Note how the riders aren’t using up the entire width of the road, but are going single file. Hint, hint, Critical Massholes!
Here’s more on Critical Manners: a report from the San Francisco Chronicle from a Critical Manners ride that took place back in April. This ride comprised only 16 cyclists, but was so much more civilized that the police escort simple left partway through the ride.
That’s “peds” as in “pedestrians”, folks.
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!
According to the funny webcomic Wondermark, here are next year’s big memes. I’m glad to see that I could very well be among them…
Click to see the full comic on its original page.
Got a caption for the photo below? Post it in the comments!
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.
Got a caption for the photo below? Post it in the comments!
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.
Eldon decided that the official graphic for my upcoming birthday party needed a little more accordion and decided to do something about it. I think he’s right…
