Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 26, 2010 at 1:39pm

I'll make it very simple when it comes to my opinion of what went wrong on mass this last month.

It went to fast.

Period.

the lead was to fast and mass was strung out and that is what causes 99.9% of all the problems you see on mass because there are to many gaps.

SLOW IT DOWN!

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 27, 2010 at 1:42am

It's directed at anyone who reads this.

I tried to make the front of the mass several times before I had to peel off and not once was I able to catch the lead and that is a pretty unusual circumstance for me even on a large ride and a sure sign, to me, the front is traveling way to fast.

On the flip side to that I also noticed a lot of pockets of very slow riders holding back groups and contributing to the huge gaps with nobody urging them to try and speed up and close the gaps.

If you notice the mass spreading out it needs to be solved from both ends, it needs to be communicated to the front of mass up and slow down and it needs to be communicated to the rear to pick up the pace a little and try to keep it tight.

Reading all of this and thinking about it all I will agree that cars getting caught in the mass because the front was not massing up and was trying to beat traffic rather then stop it helped to contribute to a lot of the problems as well. People who get stopped mid-turn or who are overtaken by mass and get stuck are always a lot more pissed off then people who are stopped and delayed at a light or before entering an intersection.
H3N3 said:

Who is this directed at?
As far as all of the accounts go, none of the seasoned riders were either able to get to the front, or willing to get off their ass and make the effort.
I'm sticking to my theory that a lone cop made the ride head north on Clark waaaay to early, surrounded only by newbies, unless I hear someone say "no, I broke the mass away."



notoriousDUG said:

I'll make it very simple when it comes to my opinion of what went wrong on mass this last month.
It went to fast.
Period.

the lead was to fast and mass was strung out and that is what causes 99.9% of all the problems you see on mass because there are to many gaps.

SLOW IT DOWN!

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 27, 2010 at 3:25am

I agree with DUG's observations, and add these:

1. The spacing and pacing of this ride wasn't like a Critical Mass, it was like a group ride on a marked route with everyone traveling at their own pace.

2. While usually oblivious to matters of, (ahem) "energy," I had an overwhelming sense of "bad energy" by the time the ride was westbound on Roosevelt. Running the mass through bottlenecks for the first mile or so probably contributed to this.

3. I saw way more open liquor on this ride than on any other mass.

4. I got to "a front" at the corner of Cermak & Wentworth(?) where it was stopped at a red light, to tell the leaders that they had to mass up and the ride was strung out and had huge gaps. There was one bicycle police officer and half a dozen people I don't know (which isn't necessarily saying much). They told me "the front" was actually blocks ahead. I looked east on Cermak and it was far enough ahead that I couldn't see it. The light changed and this "front" continued east. I rode back south on Wentworth for awhile to try to get people to pick up the pace and mass up, and was greeted with 'happy friday's" and pleas to join the mass. Kind of made me want to smack someone.

5. Critical Mass doesn't belong on Lakeshore Drive, and the City will get even. May not be next month, or the month after, but you will see dozens of arrests.

6. When gaps like this open up, you are no longer "traffic," you are interfering with traffic. Drivers get irritated because they're being held up when there are large openings that they could easily pass through. Under these circumstance corking becomes contentious and in some cases pointless.

7. I'm somewhat ambivalent about Critical Mass. I've talked to people whose opinions I respect on both sides of the issue, and the best argument that I've heard FOR is that it's different things to different people. OK fine, but CCM isn't supposed to be this.

As I re-read this I realize most of this could have been solved, if, as other posters have stated, the pace was slower, and the group was kept more as a mass.


notoriousDUG said:

It's directed at anyone who reads this.
I tried to make the front of the mass several times before I had to peel off and not once was I able to catch the lead and that is a pretty unusual circumstance for me even on a large ride and a sure sign, to me, the front is traveling way to fast. On the flip side to that I also noticed a lot of pockets of very slow riders holding back groups and contributing to the huge gaps with nobody urging them to try and speed up and close the gaps.

If you notice the mass spreading out it needs to be solved from both ends, it needs to be communicated to the front of mass up and slow down and it needs to be communicated to the rear to pick up the pace a little and try to keep it tight.

Reading all of this and thinking about it all I will agree that cars getting caught in the mass because the front was not massing up and was trying to beat traffic rather then stop it helped to contribute to a lot of the problems as well. People who get stopped mid-turn or who are overtaken by mass and get stuck are always a lot more pissed off then people who are stopped and delayed at a light or before entering an intersection.
H3N3 said:

Who is this directed at?
As far as all of the accounts go, none of the seasoned riders were either able to get to the front, or willing to get off their ass and make the effort.
I'm sticking to my theory that a lone cop made the ride head north on Clark waaaay to early, surrounded only by newbies, unless I hear someone say "no, I broke the mass away."
notoriousDUG said:

I'll make it very simple when it comes to my opinion of what went wrong on mass this last month.
It went to fast.
Period. the lead was to fast and mass was strung out and that is what causes 99.9% of all the problems you see on mass because there are to many gaps.
SLOW IT DOWN!

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 27, 2010 at 6:41am

If the front group gets away, you have to look around for someone you know, tell them "help me create a new front", and do so. Eventually the people who raced away will either stop and wait or go about their merry race.

That is a very sound, sensible piece of advice. I wish I had thought of it at the time.


Kevin, was the cop you saw with the quasi-front you reached a compact african-american guy? If so, he's the reason for the "surprise start." I saw him with the very front group at break-away.

Nope. Not African American. But yes, he was compact.

Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on June 27, 2010 at 10:33am

Rowbike Mike, there was a map- that wasn't really the issue.

Howard, I agree with you. Anyone of us who have lead a ride before could have fixed the problem. Though for various reasons it appears as though none of us stepped up to the plate. I actually had promised my girlfriend that this ride was going to be completely causal otherwise I would have tried to help out.

If you want to come up with a strategy to better organize the Mass I am 100% down with brainstorming. I don't think discussing it on the chainlink or the listserve is the best bet. Let's make an event where we have a meet up and invite any and all interested parties. I for one will advocate the use of better technology to help eliminate some of these problems. Though I admit it will not solve anything alone, I do think it could help in numerous ways like I have illustrated in the past.

So whose for next Saturday? And who is for meeting Downtown to make the location centralized easier for anyone to participate.

Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on June 27, 2010 at 12:38pm

I created an event which is waiting approval. It's set for next Saturday but that date is tentative, the following Sat the 10th would work between the hours of 2 to 4pm just as well since it isn't conflicting with any of the events. But I am assuming people are more likely to show up next Saturday given that there are no bike related happenings. It is the day before the 4th so maybe that'll force us to change things. I don't know.

A meeting with the Commanders for the 1st, 18th and 21st (maybe even 9) district CPDs would be a REALLY good idea. Most likely the two people we would be dealing with are the beat Sergent's for 132 and 133.

I think this is something to be discussed at the meeting. ; )

Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on June 27, 2010 at 5:13pm

Hey everyone I got an email from a concerned participant regarding the last ride.

"Hello Spencer,

I have been riding CCM for a year, and I've seen you around (sorry for my poor manners and not introducing myself). I lurk at the chainlink and the listserv. I am emailing you because I cannot post in either place at all. It's probably user error, but I don't know. Perhaps you could pass this along?

anyway, I saw a couple of the events being talked about in the "Post June 2010 CCM discussion" on chainlink. First, the quick start... I had just met a friend who showed up late. We were standing right at the corner of Clark and Washington. I think it was todd that was theorizing that the cops started the mass early. I saw no cops. Some random dude seemed to do it. My best recollection is normal looking guy, mountain bike or hybrid in a grey shirt. He just stops in the intersection, and yells, "Ok, lets go!!!" and give the wave that says means come follow me. He takes off and a lot of antsy people go tearing off after him. I immediately think, "Ah shit, too early and too fast". I wanted to try and get to the front to slow it down, but my friend wasn't ready (she was on the phone, and I didn't want to leave her). There may have been cops near the front, but this guy seemed to be acting alone. Frankly he struck me as someone who just got antsy. I did not recognize him, but I don't know that many people I guess.

The guy with the suit at Taylor and Jefferson or clark kicked some girl's bike who was corking I heard. IT knocked her over and hit the bike hard enough to knock the chain off her singlespeed/fixie. I got there just after. I saw trouble, and went over to see what was up. The guy in the suit gets pushed or backs in front of me, and I hit my breaks and endo into him. It wasn't hard or anything, just bumped into him good. People were yelling and really pissed. A scuffle ensued, and at that point I notice he STINKS of bourbon. I mean, we're outside and I can smell it on him from 3 feet away. He was probably drunker then anyone at the mass. I start yelling, "do you want to go to jail for assault and DUI?" over and over. Perhaps that brought him to his senses, and he just turned and walked away. I should have called the cops, but wasn't thinking straight I guess.

LSD... Basically the cops were just attacking people. The biggest bunch of bullshit is that I saw no signs where we turned that said no bikes. CCM newbies could have gotten caught up in that and not even know they did anything against the law and find themselves getting their heads beat in by Chicago cops. Isn't there some police watchdog groups that could be contacted? We should get some to ride the mass with us.

Illinois and lower Michigan. I got there late, but some guy was road raging. As the cops got there the rager actually pushed a CCMer into a cop, but the cop did nothing. Everyone just eventually just walked away without the cops doing anything.

Anyway, if you could pass that along to the chainlink, I would appreciate it. The mass can be fun, but it gets too stressful when it's like that. As everyone is saying, we need to stop these kind of mistakes from happening.

Take care Spencer.

Thanks,
Jay"

Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on June 27, 2010 at 5:48pm

I can't go to anything this weekend as I'm going out of town for the 4th. If you can't get a group together, maybe try piggy-backing it off of another event....like near the start of the Pajama ride, or after (or even during) the summer picnic on the 11th.

Obviously, don't hold off for me, especially since I will likely be out of town for the next mass. Perhaps we could do another CCM happy hour. A week night might be nice since there is less competing activity.

I think it would be good, and necessary to let people know what they can do to make mass a better experience for all. Remind them that anarchy doesn't have to mean chaos...it really is a heightening of personal responsibility. WHen there is no leader, or someone in charge, that means that the individual has to be in charge and be willing to step up if need be.

I really get disgusted when I see people use critical mass as an excuse to be assholes. On the May ride there was this teenage kid who was riding at the front and would approach cars and "growl" in the windows of cars who were going the opposite direction, or who were stopped at intersections. I tried to direct him into a more constructive roll of corking, but he said that he just liked harassing motorists. He was doing this even to drivers who were waving and smiling at the mass. It's people like him that really kind of make me not want to waste my Fridays nights doing the ride.

Other points that would be good to include (hopefully I'm not repeating what was said above)...

-stay on one side of the street when going down a two way road
-If you're in front, stop if the light is red
-If you're in front while massing up, encourage cars to go if the light is in their favor
-Wave! Smile! Wish people a Happy Friday....be festive, show that biking is fun! Don't harass motorists or bystanders.
-Acting like a masshole will have consequences, either in the current ride, or for future rides.

Permalink Reply by Barbra Mann on June 28, 2010 at 5:58am

Wow a lot of good information on here...let's put it to work! I so much wanted to enjoy this mass...I brought a first-timer and just wanted to enjoy it with her. I tried so hard to have fun in the few sections I was feeling it, waving and being social with people on the sidelines, like the Pilsen and Taylor street area, but it felt slightly wrong. Heading back downtown, we had to cork a very awful intersection while there was a block long gap. Now upon reading this we should've gone back and just started a second mass with all those people that were behind that block...I think it was because of one of the fights people are talking about. Even though we got a lot of people through that intersection, we never caught back up with the mass. One that was with the last rag-tag group was a mom with a toddler...she looked STRESSED OUT...I think they saw the fight. I wanted to cry. I didn't know the right thing to do.
OK...it's NOT going to be like that next month. Enough on here.

Permalink Reply by Rowbike Mike on June 28, 2010 at 7:44am

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.

Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on June 28, 2010 at 8:34am

I think that someone had posted some of these before, but the flyer exchange on the CCM site has some useful flyers for educating the mass. Print them up and hand them out. Here are some that I think are useful:
How to Cork:
http://chicagocriticalmass.org/sites/chicagocriticalmass.org/files/...
http://chicagocriticalmass.org/sites/chicagocriticalmass.org/files/...

Massing up
I like the text of this one: http://chicagocriticalmass.org/sites/chicagocriticalmass.org/files/... Critical Mass is people -- everyone's in charge, including you!

Etitquette:
http://bit.ly/9dNDfw

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on June 28, 2010 at 12:07pm

1. D,H,K, excellent itemized points. B, thanx for starting this.

2. Much of this is broken record old-hand stuff, just needs fuller dissemination. Though it also comes with experience. Looking forward to us all distilling and publishing on ChicagoCriticalMass.org after Spencer's meeting event. Maybe end up with less than a dozen quick key bullet points.

3. I and three best friend co-riders had absolutely fine times. All problems (launch, speed, density, route, cops, drinking,...) seemed within typical margins. And our wrap-up near 12th street beach kicked it up to wonderful. I did have my first full topple ever, when two riders inches in front of me suddenly went down for unknown reasons, but was immediately up unhurt.
CCM is so very big that there are many dramatically different experiences in any given mass.

4. Cross-posting post-ride feedback from a friend who couldn't come: "I heard someone got arrested trying to ride on LSD again? Dumbass."
Though I appreciate the Tiananmen Square style refusal to concede.

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