Critical Mass is a
monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists'
right to the road. The idea started in San Francisco in
September 1992 and quickly spread to cities all over the world. This
site attempts to be the most complete guide to local Critical Mass
rides around the globe.
Critical Mass has a different flavor from city to city --
there's a big variety in size, respect of traffic laws (or lack
thereof), interaction with motorists, and intervention by police. So
if you want to know more about Critical Mass, you'll really need to
find out what your local ride is like. For those who must know more
right now, here's a link to Phoenix,
Arizona CM, which I suppose is a "typical" CM ride, if there is
such a thing.
Critical Mass has no leaders, and no central organization
licenses rides. In every city that has a CM ride, some locals
simply picked a date, time, and location for the ride and publicized
it, and thus the ride was born.
CM is an idea and an event, not an organization.You can't write to "Critical Mass" -- certainly not by writing
to me.
Some CM riders try to tie up traffic as much as possible and
be otherwise confrontational with motorists. Such riders are
missing the point about Critical Mass. CM is a celebration of
cycling, not a war against motorists. CM is about asserting
our right to the road, not denying others their right
to the road. Those who want to play juvenile games are encouraged to
stay at home instead.
Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Riders say police used
excessive force in arresting five peacful Critical Mass
riders. (More: Winnipeg
Sun) May 2006
Denver, CO, USA. Police confiscated riders' bikes on
the Denver Critical Mass ride. Until the police start
impounding people's cars for minor traffic infractions, this
is just completely inappropriate -- and an obviously childish
exercise of power. (More: Westword)
April 2006
Spokane, WA.
The police tackled cyclists and arrested almost all of them
for "Disorderly Conduct". (more) Dec. 2005
New York. Cyclist victory! The police crackdown on
CM for "parading without a permit" has been declared
unconstitutional. (more) Jan. 2006
New York. Cyclists filed a lawsuit against NYPD,
which has responded with a counterclaim. (more) Oct. 2004
See
a trailer
for the documentary about the controversial police crackdown
on NYC Critical Mass coinciding with the 2004 Republican
National Convention. (Or visit the filmmakers'
website.
Good news from Portland
"Exciting things have been happening for Portland's CM.
We've had regular meetings with the Portland Police to reach
compromises and understanding on some things, and have
achieved a ride with less harrassment, more bike officers and
fewer in autos / motorcycles, and a much more "feel-good" ride
with less tension. This has been largely the result of a few
dedicated CM riders willing to go to meetings and print up
flyers for riders, etc." -- Brian
How
much energy we use. Overconsumption of oil means that
more people will die as more wars are fought over an
increasingly shrinking supply. The U.S. alone uses 46% of all
the gasoline used in the world. (more...)
The
true cost of gas. Americans whine about the
"high" price of gas while not realizing what a sweet deal
they're getting.
Pollution by cars causes lung cancer, respiratory
problems, urban smog, and acid rain. Greenhouse gases emitted
by cars causes global warming, which is not just a concern for
the future, it's happening right now. (more...)
The True Costs of Cars
Autos
on Welfare. While most motorists think that
their gas taxes and registration fees pay for the roads and
for other related costs, the truth is that infrastructure is
financed mostly by general taxes paid by everyone, which means
that those who don't drive are subsidizing those who do.
Societal
costs of cars & highways. Our relationship
with the automobile causes pollution, noise, congestion,
sprawl, big expenses, injury, and even death. The cost is
greater than we realize....
The typical American family spends
almost $8000 a year to own and operate a car, when
you count the car payments, gas, oil, maintenance &
repairs, licenses, parking, and insurance.
If you took the money you'd save by getting rid of your car
and invested it you could have $2.3 million by the time
you retired. (more...)
Art Ludwig shows that AAA underestimates the cost of car
use. (more...)
I was born into a
cult.
The Aesthetic Realism Foundation is a small psychological
cult in New York city. My grandparents were members, so my
mother was born into it, and so was I. Recently I created a website about the
cult to get the word out. I hope you'll check it
out.
Last Friday in the summer, from Confederation Park behind
the NAC at Elgin & Laurier. Various sources give 5:00,
5:15, and 5:30 as the start time, good luck. Other sites: BikeDump, Auto-Free
Ottawa
Jun '06
Thunder Bay
Last Friday @ noon from Lakehead University, Agora
Circle.
Every Sunday @ 7:00 AM at Tapae Gate for 2 rides around the
old city. (12 km) Organized by a police officer, the ride has
drawn 200-500 people for two years.
Critical Mass Arrests. CM made international news
several times when police wrongly arrested many cyclists, on
7-25-97 in San Francisco, on 8-00 in Los Angeles, and since
2004 in NYC. (Bad arrests have happened at many other CM
rides, but only these three were major media stories.) Check
out websites about the San Francisco and Los Angeles incidents, or our own
coverage.
Car
Busters International group based in Europe
working towards a car-free society. They publish a hot
magazine ("Car Busters") and email newsletter, and sponsor
World Car-Free Day every September.
Car-Free
Cities These folks advocate for car-free
cities in a well-researched and professional manner.
Car-Free City
US A group working to create a car-free city
in the U.S.
(Planning a) Car-Free
Day Large, well-organized site which details
how to plan a Car-Free Day in your city.
Culture Change Documents the
tremendous environmental, social and economic damage caused by
endless road building. Also publishes Culture Change
magazine (formerly Auto-Free Times).
Get
out of the bike lane! Posts vigilante photos
of autos parked in the bike lane in Toronto, Canada.
Less
Traffic Recommends going beyond traffic calming to
reduce the number and speed of cars on the streets.
Reclaim the
Streets (San Francisco, CA US) A movement which
advocates massive street parties, covertly painting bike lanes
onto roadways, and other ways to subvert the car culture. Here
are the RTS pages for London and Adelaide, Australia.
Right of
Way (New York City) Local group asserting cyclist
and pedestrian rights over motorist prerogatives. Has
stenciled over 250 street memorials to car victims and
published "Killed By Automobile" report.
Transportation Alternatives (New York
City) Local group promoting alternatives to car-based
transportation. This website is HOT! It's a model for other
groups to emulate.
Victoria
Transport Policy Institute Publishes a
number of important studies and reports, such as one
explaining how cyclists actually subsidize the cost of
road-building for motorists, a Pavement Buster's Guide, and
much more. For activists who are ready to move beyond simply
riding in Critical Mass rides and actually get something done
in their communities, this site provides plenty of the
ammunition they'll
need.
Please send dead link reports or
updates tomichael.(at)Critical-Mass.info
No Dead Links!We painstakingly checked every link on this site in Dec. 2004. We
respect your time, and know that you don't want to spend it clicking
dead links to outdated sites.
Some of the rides listed here aren't Critical Mass per se (they
don't use that name), but they're definitely of the same spirit. And
a lot of these rides have died out -- we don't know for sure because
local groups don't update their web pages.
Our links & info are only as good as
what people send to us. CM rides have a habit of dying out or
changing times, and usually nobody bothers to let us know. CM
webmasters are also notorious for not keeping their pages updated --
and often don't even list meaningful ride dates, times, and
locations -- much less a "last updated" date. We can only print what
we know. We're not psychic. Sometimes we'll link to a very outdated
page or a simple archived email message announcing a ride time if
that's all we could dig up for a certain city. You can help by
feeding us corrections & new sites when you know about them.
Thanks!
BikeLane.com More
links than you can shake a kickstand at about every cycling
issue imaginable, and thankfully organized into different
sections.
BikeForums.net
| CyclingForums.com Web-based
discussion groups (not email-based) for a large variety of
specialized biking topics, including Advocacy, Bike Mechanics, Bike
Messengers, Commuting, Handcycling, Safety, Women's Cycling, and
more.
Unicycling.org For those who prefer to ride with
one wheel.
Unusual Bikes: On our sister
site we have a huge list of recumbent bikes (recliners), adult
tricycles, cargo/workbikes, bike cars (4 wheels), trailers,
pedicabs, electric scooters, and more. (see list)
Machines powered by bikes:Maya Pedal makes pedal-powered
blenders, water pumps, cofee depulper, metal sharpener, washing
machines, woodsaws, eectricity generators, and more. Wow!
Critical-Mass.info
