Information is at Ride Civil at http://seattle.ridecivil.org .

There is a Facebook group as well at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33421667813 .

Join up and join the ride too.

Best,
Andrew

I hope this group is outlawed themselves! One person actually yelled “this week it was knives to tires and if you try to stop us next time it will be a knife to your throat”! Really? Go ahead and just try to commit murder and see where that gets you!

I have no idea what happened in the actual altercation 10 minutes later, but what I witnessed personally in my own encounter with this group left me with a lasting impression.

I watched a few things that bothered me just a little, like the group running the red light, not allowing pedestrians to cross the street at the crosswalk, and interfering with traffic in both directions of travel. The reason I mention it is because it established the notion in my mind that this group did not have law-abiding intentions.

However, what really got me to spend the next three days pondering this incident is when I saw the cyclists using their bodies and thier bikes to actually surround and block motor vehicles from proceeding on the roadway.

These actions (that I now understand are called “corking” by CM) are where I think an extremely dangerous line was crossed. Regardless of the “real” intent or nature of the group as a whole, I was very shaken to witness everyday citizens being detained without provocation or explanation. In my mind, all it would take is a minor reaction from either side for the situation to escalate completely out of control.

What I haven’t been able to resolve for myself is how I would react to some group of strangers tyring to immobilize me and vehicle without provocation. All I could say is that it seems extremely dangerous, and extremely reliant on a very passive driver to expect a non-violent outcome using this “corking” tactic.

For someone who is not familiar with the group, and has a strong sense of right and obligation to protect himself, I can completely see a valid argument for using force to get away. In this country, there’s no excuse for detaining someone in this manner and not expecting them to exercise their right to get away. If you’re foolish enough to block a 3,000 lb. vehicle with your 20 lb. bicycle, it would give me reason to assume your judgment is something worth getting away from.

Within a few minutes of the group passing us, police cars were speeding in their direction. I commented then that there was probably an altercation resulting from the kind of situation I had just witnessed.

In my mind, what happened next was completely predictable, and could have turned out much worse. Thankfully, that incident ended with only some recoverable injuries and a beat up car.

I hope there’s some intervetion before the group’s ride next month.

Those are my two cents.

And a funeral precession is a very, very different thing than a bunch of self-righteous bicyclists gathered together for the sole purpose of garnering attention by being annoying.

I’ve biked for many years, I used to commute by bike. I support improved infrastructure for bicyclists, but being antagonistic, annoying and dangerous isn’t going to win any friends.

I wonder if states have special laws about funeral processions. I doubt most have special provisions in their Motor Vehicle Code to allow funeral processions to blow red lights and stop signs without a police escort. It has just become custom to do so, like waving someone through an intersection when traffic is backed up in front of you.

Also I was once harassed by a bunch of motorcyclists on a “run” on the freeway in New Jersey. There were hundreds if not a thousand motorcyclists going down the Interstate at around 55mph (speed limit 65). I was passing them for 10 minutes as I cruised by doing about 70mph. When I went to merge into the right lane to exit (very politely with my turn-signal and in a large gap way before my exit), I was “flipped-off” and even cursed at when one pulled up next to me! WELL EXCUSE ME!!! What the hell else was I to do!

Oh yeah! That massive group of motorcycle riders didn’t have a police escort either but that’s OK.

It would destroy the nature of critical mass, but could you imagine the irony of a huge bike ride through santa monica, with police escorts blocking the intersections so the cyclists could all ride through en mass.

I can understand the press getting it wrong. It makes a far better story if a bunch of rampaging bikers attacked a defenseless driver, than if a driver just ran into some bikers, intentionally or not. Or, as usually happens in these cases, if both sides were at fault.

But there is simply no excuse for police bias against cyclists leading them to ignore the witnesses, just because they happened to be other CM riders. Or for the press failing to do it’s job in keeping the police honest.

The real story here is that the system failed. Once again.

Thank you!! Well said!

Although aggression directed at cyclists is never acceptable or appropriate, it is also a challenge to communicate a positive message of cycling, when many of the participants on a group ride like critical mass are being disruptive and rude. In particular it is damaging to those riders who want to remain respectful and reasonably law abiding…

It certainly couldn’t hurt for cyclists to develop a more coherent strategy when demonstrating….but doesn’t that go against the anarchistic and leaderless “spirit” of critical mass? How does one control chaos? It is up to each individual on the ride to demonstrate good behavior and courtesy…

(ex: Critical Manners up in San Francisco…)

Motorcyclists riding in special “runs” block traffic at red lights so the group can get through all the time and no one seems to care. Funeral procession do it to! But a bunch of people do it bicycles and it’s justifiable grounds for assault with a deadly weapon.

I don’t condone much of what Critical Mass has become and no longer participate in the ride in my local small New Jersey town. However corking intersections so the group can make it through is in everybody’s best safety interest. That said, the head riders in the group should NEVER blow through red lights (or stops signs) forcing the rest to blindly follow.

BTW, in a CM I’ve done in the past, drivers were threatening our group of 20 riders for being in the road as we were stuck in massive gridlock with them. There are just TOO MANY drivers out there who are homicidal maniacs. As if the 50 feet of road we were occupying in front of him would have gotten him home any more than 2 seconds sooner!

Expecting people in cars to be rational and level headed while you antagonize them by blocking intersections, running stop signs, blocking streets, etc. is arrogant and naive.

That doesn’t make a driver who attacks or endangers the bicyclists justified in his/her actions. But you can’t be surprised that it happens.

If you’re being a dick, there’s a good chance you’re going to get punched, regardless of what the law says.

It seemed like it could quickly turn into a mob riot, so most of us decided to leave after the bikers were relatively safe. Did anyone else here witness this event?

I think there needs to be some policy issues worked out on critical mass. I know there is an anarchist spirit to it, but it precipitates misunderstandings and pisses many motorists off. Blocking off intersections so bikers can go through red lights seems questionable at best. What if a pack of cars decided to do this? Drivers, who are inconvenienced by having to wait a few minutes for bicycles to pass, are out of line assaulting bikers, period. But bikers need to find a way to make their protest more effective.