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But there was a map and we stuck to it...just so you know...the route wasn't a surprise at all except a little variation. Oh well mute point...but I thought it was odd you thought there was no route planned out. I would think there really has to be route planning in a season of street fests.
Rowbike Mike said:Just for the record, what I meant by "anarchic" is that I liked the fact that it didn't feel like the entire route was planned out, and I liked that sense of surprise in a ride. That aspect of last week's the ride was a nice change of pace.
A lot of other things (already mentioned by other riders) were really discouraging. For example, riding around cars stuck in traffic was not a good idea, both in terms of breaking up the mass and unneccesarily encouraging a lot of ire amongst the police and motorists. Not allowing momentum to build at the beginning by doing some loops around the Daley center was a bad idea. Riding on Lake Shore Drive was a terrible idea (where I was riding, it seemed like I was one of only a handful of riders who chose to go on the sidewalk).
When I first started riding in CCM a few years ago, I remember seeing fliers that spelled out some of the "guidelines" for a critical mass ride (if there can be such a thing). It would be great to see that again, given how many new riders participate during the summer months. It may sound trifling, but I only heard a few people shout out "Happy Friday!" during the ride - little things like this can set the mood for the ride.
getting info into the derailleur is all well and good, but i'd agree with howard's assessment that people probably don't study them before the ride. a separate handout might be better. also, mad props to this month's derailleur--i always ALWAYS recommend bicyclesafe.com, aka "how to not get hit by cars," to new urban riders. i think that was MUCH more useful information to give the newbies than info on corking and massing up, which only applies to one ride a month.
one thing i will note is that there were not too many obvious places to mass up on the way into chinatown. it's damn near impossible to get people to stop and mass up at a stop sign, and even more so when they don't understand the ride's mechanics and the necessity of massing up. as much as i love neighborhood side streets, maybe we should tend toward major intersections (with traffic lights) early on in summer routes. inexperience was a definite factor in our dispersion.
Maybe there should be several "mass-up" points designated on the map ahead of time. Not a lot, maybe just 2 or 3 (not including the beginning and end obviously). Just something so that leaders know there should be a 1-2 minute pause at a location, allowing everyone to catch up from behind and remind us that it's not a race. I know that the mass doesn't always follow the map, but injecting the idea of frequent mass up points may be good practice regardless.
one thing i will note is that there were not too many obvious places to mass up on the way into chinatown. it's damn near impossible to get people to stop and mass up at a stop sign, and even more so when they don't understand the ride's mechanics and the necessity of massing up. as much as i love neighborhood side streets, maybe we should tend toward major intersections (with traffic lights) early on in summer routes. inexperience was a definite factor in our dispersion.
hey gang, much of the analysis i've seen so far is spot-on. i, too, noticed that we were moving way too fast early in the ride, and that gaps were forming before we even hit chinatown. i didn't make it to the front until we were heading west on 26th street, though, where two or three bike cops were leading the ride (i think that's how we stayed on route so well!). i kept calling to "MASS UP" to no avail, and finally yelled something like, "MASS UP! STOP AT THE LIGHT! we are so SPREAD OUT that cars are driving through the mass!! the cops want us to keep moving but we want to STAY TOGETHER!!" that worked for a light cycle or two, but some unfamiliar faces got tired after waiting through just one red-to-green-to-red, and pedaled off (in the middle of a red light, no less) with the group behind them. (meanwhile, the three cops had already lead two or three dozen riders ahead to 26th and halsted, where they had no choice but to wait for everyone else). that's when i started falling back from the front, and stopping to cork a little later meant i wasn't too much help, sorry gang.
i also saw a LOT of instances where the riders in front were threading through cars stopped at lights. this was mid-chinatown, when i was trying to make my way up front. unfortunately, my yells of "STOP BEHIND THE CARS! you can squeeze through traffic ANY OTHER DAY OF THE MONTH!" were too far back to reach the lead riders.
one thing i will note is that there were not too many obvious places to mass up on the way into chinatown. it's damn near impossible to get people to stop and mass up at a stop sign, and even more so when they don't understand the ride's mechanics and the necessity of massing up. as much as i love neighborhood side streets, maybe we should tend toward major intersections (with traffic lights) early on in summer routes. inexperience was a definite factor in our dispersion.
relatedly, i tried yelling "MASS UP! call it forward!!" when i found a gap forming ahead of me as we headed north to university village, on racine near taylor. i was too far back, again, for my cries to reach the front, where riders had a green light and turned east onto taylor without pausing. however, a girl nearby asked her friends what 'mass up' meant, and one replied "oh, you know, ride faster to catch up to the people ahead of you." i was able to explain, no, that was what "close the gap!" means; massing up is when you stop so people behind you have a chance to catch up. so, at least two riders learned what mass up was that friday.
getting info into the derailleur is all well and good, but i'd agree with howard's assessment that people probably don't study them before the ride. a separate handout might be better. also, mad props to this month's derailleur--i always ALWAYS recommend bicyclesafe.com, aka "how to not get hit by cars," to new urban riders. i think that was MUCH more useful information to give the newbies than info on corking and massing up, which only applies to one ride a month.
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