Critical Mass Goes Underground

odd how, at one time, there was so much support for these cretins; as per usual, slow to catch on, aren't we? and i would bet that that "support" helped push what may have been, at one point, a decent idea, right over into the arena of freedom sans responsibility. perhaps we should re-examine our seemingly knee-jerk response(s), and be a bit more discreet as to where we place our backing, more deeply considering the "intent" and the "long term", and not, as in many cases, the band-wagon mentality of it all.

Mr. Sun knows best. This is not from January 2006. It was taken before the RNC!

Jake: The problem with critical mass is not a few people weaving between cars, crossing yellow lines, or blowing red lights. The problem is that the city and police have chosen to target critical mass riders as a terrorist threat.

I agree that breaking laws doesn't help. Everyone must accept the consequences for crossing the yellow line, weaving around like madmen, etc. Too bad those cops had to crash into each other to learn this a couple weeks ago. No sympathy for reckless cops.

robb, actually, that statistic IS correct. it's straight from the City. if anything, it's low.

People are wearing short sleeves in this movie. It was about 35 degrees on 1/27. I think something has been mislabled

The only thing worse than the damn fools from Critical Mass are the damn fools biking down the middle of the sidwalk.

anon: if that last comment was aimed at me, I am not a "trustafarian." I put myself through college and grad school and currently work 60 hours a week. So you can shove your idiotic and misguided insults.

good i hope you and every other trustafarian activist get hit by cars.

I'll stop running red lights as soon as pedestrians stop crossing against the lights and jaywalking...

That means: I'll never stop running red lights (that being said, I always yield to pedestrians at red lights even though they don't respect cyclists at all).

A question to think about: if you're driving a car or in a cab in a big traffic jam, and there's an ambulance behind you in the same traffic jam, not moving fast enough because of all the traffic, are you delaying the emergency vehicle?

No offense Robb, I get your rage, I've screamed at many drivers on my bike, my daughter and I are nearly hit by cars on a daily basis on our street corner, but a contest of who can hurt/kill more people, cyclists or motorists, would only end up with lots of hurt/dead people.

My dad used to say that there are lots of stupid people in the world and most of them have drivers' licenses. I'm not sure "reckless and stupid as they are" is what I want to shoot for.

Critical Mass ends up with the same vibe as those big UFPJ rallies and other such progressive events. There's people who are doing it for the right reasons and then people who take advantage of special circumstances to be extra asshole-ish. The drag is, that sort of behavior makes well meaning folks not want to get involved because they a) fear they'll get in trouble because of the actions of others or b) don't want to be surrounded by people they think are acting like idiots.

Protecting Critical Mass looks good on paper but then, if you're like me, you get disheartened when you look at stuff like this and see people doing stuff that should legitimately get them a ticket. Not arrested, but a ticket.

"motorists in NYC run hundreds of thousands of lights a day"

HAHAHHAHAHAHAH! Your hyperbole kills your cred!

I don't ride CM, but I think that it is a good idea. My opinion is that it is not a ride that seeks to build goodwill towards cyclists. It is an assertion that like it or not cyclists are on the street, they are allowed to be and that they are happy to be.

It never fails to amaze me when people get hot about NYC's CM and they have nothing at all to say about the millions of cars that are on the street all the time that hurt and kill people. Fine, say that CM shouldn't happen... but say it after you say that the cars shouldn't be there either.

don't tell me to play by the rules. motorists in NYC run hundreds of thousands of lights a day, speed pretty much all the time and regularly kill themselves and others.

bikers can do whatever they want to and they do. when they follow the rules and get killed the cops don't charge the killers so what difference does it make if they break the rules instead.

your innocent report on this video falls right in line with the medias shallow and unbalanced reporting on cycling. you trivialize cycling when you obiovusly haven't thought things through AND you take some time out to preach to a group that you neither know or represent.

Didn't you know that this is the secret club of the Satan's Helpers? I say we stab 'em! Then we tattoo 'em! And then we hang 'em! And them we kill 'em! YEAH! You guys are a bunch of PUSSIES! Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhh! Aw yeah!

this video isn't from the january ride -- it was taken before the crackdown. if you want real details talk to www.suckapants.com.

Jake's use of "bikers" instead of "cyclists" reveals that he is in cahoots with the man. I'm so enraged that I'm going to go ride my cycle and hoot in a dramatic fashion.

Thanks, MRF. I'm not the only one sans clue. I'm so confused. Am I a biker or a cyclist? Or am I both? Should I ask my parents? Does this mean I have to go to church on Saturday *and* Sunday?

I like Critical Mass in general, I think their points are well taken and well made, but they are certainly not building up goodwill towards cyclists (or is it bikers? MUST...STOP... NOW!!) when they pull stunts like this. Just the act of group riding through the streets makes the point plenty, and may actually enlist people to your side.

I confess, I used to do the CM rides years ago. Then I was crossing the street--at crosswalk, with the walk light--and was hit by a guy on a bike who was going the wrong way on a 1-way street. He broke my ankle. It's awesome navigating NYC in a cast.

The capper? After he hit me and before I could even catch my breath, he started screaming at me about how "bikers [yes, he said bikers] have just as much right to the street as anyone else," and rode off. Hit and run, my friends, by a dude on a bike. It was ironic having my past words used against me in this situation, and made me see how short-sighted the whole CM thing was. Never rode CM again. Dillweeds.

Is the reaction to "bikers" just a desire to create a distinction with leather-chaps-wearing-motorcycle-riders, or is there something else going on here that I'm not aware of?

"Jake - You belie your apparent street "cred" by referring to cyclists in New York as "bikers"."

What arrogance! What elitism! I thought Critical Mass stood for an alternative to cars, not this linguistic posturing.

Dave - I think that when you have nothing pertinent to say you go after typos and misspellings.

erik: see, i thought that was them...thats why i never understaood what the big hubbub about them getting arrested was all about...they ARE a nuisance...especially when they camp out in the middle of the street not letting cars go by.

Tien: I just think most of the people participating in CM tend to be "bikers", not "cyclists". And I totally agree with you.

K: Yes, That is them.

It's bad enough they are blocking pedestrains and not obeying traffic laws. But what about emergency Vehicle's that get delayed because of them? A few times I've seen Ambulance's get blocked in for upto 10 minutes at a time.

wasn't directed at you, erik.

i just think jake using bikers is wrong.

Ok, this has been bugging me for a while...Now i've only recently heard about CM in the last 2 or 3 years....but are these the same guys that used to ride around in the village and tie up traffic by standing in the middle of 6th ave hooting and hollaring?

Sorry, you're right, Proffesional Bikers = Cyclists.

we bikers? i don't see any bikers. all i see are cyclists.

I'm getting sick of Critical Mass. Play by the rules or don't play at all. It's easy to get your message across while still respecting the bounds of acceptability.

Stop snitching!

I totally agree with the original post and Dave. Respect the traffic laws. I agree that cars suck, but as a full-time pedestrian I find dealing with bikers can be as bad or often worst than dealing with cars, especially during CM rides. Proffesional bikers are usually very respectful, it is just the roving gang of critical massinites that are not.

Agreed.

This is the hypocracy of Critical Mass that drives me nuts. They claim "we are traffic" and yet they refuse to abide by the laws of traffic. Fine, take over the street -- but don't cross the yellow line and make it a dangerous situation! That gives the cops justification to bring down the fascist hammer.