Chris Carlsson and Hugh D’Andrade recently launched sfcriticalmass.org, a new blog documenting the history of San Francisco’s Critical Mass bike ride that happens on the last Friday of each month. Starting in 1992, San Francisco Critical Mass was the first Critical Mass bike event, spawning hundreds of Critical Mass rides around the world. Check out the SF Critical Mass FAQ for more info on the event.
What is Critical Mass?
Critical Mass is a mass bicycle ride that takes place on the last Friday of each month in cities around the world. Everyone is invited! No one is in charge! Bring your bike!
You can also follow San Francisco Critical Mass on Twitter: sfcriticalmass
photo by Steve Rhodes
Their most recent post documents last Friday’s October Halloween Critical Mass. Here are more photos of the Halloween ride by Steve Rhodes.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Am I the only one who thinks Critical Mass is counterproductive? It doesn’t do much more than preach to the choir while simultaneously pissing off everybody else. And this is coming from a commuter cyclist who doesn’t own a car.
As someone who remembers what bicycling was like in the years before Critical Mass, I think the net effect has been overwhelmingly positive. More people are biking than ever before, there is more bike infrastructure, motorists are more respectful, and bike advocates like the SFBC now have real membership numbers and clout in city politics which they never had before. All those changes have happened since 1992, when CM began. Sure, correlation is not causation, but I think CM was a major contributor to these changes — and at the very least, has not created the anti-bike backlash that so many have feared.
Hugh, it’s fantastic that bicyclists get more respect and that San Francisco is more bike-friendly, and it’s simultaneously ludicrous to give Critical Mass credit for that change. You confuse correlation with causation, especially since now, CM is the poster child for the anti-bike backlash– it only builds hostility and prevents people from taking the issues seriously.
Jeff, are you saying that if Critical Mass had never existed, the number of bikes on the road would be even larger than it is today? I don’t see this backlash you’re talking about. I was told by the head of the Oakland Bike Coalition in 1992 that CM would destroy any chance for bike advocacy in the 90s because of this supposed backlash. Yet bike advocates have more clout than ever. Looks like he was wrong.
Chris Carlsson is one of my (very few) heroes, big time. We don’t see eye to eye on that much politically, but I’ve seen him pursue his well thought out beliefs, often manifesting theory into reality, with passion and intelligence for 25 years.
I’m a driver – cars, vans, commercial trucks & motorcycles, an occasional bicyclist and an enthusiastic walker. I’ve been in the Mass a time or two but more often I’ve been delayed by a Mass. In a place like SF people rub up against one another in annoying fashion(s) all the time. There are strident asshole bikers in the Masses, as there are jerks in some of the cars. Not to mention some peds you just want to RUN RIGHT OVER no matter what you are driving.
It seems clear that the more people off engines and on bikes, the better. As someone with a pretty good general understanding of SF history while being completely outside the politics of the local biking universe, I would say the Mass’ has been a positive thing on the whole and has encouraged more people to bike than it has alienated.
Cyclecide Bike Rodeo blocked a Critical Mass ride some years back with their tall bikes, evil clown garb and punk attitude, not allowing the bikes through an intersection. SOME of the bike riders (the spandex lot, no doubt) got real pissed & started yelling and shaking their fists, kind of like some car drivers….
Others got the joke and laughed their asses off. Knowing Chris, I’m sure he laughed the loudest.
I love hugh’s art. tremendously, sf and bikes represented beautifully.
cheers, ill be following this new site :D
Honestly, the problem is that vocal bicyclists tend to be self-righteous assholts. This is an awful city to bike around if you want to be able to go everywhere. If you’re not 120lbs and lacking all body fat, forget about ever going to north beach, the upper haight, or any neighborhoods outside of SOMA and the Mission. Yet bicyclists in Critical Mass seem to think their way is the only way to travel, and are adamant about ruining the friday evening plans of everybody who isn’t a drunken shithead on a bicycle. Public transit? fucked. Driving? fucked. Walking without getting run into by some jerkoff hipster? fucked.
1839 called and they want their medieval fucking transportation device back.
I had my first experience with Critical Mass this weekend while driving downtown in SF. As a resident of downtown San Jose, I’m quite familiar with the San Jose Bike Party, so I thought, “Oh, neat, San Francisco has something similar! Nice!”
Then I sat in my car for 4 red light cycles in a row while the bicyclists ignored traffic laws and ran down pedestrians. And I realized Critical Mass is nothing like San Jose Bike Party. SJ has a very large group but everyone manages to obey red lights and stay in the correct lane.
A huge problem facing cyclists right now is that so many of them just won’t obey traffic laws and that pisses off drivers. Critical Mass is not helping correct that at all. It seems more like an excuse for a lot of people to go out and release their pent up frustrations on drivers than any kind of pro-bike activism.
Friday was the first time that I actually encountered Critical Mass. I was leaving work and I tried unsuccessfully many time to simply cross the street ( I was walking ). I finally just went for it, when I was knocked by a cyclist. I yelled “excuse me, pedestrians, have the right away!” Four cyclists stopped and proceeded to yell “F%$K YOU.” over and over again. One got off his bike and said “what are you going to do?” He got back on his bike and called me a “F%$king Pu$$y”. I managed to cross the street and see several of the cyclists kicking cars that were trying to cross the street with the light. These people should not be allowed to break traffic laws and disrupt traffic the way the do. I was assaulted physically and verbally. Something needs to be done.
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