Critical Manners

A little while back, I wrote an article titled Critical Massholes, in which I explained why I no longer participated in the Critical Mass bike ride (it’s in my blog’s archives, which aren’t working right now; I promise to fix that soon). In the article, I wrote that the actions of Critical Mass members — ignoring traffic signals, hogging the road in an attempt to “get back” at cars, picking fights — hinder rather than help the cause of urban cyclists like myself. These people make up a small part of Critical Mass, but they are influential. There’s always a group of them in any city’s Critical Mass.

I’ve just been told about an attempt to counter these people in San Francisco: Critical Manners. Here’s a brief description of the event:

Critical Manners: a revolutionary act of courtesy. Come put the nice back in the bike world with Critical Manners! A helmet-wearing, bell-ringing, blinkie-sportin’ good time for you and all your bike friends. Practice synchronized signaling, single file riding, stopping at stop signs and NOT blowing red lights. Critical Manners will brake for pedestrians, trolleys, and even the occasional SUV. If you’ve ridden in Critical Mass, you know about the “testosterone brigade”. Maybe it’s time you rode with Critical Manners — We take obedience of the law ridiculously seriously.

If you want to find out more about this event, see this discussion in Google Groups.

Toronto cyclists who still participate in Critical Mass: can we do this here? I’d rejoin Critical Mass if we took this idea and ran with it!