- I went on three critical mass rides in the fall semester of my
freshman year. The first one was uneventful. On the second one, I
saw a minivan pull into the column of riders because she wanted to
turn right. She inched forward, and people rode around her. The
problem came when the column of riders stopped for an obstruction
ahead, and she kept inching forward until she hit the rear wheel of
someone's bike. The police escort came up, sent her on her way, and
dispersed everybody who started screaming at them by threatening to
arrest everyone on a bike who didn't get going. On the third ride, I
was riding at the back (with a police car following along about fifty
feet behind us), when a guy on a motorcycle pulled into the middle of
a lump of about a dozen of us, pacing us and revving his engine.
People shouted at him to get out of there; he kept revving his
engine. The bikes stopped. He pointed his motorcycle at one of the
stopped bikes, drove up onto the bike, and knocked its rider on his
ass. The police car's lights came on, the cop pulled up, took the
motorcyclist aside for a minute, and sent him on his way. The guy who
got knocked over started screaming at the cop, and got arrested for
being disorderly. Yes, there are belligerent jerks on these rides,
but I've also seen people assaulted with no positive police response.
The first time I stopped at a red light on one of those rides, a cop
told me to keep going because they wanted the group to keep together.
I stopped going because I read about another ride in another city
where riders were also encouraged by the police to keep together
through red lights, then were herded into a cordoned off area and
arrested en masse for running red lights. Those three rides were
the only ones I went on, and I think they're too confrontational to
be beneficial, but the way the police handle them has to be seen to
be believed.
--alawrenc
\_ The only CM ride I've been on was on the East Coast in the middle of
winter. There were no cops and no confrontations, and it was about a
30 minute ride around downtown keeping pace with traffic, followed
by lots and lots of beer at a local bar.
\_ the last CM ride I was on was when King Willie of SF decided he would
speak out against CM and try to shut them down. it was the biggest
CM ever, split into like seven separate groups that went all over
the city. Pretty much shut Willie up after that. It was clear the
people had spoken.
\_ The only CM ride I've been on was on the East Coast in the middle
of winter. There were no cops and no confrontations, and it was
about a 30 minute ride around downtown keeping pace with traffic,
followed by lots and lots of beer at a local bar. [formatd]
\_ the last CM ride I was on was when King Willie of SF decided he
would speak out against CM and try to shut them down. it was the
biggest CM ever, split into like seven separate groups that went
all over the city. Pretty much shut Willie up after that. It was
clear the people had spoken. [formatd]
\_ it was huge, it was glorious, and it stymied Willie. gotta love
it. |
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