The Chainlink

“Critical massholes” by Scott Rowan (a.k.a. The Urban Cyclist)

Here.

And my comment: 

I’ve ridden a few times with the Chicago Critical Mass, and have to agree: there was a number of rather unattractive (drunk or stoned, or both) characters each time. I’ve seen few arguments with drivers stuck in the middle of the Mass. But I’ve also seen smiles on drivers’ faces and answering calls of “Happy Friday!” Come on, it’s just once a month. It happens all over the world (I saw an announcement about the Critical Mass few weeks ago in Nuremberg; I wish I had a chance to ride there, to compare it with CCM). For the majority of those who participate in the Mass, it’s a way to turn their city or town into an Amsterdam, if only for a few hours. (Do they have Critical Mass in Amsterdam? Probably not. What for? THEIR critical mass had been reached long time ago.)
. . . Anyway, as much as I respect the cycling achievements of the author of this article and the co-author of the “Survival Guide,” I think he might have found a better way to promote his book.
By the way, cyclists pay taxes, too.


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Is it that time again. I havn't seen one of these "articles" in a while. In my 5+ years of doing CCM, I have seen (IMO) the animosity between CCMrs and cars deminish. I guess this guy needed to promote his book and came across a journal entry from a few years back. Unfortunatly I don't want to post to this guys post because that would be another thing on the web that I have to log into or let facebook know what I like.

We've already had people bust through the crowd in cars, along Mi. Ave, North ave.

 

I'm for the tallbikes, bmx'rs trick bike riding wheelies along the raised bed planters in the median...the problem is always the ones that ride in the oncoming lane and drivers justifiably get angry.

 

Now this guy writing the article comparing cyclist to Jihad!? Nut case. But he's a PROFESSIONAL cyclist, yeah I know him the one that packs his bikes into an SUV and drives to ride his bike being self righteous about the laws of cycling.

 

"Critical Massholes are to fundamentalist terrorists what Islam is to cycling."

 

Not only did he butcher the analogy, but comparing what Critical Mass does to killing innocent people is a tell-tale sign that this guy is frothing way too much onto his keyboard.

Critical Massholes are to fundamentalist terrorists what islam is to cycling: totally unrelated. Unless there's some relationship between islam and cycling I'm unaware of.

 

Yeah this is a silly white noise troll, notable only for his conceit that he's a True Cyclist and the thousands of people on bicycles aren't cyclists, plus the "there will be blood on your hands" is adorable.

blah blah motorist taxpayers vs cycling... non... taxpayers presumably blah blah this is ultimately worse for cyclists blah blah which is why cycling in chicago has gotten so much worse as mass has grown

In his responce to someone correcting what his picture was of:

The image is what is what is vital - motorists have no patience for cyclists. Cycling "tourists" like you who don't live on a bike will not understand. To you "it's only a day" and that's my point - it's not a day. It's a negative attitude you have instilled in motorists. And then you've gone back to your car or bus. But for daily cyclists like myself you have caused us problems you don't ever know about because you're only in our world "for a day" but we live on bikes. You clearly are missing the entire point of the discussion. Please go spend you time avoiding work elsewhere. The adults here are busy.

 

 

Im confused, is he trying to promote a more positive image for cyclists or is it something that only the elite can do. What a douche

Cycling: it's His World!

Scott Rowan (aka The Urban Cyclist) began commuting daily via bicycle from his Lakeview condo to his office in the South Loop in 2004. Scott doesn't "do centuries" or weekend races and you won't find one expensive piece of cycling-specific clothing in his closet. Nearly 100% of his cycling is done on city streets as his daily mode of transportation.
His bike: a $450 Trek FX.
His clothes: $10 shorts/shirt.
His daily commute: 12 miles round trip.
His odometer: 15,000+ miles since 2004.

 

Whoa... whoa... his cycling levels are... are so high, so high, he is truly The Cyclist.

The best part is the poster that "happens" to have "the urban cyclist's" real name that writes in the same ignorant style just for the opposite side.

 

This is real lazy trolling. I thought that died out a while ago.

 

Still some what fun to follow that "discussion"

No time to find the statistic now, but there are stats showing that every brain injury increases your likelihood of having another down the road (so to speak).

Not saying this guy is brain-injured, but it would explain a lot...


Jeff Schneider said:

A little off topic, but...

The Urban Cyclist says, "I’ve also ridden my bike all my life and been in more than a dozen accidents..."

Well, I've also been cycling quite a few years (l'm an old dog), I put in a lot more city miles than he does (5k/year), and I even ride regularly beyond the near North Side.  Yet I have been in precisely ONE minor (no injury) accident.

A dozen accidents, even over a lifetime, seems like quite a lot unless you have terrible luck or really don't have a clue how to handle yourself in traffic.  It makes me wonder about the value of the advice in his Survival Guide.  Still, I think his intentions are good, even if he gets a little too worked up about CCM.

 

This very closely echoes my own expectations and biases about Critical Mass before I observed one first hand, and subsequently began to participate.  I actually called and ranted at Chicagoland Bicycle Federation staff more than once for appearing to promote the event in their monthly news mailing (mostly positive writeups by Steve Buchtel.)


I was wrong on almost every count-- glad I was open-minded enough to give it a chance.


kiltedcelt said:

I'm not saying I agree with the writer's vitriol, but I do see his point. There's a lot of talk on this forum about getting the same respect and rights as automobiles. I see lots of discussions regarding blowing stop signs or lights and is it okay to do so, etc. I've never been on a critical mass ride, but it seems to me like by their very nature they would have the effect of pissing off pretty much every auto driver who is inconvenienced by a CM ride, thus making them dislike "pesky" cyclists even more. Just my take, but isn't there some better way to call attention to cyclists' rights? Now correct me if I'm wrong here. Does a typical CM ride take over an entire street both directions of traffic flow as it goes where ever it's headed? If it does I can see that causing a lot of ire. From when I first read about CM rides years ago, I remember they were intended to completely immobilize vehicular traffic in order to make a point. Of course you can still argue then versus now whether you do any good for your cause by pissing people off. I could see a CM ride being a little less inflammatory if it stuck to flowing the proper way of traffic and did not impede other vehicular traffic too much. Again, just my opinion and like I said before I'm not agreeing 100 percent with the original poster, I'm just saying I kinda see where he's coming from.

Considering how many people participate in CM, isn't he insulting a good portion of the potential audience for his book?  Seems like a very poor marketing strategy to me. I'm definitely in the WILL NOT BUY category after reading the rant.  I've ridden in about a dozen masses and although I've seen some honking and minor arguments, they have been drops in a very large bucket of positive "Happy Friday" vibes.  Also, I am truly offended by his off-color religious and racial derogatory analogies, and gross generalizations lacking any sort of factual backing. I think this sort of negative partisan "us and them" communication is counterproductive to the twin goals of getting more people to cycle and making cities more cycling-accessible.  I hope that we can overwhelm the presses with more positive publications to make up for disingenuous inflammatory BS such as this.

 

I think CM is an extraordinary social statement with a positive ambiance and a critical mission. The commenter Draynd on the Chicago Now blog said it like this:

"Strive to reduce traffic; don't consider it an unchanging force to be accepted and accommodated. Strive to increase safety and infrastructure so more feel comfortable on a bike; don't shake your fists at those brazen enough to take potholes and bike lane gaps in stride"   

 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" -Mahatma Gandhi

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