Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on June 26, 2010 at 4:17am

I heard one comment about "the cowboys leading the mass" and there may have been something to this. They went to fast, and way back down the line the mass was splintering, leaving large gaps where cars could enter. shouting "Mass Up" at the tail end of a ride this large isn't always effective.

Centering the mass on the concern about the Chicago Public Schools may also have been a mistake. There's nothing wrong with supporting the teachers but this advocacy seemed to make the entire ride be very short and centered about downtown without going too far into the various neighborhoods. We ended around the 12th Street Beach or the Museum Campus shortly after 8 PM or so, far too early. There was plenty of daylight left. With the Taste of Chicago going on we would have been better of staying away from downtown, ending maybe at the Foster Avenue beach or the 63rd Street Beach instead.

It's not like it was a bad ride -- it just wasn't a good ride.

Permalink Reply by Sue Clark on June 26, 2010 at 4:21am

Yelling "Mass Up" near the front wasn't having much affect, either. Every once in a while someone would get the "mass up" idea across, but then things would splinter again.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 26, 2010 at 5:42am

It was really spread out and at one point I saw 2 different groups on 2 different streets. As well as the people riding into oncoming traffic, we even went the wrong way down a street downtown! We run the lights to keep the group intact but this ride was to chaotic, disorganized even for Critical mass.

Permalink Reply by Barbra Mann on June 26, 2010 at 6:07am

I felt like it was a bad ride. A lot of people got left behind who didn't want to, in ensuing violence or because of gaps. I thought that the mass only circled Daley Plaza once before the front took off. Usually it's a few times more. Why was there a 'suprise start'? We were cut up and screwed up from the time we went east to Michigan. Bad idea. The Taste was going on! We need to mass up more next time, and not flow into car-filled streets, going around cars. I never got to the front, although I tried, and I usually can. If it is true that the leaders were not massing, and CM was poorly led, it brings that kind of energy on. And what was up with that bottleneck over that bridge? Can you imagine how long mass became at that point? That of course plays into why vehicle operators and cops were extra agitated. Half-closed bridges suck.
How do we avoid violence and twisting the city up that badly? That's the important thing. Does anyone here want violence on some level?
Since there are thousands of people following in mass, looking for a good time, a peaceful demonstration, a rolling party, if you will, let's make July a lot funner! I hope some experienced people have input.

Permalink Reply by Rowbike Mike on June 26, 2010 at 6:50am

I agree that it probably would have been wise to exit the Loop from the get-go, given all of the re-routed traffic related to the Taste of Chicago. In a way, it felt like this put a damper on the incipient momentum of the ride (The ArabFest congestion at Daley Plaza didn't help either, but there's not much we can do about that) I liked the fact that we traveled through Chinatown (I've never done that on a CCM ride before) and went through Pilson and Little Italy. I don't think we earned much good will by riding on Lake Shore Drive at the end.

In the past, I've advocated for the use of a route map. Would that have solved some of these problems? I must admit that I liked the anarchic feel of last night's ride, although it wasn't particularly smooth at times.

Permalink Reply by Vilda on June 26, 2010 at 8:57am

Yell all ya like that is LSD and we shouldn't be on there. Kick that kids ass and kick the girls ass that keeps clapping or trying to walk out there. The one thing CPD doesn't want is bikers on expressways. Challenge that at your peril.

Chinatown was great, Little Italy was less pleased to see us. And PLEASE PLEASE let us go down Roosevelt again! I want another shot at the guys BK and I were dealing with. BK I'll take the taller one this time. ;-)

Permalink Reply by Pete on June 26, 2010 at 9:25am

My experience with the June mass was that there was too quick of a start from Daley Center. The front of the mass moved too quickly and cars were reentering traffic with the tail-end of the mass most of the time. You definitely could see lots of frustrated drivers due to the inconsistent flow of cyclists. Then along the way there were injuries, arrests more frustrated drivers (Taste Traffic, road closures, bad traffic control from OEMC). We started at the tail but could not get further up, it appeared that there were bottlenecks preventing anyone in the rear from massing-up. It felt as though the mass didn't get organized until we reached Canal Street, but that broke down once we exited Little Italy and started back on the loop. I lost my friend for 20 mins during the ride due to the emergency vehicles trying to get around the car traffic on Wacker. I think that for the most part the route was well chosen, however, traffic factors in the loop prevailed. The sheer volume of cyclists made getting organized difficult. Not enough riders were willing to "cork" the important intersections (at one point the CPD bike officer suggested we cork an intersection around taylor. Also, ending that far north to come back to 13th street should probably be avoid in the future. Had we gone back south from Taylor to Roosevelt, then east to the museum campus we may have avoided getting lost in the loop. But at least I made some new friends.

Permalink Reply by Barbra Mann on June 26, 2010 at 9:39am

You shouldn't go out wanting to fight. That is not cool.

Gabe said:

Yell all ya like that is LSD and we shouldn't be on there. Kick that kids ass and kick the girls ass that keeps clapping or trying to walk out there. The one thing CPD doesn't want is bikers on expressways. Challenge that at your peril.

Chinatown was great, Little Italy was less pleased to see us. And PLEASE PLEASE let us go down Roosevelt again! I want another shot at the guys BK and I were dealing with. BK I'll take the taller one this time. ;-)

Permalink Reply by Vilda on June 26, 2010 at 9:53am

Barbara, 1st is that directed at the idiots in the video looking to fight with CPD? 2nd i go out looking to ride my bike but i have a strict no touching policy that was broken by an angry cager. No one gets to touch anyone else without permission. All i got to give him was a forearm shiver to the chest. Would love for him to try again ;-) So thanks for your opinion but I'm fine thanks ;-)

Permalink Reply by Barbra Mann on June 26, 2010 at 10:01am

I wonder if the mom and her toddler, the older people, younger people, and hey even the fit and free cyclists like me enjoyed the 'feel' last night. A lot of people don't care for what ensues when a mass is disjointed. I don't even know what you mean by 'feel of anarchy'. Does anarchy necesarily mean tense, dangerous, aggressive and not meeting the desire of most of the participants? Hey I think it is great that there is no specified leader and that people take leadership of a giant ride through the city...it's a great thing...but it has to be to the benefit of the people, or f*&^ that. I bet if people try to take LSD again next month, the CPD will try to do something about limiting or shutting down Critical Mass. I bet they're meeting now. It is so much better to chill and they'll let us do our thing. But I mean, CHILL! And THINK about what is best and if there is even a reason to rush...or go on an expressway. Sounds like such a powerful thing, but think about it...there's no one to wave to, no one's day to brighten up...it's just expressway. I mean, we're not even in a hurry.

Rowbike Mike said:

I agree that it probably would have been wise to exit the Loop from the get-go, given all of the re-routed traffic related to the Taste of Chicago. In a way, it felt like this put a damper on the incipient momentum of the ride (The ArabFest congestion at Daley Plaza didn't help either, but there's not much we can do about that) I liked the fact that we traveled through Chinatown (I've never done that on a CCM ride before) and went through Pilson and Little Italy. I don't think we earned much good will by riding on Lake Shore Drive at the end.

In the past, I've advocated for the use of a route map. Would that have solved some of these problems? I must admit that I liked the anarchic feel of last night's ride, although it wasn't particularly smooth at times.

Permalink Reply by Barbra Mann on June 26, 2010 at 10:04am

I loved Little Italy and Pilsen and China Town. One street was way too skinny, tho. I loved all the kids and the people beginning their Friday partying.

Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on June 26, 2010 at 1:17pm

Wow, this sounds like a good mass to have missed.

I did lead the mass in May and learned a lot. It was really my first time making a map and intentionally leading the ride. It's kind of a pain, but you really don't need to have that much experience in order to do it.

It's also good to have experience in the back of the ride so you can know what it feels like when the mass is strung out, or in a clusterfuck.

It was helpful that I had been at the front for several masses and got to see how to do it from other experienced ride leaders. I took over in March (I think) and led the ride for several miles.

Howard made a lot of good points that would be a good flyer.

Other handy things for "leading" the rides:

Make yourself visible, I do that with the balloons, Steven Lane has had his piece sign...wear a mask, or have a cool bike.

Have a team, or make other people in front into your team. Let them know that you're intentionally biking slow, give directions to not engulf cars and let cars that are at intersections through.

LET THE COWBOYS GO!. Don't try to keep up with them. Let a nice big gap form. It's okay. When you're visible, people will know that you're the one who knows where you're going and will follow you. The cowboys don't know where they are going (for the most part), and will have to stop and wait....or do their own ride.

Maintain a steady pace. It can help to have a computer on your bike to do this. Sometimes it's hard because the road in front of you is wide open, but resist the temptation.

If you're interested in trying to lead a map, just do it. Get some friends up there with you though, cause it can be a little boring.

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