others that want to ride their bikes. Don't have to kit up in my spandex and jersey advertising something... won't have a TWBC member berating me if I don't have a helmet (heck on a trike in a parking lot rolling at 2mph I've had members act like I was holding up a bank with a shotgun). Don't think this group will call me a kamikaze because I actually ride streets in a manner that works but doesn't fit into the get out of the way of cars mentality.
I'd recommend you don't avoid it... maybe you should show up and ride so that you actually know what you are talking about.
I could argue that the whole driving to a local MUP and riding your bike up and down a path does nothing to make the average commuter want to get on their bike or make them friendly towards cyclists. That riding in huge events like STP pisses motorists off as well... have you read the comments on news articles about that? Same antibike trolls making the same comments you parroted about CM. Maybe REI should get out of sponsoring such a controversial event that inflames motorists... or not.
CM rider...
I'm a TWBC member and enjoy riding with the group. It needs some fresh blood though, something they recognize and are trying to address. The demographic tends to be over 50 and very opinionated, neither one a bad thing. Some very well informed opinions (as well as some poorly formed ones) and much experience in the group garnered over the years. Plus many of those riders can ride me into the ground if they so chose... but they as a rule do not and the TWBC reaches out in many ways to promote cycling and get infrastructure installed even though it may take decades of work for each small victory. Could definitely use some younger riders that want to continue the continue the fight from within the system.
Looking forward to Friday!
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