# Critical Mass bike rides - cool or stupid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805 "2009-08-18T02:15:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/21 "2009-08-18T17:57:35Z")
Bunch of [thugs](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008075512_reading27.html). There was also another incident where the bikers got in a fight with some undercover cops but I can’t find the cite right now. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/22 "2009-08-18T19:30:27Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Their purpose is not to educate people about sharing the road. Their purpose is not to advance the cause of biking as exercise. Their purpose is not to raise awareness about alternative forms of transportation. Their purpose is merely to engage in a monthly session of organized bullying. How much does a dump truck load of bananna peels cost ?: ) ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/23 "2009-08-18T21:10:51Z")
Critical Mass are part of the problem, not the solution. There is lots to discuss in the ongoing debate about traffic, and how to share the roads, streets and sidewalks, but all the Critical Mass people accomplish is to marginalize the legitimate concerns of cyclists everywhere. The response I’ve heard after a Critical Mass demonstration - “Well, cyclists aren’t going to obey the laws anyway, so why should we change the law to suit the lawbreakers?” made me want to ride among them and lash out randomly with a stick. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/24 "2009-08-18T21:18:29Z")
It’s one of those things that sounds like it could potentially be a good idea on paper, but seriously stupid in practice. If a bunch of people got on bicycles on the last friday of the month, and had a scheduled route (even a major commuter route) that they’d gone over with law enforcement (to provide support and security), and followed the rules of the road, and behaved … that would be kind of cool. What you end up with (here at least) is a bunch of jackasses on bikes who go out of their way to tie up major arterials and provoke car drivers (which in one case led to assault). They do nothing to positively promote bicycle commuting and generally end up working against their stated goals. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/25 "2009-08-18T21:22:39Z")
The NYPD aren’t fans of them either: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ) ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@Black\_Sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Sunshine)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/26 "2009-08-18T21:45:22Z")
My husband and I had a couple thousand dollars of damage done to our car because we got caught behind a CM rally. At the time, we didn’t know what it was, and though, “Neat! A bike parade!” It ended with them punching our car, and the lead guy slamming his bike down on the hood. We found out later that the group had set out that night with the explicit intention of causing a confrontation. Lucky us. I am ALL FOR sharing the road, and teaching motorists to be more aware of cyclists. Critical Mass lost any chance at my goodwill. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/27 "2009-08-18T21:45:49Z")
Because of CM…it changed my mind how to vote on an issue coming up. I was in favor of it but my experience with CM changed my mind and so I voted against the cyclists. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/28 "2009-08-18T21:50:09Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Biking is great. Commuting by bike is great. Most bicyclists are great. > > Critical Mass are assholes. Well said. I love the fact that they have this whole David-to-the-automobile’s-Goliath thing going, but god help you if you’re a pedestrian who wants to cross Market Street on a green light when they’ve decided to take over that intersection. Fuck 'em. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/29 "2009-08-18T21:56:51Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > The NYPD aren’t fans of them either: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ) I remember seeing that on the news and thinking it was a good start. I often wondered what the whole story with that was. A dozen bikers go past the cops without barely a nod but they specifically go out of their way to pick him out. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/30 "2009-08-18T22:09:36Z")
They’re an embarrassment to cycling and cyclists. Like others on this thread, I’m a cyclist, ride every day - no one I ride with has any time for them and they’re routinely derided on cycling forums etc. Maybe back in the day it might have started as a cycling-centred event run by people with some sort of pro-cycling agenda, but it’s been long since hijacked by the dog-on-a-string angry brigade. Lame civil disobedience is no skin off my nose, but actively turning motorists against cyclists is - sometimes literally. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/31 "2009-08-19T02:06:05Z")
Agree with the majority. I love cycling, do it as much as possible, and think CM is an embarrassment and a detriment to the cycling “cause”, such as it is. That said, I also believe it’s about 5% of the jerks in the CM events who cause 99% of the problems. Most people who participate, I’m sure, just want to have a fun group ride. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/32 "2009-08-19T02:12:02Z")
> [@TheFifthYear](#): > > That said, I also believe it’s about 5% of the jerks in the CM events who cause 99% of the problems. Most people who participate, I’m sure, just want to have a fun group ride. With their ( well earned ) bad reputation I really doubt that. I’d expect many or most of the ones that just want a fun group ride to join or create one that doesn’t have such a reputation for jerkishness and thuggery. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/33 "2009-08-19T02:26:23Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > With their ( well earned ) bad reputation I really doubt that. I’d expect many or most of the ones that just want a fun group ride to join or create one that doesn’t have such a reputation for jerkishness and thuggery. Could be. The gathering point in Chicago is the same spot as my L stop to go home, so I always see them, and it always seems to me that there are a bunch of people in the crowd who don’t really know what it is, except that there’s a big group of bicyclists who gather at the Daley Center for a ride on the last Friday of every month. Personally, I knew about the rides long before I knew what a-holes they were, and easily could have tagged along for a ride not knowing what I was getting into. Maybe I’m giving people too much benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/34 "2009-08-19T02:35:58Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Well, is this planned, like a parade, or do the bikers just arrive and start blocking traffic? If it’s planned ahead of time like the parades & street fairs here in NYC, then I don’t have a problem with it, but if it’s just some group that decided to block traffic then yeah, they’re assholes. My understanding is nobody knows, not even the participants, where or when until the least possible amount of time beforehand. It’s part of the strategy of maximal annoyance; if you work in a big city and knew there was going to be a CM ride that afternoon, you might find a way to not use your car that day if that’s how you usually commute. I’ve got nothing against bikers per se. Today in L.A. some taxi drivers demonstrated against a fare proposal by driving around and around City Hall; predictably traffic was a mess and I think the taxi drivers who participated are equally jerks. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/35 "2009-08-19T02:49:08Z")
Then I have to retract my previous statement. It sounds like the the CM bikers go out of their way to be assholes. Why do they do this? They obviously aren’t promoting the biker’s cause and creating a lot of anger against all bikers. And why aren’t the police involved? Isn’t this “unlawful assembly” or something? ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/36 "2009-08-19T02:56:21Z")
Incredibly stupid and as someone who commutes by bicycle, I wish they’d all fall off the face of the earth. Antagonizing the majority of people on the road is what the rest of us cyclists try really hard not to do. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/37 "2009-08-19T03:18:55Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > Then I have to retract my previous statement. It sounds like the the CM bikers go out of their way to be assholes. > > Why do they do this? They obviously aren’t promoting the biker’s cause and creating a lot of anger against all bikers. > > And why aren’t the police involved? Isn’t this “unlawful assembly” or something? Usually they overwhelm the police, and anyway by the time the police get there, the cyclists have switched to a different route. In order to stop them, the police would have to completely shut down the entire central part of the city, making the traffic even worse. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/38 "2009-08-19T03:44:52Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Usually they overwhelm the police, and anyway by the time the police get there, the cyclists have switched to a different route. In order to stop them, the police would have to completely shut down the entire central part of the city, making the traffic even worse. Let them go weapons free with [pepperballs](http://www.pepperball.com/products.html#cc) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/39 "2009-08-19T04:11:34Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > My understanding is nobody knows, not even the participants, where or when until the least possible amount of time beforehand. It’s part of the strategy of maximal annoyance; if you work in a big city and knew there was going to be a CM ride that afternoon, you might find a way to not use your car that day if that’s how you usually commute. Actually, while the route is usually a last-minute decision, or even just the result of whomever happens to take the lead, the day and time of the ride is usually known well in advance. Here in San Diego, rides take place on the last Friday of each month. They even meet at the same time and place: 7.00 p.m. at a fountain in Balboa Park. The last Friday of the month is a common CM time. It’s the same in San Francisco, although there they begin at 6.00 p.m. Lots of these CM groups have their own websites or MySpace pages. Here’s the [San Diego](http://www.myspace.com/criticalmassride) one, and the [San Francisco](http://www.myspace.com/criticalmasssf) one. These sites generally encourage riders to be courteous and to obey the road rules, but given the way that many CM riders behave, those encouragements seem more for show than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805/40 "2009-08-19T07:26:50Z")
Cyclist and motorist here. These guys are trouble, and they are fanning the hostility between cyclists and motorists. I saw these guys two months ago, they had taken over Hollywood Blvd., and were breaking traffic laws in the extreme. There must have been a couple of thousand of them. I needed to make a left onto the Blvd, and when the light turned green, I just muscled my way in. Fuck them. Let’s see who’s lawyer wins in court if they run into me while running a red light. I also noticed that they all seemed to be hipster douches. I despise hipsters on principal, and this is just another great reason to hate them. Mommy and Daddy need to cut these trustafarians off so they can get real jobs, and stop spending $800 on a set of clothes that makes them look like bums. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-mass-bike-rides-cool-or-stupid/506805.md?page=3)