General: Critical mass: do any cities actually take this seriously?

When I first heard of critical mass 8 years ago, I was intrigued and excited. Living in a city like Houston where I didn't see many other cyclists left me yearning for a ride where a large mass of people take to the streets, and have a good time just riding around aimlessly. That dream was quickly defeated though, since the reality of living in Houston set in when attending the rides and finding that it never exceeded more than about a dozen riders. While it was still a lot of run riding around with my friends, I still yearned for the mass that I'd heard of in other cities.

Fast forward 7 years...

A friend of mine suggested I come check critical mass now, saying a lot of changed. I decide to ride in and check it out. At first there were only a few of us there, but sure enough well over a hundred riders started trickling in. This was shocking to me, because I commute from the burbs into the city daily, and pretty much never see any riders outside the large city parks that the roadies frequent.

A while later the ride starts, and ll I can think to myself is 'fuck yes'. Traffic in Houston really isn't that terrible in most areas during the evenings, so we didn't have many obstacles to overcome at first. However, once we started getting into the heavily trafficked areas, I noticed that pretty much nobody was bothering to cork the intersections during red lights, and I found myself being the only one (if not maybe one or two others at the most) who made an effort to do so.

Next I noticed the amount of idiots who were bringing beer along with them for the rides. I couldn't believe that people would compromise the ride by giving the law a good reason to stop it. There's a time and place for drinking, while riding a bike is not one of them. There's a whole thread dedicated to why this is stupid though, so I won't bother elaborating any further on my hatred for this behavior.

About 5-6 miles into the ride, I hear we're going towards rice university. This surprises me, since I know the roads suck ass over there, but I figure what the hell. It turns out the only reason for doing this was so they could stop at the on campus pub, 'valhalla'. I figure ok, maybe not everyone can handle riding notable distances and need a short break, but seriously? They hang out there for about an hour, then some folks come out and say we're going to roll. Everyone hops back on their bikes, and starts riding away from the university. It turns out they were only riding a short distance to the nearest house party, where the ride ended.

I gave it two more chances after this, but each instance was pretty much identical to the first. I've since given up on it completely, since I'd rather just go for long rides by myself, than a half-ass ride with a bunch of hipsters who are only concerned with getting fucked up. Lately I've been yearning to ride in a large mass once again though, and I've wondered to myself if there are others like me here in Houston who feel the same way? I know that 'bike culture' has pretty much evolved into a hipster fashion statement now, hence the douche bags, but this site alone has reminded me that there are still plenty of others out there who are sincere about their passion for riding bikes. I'm not optimistic on what the turn out will be though, but figure it's worth at least one shot.

My question is this: are there any cities out there that actually have a well organized critical mass, that is focused on the ride and not the fashion? I highly doubt it, due to the aforementioned hipster-explosion, but I figured I'd ask and hopefully get inspired again. I've considered going to the next mass ride, and distribute fliers for a real ride, for people who actually give a shit.

We have other rides here as well, which I definitely plan on checking out. I was just curious about critical mass specifically, since I'd heard such good things in the past from people in other cities. This was 8 years ago though, and a lot has obviously changed with bike culture since then.

I've pretty much always just ridden solo, or with a few friends. I really enjoy riding alone and find it to be both an excellent stress release, and also a low impact way to exercise. The low impact part is key for me, since I broke my hip 9 years ago, and decided to take on cycling per the recommendation of a friend who worked at a local shop, and was also an avid cyclist.

There's a century ride (katy flatlands) coming up that I plan on riding. It actually goes along a route that I normally take myself when I head out of town, so I'm quite familiar with the ride. I can't seem to find anyone else who will commit to riding with me though, and I'm so damn socially inept. I'm going to force myself to check it out either way though.

In san jose we have sj bike party. There were 1535 people last time, along with news helicopters and police blocking certain intersections for us. 20ish miles. Its every 3rd friday. It doesnt have a clear agenda like critical mass. Its just a group ride that blew up because it is slow and encourages what I call "bike owning non-cyclists" to join the fun. There is plenty of drinking and foolishness involved because, as the name implies, its as much a party as a bike ride.

People in cars are usually baffled. Some get really pissed and some get really excited about the idea of joining us next time.

San Francisco's were amazing when I lived there ('92-'00), interesting routes and substantial participation. Boston's haven't been so great -- it's three-season cycling here (except for nutcases like me and a few others) and that cuts down on the pool of available cyclists, plus the roads are often narrow and disconnected. Everyone ends up on Mass Ave at some point, and that gets boring after a while.... Still, I back 'em. Got to show we're out there and that the streets are ours too!

Hey SFBEE!
How is the Ciocc build turning out? Well, I hope.
Just wanted to say I sympathize with you. I used to ride critical mass regularly probably about 5 or 6 years ago. Back then it was usually just a handful of us (25 if lucky!) We would normally do 15-20 miles I think, at the end stop somewhere like a coffee shop or something to recharge before everyone went their seperate ways. I got busy and a little jaded and stopped going.
A while back I had heard they really had quite a bit of people and kinda wanted to start going again. But I have heard several stories like yours that have stopped me from making it out.

I have never been super gung ho on critical mass, but I really feel that in order to maintain any significance esp. in a city like houston, the ride needs to be somewhat of a good distance and it needs to be overtly political. The whole point of the ride is for cyclists to TAKE UP SPACE on the street. To say we are not crazy for riding our bikes and no you cant run me over because I am on two wheels. Yes, it is a social event. But like you pointed out sfbee, motorists are not going to get the point if the ride spends half the time at bars. And also, I dont want to go to your dirty house party. The ride should be inclusive to folks who dont ride on neon track bikes.

Sorry for the rant yall.

Ending at a party is one thing, but ending at a party after a nominal number of miles just sucks. A friend of mine swore off critical mass after the last ride, which consisted of them riding out to a particular piece of graffiti to pose for pictures in front of it, then to a house party after that. Hipsters and their silly photo ops.

I'm definitely going to check out the other local rides, because I'd really like to find some sort of group to start riding with every now and then. Hopefully I can find a good middle ground where the group isn't overwhelmed by hipsters or snooty rich kid roadies

Posted By: kirkeHey SFBEE!
How is the Ciocc build turning out? Well, I hope.

It's been powder coated, and I just received the decals in the mail for it. I'm going to apply the decals and clear coat over them next week. The next step is contingent upon whether a friend comes through on a hook up for an ultegra group at cost. If that falls through, I've polished the cranks, chain rings, and stem up quite nicely, and will just need to toss on a replacement bottom bracket and headset.