San Francisco Critical Mass, April 2007
Typical of many out-of-towners, Rachael and Monica here at first didn’t know what to make of things. They initially appeared perturbed, but later posed for cell phone photos in front of the parade of cyclists, making the best of their inconvenience.
The rolling Rorschach test that is Critical Mass once again delighted and frustrated those in S.F. tonight. We saw pissed-off bus riders, but also a few delighted hotel guests. We saw some Massers temporarily stop to let a bus (to the exclusion of any other vehicles) through, but also saw dozens of other buses left stranded for something like 15-20+ minutes. There was a ton of media there, what with TV channels 3,4,5, and 7 all flying in whirlybirds for the event. We need the exercise, so why not go for a ride we thought?
Join us for more shots of the Waterfront, North Beach, SOMA, and the Haight, a funny quote from an SFPD officer, plus a little commentary after the jump.
Looks like Frank Chu might have some competition now.
The MTA was out in force.
Market Street
We scored some liquid swag from the good people at ROCKSTAR. (Is that the real URL painted on their promotional vehicle below?) Workers from the van spontaneously started handing out free mango energy juice, thereby causing a very small traffic jam of stopped bikes.
SFPD Officer: “They’re handing out drinks. Are we going to allow that?”
Other SFPD (Sergeant?), in a resigned tone: “We allow everything else.”
Shortly after, this crew assisted with the detention of a suspect on Sixth Street.
Overheard later from the same group: “You KNOW that motherfucker’s going to jail, man.” Que bueno.
The driver of this #12 attempted to cross the path of the vanguard. She didn’t quite make it. Her fairly dejected riders steamed just a few feet away from an aging Acura filled with delighted youths who appeared amazed at suddenly seeing a mass of hundreds of bikes going down Columbus.
Haight Street
A push-me-pull-you in the Haight. What's in the trunk?
This pilot from Channel 3 flew pretty low over the Haight by the light of the silvery. Someone else was even lower. Are there minimum heights that these choppers must maintain over rooftops? Can these pilots safely autorotate if they suddenly lose power? We suppose a good flier could, but even so, some of these eggbeaters seemed awfully low tonight. We all want to be Safe Under Watchful Eyes, right?
Well there you have it. All in all, a pretty mellow evening, AFAWCS