Massing for Mass

This Friday will be Critical Mass and everybody is curious to see what happens, not the least of which is the Mayor who supposedly has a lot riding on it (see, riding, get it? Get it? We made a pun!). We are told that if things go wrong, it could reflect poorly on the Mayor as it will show that he is unable to control simple things like several hundred anarchist bikers out loose on the streets. Hey, wouldn't that discussion only encourage bikers? You know, like a biker would start thinking "hey, if I scare some poor, unsuspecting family from Walnut Creek, Gavin's approval rating could go down to 60%."

This is all in response to last month's Mass which saw two stories of supposed bike mayhem, that being the poor, scared soccer mom trapped in her mini-van and the angry limo driver who got his limo all scuffed up. To prevent any such problems this time around, the fuzz will double the number of cops (love the contrasting photos of unsmiling, baton weilding cops in black and white with happy, smiling, colorful kids on bikes) from last month and while the cops will still have a "hands off" policy, they are being told to hop in if anyone gets unruly. The cops have also said that they've talked to everyone involved, including the SF Bicycle Coalition, and everyone seems to be down with keeping it mellow. The Bike Coalition, however, is saying they'll do what they can, but as there are no real leaders of Critical Mass, they don't really have a say in all of this.