[dc-critmass-list] proposal

Thu May 10 15:23:18 PDT 2007

  We DO need to go fast enough that everyone can stay upright(i've sen that 
become an issue in the slowest rides!), but not so fast that anyone has 
trouble keeping keeping up(like on hills,for instance)/

>From: "JT Smith" <jteesmith at hotmail.com>
>To: armtherhythmic at yahoo.com, dc-critmass-list at lists.mutualaid.org
>Subject: Re: [dc-critmass-list] proposal
>Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 15:18:43 -0400
>
>Is this really that hard of a topic?  Why do people feel the need to ride 
>critical mass fast?  That's ridiculous, the point has always been, maybe 
>not in DC, but everywhere else Ive experienced CM to see and be seen, a 
>leisurely ride through the city during rush hour.  A demonstration.  It's 
>not a race, it's a movement, a collective movement.
>Building a bureaucracy into this by assigning 'jobs' and talking about 
>these problems at great length is quite DC, isn't it?  I don't mean to be 
>an antagonist here, but let's try and solve this by a collective 
>announcement of purpose and move on.  I really think we are horribly over 
>analyzing this situation, and possibly losing the entire point of CM.
>Safety is important, I don't mean to undermine that, but the entire fast 
>vs. slow argument should really be dismissed by everyone realizing the 
>original mission of CM.
>
>those are my thoughts,
>J.T. Smith
>
>
>
>
>From: michael turner <armtherhythmic at yahoo.com>
>To: dc-critmass-list at lists.mutualaid.org
>Subject: Re: [dc-critmass-list] proposal
>Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 11:02:59 -0700 (PDT)
>
>We could play spin the bottle before rides to see who will facilitate, who 
>will watch the vibe, and other roles. Anyone new and shy to it could get 
>some help along the way.
>
>I like the idea of riding routes busy with shops and slower traffic. Dupont 
>Circle being the start and end place inevitably takes us through that 
>scenario.
>
>People tend to follow the front of the ride, where fast riders end up. It 
>speeds up the mass, stretches it out and leaves a straggling crowd of few 
>behind. Some riders think the rear should speed up and they don't really 
>get that the riders can't get it that fast. So the mass should slow down to 
>the speed of the slowest riders. The mass should follow the rear in that 
>sense, but of course take the turns those in the front do. But if riders 
>take off and speed ahead, we should just let them go and not follow them.
>I led a route last year. Staying in the front the whole time made it easy 
>for me to see how hard it is to keep track of the rear. Someone in the rear 
>could notify the mass if things are stretching too far, maybe with a loud 
>horn. I have a 3$ toy that imitates an air horn noise. The super loud thing 
>could be passed around to whoever rides rear -possibly another role.
>-Mike
>
>Brian Suojanen <sugonaut at gmail.com> wrote: The spirit of Critical Mass 
>rides is to be spontaneous and unorganized (with the exception of a few 
>practices such as corking). Towards that goal, It'll be hard to designate a 
>person "responsible" for making the ride safer or slower. I've done the 
>ride in other cities ( S.F. & Chicago) and the pace is typically slow to 
>moderate. DC massers will have to desire to keep the group together in 
>order for the ride to be more successful. As participant numbers increase, 
>the ride will be forced into a slower pace organically.
>
>I haven't participated in the DC Critical Mass ride yet (hopefully June). 
>And it's possible the suggestions I'm about to make have already been 
>considered. Forgive me if that's the case.
>
>One suggestion for improving the perception of the event is to ride the 
>same route or, at least, most of the same route each time. Folks will 
>recognize the horde of cyclists once a month. Make the stretch a congested 
>one, and think windows - lots of bars, stores, and cars. People are at 
>happy hour, working, or commuting home. Eventually some, not all, people 
>will look forward to seeing us out there.
>
>Another suggestion (from my S.F. experience) is to start the ride off going 
>uphill, and end the ride on a downhill. Most people remember the beginning 
>and the end, particularly the end. If it's a good ending (aka "happy 
>ending"), riders will come back the following month.
>
>Cheers
>
>
>On 5/10/07, Clarissa <cjp at anarquia.org > wrote: I used to go on critical 
>mass rides a few years ago, but I'm not an
>experienced bike rider and I often had trouble keeping up. I would
>sometimes end up being a half-block or more behind the mass. This would
>  happen on downhills where everybody would go really fast, and I just
>didn't have good enough balance on the bike to feel safe going that fast.
>
>There would always be a couple people who would stay in back with me so
>I wouldn't be there by myself, but still, it's not fun to be the person
>who can't keep up. After a few rides I just stopped going.
>
>It might help to have a sort of facilitator for each ride, who is
>responsible for making sure everybody stays together, and letting the
>group know when they need to wait for others to catch up.
>
>I think that even if other people are noticing, they might not always be
>comfortable being the person who says something, but if it's your "job"
>it's easier to speak up. Kind of like a "vibes" watcher in a meeting.
>
>Clarissa
>
>
>
>michael turner wrote:
> > A rider was hit and left behind last Mass. After mulling things over we
> > propose that folks look after eachother -stick together and more:
> >
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