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News Critical Mass: San Diego cyclists take to the streets By Erin Blakemore September 26, 2005 San Diego--For a group with no leaders and no organizational affiliation, they sure seem united. Once a month, they take to San Diego streets on mountain bikes and vintage Schwinns, riding together for a common purpose: to celebrate biking and assert bicyclists’ road rights. They’re of all ages, shapes and sizes, but together they form a unit worthy of their name—Critical Mass. The idea is simple. At 7:00 p.m. on the last Friday of each month, bikers gather at the Ruben H. Fleet Space Theater fountain in Balboa Park and meet for conversation and flyering before taking to the streets. Then they hit the pavement in a group bike ride that usually covers Downtown and the Gaslamp Quarter, areas that are known for their snarled vehicular traffic. The ride can range from the bay area to uptown.
They’re equipped with noisemakers and custom rides. But who are these bikers who regularly congregate to confront those who think bikers don’t belong on San Diego streets? “You have San Diegans from all walks of life,” says Jerry [last name withheld], a 29-year-old who has been riding with Critical Mass for the last three years. “You have bike messenger subculture kids, who are usually the most flamboyant. You also have yuppies, hippies, and sometimes entire families, not just leftist freaks people usually associate with these sorts of things.” He cites San Diego’s car-dependent culture as a reason the Critical Mass rides are an increasingly important part of community awareness. Sean Zook, a 28-year-old who started riding with Critical Mass in Columbus, Ohio, agrees. “Critical Mass is there to show people, hey, you can ride your bike in the city, you can commute to work. You can have fun while riding those one to three miles, or more, to work. You can do it at night, even!” “For many people who commute to work by bicycle, myself included, often times the commute is the best part of the day. Who can say that about their hour-long drive home from work?” Critical mass may give its participants a sense of community and peace, but controversy has followed the riders. Verbal altercations have been observed between bikers and drivers; Jerry even recalls being chased by an irate SUV driver. A hit-and-run accident was observed in October 2004, and as long as the Critical Mass riders keep standing up to street traffic, it looks like they will face angry drivers. Still, riders like Jerry aren’t ready to quit Critical Mass any time soon—and they encourage others to join right in. “I mean really, how often do you see a hundred people on bikes coast by you? It really is a sight to see.” |
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