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Main
Date: 30 Jun 2007 08:34:34
From: CM
Subject: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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Hi everyone,
I'm a long time lurker and very infrequent poster, but am in rant mode and
need an outlet. Last night, being the last Friday of the month, CM had its
usual ride. Prior to last night, I was largely non committal about the
ride, even though I have been delayed while driving a car during the ride
window. I figured, I'm non - pedestrian traffic, they are non- pedestrian
traffic, so be it.
Last night changed that though. While trying to cross a street with the
green light (on foot and walking my recuperating dog) that CM had corked, I
encountered an amazing amount of resistance and low-level abuse. I had one
woman swerve toward at my dog and cut back at the last minute, telling me to
get out of the way. A couple people spat at me. saying "it's raining, it's
raining". While standing there, still trying to inch across to get to the
park, so that my frantic dog could relieve itself, I pretty calmly said,(all
things considered) "Guys, I'm not in a car - I'm just walking my dog".
The reply, almost in chorus, " F**& you". I was pretty dumbfounded, and
had the group not been so huge, would have probably done something very
stupid.
Reaching the sidewalk, I had nowhere to walk, since it was absolutely filled
with folks on bikes, often times perpendicular to the sidewalk itself.
Several "Excuse me-s" had zero effect in getting me through the crowd, but
"Pedestrian trying to get through" opened up a lane wide enough to navigate.
As a cyclist, I hate it when motorists don't respect my right to be on the
road, or when drivers get off with a slap on the wrist for hitting a
cyclist, but I really don't think it's about the cm-ers wanting equality,
unless by equality, they mean the rights to do and be all the things they
are railing against...
rant mode off.
Chuck
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Date: 14 Jul 2007 05:30:41
From:
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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On Jul 1, 1:40 am, Mike A Schwab <mike.a.sch...@gmail.com > wrote:
> On Jun 30, 1:03 pm, Luigi de Guzman <luigi12...@cox.net> wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:12:50 +0000, landotter wrote:
>
> > > I've tried CM twice inChicago. It is what it is--a gathering of self
> > > righteous bicycle terrorists.
>
> > Add 'em to the "one-percenters."
>
> > I have often wondered how many CM riders ride only on CM days and only to
> > be assholes.
>
> > --
> > Luigi de Guzmanhttp://ouij.livejournal.com
>
> Some of the long term riders (and map / derailer writers) are getting
> tired of the drunks and rude riders of the last two years also. So
> they have scheduled the 10th anniversery to be the lastChicago
> Critical Mass. In October, the Evanston Critical Mass will ride from
> Daley Plaza on the last Friday of the Month.
>
> http://chicagocriticalmass.org/http://listserv.uic.edu/archives/chi-crit-mass.html
There is no dictator / board of directors / snail mailing list for the
Chicago Critical Mass.
There is no organization to allow voting or make anything official.
That said, this is an published article expressing one persons
opinion.
http://www.suntimes.com/classifieds/homes/homelife/466019,HOF-News-mass13c.article
Citywide bike ride may end in autumn
SUSTAINABLE CHICAGO
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Date: 02 Jul 2007 17:37:42
From: Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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On Jul 2, 2:17 pm, Dane Buson wrote:
> Luigi de Guzman wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:12:50 +0000, landotter wrote:
>
> >> I've tried CM twice in Chicago. It is what it is--a gathering of self
> >> righteous bicycle terrorists.
>
> > Add 'em to the "one-percenters."
>
> > I have often wondered how many CM riders ride only on CM days and only to
> > be assholes.
>
> Seattle Mass seems pretty mellow. I'm not a regular attendee, but I
> ended up going last Friday. It was pretty relaxed, lots of people, lots
> of dinging bells and honking (bike) horns. I saw people with kids and
> lots of smiles.
>
> Part of this is probably Seattle PDs relaxed attitude towards Mass.
> They've stated unofficially that corking helps Mass get out of the city
> center faster and causes less disruption than if you had dozens of
> clots of cyclists. They believe that if they really started cracking
> down on Mass, the people who come next month would be a much uglier
> crowd.
>
> That said, they were flyering mass telling people to please not be jerks
> or they would start having to arrest people. This is because some
> geniuses decided to take Mass up the Alaskan Way Viaduct last month.
> Imbeciles (the cyclists - not the cops).
>
> There was a much larger police presence than usual, but everything
> seemed to go smoothly. We ended up at Greenlake eventually with no
> incidents (that I've heard of).
>
> I appreciate the Police going out of their way to communicate why they
> had an increased presence there. They could have been much less
> forthright - see NYC or others for good examples.
It is good to see that some police forces remember that they are there
to serve the people and not to rule them.
--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful
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Date: 01 Jul 2007 06:40:22
From: Mike A Schwab
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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On Jun 30, 1:03 pm, Luigi de Guzman <luigi12...@cox.net > wrote:
> On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:12:50 +0000, landotter wrote:
>
> > I've tried CM twice in Chicago. It is what it is--a gathering of self
> > righteous bicycle terrorists.
>
> Add 'em to the "one-percenters."
>
> I have often wondered how many CM riders ride only on CM days and only to
> be assholes.
>
> --
> Luigi de Guzmanhttp://ouij.livejournal.com
Some of the long term riders (and map / derailer writers) are getting
tired of the drunks and rude riders of the last two years also. So
they have scheduled the 10th anniversery to be the last Chicago
Critical Mass. In October, the Evanston Critical Mass will ride from
Daley Plaza on the last Friday of the Month.
http://chicagocriticalmass.org/
http://listserv.uic.edu/archives/chi-crit-mass.html
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Date: 01 Jul 2007 02:20:41
From: max
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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In article <Ct-dndlo64xixhvbnZ2dnUVZ_g2dnZ2d@giganews.com >,
"CM" <bezdeti@yahoo.com > wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm a long time lurker and very infrequent poster, but am in rant mode
>[...]
> rant mode off.
>
> Chuck
if you don't mind terribly, i'd like to forward the full article to
chi.general with headers intact.
.max
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Date: 01 Jul 2007 02:17:54
From: max
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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From your lips to G-d's ears.
I call this the ironic law of activism: the loudest proponents of an idea
are often its least desirable faces.
.max
learned it the hard way, in Chicago.
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Date: 30 Jun 2007 18:03:06
From: Luigi de Guzman
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:12:50 +0000, landotter wrote:
>
> I've tried CM twice in Chicago. It is what it is--a gathering of self
> righteous bicycle terrorists.
Add 'em to the "one-percenters."
I have often wondered how many CM riders ride only on CM days and only to
be assholes.
--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com
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Date: 02 Jul 2007 12:17:13
From: Dane Buson
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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Luigi de Guzman <luigi12081@cox.net > wrote:
> On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:12:50 +0000, landotter wrote:
>
>>
>> I've tried CM twice in Chicago. It is what it is--a gathering of self
>> righteous bicycle terrorists.
>
> Add 'em to the "one-percenters."
>
> I have often wondered how many CM riders ride only on CM days and only to
> be assholes.
Seattle Mass seems pretty mellow. I'm not a regular attendee, but I
ended up going last Friday. It was pretty relaxed, lots of people, lots
of dinging bells and honking (bike) horns. I saw people with kids and
lots of smiles.
Part of this is probably Seattle PDs relaxed attitude towards Mass.
They've stated unofficially that corking helps Mass get out of the city
center faster and causes less disruption than if you had dozens of
clots of cyclists. They believe that if they really started cracking
down on Mass, the people who come next month would be a much uglier
crowd.
That said, they were flyering mass telling people to please not be jerks
or they would start having to arrest people. This is because some
geniuses decided to take Mass up the Alaskan Way Viaduct last month.
Imbeciles (the cyclists - not the cops).
There was a much larger police presence than usual, but everything
seemed to go smoothly. We ended up at Greenlake eventually with no
incidents (that I've heard of).
I appreciate the Police going out of their way to communicate why they
had an increased presence there. They could have been much less
forthright - see NYC or others for good examples.
--
Dane Buson - sigdane@unixbigots.org
"Washington could not tell a lie; Nixon could not tell the truth;
Reagan cannot tell the difference." - Mort Sahl
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Date: 01 Jul 2007 10:24:50
From: Doc O'Leary
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
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In article <uVwhi.1093$IK1.655@newsfe23.lga >,
Luigi de Guzman <luigi12081@cox.net > wrote:
> On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:12:50 +0000, landotter wrote:
>
> >
> > I've tried CM twice in Chicago. It is what it is--a gathering of self
> > righteous bicycle terrorists.
>
> Add 'em to the "one-percenters."
>
> I have often wondered how many CM riders ride only on CM days and only to
> be assholes.
Shouldn't matter. It's up to the other CM riders to keep them in check.
If no other cyclist was willing to smack them with a frame pump when
they started to verbally assault and spit on pedestrians, then the whole
group is full of assholes. A misguided Us-vs-Them attitude is at the
root of so many problems it isn't funny.
--
My personal UDP list: 127.0.0.1, 4ax.com, buzzardnews.com, googlegroups.com,
heapnode.com, localhost, teranews.com, x-privat.org
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Date: 30 Jun 2007 17:12:50
From: landotter
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
|
On Jun 30, 8:34 am, "CM" <bezd...@yahoo.com > wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm a long time lurker and very infrequent poster, but am in rant mode and
> need an outlet. Last night, being the last Friday of the month, CM had its
> usual ride. Prior to last night, I was largely non committal about the
> ride, even though I have been delayed while driving a car during the ride
> window. I figured, I'm non - pedestrian traffic, they are non- pedestrian
> traffic, so be it.
>
> Last night changed that though. While trying to cross a street with the
> green light (on foot and walking my recuperating dog) that CM had corked, I
> encountered an amazing amount of resistance and low-level abuse. I had one
> woman swerve toward at my dog and cut back at the last minute, telling me to
> get out of the way. A couple people spat at me. saying "it's raining, it's
> raining". While standing there, still trying to inch across to get to the
> park, so that my frantic dog could relieve itself, I pretty calmly said,(all
> things considered) "Guys, I'm not in a car - I'm just walking my dog".
> The reply, almost in chorus, " F**& you". I was pretty dumbfounded, and
> had the group not been so huge, would have probably done something very
[snip]
I've tried CM twice in Chicago. It is what it is--a gathering of self
righteous bicycle terrorists. The bigger the number, the braver and
ruder they get. It's no different than a rabid PETA protest, or Klan
rally, or right to lifers getting all lathered up and killing abortion
doctors. It's a rolling riot of hysteria.
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Date: 30 Jun 2007 08:56:18
From: Bill Sornson
Subject: Re: Chicago Critical Mass rant
|
CM wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm a long time lurker and very infrequent poster, but am in rant
> mode and need an outlet. Last night, being the last Friday of the
> month, CM had its usual ride. Prior to last night, I was largely non
> committal about the ride, even though I have been delayed while
> driving a car during the ride window. I figured, I'm non -
> pedestrian traffic, they are non- pedestrian traffic, so be it.
>
> Last night changed that though. While trying to cross a street with
> the green light (on foot and walking my recuperating dog) that CM
> had corked, I encountered an amazing amount of resistance and
> low-level abuse. I had one woman swerve toward at my dog and cut
> back at the last minute, telling me to get out of the way. A couple
> people spat at me. saying "it's raining, it's raining". While
> standing there, still trying to inch across to get to the park, so
> that my frantic dog could relieve itself, I pretty calmly said,(all
> things considered) "Guys, I'm not in a car - I'm just walking my
> dog". The reply, almost in chorus, " F**& you". I was pretty
> dumbfounded, and had the group not been so huge, would have probably
> done something very stupid.
> Reaching the sidewalk, I had nowhere to walk, since it was absolutely
> filled with folks on bikes, often times perpendicular to the sidewalk
> itself. Several "Excuse me-s" had zero effect in getting me through
> the crowd, but "Pedestrian trying to get through" opened up a lane
> wide enough to navigate.
> As a cyclist, I hate it when motorists don't respect my right to be
> on the road, or when drivers get off with a slap on the wrist for
> hitting a cyclist, but I really don't think it's about the cm-ers
> wanting equality, unless by equality, they mean the rights to do and
> be all the things they are railing against...
>
> rant mode off.
I few months ago I picked up a friend at the downtown (SD) train station.
Riding thru our "Little Italy" section I discovered a CM ride was going on
when about 4 or 5 different riders SWERVED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME as I was
slowly rolling thru a green light.
Morons and thugs. Hope the cops arrest some soon.
BS
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