The Chainlink

Thoughts on Corking bicyclists on mass.

As has been discussed in other forums there were severeal times where cars were getting eaten up by the mass. One particular incident that I thought was absolutly stupid was at the beginining:

 

Going east on a street (forgot the name sorry) the mass seemed to gopple up a bus that was already halfway through the intersection. The mass was turning south but people were still going on both sides of the buss even though there was only about 10 feet of room on the north side.

 

I thought about corking the mass to try and funnel people away from the left side of the buss to the more open side so the buss could continue going east. It would have been easy too, all I would of had to do is put my bike 90 degrees to the road and try to wave people to the other side.

 

Unfortunately by the time I really thought about it I decided that I didn't want to deal with it and went around the south side of the buss.

 

I noticed things simular to this a few more times on the mass. Cars that could leave the mass area but people were bottlenecking and not letting the car through .

 

I might give it a shot at the next mass if the situation arises. I just want to know what others think of this tactic.  

Views: 11

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on June 28, 2010 at 12:41pm
That's absolutely appropriate, though it may be difficult. If you think you have a shot, then go for it if the situation arrises.
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on June 28, 2010 at 12:42pm
Davo,
You are right on. When I encounter these situations I start screaming to let the cars go, and do my best to explain why. Very occasionally you'll get some bonehead who just stares at you, but most of the time you can see a little light bulb go off above people's heads and they comply.

We need to be even more vocal in the early summer months as we get explosions of newbies that often far outnumber the vets.
Permalink Reply by Davo on June 28, 2010 at 12:49pm
Thanks for the your input. I've been looking for a good reason to use my boatswain whistle. People seem to respond more positively if you have a noise maker on you.
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 28, 2010 at 1:11pm
This is a great thread; I see so much corking that is just not the right way to do things.

We need to stop corking people turning away from the mass, it does nothing for us and infuriates people.
Permalink Reply by Vilda on June 28, 2010 at 1:34pm
True so far, also if you see a cork gettin' heated and you don't know the peeps involved stop. If you know how to cork you can keep both sides cool. As we went through a nice Italian neighborhood there was an African American girl corkin to white girls in a truck and she was instigating. While the car may have started it they were quiet when i rolled up and she was not. That neighborhood has contentious race relations as is, what we don't need is the girl in the truck makin a bad choice with the truck.

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