It's not exact, but here's a rough copy of the route from Friday's Critical Mass. A cool 36.3 miles.

Critical Mass avoided controversy on Friday night, rolling to the Westside to UCLA Medical Center (where the last hospitalized victim from the Culver City Crash a couple of weeks ago is still recovering) to the traditional stop at Western and Sunset.  Tickets were kept to a minimum, I could count on one hand the number of times I saw officers pulling over cyclists, and I heard more discussion of New York’s decision to allow gay marriage than I did complaints about the LAPD’s handling of the aforementioned crash. The LAPD estimated that at its peak, there were 1,300 riders taking part in the ride.

Which is not to say that the riders, or the crash, or Christine Dahab were forgotten. I was asked seven times to sign a petition I helped write in my first ten minutes at the Wilshire/Western start point before the ride headed out demanding safer streets and better enforcement of traffic laws against aggressive drivers spurred by the Christine Dahab/Koreatown Ridazz crash. Talking with other massers along the route, I was surprised at how many people were familiar with the crash and how almost no rider blamed the big blue escort with the flawed police report that blamed the riders for this month’s horrific crash.

Lost in all the discussion of what was and wasn’t reported on June 15th, is that this was the one year anniversary of the LAPD ride-alongs with Critical Mass.  LAPD bike riders and Midnight Ridazz seem to have found a way to get along.

After the jump are three YouTube videos.  The first video shows the size of the ride about two miles after it started at Wilshire/Western. The second is with LAPD Sargent Helper who has ridden the past thirteen Critical Mass rides representing the LAPD about his experience with Critical Mass.  From a veteran to a pair of rookies, the last video is of two journalists from Santa Cruz that are taking part in a journalism fellowship with me.  Both of them have traveled around Los Angeles before, but never like this.

One year ago, the LAPD sent a small army to “escort” Los Angeles Critical Mass after an ugly incident where an LAPD officer was caught on tape kicking at a cyclists’ tires and then assaulting the man operating the camera at the May 2010 Critical Mass. The escort has stayed with the ride, changing the nature of Critical Mass for both the good (there are less crashes reported despite the ride swelling from 400 riders to well over 1,000 monthly) and bad (many long-time riders claim the LAPD are taking too large a roll controlling what is supposed to be a ride that highlights the specific challenges cyclists face.)

That new relationship could be challenged tonight because of the initial report filed by the LAPD in the “Christine Dahab v Koreatown Riders” crash in Culver City last week. However, many riders believe the relationships formed between the LAPD bike police who ride the mass and the Ridazz is strong enough to withstand one poorly written crash report, and the LAPD officers that accompany the ride also expect relatively peaceful evening.

“To my knowledge nothing special is planned,” said Sgt. David Krumer of the LAPD, “There was talk of possibly riding by the crash site and UCLA from ride organizers, but nothing is certain.”

Cyclists don’t see tonight’s Critical Mass to be any different than the other 12 they’ve already ridden with the Ridazz.

“One of the reasons Critical Mass even exists is to show that cyclists have a place on the road; that we are traffic. That message is even more important now in light of last week’s events in Culver City. Tonight’s Critical Mass ride should not be seen as a protest, but rather, a celebration of cycling and an affirmation of our right to ride in peace and to return home safety,” writes Alexis Lantz of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

In fact, Midnight Ridazz “Roadblock” sees an opportunity in tonight’s ride and people’s reactions to last week’s crash, “My hope is that in some way we can direct a lot of the anger and emotion resulting from the incident towards changing the political climate in a city that gives drinkers little choice other than to drive to and from the bar.”

Mark Didia, who is leading an effort for cyclists to respond to the Dahab Crash took a different tact, and didn’t even mention the police presence when I asked him about what he expects tonight from Critical Mass. “The questions I ask myself after the recent collision are: can the new generation take this badass bike culture to the next level? Will more kids rise up? Will their direct connection to an environment that is hostile against them, trigger the will to stand up? If thousands attend, as I imagine will, I see it as a testament to this generations unwillingness to give into fear nor the inaction of our leaders who have direct power to initiate systemic change. LACM is call to: RIDE ON!”

If you want to ride with Critical Mass, it leaves from the Wilshire/Western Subway stop at 7:00 P.M. tonight.

(There’s a graphic video of the actual attack available here.)

A lot of critics of group bicycle rides, especially Critical Mass, like to claim that they’d like nothing more than to drive through it in their SUV’s.  Apparently one maniac in Brazil decided to give that a try.

At last Friday’s Porto Alegre Critical Mass, the driver of a Black Volkswagon Gulf plowed through a group of 130 masser.  Fifty cyclists were hit.  Two are in critical condition as of Saturday night.  Following the assault, the driver of the Golf ditched the weapon and fled on foot from the unmarked car.  The police identified Ricardo José Neis as the lead suspect.

The above video shows the aftermath of the attack.  The translation of what the narrator says can be found on the You Tube website:

Say what you want about the LAPD’s role in Critical Mass, but such an attack here on the 4th Friday of the month is unthinkable. There were no major incidents reported at Friday’s ride in Los Angeles.

I got a notice in my inbox that the popular Internet Radio show Bike Talk will spend an episode discussing all things “Critical Mass” in Los Angeles. To say that it’s been an interesting year for Critical Mass is an understatement. To make things even more interesting, last month’s ride had some cyclists take the lead in acquiescing to the LAPD’s demand for a route before they would cork intersections. The ride went smoothly. The intersections were corked.

Meanwhile, a group of seasoned Ridazz led an alternate ride with about sixty riders taking a trip back to LACM’s roots.  For more on Streetsblog’s coverage of Critical Mass, click here.

As for the show this weekend, it will run this Saturday from 10:00 A.M. until noon at http://killradio.org. The show will also be archived at http://kpfk.org. You can join the conversation by calling 213.252.0998 or you can post questions or comments to be read on the air at the Midnight Ridazz Forum.

Incidentally, regular listeners and fans of Bike Talk might want to mark their calendar for January 15, 2011 for the show’s first fundraiser.  Details to come.

Photo: Alex de Cordoba/Flickr

(editor’s note: Nope, I wasn’t there this month.  This is all second-hand reporting.  Alex de Cordoba did attend the mass and offers a report on the ride and thoughts on how it can move forward at The Engaged Observer. – DN)

Last Friday saw the fifth installment of the Los Angeles Critical Mass/ LAPD rides.  Back in May, after a violent clash between a group of officers and Mass riders in Hollywood, the police decided that if you can’t beat them, join them.  Ever since, the police have provided a rolling escort for the ride.

For many riders, that escort is becoming less welcome every month.

You would expect that a collaboration between riders representing a protest ride and the police would be bumpy; and perhaps expectations were raised too high after the amazing first LACM/LAPD ride in June; but reports from Friday’s ride aren’t encouraging that the relationship between cyclists and the LAPD are moving in the right direction.

Some of the rider complaints are normal ones for any group ride.  Some didn’t like the route, which snaked Northeast from the Wilshire/Western start point until it cut South to Venice before a long ride towards the ocean.  Others complained that the group in the front rode too far ahead of the rest of the 2,000 riders which led to confusion for much of the rest of the pack.  One cyclist who was not on the ride, but watched it from the Bikerowave, said it took over 20 minutes for the ride to pass.

But the majority of the complaints, and the most serious, were with the conduct of the police officers.  Especially those officers riding motorcycles.

At the time of publishing the official tally of tickets from the ride have not been announced, but even the police officers that use bicycling forums are encouraging riders to fight tickets in court.  Reportedly, LAPD officers on bicycles were encouraging riders to enter intersections against yellow lights to try and move as many bikes as possible.  However, once through the intersection, the same riders were being pulled over and ticketed by officers on motorcycle.

But what’s worse than the tickets is how riders were treated by officers.  From Midnight Ridazz,

One that pissed me off the most was two motorcycle cops tackling and smashing a riders face down on the pavement,talking shit to him and giving him a ticket.

Unnecessary force especially when the rider was just a fucking kid.

There are several issues now facing Critical Mass.

The first issue is that the ride has swollen and new tactics need to be employed to keep the ride somewhat together.  The LAPD will not “cork” (or allow riders to cork) an intersection without LACM receiving a parade license.  Because LACM has never had a planned route, getting a permit has been a non-starter for the community.  One suggestion is that the ride have several “meet” points, so if the ride gets split up, then everyone knows where to meet to get back together.

The next question is how does LACM respond to a police presence which seems to be growing more hostile with every passing month.  Unlike the other four LACM/LAPD rides, this one did not have Sgt. David Krumer, the Department’s go-to officer for working on bicycle issues, riding along.  However, Krumer notes that the motorcycle officers who were reportedly causing so many of the problems do not report to him so he might not have been able to help stem the confrontations as they were developing.  While he can discuss the matter with their commanding officers, he can’t just make these issues disappear.

Krumer encourages more riders to bring cameras to the ride to document any police abuses and encourage officers to be on their best behavior.  Back in the Midnight Ridazz thread, one rider claims that when the camera comes out, officers start behaving better while ticketing.  While Krumer argues that proves his point; other point out that it’s strange enough that riders have to police other riders.  Now they have to police the cops, too?

Another potential solution would be for the LAPD to scale back their commitment to the mass to just bicycle officers unless there is an incident which requires special attention.  Ever since the awkward collaboration between the two entities began five months ago, the conflicts between riders and police have rarely, if ever, involved a bicycle officer.

And perhaps that’s the lesson that Critical Mass teaches, that could show the LAPD the best way to support and police a large group ride.  There’s just something different about riding a bike in a large group of people in a city.  When one tries for themselves, they see the world in a new way.

Last month's Critical Mass. Photo: Waltarr/Flickr

Of course, as the ride grows it also becomes harder to police.  Last month, as police tried to maintain order, the Mass was broken up into several smaller groups criss-crossing Downtown.  Also, because the police sometimes blocked automobile traffic at intersections, a practice known as corking, and then sometimes ticketed riders for continuing through red signals; there were cries that the uneven enforcement was causing more problems than it was fixing.

Sgt. David Krumer has been the Department’s liaison between the Critical Massers and the LAPD.  I asked Krumer if there were any plans to change the way the event will be policed this month.  The answer: sort of.  LAPD officers are only allowed to cork intersections if there is a safety concern or if they are escorting a parade along a set route.  For that reason, the LAPD has tried to get ride leaders to file a permit request with a route, but the leaderless culture of Critical Mass has made it impossible to do so.

So, it looks as though Massers will again have some intersections “corked” by police and others not.  Krumer says the Department doesn’t want to give tickets to riders confused as to whether or not they should be stopping or are continuing through an intersection for safety reasons.  For those of you that have never been on a group ride, there are times where riders need to make a judgment call on whether or not they trust the riders immediately behind them to stop if the riders in the front do.

However, Krumer couldn’t guarantee that officers wouldn’t hand out tickets to red light runners.  After all, judgment call or not, bicycles are vehicles and it is illegal for any vehicle to run a red light.  In short, Krumer is promising more patience and understanding from the LAPD, but individual officers make their own decisions on when to ticket and when not to.

Of course, many of these issues may be solved by the cyclical nature of Critical Mass.  Last month, when nearly 2,000 cyclists took to the streets for Critical Mass it was warm and dry.  This Friday?  Cold, and potentially wet.  If the mass shrinks, as it has every fall in recent memory, then the ride could end up being very manageably escorted and policed without tickets even being an issue.

Photo : Mike Walley/Flickr

When I rolled up to Wilshire and Western at 7:00 P.M. last Friday, there were already close to 750 cyclists present, everyone was in a good mood, and there was still a half hour before the ride was even supposed to start.  Ridecards were being handed out urging cyclists to follow the rules of the road and work with the police.  People were laughing and talking.  The LAPD was present throughout the crowd but they were in a much more relaxed mood than when I rode the Mass last June.  Seargent David Krumer even cracked a joke that I should read the Internet more often after I mock asked Roadblock “Is this where the bicycle event starts?”

As more and more riders showed up, the crowd swelled.  The police were escorting bus riders on and off Metro buses to their destinations.  A trumpet player was serenading the crowd while CicLAvia volunteers passed out brochures for the big event on 10/10/10.  Stephen Box was shaking hands, dapper in a sports jacket.  Teenage latinas, were mixing with caucasian hipsters.   Lycra clad athletic riders, snapped pictures of a tricked out bike that had more lights than Dodger Stadium.  All races and age groups were represented and the gender split wasn’t quite even, but was closer to even than any other ride I’ve attended.  It was starting to get so noisy that when many of the rides unofficial leaders were standing on the bike lockers screaming for Alex Thompson; he couldn’t hear them.  He was standing about 150 yards away.

By the time the ride reached the Los Angeles State Park, after roughly thirteen miles of cycling through Korea Town, Downtown and North past Union Station; the mood was different.  Not angry.  Not dispirited.  But as a whole, Critical Mass seemed confused as to how they felt about what they had just experienced.  The mass had broken into a bunch of smaller rides because of Massers stopping for every red light that wasn’t corked.  Another issue was the number of tickets our ride partners handed out.  One veteran rider joked to me that “we probably set a record for tickets.”  On the other hand, when asked by Bikeside’s Rachel Stevenson if I had a good time, the answer was “yes.”  And that was the same answer she received from everyone standing near us at the time.  Not everyone was confused and strong feelings have spilled into contentious threads onto Facebook, Midnight Ridazz, and other social media.

But at this point, it’s hard to say exactly what the overall mood of the community is.  Talking to a dozen people after the ride and monitoring social media and message boards is hardly a way to paint a complete picture of how people feel.  The mood seems mixed, but I think more people have a good view of the “new” Critical Mass than a bad one.  Numbers don’t lie, and Critical Mass is becoming a huge phenomenon in Los Angeles.  I mean, how many Fridays are we going to see all those cops and a couple of news vans?  What kind of mainstream attention had Critical Mass achieved in past years?

But I had a different view of the ride than most.  Right at the start of the ride, a friend got a flat tire.  Carrying an extra tube, I stopped to help him and spent a lot of the first part of the ride trailing the mass.  Being that far behind, I saw a lot of riders being ticketed as I rode past.  A couple of times, I would even see them handcuffed, facing away from the cops.  When I asked the cops what they had done, they told me the riders ran red lights.  After that I kept my eyes open for handcuffs and noticed that dozens of riders were being ticketed and about a third were wearing handcuffs.

Massers complained that they couldn’t tell when they were supposed to keep rolling through red lights and when they weren’t.  While the LAPD did “cork” many intersections; if there wasn’t a cop in the middle, then riders were expected to stop.  That being said, I’ll admit that I rode through several red lights, mostly on smaller streets, that weren’t corked throughout the night and could easily have been one of the riders that was ticketed and handcuffed.  When you’re in the middle of a group of several hundred people, and the people in front of you aren’t stopping; you’re asking for trouble if you hit the brakes.  I’m sure several of those riders that were ticketed didn’t want to stop because they didn’t trust the people behind them to do the same.

On Midnight Ridazz, Sgt. Krumer explained some of the confusion about how intersections were and weren’t corked.

Please allow me to explain. In the past, many riders have complained about our motors or cars zipping by you at high speeds in an effort to leapfrog to the next light in order to cork. Riders have suggested that it is dangerous and intimidating. We tried to avoid this but as a result we can not get to every intersection to cork. Additionally, we do not have sufficient officers to crok (sic) every light.

Since we can not cork all we are asking for riders to stop at all reds. This has the effect of splitting the ride into many smaller rides. Also it stretches the ride out over a larger area and increases the LACM footprint (not necessarily a bad thing if the goal is to be noticed).

Which brings us to our second issue.  The mass being broken up into several smaller masses and the debate on whether this “kills” Critical Mass.  Personally, I think Critical Mass is far from dead.  It seems every month brings record numbers of riders and I can’t think of any city that has as many uniformed police ride with the mass on bicycles. When I was trailing the mass early in the ride, I was getting my directions from a bike cop who was tasked with monitoring the tail of the ride.  We had a friendly chat as we raced down Venice Boulevard until I lost him after turning on to Union.

That being said, it was a weird experience as I rode with one of the mini-masses through the Downtown we actually formed a T with the main mass that was stopped at a red light.  I felt a little like Lance Armstrong as I happened to be at the front of that group and got a huge cheer as soon as we rode in sight of the larger mass.  I would guess that if “mini-masses” become the norm, than every ride will eventually be a little more organized and less confusion will ensue.

I found it odd that the police and red lights breaking Critical Mass into a group of mini-masses is the main controversy from Friday, at least as its breaking down on the Internet.  Especially because the “mini-mass” tactic was one some ride leaders were suggesting for the June mass after the LAPD first announced their intention of riding along.  This tactic was used somewhat successfully to deal with police harassment of the old Santa Monica Critical Mass in 2008.  To me, the main issue is the ticketing and the handcuffing.  I know it’s a familiar argument but how often do you see a driver handcuffed for running a red light?  How about pedestrians?

That being said, maybe I just happened to see a disproportionate amount of the ticketing.  Krumer broke down the police actions from Friday’s ride:

35 tickets
4 curfew violations
1 drinking in public
1 misdmeaner warrant arrest
1 arrest for felony vandalism on the police car when person being cited threw bike at car….I saw that one person disputed our account of what happened.

42 tickets, not all of which went to Critical Mass riders, for a ride with somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 participants doesn’t seem like that many. Let’s see if the official ticket count goes go up in the coming days.

Anyway, after our group left the Downtown we got split again and again.  At one point, I think we were riding through Boyle Heights, there were only about 120 riders.  None of which were the police riders.  For about twenty minutes if felt like it was 2008, and I was riding Critical Mass for the first time.  We even ran into a squad car that implored us to “ride the right.”  When a rider yelled back that we would ride to the right all the way to the doughnut shop; the cop replied that he would “meet your mom there.”  A “your mom” joke?  From the LAPD?  And yet, we all chuckled in spite of ourselves.

One rider's route via gps. AlexdeCordoba/Flickr

At around 9:40, just over two hours after the ride started, we stopped across the street from the Los Angeles Historic State Park.  Cyclists that were in the street were directed either on to the sidewalk or in to the park by the police and drivers were able to proceed with no real delay.  Here we saw another major difference from the traditional mass.  When the Mass is together, everyone stops and parties and eventually the mass rolled on.  On Friday, groups of somewhere between 20-200 rolled up and pulled over, or went into the park.  After about twenty minutes, two friends and I decided to head home.  Based on the small clusters of cyclists we say along our route, we weren’t the only ones.

In my opinion, the LAPD as a whole are trying to “do right” by Critical Mass and encourage and allow it.  Part of it is trust developed with Sgt. Krumer, who has helped cyclists access LAPD resources on issues beyond group rides, and part of it is from talking to officers from along the ride.  That being said, watching a somewhat large group of police officers handing out tickets seemingly at random to cyclists, and watching those cyclists in handcuffs, is going to drain away enthusiasm for the police presence.  I’m not condemning the LAPD, after all this was just their fourth attempt at finding a way to ride with, not break up, one of the largest free and open events the city experiences every month.  Also, I didn’t talk to every group of officers handing out tickets so I don’t want to sound as though I’m an expert on every traffic infraction.  I’m just speaking based on my experience, my reaction, and the reactions to the people biking around me.

That being said, the biggest question that’s left is how much influence should the police have on how Critical Mass is conducted.  Believe it or not, the cycling world is watching what’s going on with Los Angeles Critical Mass, so the decisions made by riders will reverberate outside the Southland.  Krumer posted some suggestions on Midnight Ridazz to make the ride work better from where he sits.  Those suggestions are:

My suugestions mirror Aktive’s to some degree. Develop a route. With a route you can avoid bad street selection, plan your stops in places where you can refill (and confirm they are open) and have a significantly smaller contingent of officers pre-deploy and possiibly cork your ride consistantly as we move along.

There are some who say that LACM traditionally has no leader and no route. While tradition can be a good thing, tradition itself is no reason to hold on to a practice that does not serve (and in fact hinders) the greater efforts to promote cycling and call awareness to cyclists in the City.

As we head in to the fall, when ridership numbers for Critical Mass traditionally dip; this is the question that riders are going to have to answer:  How much order can a ride have and still be Critical Mass?

One benefit of having the LAPD along for the ride, hit and run drivers have their nights ruined awfully quickly. Photo: Mikey Wiley/Flickr

While the relationship between the Los Angeles Police Department and large group bike rides, such as Critical Mass or CRANK Mob, have improved by leaps and bounds over the summer; reactions to last Saturday’s CRANK Mob ride, aka CRANKMAS III, shows there is still some work to do.

Readers may remember that after an ugly confrontation between the LAPD and Critical Mass riders in May, the police decided to escort Critical Mass instead of react to it.  The result was a June Critical Mass that left ride organizers smiling and new relationships being formed.  But that’s not the end of the story.  As any complicated relationship between large groups, especially when there’s an imbalance of power, the relationship can get complicated.  Last Saturday, the third anniversary party of the popular CRANK Mob ride, was dispersed by the LAPD after community complaints about noise and other disruptions.  While police in riot gear were called to the scene, the event dispersed without any major confrontation.

But that hasn’t stopped some group riders from being outraged by the kind of interference that would have been a surprise just a year ago. A quick read through this comment thread on Midnight Ridazz shows how divided the community is about whether or not the LAPD should be on these rides or not.  In addition to an argument between regular Ridazz, you can see a discussion of what biking LAPD Seargent David Krumer meant when he discusses some of the restraint being shown by officers on these rides.  By the end of the thread, at least at the time of publication, Krumer writes:

I in no way implied that restraint referred to going in “guns blazing and batons swinging” or engaging in a use of force.

But that doesn’t mean that all cyclists view the relationship with the LAPD as a poisoned one.  Before Friday’s Critical Mass, leaders from Bikeside, the Eastside Bike Club and other community leaders will be working with Critical Mass riders to “POLICE OURSELVES” and make the ride more about promoting cycling and claiming their rights to the street rather than being confrontational or law-breaking.  A Facebook page encouraging riders to arrive early for training and an overview so that the rolling escort doesn’t have to step in and create conflict.  For those that don’t have access to Facebook, the principles that will be preached on Friday can be found after the jump.

DO

• talk to stranger, bystanders, bus riders, motorists – welcome people to join us next time

• help cars stuck in mass to exit to the right

• stop regularly if you’re in front (no matter how slowly you think you’re going, gaps are opening up behind you)

• stop at red lights when in front to allow the rest of the ride to “mass up” behind.

• keep going in dense packs through red lights to stick together and keep it safe for everyone.

• fill gaps; Critical Mass depends on bicycle density to displace cars.

• remember that pleasure and friendliness are more subversive than anger and blaming.

DON’T

• race ahead to block cross traffic before the Mass has arrived

• ride into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road

• pick fights with motorists, even (especially) if they’re itching for one

• fail to turn and twist through the city to make the ride more interesting

• forget to smile and wave and talk to strangers!

• imagine that you are morally superior just cuz you’re on a bicycle (you’ll be in a car again soon enough)

• hesitate to tell other Massers what you think of their behavior, whether good or bad. Talk to each other!

• forget – we are all responsible to make Critical Mass what we want it to be.

If you’re of the same mind on these issues and wish to help spread the word to people new to Critical Mass, please meet at 630pm sharp at the start of the ride. We’ll hand out flyers and maybe even a ROUTE if we are able to organize one in time! PEACE, LOVE AND HARMONY!

By now you've probably heard the news about last Friday's Los Angeles Critical Mass, now with cops!, and have read touching accounts of cyclist' new B.F.F.'s. If you haven't, you can get a feel for how the ride went by watching the video above, and reading Kumbaya, posted here on Saturday and Undiscovered Country posted at Bikeside.

While the stories of police and cyclists hanging out and bonding are great news, there's another story that so far hasn't been written.  For one night, the fractured bicycling advocacy community put aside it's own internal divisions and rode as one.  Uncertainty about how the LAPD would react to Critical Mass and wanting to show support not just for Critical Mass, but for any cyclists, be they in a group or riding on their own, to ride the street.  I've never witnessed a ride featuring, amongst the literally hundreds or even thousands of riders, were board members for Bikeside, staff for the Bike Coalition, the most recognizable of the Midnight Ridazz and the writer of the LADOT Bike Blog.

Lost admit the bright lights, loud bikes and good times of the Critical Mass/LAPD ride was another story.  L.A.'s bike community may disagree on tactics and the value of paint on the ground; but when it comes to cyclists' rights there is no disagreement.  When it comes to our rights, we ride as one.

But don't take my word for it, here's three videos shot in the CVS parking lot at Sunset and Western.

Responding to the poster put out last week by the LAPD inviting themselves to Critical Mass, at least one rider wasn't impressed.  Rider Plebis Power, roughly translated to Power of the People, posted a poster at Biking in L.A. that both lampooned the LAPD's flyer and made the point that the bad relationship between the LAPD and the cycling community is hardly just the fault of cyclists.  Where the LAPD creates a list of infractions that will earn cyclists a ticket tomorrow; Power writes a list of "incidents" caused by the LAPD at "recent group rides."

Ted Rogers, the Biking in L.A. author, writes that even the LAPD officer who created the original flyer found it amusing.

Critical Mass has gone mainstream.  Following last month's "Critical Mass Attack," where an officer was caught on tape kicking at cyclists' bikes before the cameraman was tackled to the ground, it seems you can't go anywhere without reading or discussing Critical Mass.  There have been press conference's, lawsuits, and even a promise that the LAPD will ride with Critical Mass in the future.

So with the LAPD joining what has been a raucous protest ride, one that hasn't had a smooth relationship with the police, what should be expected?  A violent clash?  Mas arrests?  An orderly protest?  Only time will tell, but the history of Critical Mass, both in L.A. and beyond, suggest that it is possible that two can exist.

First off, word is going out within the community that riders should work with the police and should try to avoid some of Critical Mass' more confrontational tactics, such as the rampant running of red lights.  An open letter to the biking community posted in the Streetsblog comments section, LAist, Midnight Ridazz and other forums states:

At the ride start of the Critical Mass on June 25th, there will be a faction of people, including myself, who will be encouraging something we are currently calling, "Project Civil Obedience", in which all cyclists will demonstrate what it means for 1000+ riders to obey all road rules. That includes stopping at every red light. We will also be encouraging mass riders to cooperate in choosing a destination to ride to so that they can reunite if they get separated by red lights from the main group. The plan will be to get to the destination within 45 minutes (a reasonable riding time frame).

In the same article at LAist,  Sgt. David Krumer worries that Critical Mass breaking off into smaller groups could inhibit the ability of the LAPD to police the ride.  But that puts the onus on them, they can either facilitate the ride being able to stay together in one group or figure out a way to deal with riders going in different directions to reach the same pit stops.  It's not like there's not precedence for having city officials cork an intersection.

Whether or not the community, as a whole, can play nice with the police has been a matter of debate.  It's not uncommon to see t-shirts proclaiming "LAPD hates bikes" or even read "fuck the police" on forums; but the call to work together to improve Critical Mass sees to be resonating.  At Midnight Ridazz, the bulk of the comments on a thread previewing Friday's ride are supportive of collaborating.

Of course, to collaborate you need partners.  The LAPD has three choices on their tactics for the ride, what we'll call "San Francisco," "Santa Monica" and a third way.

In recent years, San Francisco Critical Mass has enjoyed a decent relationship with the SFPD.  The ride is accompanied by police who work to make certain that the ride is safe and police it for anyone creating a dangerous situation.  This tactic has led to a relatively incident-free ride.  Meanwhile, in the last two years LACM has seen at least two outrages: the random tackling of cyclists off their bikes in 2009 and the random detainment and physical search of one ride leader in 2008.

In Santa Monica, the bored SMPD over-polices Critical Mass to the point of ridiculousness.  You could say that the SMPD is also "joining the ride," but their actions of ticketing riders for both real and imagined infractions creates a hostile relationship.  In the Santa Monica example, the police actually create a more dangerous situation by buzzing riders on their bikes and breaking up the ride by ticketing teenage minorities seemingly at random.

A third way would be just that, a new way of trying to join and police the ride.  I can't imagine that the LAPD, with its olive branches and newfound appreciation of bike issues, is interested in earning the reputation for cracking down on the 1st Amendment rights of bike riders such as the Santa Monica police did.  Plus the actions and word of Seargent Krumer, the Mayor Villaraigosa and other officials seems to be calling for a lighter touch.

That being said, the LAPD isn't going to get caught in a media game where riders control the message.  in addition to bike cops, the LAPD is also sending its video unit.  Krumer is already pushing the talking point that the LAPD is responding to requests that they help remove trouble-makers from the ride that create a negative atmosphere for everyone, which could be a valuable rhetorical tool if things on Friday don't work out for everyone involved.

So the stage is set for Friday.  Leaders from the bike community that don't often make Critical Mass are readying for the ride.  Route suggestions are bouncing around the Internet.  The LAPD is also readying for the ride.  Whatever happens, its certainly going to be a turning point for Critical Mass and Los Angeles.  What direction it heads relies on a lot of people riding smart.

For a full size version of the flyer, click here.

In a flyer being circulated to bike advocates and within the department, the LAPD has announced that it will be joining the June 25th Los Angeles Critical Mass to both show their support for the rights of cyclists to ride peacably in a large group, be the purpose party or protest; and to help weed out the riders responsibile for the vandalism and other mischief that's given Critical Mass a bad name.

It's been a common complaint amongst cyclists that some people use group rides as camoflauge for law breaking.  For months, the popular Midnight Ridazz forum was filled with complaints about a group of bike thieves from Koreatown that would join rides starting in Mid-Wilshire and use the ride as an cover to vandalize, steal, and tag.  In addition to giving the rides a bad name, riders were frustrated that the police would deem a whole ride as troublesome without listening to the riders who tried to point out the culprits.  This seems especially true of the March 2009 "Crank Mob" ride where a small group of riders shoplifted from a Ralph's on La Brea, a few more got drunk, and a massive conflict between the LAPD and the Mob broke out.

This flyer should also put to rest the idea that Critical Mass and other group rides are somehow an illegal assemblage.  The LAPD flyer states clearly that it supports cyclists rights to protest and ride together in large groups.

How will the LAPD and Critical Mass coexist together on one ride?  There's precedence for a mutually beneficial relationship, the SFPD and San Francisco Critical Mass have ridden together for years, and the LAPD has sent bike cops to other group rides, albeit much tamer ones, such as the Tour De Ballona rides co-sponsored by L.A. Streetsblog.

However, the devil will be in the details, and Streetsblog will be there to cover the ride as it happens.  For the first time since my son was born, I'll be hopping on Gunpower and riding Critical Mass myself with camera, flip vid, and cell phone all ready to go.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa responded to an open letter from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition concerning the incident from May's Critical Mass ride where the LAPD was caught on tape kicking at cyclists and attacking a different rider recording the incident.  Instead of his press office,  Villaraigosa uses the LACBC's blog to make his official statement on the attack, video and the LAPD's follow-up.

There's nothing ground-breaking in the response, the three sentences can be summed up as,"Cyclists have the right to the road and fair policing.  It's good that Beck is trying to make things better for cyclists.  The video is disturbing, but I trust the LAPD to make this right."  You can read the full statement at the LACBC Blog.

I've already heard some complaints that Villaraigosa's response wasn't stronger or didn't announce a policy change of some sort in addressing the assault.  But when you compare the Mayor's statement to that of another big city mayor in a similar situation, Villaraigosa's is actually a step forward when it comes to recognizing the rights of cyclists on a Critical Mass ride.

In 2008, progressive transportation hero and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg found himself in a similar situation after an NYP officer knocked a cyclist off his bike during a Critical Mass ride.  You can watch video of that incident here.  As was the case in L.A., the mayor responded after video of the assault made the rounds on the evening news. 2008 actually shows that L.A.'s Mayor is taking a stronger stand.  Unlike Villaraigosa, it didn't take Bloomberg ten days to respond.  However, Villaraigosa's, actually took the initiative on his own, instead of waiting for a reporter to quiz him, and he responded directly to cyclists on the LACBC's own blog.

Bloomberg's response was also more vague than Villaraigosa's.  The Big Apple mayor wouldn't condemn the actions of then-officer Patrick Pogan when it was obvious to anyone watching the video of his assault on cyclist Christopher Long, even though charges against Long were still pending.

"It looked to me to be totally over the top and inappropriate, but the police commissioner is going to or is in the process of doing an investigation. I don't want to prejudice any investigation," said Bloomberg.

Personally, I'd much rather have a Mayor who first announces that he believes cyclists have the right to the road before condemning the incident as disturbing, than listen to Bloomberg's equivocation.  Villaraigosa's stand is another sign, joining his office's defense of a set-aside for cyclists and pedestrians in the city's Measure R funds.  In a lot of ways New York is miles ahead of Los Angeles in the race to be have the most sustainable transportation system, but our elected leaders seem to be recognizing that the old ways are not working.  These might be baby steps, but as the saying goes, every journey begins with one step.

Gallegos, an electrical engineer with a major aerospace
company, is the Boyle Heights resident who recorded the now famous altercation
between LAPD and cyclists at last week’s Critical Mass.

The claim describes the events from last Friday night as
follows:

“Shortly after capturing an image of an LAPD officer kicking
at the tire of a cyclists, Mr. Gallegos was chased down by LAPD officers, who
tackled him, dragged him off his bicycle and proceeded to beat and kick
him. During the course of the
beating, one as of yet unknown LAPD officer stomped and kicked Mr. Gallegos’
phone in what is believed to be an attempt to destroy evidence of the unlawful
conduct of the LAPD officers."

Mr. Gallegos’ filing with the Clerk of the City of Los
Angeles further alleges that LAPD officers violated Gallegos’ 1^st, 4^th,
and 14^th Amendment Rights, namely the right to peaceably assemble,
freedom from excessive use of force, and the right to due process.

During his statement, Gallegos said he began recording the
LAPD on his iPhone when he saw officers trying to topple cyclists with their
batons. He then feared the worst
when he saw LAPD officers chase after him. As a result of being tackled, Gallegos suffered numerous
cuts and bruises, and to this day has numbness in his left hand from where
handcuffs dug into his wrists.

Attorney Hermez Moreno elaborated that he expects the
initial claim with the City and LAPD to be dismissed, as is common
practice. The initial claim is in
effect a procedural hurdle that will pave the way for Gallegos to file a
federal lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and LAPD for violating his
aforementioned Constitutional rights. They expect to be able to move forward with the federal suit in
approximately 45 days.

MORENO & PEREZ
A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 714 West Olympic Boulevard, Suite 450 Los Angeles, California, 90015 Tel.: (213) 745-6300
Fax: (213) 745-6060
PRESS RELEASE
On June 3, 2010, a government claim was filed against the City of Los Angeles and its police department as a precursor to the filing of a lawsuit against the City and its police officers for assault, battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress for the police assault on Mr. Manuel Gaellegos on May 28, 2010.
On Friday, May 28, 2010, Mr. Gallegos, a Los Angeles native and engineer in the field of electrical failure analysis, was cycling with a group of individuals as part of the monthly “Los Angeles Critical Mass” bike ride. Between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m., he was traveling eastbound on Hollywood Boulevard, when shortly after crossing the intersection with Highland Avenue he witnessed LAPD officers threatening to hit cyclists with their batons and attempting to stick their batons in the wheel spokes in an apparent attempt to make the cyclists topple and fall. Upon seeing a young boy pulled off of his bicycle and mishandled by an LAPD officer, Mr. Gallegos began filming the conduct of the officers. Shortly after capturing an image of an LAPD officer kicking at the tire of a cyclist, and questioning the officer as to why he had engaged in such conduct, Mr. Gallegos was chased down by LAPD officers, who tackled him, dragged him off of his bicycle and proceeded to beat and kick him. While lying on the ground Mr. Gallegos was given conflicting instructions from the LAPD officers– one told him to get up, while the other said to stay down. While Mr. Gallegos was on the ground, the video function on his I-phone continued to record, even while apparently being stomped on by an LAPD officer.
After Mr. Gallegos was brought to his feet, he was then handcuffed and detained by the LAPD officers for approximately 45 minutes. During the course of his detention, the LAPD officers failed to tell Mr. Gallegos what exactly he had done wrong until issuing him a citation for alleged violations of the California Vehicle Code, which he is currently in the process of fighting.
Anyone with any information pertaining to the May 28, 2010 “LA Critical Mass” Bike Ride and the actions of the Los Angeles Police Department are urged to contact Moreno & Perez at 213-745-6300.

]]> http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/06/04/cyclist-who-filmed-critical-mass-attack-files-claim-against-lapd/feed/ 12 http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/06/02/rider-report-from-last-weeks-lapdlacm-confrontation-it-was-all-bad-news/ http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/06/02/rider-report-from-last-weeks-lapdlacm-confrontation-it-was-all-bad-news/#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:41:02 +0000 Damien Newton http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=51331 [...]]]> Responding to a tweet asking for any first hand accounts, John Clark sent along the following first hand Rider Report from last Friday’s Critical Mass.  It’s interesting to see what someone in the ride, not involved first hand in any confrontation with the LAPD thought of what was happening as it was happening.

The ride was
fine up until we hit Hollywood and Highland and had LAPD waiting at the
intersection.  When we rolled up I stopped in front of "Ripley’s Believe It or Not" and waited until the group started riding down Hollywood
towards Western.  I then noticed to cops on my left (the ones from the
video.)  As I turned to roll down the street one of the officers was
already in the middle of the street looking around with his hand on his
baton.  He looked right at me and I’m thinking he is about to grab me.
I’m not a small guy so he quickly re-though this as I looked him in the
face.

I continued but turned around to see if he actually was going
to grab someone.  I watched him grab the girl with the white helmet
who has her hands behind her back during the kicking in the video.  He
grabbed her pretty bad so I stopped and starting walking back towards
them to see why he was doing what he was doing. I re-thought that as
I could see it was going to get ugly.  During all of the grabbing not
one cop said move, leave, or stop. 

The Mass continued down
Hollywood.  When we got to Vine I made a small group stop at the red
light as cars where already moving through the intersection.  I was
yelling at people to stay out of the street and moments later two LAPD
cars swerve right in front of of us and jump out with hands already on
batons ready to do I don’t know what.  I continued past the cops who
where blocking the street to continue.  Me and one other person (Yeah
1 out of 400 plus) ended up on the other side of Vine.  At this point
I made a right… and was completely by myself.  I then made my way to
the start of the Peoples rRde to find my roommate and friends and go
back to our house.

From what I could tell  some of the officers where
laughing and others where out to power trip and had no clue of what to
do…It was all bad news …

(In addition to a great report by Jeremy Grant, Bikeside has a list of things that you can do to make certain that justice is served in this case.  Including a "Storm the Bastille" ride to this week's meeting of the Bike Advisory Committee)

Well, that didn't take long.

Hours after I received confirmation from the LAPD that bike blogs and social media had helped catch a hit and run driver; the era of good feelings between the cyclists and the LAPD hits a major pothole as video surfaces of officers of the Hollywood Division trying to trip or kick a cyclist during Friday's Critical Mass ride.  When the videographer asks what the cyclist did to deserve that he is tackled from behind and alternately told to "stay down" and "get up."  The video ends with the camera facing in the air as what I presume to be an officer looks into it before shutting it off.

Regardless of one's feelings on Critical Mass, the video above clearly shows the cyclists taking one lane, as allowed to by law, and the LAPD acting aggressively to "police" the ride by interfering with it and attacking cyclists.  Most of the mainstream media reports do their usual hatchet job on the facts, trying to present the cyclists as somehow equally at fault as the thugs in uniform. If there's one thing cyclists know all to well; it's that the LAPD won't take action on a case that they don't witness or have some evidence of in person.

Apparently, that standard doesn't apply to cyclists.  While a cyclist can grab the plate number of a vehicle that knocks him down and flee the scene, the LAPD won't take action.  When a group of cyclists is acting rowdy protesting a multi-national corporation that is setting world records for pollution; the LAPD attacks the cyclists.  All the nice sounding P.S.A.'s and olive branches don't mean squat when cyclists are getting attacked by cops on the street.

We've written before about how it would be foolish to expect the LAPD to change overnight, so the reports of violence from the LAPD and the requests that there not be a "rush to judgment" by some supporters should both be taken seriously.  If the LAPD cleans house on this, takes the complaints seriously and conducts a fair investigation; then Friday's confrontation is just that.  An ugly incident.

If the Wall of Blue blocks investigation into this, or provides nothing more than non-sensical and factually incorrect responses as they did with April of 2009's botched reporting of a hit and run crash in the Downtown (still waiting for that report to be made public...); then all the olive branches and happy P.S.A.'s in the world won't be able to put this relationship back together again.  After all, the measure of commitment isn't how one acts when things are easy, i.e. Bike Week, but how things are handled when things can get uncomfortable.

Charlie Beck, the ball's in your court.  So far, the silence is deafening.

The Post reports that the jury has reached a mixed verdict in the trial of Patrick Pogan, the ex-NYPD officer who was seen by millions of YouTube viewers slamming his shoulder into approaching cyclist Christopher Long during a 2008 Critical Mass ride, sending Long to the pavement. Pogan was found guilty of falsifying records when he filed a criminal complaint alleging that Long assaulted him. He faces up to four years in prison for that conviction.

The jury found Pogan not guilty, however, of misdemeanor assault charges. Got that, NYPD? Go ahead and knock people off their bikes, just tell the truth about it afterward and you'll be okay.

Critical Mass rolls down Lombard Street, July 2007. Photo by Chris Carlsson

Well,
no. We’ve had a great run in the 2000s. Averaging between 750 and 3000
riders on any given month, the birthplace of Critical Mass keeps going
strong, in spite of the total lack of promotion or organizing during
this past decade. But many of us long-time riders have been dismayed to
see the persistence of silly, aggressive, and counter-productive
behavior that makes the Critical Mass experience worse for our natural
allies on buses, on foot, and even folks in cars who might join us in
the future. Not to mention that it makes it worse for us cyclists too,
to the point that many former regulars have stopped riding. Part of the
frustration for us long-time riders is that we went through all these
issues quite intensively back in the early-to-mid 1990s, and to see
them cropping up again is a harsh reminder that we’ve done a piss-poor
job of transmitting the culture, the lessons learned, from one
generation to the next. Plenty of current Critical Massers were under 5
years old when we started it, and the ride’s culture has been more
loudly and consistently transmitted by distorted representations in the
mass media than it has by those of us who put our hearts and souls into
it for years.

To address this, a few of us launched a new blog dedicated to San Francisco Critical Mass.

Online for only a couple of months, it has already reprinted a well-digested list of “do’s and don’t’s”, and a rumination from a long-time former Masser on the hard work it takes to keep a space like Critical Mass open and inviting and pleasurable, as well as a look at the Budapest, Hungary Critical Mass and an always provocative look at bike helmets.
It’s a moderated blog with a limited number of contributors, but it’s
open to a wide range of comments including some markedly negative ones,
while it also seeks to keep the discussion constructive and insightful.

Critical Mass, Budapest, Hungary. (Photographer unknown)

When
Critical Mass began in late 1992, over two dozen individuals spent a
lot of time thinking and talking about this new experience, and the
culture that was emerging with it. Part of those discussions involved
how to spread the idea to other cyclists, and eventually to other
cities. That led to a publication in those pre-World Wide Web days that
was called “How to Make a Critical Mass", which went far and wide and probably had a bigger effect than we ever dreamed.

June 1996, Critical Mass heads west on Howard Street at 4th. (photo: Chris C.)

During a bit longer than the first two years, some of us published a monthly newsletter called “Critical Mass Missives,”
but after April 1995 we ceased and more or less stopped being a “secret
cabal” behind the tone and etiquette of the ride in San Francisco.
Critical Mass was growing very large by then, reaching well over 1,000
riders, and by mid-summer 1996 the ride was drawing several thousand
riders. Already in 1995 several of us early instigators had grown bored
with the ride, feeling that it had lost some of its early vibrancy. The
political space we had so jealously fought for and guarded seemed to
wither away all by itself as hundreds and thousands of new riders
joined in.

During late 1995-early 1996 one guy tried pretty
hard to “take over” Critical Mass, doggedly printing hundreds of
posters, promoting long rides that stretched out to the far western
edges of the city, even inaugurating what became for a few years an
“annual ride to Sausalito.” His preference for elaborate routes that
went to hills and ridges all over the city, and required endurance and
sometimes speed to keep up, seemed to many of us regulars to be an
unwelcome departure from the convivial purposes of Critical Mass. It
wasn’t meant to be a road race, an endurance test, or a contest to see
who could ride the furthest or climb the most hills. It was supposed to
be a place where we met once a month on bikes and “road home together,”
enjoying a leisurely pace through town conducive to conversation,
political and philosophical discussion, and meeting new people, usually
ending in a park or a bar.

Happily, a newer group of riders
coalesced with the purpose of overthrowing this lone nut’s temporary
reign over Critical Mass route planning. Alternative routes began to
appear. A concerted effort was made to steer the ride back to a
friendlier and more celebratory experience, and redirect the emphasis
towards the social and away from the athletic. This effort was largely
successful and a series of rides with a rediscovered joie de vivre
took place over the 1996-97 months, leading to the infamous
confrontation engineered by then-Mayor Willie Brown in July 1997. (See
Ted White’s documentary “We Are Traffic!"
for a good account of it.) The following month saw thousands returning
to ride in the “Good Soldier Schweik” ride, where we “rode to rule,”
following as many traffic rules as we could, which predictably made
downtown traffic MUCH worse. 

After that, the police mostly
backed off, realizing that leaving us to conduct ourselves through the
streets was a better crowd control strategy than confronting us and
harassing us. Tickets were occasionally written, but in general, over
the years that followed, a tacit truce has prevailed. In the decade
since, the ride has percolated along, often quite euphoric and fun, but
in the past two years or so, taking on a distinctively repetitive
quality.

August 1999, Critical Mass huffs and puffs up Potrero Hill. (Photo: Chris C.)

Most
months the ride leaves straight up Market Street, unnecessarily
blocking and delaying most of the city’s primary public transit lines.
Every month the ride seems to be drawn inexorably towards the Broadway
and Stockton Tunnels, and at least two or three times it turns back
towards downtown in a regressive loop. By the time we get to midtown,
someone usually has the bright idea to “circle up” in the Market/Van
Ness intersection, or an equivalently central locale. Along the way,
the drunken guy is cursing at passersby and bellowing like a stuck pig.
Young riders prove themselves as “really radical” by cutting across
into oncoming traffic and stopping cars for no particular reason other
than that they can. Failure to stick together in a tight mass (always a
problem, even in the early days) leads to cars finding themselves
trapped among throngs of cyclists. The calm driver usually inches over
and stops until we’ve passed, but some are confused and frightened.
Taunting and name-calling from self-righteous cyclists is all too
common, and when a motorist is provoked they are blamed for causing the
problem. (This is not to say that all confrontations are caused by
cyclists… historically, and in the present, many more problems are
caused by motorists trying to force their way through the cyclists.)

August 2007, Stockton Street. (Photo: Chris C.)

Most
of these dynamics can be altered by simple courtesy and smart behavior.
Treat motorists with respect, thank them for waiting! They are people
like us, and they might want to join us in the future if they are
invited. Cars that get stuck in the Mass should be helped out to the
right if possible. If Mass is fragmented and dispersed, organize a stop
at a red light and regroup. People in the front are hugely responsible
for stopping regularly, far more than feels comfortable, but it’s the
only way to keep the Mass together. Don’t “cork” intersections where
the Mass is broken and only a few bikes are trickling through. Better
to stop the bikes on the red light and regroup. These are simple
lessons we learned years ago to make for a better Critical Mass
experience for everyone.

Halloween 2008, Broadway in North Beach, a party pause! (Photo: Eduardo Green)

You
may not care if you’re winning hearts and minds, but overall, the point
of Critical Mass is not a fraudulent “class war” between cars and
bikes. We started Critical Mass to be a new kind of public space, and
to help promote a different way of being together in city streets.
Rolling along on bikes, tinkling bells, chatting and discussing,
smelling an exhaust-free atmosphere, listening to humans instead of
motors, and feeling the city’s geography in a wholly new way, is
exhilarating and liberating—not just for us riding, but for the
thousands of people we pass by. Our pleasure is infinitely more
inspiring AND subversive than any amount of angry posturing,
self-righteous taunting, or childish tantrums. Critical Mass is for
adults of all ages, and encourages the brave young radicals who want to
FSU to take it to the other side of town during Critical Mass, and
don’t use us to hide behind as you work out your unresolved anger with
your parents!

August 2008 in the Marina District. (Photo: Adam Aufdencamp)

Meanwhile,
Critical Mass rides on. It’s still a magical experience that will
surprise and endear you. Countless San Franciscans have ridden in
Critical Mass only to realize that daily cycling is within their reach,
and obviously a preferable alternative to being stuck in a car, or
waiting for MUNI… Join us next month, and in the coming year… it’s
been going for over 17 years and ain’t stopping any time soon… Last
Friday of every month, 5:30 in Justin "Pee Wee" Herman Plaza, foot of
Market Street. Bring your best selves!