On 9/28/2015 6:15 PM, Jeff's Mail wrote:

I too have stopped riding the mass. The mass no longer stays together and it has become so strung out that it no longer has an appeal for me. It seems it has turned into a race and not a ride. I probably will not return. Too bad because I used to love it.

Proposed, _suggested_, bike route for the October 30th 2015 Halloween Chicago Critical Mass ride.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kastigar/21172769144/in/dateposted-pu...

Copied from the map from 2006 - 9 year old and in keeping with many of the old traditions.  Except  for the final stretch down Montrose to the beach, all the the stretches are short and there are frequent turns to slow down the ride and keep the ride massed-up.  The longest stretches are:

Van Buren, from State to Clinton: 3/4 mile
Clybourn, from Division to Halsted: 5/8 mile
Lincoln, from Fullerton to Diversey: 7/10 mile

The Lance Armstrong Wannabees may attempt to hijack the ride so they can speed up and ride fast - which spreads out the mass like what happened in August and September.  That isn't how the Critical Mass is supposed to work.  The ride is for everybody, from 8 to 80.  Let the trixies go their own path, or turn around to stay with us.

A few more rides like the last two months and a lot of the 'regulars' are just going to stop coming. The number of riding coming downtown at 5:30 on the last Friday of the month will dwindle.  This is already happening in other cities.

We need more people to stop up, plan, and lead.  Draw another map for October. Bring a ride map you'd like to go on for November. Find a new way to get to the Polkaholics in January.  Short routes, off the main roads for a while.  A turn every 1/2 mile. Avoid long straight-line, long distance main routes.  Lead us through neighborhoods.  Suggest mass-up points to stop and mass up.

The map suggestion was copied from the 2006 Halloween ride; if anyone knows the original cartographer who suggested this map, let all of us know so that they can be given credit.  I'd rather not just steal but to give credit where credit is due.