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CBS 5 reporter Joe Vazquez, who took to the streets with critical massers last month, posed a question: Why isn't critical mass paying its fair share for the cost of their monthly ride? After all, according to Vazquez, an event permit would be $1,000 (that's $12,000 for the year), required portable bathrooms (?!) are another $500 each time ($6,000 for the year), a $1,000 cleaning deposit ($12,000 a year), police protection at 20 officers comes to more than $112,000 a year, and another $13,000 for two sergeants. This makes a grand total of $155,060 tax dollars.
The simple answer is that Critical Mass isn't an organization, so it can't pony up any kind of dough. Another answer is that the ride (allegedly) does the planet Earth good, so give them a free pass. When Vasquez asked SF Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi and David Campos, two of Critical Mass's biggest supporters, about charging the monthly bike ride, they replied, "Critical Mass shits gold bricks and pees ambrosia. How dare you suggest anything less, kind sir." Or something like that.
But what say you? Do you think riders should be charged an event fee for their end-of-the-month protest? Or, more to the point, how is that even possible?
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Absolutely not. Critical Mass is an act of civil disobedience, a protest to draw non-cyclist's attention towards the fact that we cyclists share the road with their stupid looking asses and are frequently, hurt, maimed, or killed as a result of their thoughtless, selfish, bad behavior behind the wheel. That's what anti-Critical Mass types who whine about it don't get. It's not an event akin to that douchebag festival, Bay to Breakers, warranting major surcharges, fines, prison time, etc. Would you charge anti-war protesting hippies or those floppy hootered Code Pink broads for taking to the streets in protest? No way. That would be the quickest way to get the ACLU all up in your "grille" with a nice case of violation of 1st Amendment guarantees to free speech. Same with Critical Mass. Duh.
So CM participants can get their "thoughtless, selfish, bad behavior" in, I see?
I say charge $100 per participant, cash only.
aj, why do you hate our democracy?
I love our democracy.*
*Some conditions and convenience fees may apply.
100 dollars for the year, or for each ride?
Huh? I must be confused. How does clogging the streets and breaking every conceivable traffic law constitute a guarantee to 1st Amendment rights?
And the last time I checked, most 'acts of civil disobedience' don't have police escorts and motorcades.
I sense TAYM's sarcasm at work.
A driver! SHAME!
Are you seriously incapable of understanding how Critical Mass is a protest, a protected form of speech?
I get pissed everytime I see these freeloading jackholes riding through the 'Loin with police protection. Those cops should, and I'm pretty sure they'd rather would, you know, be out preventing and solving crimes (or at least trying to) than chaperoning the bunch of self-absorbed and self-righteous goofs on the public's dollar.
And porta-potties? Really? Gawd. Critical Mass can eat a giant bag of dicks.
You're talking about the Dalai Lama, right? It's a little hard to tell.
Freedom* of assembly.
($155,060)
Every conceivable traffic law, eh? Way to throw your own ass into the booby-hatch.
well. this comment sure lost its reply-to somewhere.
Wow I've never thought about this before, but what happens to someone in a cab who gets stuck in the middle of Critical Mass? Suckaroo...
Anyway, a protest that occurs on a monthly basis for years and years becomes less a protest and more an event at some point. I absolutely think someone should foot the bill for the police escort, among other things.
Said passenger is screwed. Participants don't care.
Anyway, a protest that occurs on a monthly basis for years and years becomes less a protest and more an event at some point. I absolutely think someone should foot the bill for the police escort, among other things.
1.) You humans don't get it. Charge WHOM? There is no Critical mass organization. It's not like Harry Larvae and those irritating Burning Man hippies. Critical Mass just happens!
2.) Until you drivers wake up and realize that you just ran over and killed some dumb looking hipster chick on a fixie crossing Masonic at Fell or Market and Octavia, there will be need for cyclists to take to the streets in protest to make your lives as hazardous and painful for one day as you people do for us every other day of the year. This is not an event, it's a protest at your sense of entitlement.
versus bikers entitlement to weaving through traffic and avoiding stop signs and red lights?
Right, because every single cyclist out there does that.
Well the last time I saw a CM, indeed -- they ALL did this. I am not claiming that every biker out there does this, but there is a sense of entitlement in this town that a biker can do whatever they like which I would presume causes a lot of the accidents and deaths in the first place involving biker vs. vehicle. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a biker fly through a red light, avoid a stop sign and nearly hit a pedestrian I could actually buy a house in SF.
...there is a sense of entitlement in this town that a biker can do whatever they like which I would presume causes a lot of the accidents and deaths in the first place involving biker vs. vehicle.
Is this irony? I think you people need to get a new analysis. You're operating from the assumption that roads are for automobiles first and foremost and that cyclists are some kind of interlopers. Both cyclists and drivers have a right to use the road. While I won't disagree that some cyclists are stupid and get killed as a result (like that hipster in Santa Cruz who rode his brakeless fixie down a hill, flew over the handle bars when he couldn't stop, and smashed head on into an open UPS truck door, thus contributing to a cleaner gene pool), way more often than not, cyclists are killed due to inept, thoughtless drivers who are too busy applying make up in their rearview mirrors, yattering on their mobile phones, or picking their noses to notice that they're about to mow down a three year old on a tricycle.
You guys are worse than Rob Anderson!
I'd bet significant money that you don't use arm signals when you turn.
I'd bet significant money that you don't use arm signals when you turn.
I do, actually. I have to. Not just because it's the law, but because self righteous, hipper than thou, fixie riders like you, Travin, think nothing of passing me on the right when I'm making a right hand turn in their mad dash to Self Edge to buy the latest in skinny jeans before they go out of style 20 minutes after they're put up for sale.
BTW, do your parents know that your gambling away your trust fund on the internets making stupid bets like this?
the angry young man is on fire!
now, please share with us your plan to tax hippies and code pink androgenoids out of existence.
now, please share with us your plan to tax hippies and code pink androgenoids out of existence.
You can't tax people who've been rounded up and gassed...
1.) You humans don't get it. Charge WHOM? There is no Critical mass organization. It's not like Harry Larvae and those irritating Burning Man hippies. Critical Mass just happens!
Easy. You block off the streets and ticket everyone there. Want to keep them from getting away? That's easy too. Two words: Tear Gas.
CM doesn't "just happen." It's promoted. You get promoters. You find a poster in a bike shop? Fine the bike shop. They're help organizing it.
2.) Until you drivers wake up and realize that you just ran over and killed some dumb looking hipster chick on a fixie
You mean hipster on the fixie without brakes, without the helmet, wearing all black, at night, without a light (let alone reflectors), that just made an illegal left, through a red light, without looking? You mean that bicyclist? Oh yeah, the bicyclist is totally always without blame, because they're pure as the driven snow, and really *care* about the environment, rather than those people in cars. Yeah, fuck those cars who believe that they have to follow "the law." That "law" is just another way that "The Man" is trying to keep down the bicyclists to promote the petro-military-patriarchy.
Yeah, and that's why CHP finds that 60% of all car-bike accidents, are caused by the cyclist. That's why that finding is also confirmed by big bad academics.
This is not an event, it's a protest at your sense of entitlement
Wow. It must be hard to sit down when you're so far stuck up your ass.
Looking forward to your illegal left.
If you're coordinating thousands of bicyclists and coordinating with police for an escort.....that's organization. They should pay their fair share. Why should I as a tax payer have to pay for these D-bags?
Who is coordinating? No one "coordinates" critical mass. People just show up the last Friday of the month at an agreed upon place and then ride their bikes around the city. There's not much to coordinate and there aren't any organizers.
The police presence is coordinated, but the participants didn't ask for it, that's something the police do because they think they should.
"at an agreed upon place and then ride their bikes"
Sure sounds like an organized group to me! Perhaps you could organize paying "an agreed upon price" for your event.
I hate this stupid "protest." Fine, I hate cars too but these assholes always clog traffic for bus riders and people who need to get somewhere. I love how I have to wait 10 minutes to cross the street so these assholes can make their point. We got it already, any need to do this every month?
I bike to work most every day but never participate in CM. They do not help 1 bit in making SF better for bikers; yet they piss of many, including myself for giving riders a bad name. They do not just ride down Market in protest; they will clog intersections and start dancing in the middle to really piss off drivers etc...
Bike to work day and other positive outreaches are the best ways to further the cause.
IZ1, were this World War II, you would be Vichy France!
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime
I agree. Personally, CM doesn't bother me one way or another. I rode in it when I first moved here, just for the sheer novelty, but stopped once I came to the realization that CM isn't about educating anyone. It mainly appears to be geared toward pissing as many people off as possible. Once I saw people on bikes riding slowing in circles in intersections, with no other purpose than causing driver aggravation, I know CM is way more cost than benefit. Angering people is not going to win them to your side.
On the other hand, it's not like people are caught completely unawares by this thing. Last Friday of the month, 6 - 7 or so. Who doesn't know this? Plan accordingly. Of course, if you're having a heart attack in the back of an ambulance, then yes it sucks. However, I've seen an ambulance come through the Stockton Tunnel during a CM, and it was way, WAY easier to clear bikes out of the way than it would have been to clear cars out.
But yes, if they require police protection, they should be paying for it.
Bike to Work Day should have to get a permit and pay. Last year 2x the number of cyclists on market than cars - bogging up traffic. Make the freeloaders pay.
I lost all sympathy for a lot of bikers in this town when one almost hit me on the sidewalk a few years ago, then looked at me like I was nuts. My feelings were codified when I saw one blow a red light and hit someone crossing the street.
Clogging up the roads is at best a nuisance and at worst a threat if emergency vehicles need to get through. Tell them to either get a permit or GTFO. The monthly Parade Of The Attention Whores needs to end, and asking them to pay for their "protest" is probably the quickest way to do that.
People who ride their bikes on sidewalks should be executed.
Keep doing God's Work, TAYM
Have you considered finding a way CM could (further) clog up the Market Street tunnel? Us bastards riding the backs of Muni's massive metal Death Monsters just don't get it yet.
Riding around town going woo woo on the last Friday of every month is just pathetic, plain and simple. You're just another group of people pretending you've got a cause, pretending you're having fun and pretending to yourselves that we don't think you're a bunch of jaspers. And the last time I saw your awesome display of free speech, there was about seven of you and not one was fuckable.
Fizzanpop, I ride CM sometimes and I have never said "woo woo" in my life. You people have strange ideas about what cyclists do. I blame it on the prejudice!
Please, you're denying the existence of whitey's happy noise at every intersection? You know, that noise that whitey makes when he wants to inform other people that he's pretty sure he's having an awesome time, and even if he's not quite sure, he's sure he's supposed to be having an awesome time because all the other liberal arts-educated kids around him seem to be having an awesome time, and these are the people he feels most comfortable around, but not necessarily the group he identifies himself with because, well, he's different.
I've been biking to and from work (daily) and from the loin to sausalito (weekly) since October. I love biking and no I've never had a near accident with a car, bus or otherwise.
I have my guesses.
1. I stop at all stop signs and traffic signals.
2. I yield to pedestrians
3. I always use streets that have a bike lane
4. My bike is covered with over 5 high LED lights.
5. I signal properly before changing lanes.
6. I never ride my bike in the rain.
7. I never ride on sidewalks.
8. I avoid congested streets and if i have no choice, I make no sudden movements and ride my bike defensively.
However! I see at least a dozen bicycle riders every day circle in the cross walk at red lights, ignore stop signs, ride in the middle of the road, not have lights on their bike, dart in and out of traffic and NEVER signal when they're going to turn.
I'm all for critical mass IF there was an actual problem with cars hitting bicyclists but where I come from (redneck florida), bicyclists were hit every single day despite following all traffic laws because cars have no clue bikes are even around but in SF, cars do look out for you and I'm on a bike at least an hour every day.
How about every bicyclist in San Francisco follow every traffic law, use defensive riding and be courteous and you might start seeing better results but as I see it cars have to deal with us asshole bike riders every day and then once a month we take it too far and completely eff up the 5 o' clock rush hour for thousands of drivers.
What about doing critical mass on a Saturday? Thousands of drivers at 5PM are trying to get out of the city and you guys are fucking it up. chill the eff out and be decent citizens like your parents raised you.
Adam Jackson - that strategy worked so well for Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough and so on and so on and so on...
I am largely in your situation: bike everyday, don't own a car, etc and so forth. I don't follow every rule of the law (I am an "Idaho stop" enthusiast). But I can't really disagree with your saying stopping fully is better. However I do disagree with a few of you points:
Nothing wrong with avoiding busy streets or being careful (and blowing through lights and stop signs: that's utterly insane) but I think hiding on "bike lanes" and only biking when it's nice and clear just makes it seem like cycling is an optional activity. For me it's not. I have no car. I can get to work in twenty minutes by bike but the bus takes forty minutes to an hour (if everything works out!)
That said, I have never participated in CM because it strikes me as utterly counterproductive and the only times I've interacted with it have been as a cyclist (not participating, just trying to get somewhere) or a pedestrian and I've been annoyed every time.
Rachel, I do this because cars are big and scary and I'm just some chunky guy on a bicycle. I'm happy that drivers here are so respectful because I had to be completely defensive in my old hometown.
I don't ride in the rain because I'm a bad rider and the one accident I had was due to wet pavement and me taking a corner to fast from market onto 2nd street. I rolled into a moving vehicle and hurt myself.
Bike lanes because I'm trying to be as safe as possible because I can die if I get hit by a car and even when I'm being super cautious and safe, I still get to where I want to go twice as fast as I did on MUNI.
i love bullet points.
First you say this...
"I've been biking to and from work (daily) and from the loin to sausalito (weekly) since October. I love biking and no I've never had a near accident with a car, bus or otherwise."
Then you say this...
"I don't ride in the rain because I'm a bad rider and the one accident I had was due to wet pavement and me taking a corner to fast from market onto 2nd street. I rolled into a moving vehicle and hurt myself."
Also, I have seen you riding your bike on the sidewalk so don't claim you "never" do.
Ride safe everybody.
When CM was an original idea, it was provocative thing because it hadn't been done before. It was a big deal and really new idea.
Now it's a monthly ritual that's expected, they get a police escort, they always start down town, and it is just another thing you deal with, like the fog or whatever. It is what it is, unless you send out the riot squad and do mass arrests, it's tough to stop. And frankly I don't see anyone lining up to arrest bicyclists when there's like, murders and stuff going on.
I'm not a big fan of CM if only because they've been getting kinda violent, with a recent attack on a woman and having the "blame the victim" defense, and really it's no longer a provocative act - it's like re-enacting the Civil War on the weekends or something.
If CM did a big bike ride in say, San Mateo County on El Camino, jamming up the streets and stuff, that would be like, huge news. Or anywhere not Safe Liberal Hippy San Francisco. THEN I'd be like "wow these folks are brave!"
Oh, that would be teh awesome! Come down and clog up El Camino at Millbrae Ave, please.
Which to me would be hilarious just to watch, since that's near where I grew up.
If this "event"/"gathering"/"protest" is so anti-car why does it travel down Market Street? Do you have any idea how jammed public transport becomes when all those bus lines get totally shut down during CM. Why don't you thoughtless bikers go down Mission, or the freeway, or something that would really show cars how big and powerful you can be.
I HATE critical mass because it happens right when I get off work and it screws my ability to get anything done for the next 1-2 hours. Try blocking streets that don't have so much public transit, unless you hate public transit too.
Again, they don't care. It's not about anyone else, it is only and all about them. I too am a cyclist, but have only ever participated in one CM - I bailed out early because they were a bunch of dicks.
Ditch the police involvement since this isn't an organized event, and ticket red light runners like they should do any other day of the week (cars or bikes). I hate how this town tries to mommy every event .... let the event happen, and if someone gets stabbed/shot/run over, then call the public safety folks to sort things out. We can't afford babysitters for unplanned events.
They did this in NY and it resulted in injuries, settlements, court cases, and a lot of bad publicity for the NYPD and the city; net result higher costs and worse morale. But yea why not.
COMMENT FIGHT!!!!!
No seriously. For people who have never biked with a large group before, its really fun. Most people blame the cyclists, but in my opinion, its mostly the road rage of the drivers that upsets the whole thing. I understand why people are upset because they have to get somewhere or something and can't wait like 10 minutes for a group to ride by, but to call a group of over 1,000 all "d-bags?" Please...that's just not true.
Have you SEEN the guy who rides around with a blowtorch to make smooores? Say what you will, but that guy rules.
Also, kids in cars, don't hate cause we sometimes don't stop at lights--if there is no one coming and it's safe, its easier for us to continue than to stop, especially if you are riding long distances, keeping momentum is important. Also, riding on the sidewalk is illegal I think.
Join the fun, especially on Halloween. I'll be the one dressed like a piece of pizza.
TeamAwesome -- long distances? SF is seven miles by seven miles. You cant handle stopping like everyone else is supposed to? I wish I could apply that same logic when I drive, because WOW, I could actually get across town pretty quickly.
And yes, I think the idea of getting together a bunch of people on bikes or any other communal event can be very fun. Just follow the rules without crippling the rest of the city and its well-intentioned commuters whether they are in a car, on foot or in a bus. Until that logic changes to me CMers are really just a bunch of Massholes.
You mock, but someone did some calculations on loss of momentum and energy output (coming to a full stop at a sign) vs slowing, looking and rolling through and it's significant. Idaho has a law that essentially allows a rolling stop for a cyclist (if the cyclist in question would have the right of way) and it seems to work out fine. So, yes, it's illegal here, but it is the natural habit of the vast majority of cyclists because stopping every tenth of a mile (see, for instance, Page street which has stop signs every block) is far more tiring.
I am not, just to be clear, advocating cyclists blasting through stop signs and lights without slowing (much less looking or stopping if they should yield the right of way). That's utter insanity and I've considered mounting a speaker on my bike just to play "you're an idiot" to cyclists who blast past me while I'm stopped waiting at a stop sign for my turn.
I'd actually advocate fewer stop signs in general (for cars and cyclists) and more traffic management tools like roundabouts and such. There's evidence from Europe that the fewer rules and lane striping and signs you put in place the more careful and courteous everyone is.
SF is seven miles by seven miles. You cant handle stopping like everyone else is supposed to?
You've obviously never been on a bike, man. I takes a significant amount of extra energy to start a bike from a standstill to a cruising speed. As a bike commuter when you have 20 stop signs between you and your destination stopping at all of them makes one you tired turkey by the time you get there.
If there's no people or cars (or cops) in the intersection, there's no reason waste the energy by stopping. No harm, no foul.
"If there's no people or cars (or cops) in the intersectionm, there's no reason waste the energy by stopping. No harm, no foul."
I hope drivers (especially bus drivers) take your theory as to why it's OK for saintly cyclists to blow past red lights and intersections. After all, stopping and starting a car or bus takes energy, too. And after a long day of driving the 38 around, I'm sure a bus driver is tired of having to stop at lights, too.
And why are you worried about there pssibly being "cops" in the intersection? After all, no harm, no foul. Besides, the police are busy chaperoning CMers around the city! On the public's dime!
Living in the city, I rarely see not-busy intersections. But I do see a shitload of cyclists running lights like it was their god-given right. I saw one today almost wind up street spaghetti at the corner of Sutter and Monty! Unfortunately, the driver of the SUV (really!) the dood nearly collided with was cautious enough not to nail the idiot. A better man than I, Gunga Din.
I really wish people could distinguish between safe cyclist law breaking and absurdly stupid law breaking. Slowing down, looking and rolling through a stop sign with no cross traffic (or pedestrians): safe. Blasting through a stop sign without slowing (traffic or not): unsafe. Stopping at a red light, seeing no cross traffic, waiting 120 seconds to see the light isn't going to change on its own and proceeding: safe. Blasting through a red light: unsafe.
And once you've distinguished these different types of law breaking, perhaps you could not lump all of us in with the cyclists who think nothing of crossing Van Ness against a red light (something I saw the other day in the rain) and other such idiocies.
Here's a live video from Halloween critical mass
http://www.justin.tv/clip/c818794b3d4
God, what a bunch of assholes.
so you're seeing what I'm talking about now. It was a despicable display of how they treat cars and I've never seen a dozen cars surround bike riders and taunt them but these bicyclists have no problem doing it to a guy that's just trying to get somewhere an it could have possibly been an emergency.
every time i see CM i wish for relaxed gun laws in this city. it may not be every rider in CM is a douchebag but the term sure fits a good portion of them. militant little f'ers, like the one who keeps responding to each of these comments, who believe it's their right to tie up traffic and cause people to be late.
even if you give in to their argument that it's a protest, any other march with a city permit needs to publicize their route. if CM would do this it would make it easier for everyone else to avoid their mess. to anyone arguing it's just 10min for everyone to ride by, you've never been stuck in the traffic caused by your selfishness... it takes far longer for traffic to get back to normal.
you've also never had a crying baby in the back seat who needs to get home to feed but can't go anywhere b/c the CM f'ers have tied up traffic for 30min. i've always thought CM f'ers were self-absorbed asses but i chalked it up to the cost of living in SF. but after listening to my 3month old son cry with hunger and not being able to do anything about it b/c we were surrounded by cars and CM f'ers zipping b/t cars i swore i would make some CM f'er pay.
so to the CM f'er who got clothes-lined on Chestnut last month while riding on the sidewalk b/t a bus shelter and a building (i.e. narrow space), you should have been a man about it instead of a little puss. but you should know it made me feel better.
You have offspring and your calling us cyclists selfish?! Unbelievable.
i wish you were the CM f'er who i clothes-lined last month but alas, the fact you're able to type suggests you're not.
but geez, you sure seem to be really intelligent! i can see why you're the spokesperson for CM f'ers.
You're being trolled here.
At any rate, CM sucks but internet tough guys are worse. Congrats on the accomplishment of sucker-punching what was presumably some scrawny hipster on the mean streets of Chestnut, which, I assume, did not actually happen, because publicly bragging about assaulting someone, what with your personal information splashed all over the internet here, is even more fucking stupid than an asshole on a fixie riding on the sidewalk.
Yeah, but check the reply count!
I mean, all you have to do is google the name he has on his SFist profile with "San Francisco" and you see his Twitter, his Facebook, where he works, what he looks like, his poor kid, etc etc
I mean, taking a leap of faith and granting that this Captain Badass-esque "clothes-lining" in the Marina of some random jerk could have possibly somehow someway actually happened, I fail to believe this guy would actually be so stupid as to brag about on the internet using his real name. But I've given people too much credit before.
I just sent him a fb friend request!
i wish you were the CM f'er who i clothes-lined last month but alas, the fact you're able to type suggests you're not.
Assault is a crime, Felch. You committed assault against some poor, unsuspecting Critical Mass cyclist going about his Critical Mass errands. Therefore, you are a criminal. Your whelp should be seized by concerned social workers and you should be stuffed into an orange jumpsuit and banished to Cellblock H. Sorry for you.
It's ok to swear on the website. We promise not to tell on you.
It's violent, rage-filled people like you that make CM necessary.
for the record, i ride a bike on SF streets and i hate getting cut off by cars. b/c of that i show respect to cyclists when i'm in my car... i give them extra space and i wait for them to pass me before i make a turn behind them instead of in front. which is why CM pisses off so many drivers in this city who routinely respect the rights of cyclists.
as for the violence and rage, i'd say this town could use a bit more. the SJ Sharks are out of the playoffs b/c they suffer from the same pansification as SF. once in a while you need to drop the gloves and put little f'ers in their place if you want to put an end to them. the Sharks don't do it and neither does SF city hall and/or police.
i support the concept of CM but am pissed off at the CM f'ers who have hi-jacked it. as for the accuracy of the incident described there's actually one respondent in this article who can attest to its authenticity. yes, the victim was a scrawny hipster and yes, i'm a Marina yuppie. but i pay more taxes than most CM f'ers combined and the kid's not reporting it to the police so i'm not worried about repercussions. besides, even dumb hockey players are smart enough to cover their tracks. just b/c i didn't use a stupid handle doesn't mean i provided anything real.
Hopefully one day SF will compare to the mean streets of Anaheim
if only i'd picked more of the mean street fighters from Anaheim in my hockey pool instead of loading up on SJ Softies.
"SFPD reports no arrests have been made"
Agreed that the city needs to be more ballsy.
yes, the victim was a scrawny hipster and yes, i'm a Marina yuppie. but i pay more taxes than most CM f'ers combined and the kid's not reporting it to the police so i'm not worried about repercussions.
Wow. OK, let me get this straight. Because you, Felch, live in the douchiest neighborhood in San Francisco and pay more taxes than some random hipster on a track bike, you should somehow be afforded some kind of extra leniency when it comes to the law? Unbelievable. No wonder I hate everyone who lives in the Marina. You all hate our freedoms.
kudos to the angry young f'er for finally figuring it out... that i'm really Felch and not Fletch. that's the name i'm giving to police when they come knocking.
If the name fits, criminal...
If the name fits, criminal...
ok angry young f'er, i'm no intellect match for you, you win. http://tinyurl.com/56hv
LOL! You are adorable, Felch. I bet you hang up Ziggy cartoons on the bulletin board in your office, don't you?
hey, who let the grown-up in?
Critical Mass is caricature of what it used to be.
Now it's just a monthly mob who's message is lost on everyone in its dickish display of reverse road rage.
A cyclist almost took me out today as I was crossing the street. A neighbor of someone I know had to be hospitalized after being hit by a cyclist. Maybe I should get all of my friends together and clog up the bike lanes.
I'm so in for a pedestrian mass that could walk out into the critical mass and block the street. THen another blob of pedestrians could ring them in on the other end and make them sit around for a bit. Unfortunately, since the critical mass dweebs are self-selected and not on their way to work/emergency/show with expensive ticket, causing them to wait to move again would not hurt them physically or financially the way they hurt people in cars.
Find a way to take away their Pabst Blue Ribbons.
The people who double parked their cars in the bike lane already beat you to it.
as did this guy...
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wb8bAl1P-N0/SgL69yET4nI/AAAAAAAAHaY/UWc9S2rl3wE/s1600-h/stroller.jpg
and this will make you even more happy
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wb8bAl1P-N0/SfsSYbkNFhI/AAAAAAAAHTI/l6-0eorLJ78/s1600-h/recycling+and+laundry.jpg
and the coup de gras...
http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/04/22/eyes-on-the-street-protected-dumpster-lane/
On the internet it is always those other cyclists that ride like assholes.
The whole complete stops issue is a red herring. If that was the biggest problem between cyclists and cars/pedestrians we'd all be happy. I don't ride a bike but it really doesn't bother me when a cyclist does this responsibly.
I don't think the blanket share the road rule works. There are roads cyclists shouldn't ride on. I know bikers won't agree, but it just doesn't make sense. I occasionally see people riding on Cesar Chavez during rush hour. Under the current system this is the 'same' as riding out in the Avenues, right?
I don't know if it is the situation you saw, but in many places a busy arterial street is the only road that goes from point A to point B. Luckily, SF is mostly a nice redundant grid so there is usually a parallel side road that doesn't require doubling the length of your ride to avoid busy highways.
Critical Mass has no structure, leaves no mess, and never asked for the fragging police protection. The entire idea of charging a bunch of ragtag cyclists riding in a group on the streets for an event permit is akin to charging car drivers for using the rode every day.
And to all the enraged drivers who are stereotyping Critical Mass as a bunch of violent asshole cyclists, look up "projection" in any basic psychology textbook. Seriously, a majority of the people who go to CM are not aggro. Most are friendly cyclists looking to enjoy riding amongst other cyclists in a city they love. To a cyclist the city streets are something to be enjoyed rather than just a means to get from point A to B.
When you say the "majority... who go to CM are not aggro" that is true. Unfortunately, it's still a pretty confrontational thing to do, and there is a militant subset that are more-or-less condoned by the rest of the participants. And by what bizzaro-world definition is causing snarled traffic leaving "no mess"?
Secondly, you assume it is only drivers who are enraged. Many of us pedestrians and public transit users would be quite happy if Critical Mass just went away. Personally, I'd see someone organize pedestrian mobs to jam events run by the SF bicycle coalition* to see how they like it. You know, get a bunch of people to form a chain around the Tour de Fat bike parade and prevent it from starting for 30 minutes or so while lecturing them about how dickish cyclists damage the cause for everyone.
You have a strange way of expressing your love for the city. That usually means being considerate of your fellow city inhabitants. You don't love the city, you just like masturbating with your fellow jerk-offs.
*yes, I know the SFBC does not organize CM and they encourage courteous and respectful cycling, but targeting their events makes the same sense as blindly lashing out and jamming city traffic.
"But that is loving the city. Didn't you see the Masturbate-A-Thon article today?"
LOL. Well-played.
What is it about bike threads?
Well, despite my occasional over-heated rhetoric, it's not really about bikes, per se. It's about a bunch of people giving me the finger and saying, "Fuck you, we can do what we want, the rules that you gotta follow don't apply to us! But don't worry, it's all for what-we-have-decided is an awesome cause! Sucker!"
I mean, I expect that out of some egotistical politician or business dick slice I see on the TV or the internets. But when it's a mob of my fellow residents who decide to seriously inconvenience me and pretty much everyone else in the city all in the name of who is unfortunate to get caught up in their shenanigoats, it's really insulting.
Most of us live our days trying to play by the rules, especially when it comes to dealing with other people. I don't listen to porn music too loud at night because I don't want to annoy my neighbors. I don't cross a busy street against a red like I own it.
And if I don't have a dog, but if I did, I'd clean up his or her poop from the sidewalk, just like nearly everyone else in this city.
But these dicks? They're inconsiderate. They are intentionally, and repeatedly, inconsiderate. They don't give a fuck about anybody else except their riding buddies. And their self-righteousness makes me want to vomit. So fuck them, and they bikes they rode in on.
I wonder how many excess greenhouse gases are emitted due to idling cars stuck in the middle of the event.
probably less than the hot air in this thread
Self centered bikers intersect with self centered commuters once a month. Sounds like just another day in merry ol' we're ALL entitled SF.
The ultimate irony that these supposed green thinking maroons on bikes never seemed to understand is that, other than infuriating people who might otherwise be amenable to their core issue, they actually cause the burning of more fossil fuels by creating traffic jams, police cars and motorcycles, etc.
And by the way, those helicopters circling above aren't naturally flying carbon based life forms who naturally flock to biking events. Thanks for helping damage the planet further by blocking traffic during the peak of rush hour instead of holding your little parade on a Sunday afternoon when it would cause less damage (and maybe even garner more support).
It's not like the police were asked to be there.
I think the police have to be there to protect the passive aggressive, vegan, sissies on bikes from getting smacked around by those overweight, angry, car driving, meat eaters.
If we're going to generalize, let's just go all the way.
So you're saying that the police are necessary to protect the cyclists from the drivers during CM? I trust I don't need to point out the irony.
CM riders may not be green, but maroon?
ho ho ho!
Sorry, I meant "macaroons" as in all the cholesterol and twice the brain power.
So, with all the cracking down of "scheduled" protests, events, gatherings in neighborhoods happening in SF lately I'm surprised the city hasn't found a way to make $ off CM. Big Wheel race requiring a permit, etc. etc. Isn't BYOBW not really an "organization" either? I don't think either "thing" should require a permit.
The thing about any organized and scheduled event is it eventually gets flooded with asshats."Those who want to try to tie up traffic as much as possible and be confrontational with motorists are missing the point."
I think it's time for CM to reinvent itself because if you're riding a path SFPD has cleared for you... I think that's quite silly too.
LOL, AYM: Critical Mass is not about civil disobedience. It is just a bunch of cyclists showing their entitled arrogance. As your message shows, you clearly feel you are morally superior to those in cars. Oddly, you complain about cars not obeying laws but, of course, many cyclists are the worst offenders (no lights at night, jumping reds, running through stop signs at high speeds etc.). CM just takes those illegal habbits to the logical extreme.
Repsonsible cyclists (and there are many in the City) do not participate in CM because they respect the traffic laws and realize that part of living in a democracy is actually obeying laws. Sure civil disobedience may be justified if laws are unjust, but CM does not make any claims the current traffic laws are in any way unjust -- they just don't want to share the road with cars.
CM participants are just looking for a way to piss of motorists. They don't actually have the courage to accept responsibility for breaking the laws (like true practioners of civil disobedience would). Instead they are saying "we are douche bags who regularly violate the laws and create unsafe conditions for others and now we are going to do it again en-masse, because we can".
There shouldn't be a fee for CM; the participants should just be cited and arrested as appropriate.
If CM cyclists want respect from others, they need to start showing to others.
"Also, kids in cars, don't hate cause we sometimes don't stop at lights--if there is no one coming and it's safe, its easier for us to continue than to stop, especially if you are riding long distances, keeping momentum is important."
Too damn bad. It doesn't matter if it's easier--it's the law. The DMV Handbook, at backs me up on this. Laws aren't there for your convenience, they are there for the protection of EVERYONE. On Geary at Webster, pedestrians have been hit when they cross the street, which is their fault for not using the pedestrian bridge. It's easier to make a mad dash across the street, but it's unsafe and against the law. Laws apply to EVERYONE, including motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
Count me as another bicyclist who went to one CM, was totally turned off by the thuggery (some dude smacked a parked cop car with his u-lock) and has come to the conclusion CM does *much* more harm than good.
What I try to do to rectify the situation and engender some goodwill: Stop at red lights, slow down through stop signs, make the pedestrian king (and queen), and, once in a while when a car and I seemed to have arrived at an intersection at roughly the same time, or, more often, when a car starts to go and then stops when they see me coming (assuming I'll blow through sign) slow down a touch and wave them through as I swerve behind them. It's amazing how many smiles and waves I've gotten like this, while barely breaking my stride. Same goes with being cool to pedestrians--seems to surprise people, in a good way.
I'm a pedestrian, and it DOES surprise me when I see a cyclist following traffic laws and being courteous... which is sad, isn't it? I've had to move out of the way on sidewalks many times to let a cyclist pass me. And yes, they do give me weird looks, if they're going slow enough to turn their heads to look at me.
Bike riders of San Francisco! You already have it pretty good! Like AdamJackson from "redneck" Florida, my hometown isn't exactly tolerant of bikes, either. A close friend of mine was hit by a car when he was riding his bike to school in eighth grade, and his knee STILL bothers him sometimes (he's almost 30). In most cities, people just shrug it off. Yes, it sucks; yes, it's wrong. (Yes, you should STILL yield to cars on the road--because they are big metal things that can hurt you!) But when you get together every month to show your indignation at rude drivers, you're also inconveniencing the polite drivers AS WELL AS people like me who have to take public transit every day. And say what you will about rude drivers, I'll bet the percentage of rude bike riders is comparable. (Because a lot people are just assholes, no matter what kind of vehicles they use.)
Obviously there are a lot of supporters of Critical Mass. Isn't there any way y'all can appeal to City Hall to increase bike lanes so you can safely ride on roads, and let us pedestrians safely WALK on the sideWALK?
They should be "charged" in the sense of thereafter being tried and convicted! They visit monthly mayhem on the streets, cost the city all sorts of money by playing "cat and mouse" with the police while methodically blocking intersections. The one time I was able to watch the spectacle from my balcony, as they came up Franklin Street, I realized exactly how organized and malicious they are. You don't see it when you're on street level, but they basically break off in detachments and block intersections several blocks ahead of the police, and then get out of a blocked intersection moments before the police make it there. While blocking the intersections, they engage in verbal abuse of motorists and pedestrians. They are very organized, and they are evil.
Brick Tamland: Loud noises!
We just had another CM event here in San Diego.
What a bunch of poseurs!
A bunch of emo looking dirt-bags wearing skinny jeans. These are supposed to be "bikers?" give me a break.
Just an excuse to holler at people, smack on cars and be a huge asshole.
Critical mass sucks nads.
Charge everyone who runs a red light. They can either "pay to play" or they can get fined. That will keep the losers home. It didnt look like most of them probably had a job anyway.