Seattle's In-Your-Face Cyclists

[Lake Hills Renter]

[Lake Hills Renter]

[lamont]

[lamont]

[biliruben]

[Robroy]

Critical Mass is to us cyclists what Gay Pride parades (or Nambla) is to homosexuals.

[rose-colored-coolaid]

[Notabull]

[WestSideBilly]

[WestSideBilly]

[Civil Servant]

Well written and astute critical analysis of CM, written largely as a response to the NYC incident, here:

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2008/07 ... cocks.html

...One of the things that make cycling so great is that it enables you to avoid crowds and pointless delays. Few things are more satisfying than effortlessly weaving your way through a traffic jam. So while I'll begrudge nobody his or her Critical Mass, personally I don't understand the appeal of forming a crowd and creating a pointless delay. And it is a delay, whether you're in a car or on a bike. I once accidentally got caught in a Critical Mass ride while out riding. I felt like a dolphin ensnared in a tuna net. One second I was sailing along, and the next I was trapped among a bunch of people with rickety bikes rolling on wobbly, rusty brown steel rims on the verge of collapse. It was like watching a Beatles "Yellow Submarine"-esque cartoon LSD sequence where all the bicycles were rolling on pretzels. Sure, they had taken back the streets, but I wish that as a cyclist they might have saved a small sliver for me so I could get to where I was going.

[biliruben]

I can agree with that. I largely avoid riding with others...

... unless they are hot (back when I was single, honey! Ouch!).

I can't imagine doing the STP. Sounds like a nightmare. I would do chilly hilly the weekend before everyone else, back when I had the time and inclination, so to speak.

Everybody on the road could be antigonistic to every one else, but it wouldn't get you where you are going any faster.

[lamont]

[TJ_98370]

You urbanites, you do have have your problems. When I ride my bike, running into a marauding cow is my most major worry!

[Robroy]