Why are you surprised that the actions of Critical Mass make no sense? It's not the first time they've done something that seems to contradict their intended goal.

But then again, they don't really have a goal other than organizing a "fun" bike ride to piss everyone off.

Critical Mass has no intention of advancing the cyclist rights or creating awareness. They're a bunch of childish attention seekers who only exist to taunt and antagonize.

I live in an area that happens to be part of their route for almost all of their Friday rides. They go out of their way to get in people's faces knowing that they have power in numbers.

Idiots, yes. Surprise? Hello no!  

the ride has no leaders 

I don't think it would be a stretch to say you haven't ever participated in a critical mass Charlie. Otherwise there would be nothing confounding about their choice to use the Granville bridge. Massers use all three bridges (at the very least 2/3) almost every ride. Furthermore, it's never a single lead individual deciding where the mass goes, it's a general mob decision from the front.

A select few drivers will be infuriated regardless of where the mass goes. What they refuse to do is wise up and pay close enough attention to local media which will inevitably warn them of the monthly event and thus allow them to take a different route out of town. It's really not that difficult people. 

I ended up in one Critical Mass ride by accident. I was cycling over the Burrard Bridge. The cyclists took over the lane, so I joined them. I don't participate in Critical Mass rides because I feel sorry for parents who have to get home to their kids and for people who have to be caregivers for their relatives. It doesn't help them to be blocked by the cyclists. I have not been impressed by the very few Critical Mass cyclists who heckle people waiting at bus stops, either. 

Charlie most people who are driving are just doing their selfish day to day wasting of the earth's resources. We could all benefit from slowing down and worrying less about being late.

While I am sure there are some people who are genuinely in a hurry to do something worthwhile - the bike ride is only once a month. It seems a little ridiculous to get in a snarl about it.

Besides when you use transit - being late and stressed is a fact of life - thanks to the cars that clog downtown so much that it takes an hour for the bus to cross from one end of the peninsula to the other.

Cars jam up the roads every day - but cyclists do it once a month and it is a big hairy deal? Give me a break.

 

Hey Critical Mass stomps on the rights of lots and lots of drivers and citizens. They intentionaly create confrontation. To quote Eddy Murphy: May I Suggest Using the Nightstick Officer. If they break the law, knock them off their bikes, then watch how quickly they cry about their rights being infringed upon, nevermind everyone else.

I strongly support a more bike friendly community and Critical Mass is virulently counterproductive to that effort. Taking a small group of people who agree with the goal of a bike friendly city, and using that small group of people to piss off a much larger group of people is absolutely destructive to the cause. 

It amazes me how much free time the stupid seem to have. 

As I recall, my very first Critical Mass in July of 2007, we biked over both bridges. So it comes as no surprise to me that cyclists would want to ride over a bridge, particularly on a street that has been subject to construction and closures for such a long time. For all the naysayers, remember critical mass does not close streets for hours on end...the parade rarely disrupts traffic for more than 10 minutes at any one point along the route. And now that we have the Canada Line, the argument "Out of my way, I have to catch a plane!!!" carries little weight. 

If you poke a tiger in the eye often enough, even the best cat will retaliate. One of these days, something really stupid is going to happen because there is no political will to stop this thing. The ride never affects me, so I have no axe to grind. It will be a sad day, but it appears inevitable, sadly. 

Critical mass riders are the equivalent to the cycling community as road ragers are to the driving community - a small minority that is extremely self-centered and make everyone else feel a mix of anger, disdain and fear. 

I cycle to work everyday all year round at 5,000 km/yr but would never dream of wasting my time joining fools who feel like they are saving the planet by aggravating the rest of the population. How many of the critical idiots actually cycle every day to work or school and how many take transit or drive to work? I suspect at least 95% of the critical idiots don't cycle to work or school. 

those cyclists are morons. what the hell is the point? they have bike lanes everywhere now, so mission accomplished. lets move on before me or another irate driver seriously loses it with these people.

 

Moronic self aggrandizing blowhards such as these pitiful cyclists always try to claim the moral high ground. Their cause is not as they claim, but toned down thuggery that we for some reason keep putting up with. A pox on their very existence, and shame on the authorities who do allow such lawlessness to continue and indeed escalate. And it will until as Jeff Christian points out, something untoward will happen. 

Oh please, compared to the Critical Mess of self-centred motorists that plug the roads everyday around the region, Critical Mass is just not a problem. It is motorists that are totally responsible for 99.99% of congestion so stop trying to blame cyclists for your problems.

After being illegally bullied daily off the majority of roads in the region by careless and reckless motorists, surely you can let cyclists enjoy riding in safety on the public streets, which are hogged by drivers, for a couple of hours a month.

How about caring about future generations for a moment? 

"...feel sorry for parents who have to get home to their kids ..."

I timed how long it took critical mass to pass one of the intersections on Granville street on Friday. It was just under 3 minutes.

Is waiting 3 minutes that big of a deal? 

Are you mad about critical mass? If your not, then you are a sheep and you deserve what that government farmer is going to give you tonight. If your mad, good! do something! Even if it is against critical mass, at least your trying to not bend over so easily, you might even develop a spine!

To the sheep:
I just wanted to say, on behalf of those who know what Critical mass is about, "f*ck you and the mode of transportation you came in on! Get mad, pull your hair out, and then bend over...and just hang on to something while we slowly slide our greasy crank-shafts in your arsses. Your from vancouver, you should be used to taking it in the rear and just turning the other cheek (pun intended). After all, you have had the Liberals taking away everything that makes this city more than just another village (arts, culture, and all the intelligence that results from them). Don't blame us for acting stupidly, blame yourselves, it's your own damn faults that we have nothing left to stimulate our imaginations, our intelligence, and to take up our time.

I have tried to attend critical mass since its inception. Not because it is so much fun (which it is), but because IT'S A PROTEST!! I know you have never seen a protest in your lives, but they tend to be disorganized and tend to have mob mentalities. Honestly...who's truly stupid here... All those who are stupid enough to go near downtown on their cars between 6pm and 10pm on the last Friday of the month deserve to get stuck. Oh, that's right, I forgot you live in a happy little bubble where everything is perfect. Get your head out of the sand once in a while and learn about the current events in your community. As for where we get the time? You have no excuse, either you waste time at work (causing you to work late), you hate your family, or you are just slow and so what does it matter if we slow you down a little more. Critical mass attracts families too, so you can't use that as an excuse for not being free on a Friday night after 6pm! 

My gawd, there sure are a lot of cry baby car drivers in here. I thought the Georgia Straight used to be the alternative newspaper. Nowsit's Vancouver Sun Lite.
Cars are dead. The days of plentiful gas are on the way out. Hybrids and other 'environmentally' friendly vehicles put tons of toxic heavy metals into the environment. You didn't really think that Li-Ion batteries were the solution, did you? What the heck do you thinks inside of them, magic unicorn farts?

Stop being so damn lazy, get on a bike. Enough of this B.S.

And as a side note, if I hear one more whine from car drivers about how they pay for the roads and such I'll F&^king scream.
Private automobiles are more heavily subsidized than public transit.
Private automobiles are also responsible for a large portion of health care costs both in vehicular accidents and hospitalizations due to pollution.
Stop being selfish, park the hulk, and get a bike! 

As a Car-Free cyclists - Neither my wife nor I participate in this stupidity.

Critical Mass does not represent cyclists. In fact very few real cyclists that ride every day of the year - rain or shine - involve themselves in the event. (It is hardly a ride). Come the first drop of rain you won't see any of these fair weather whimps on the streets. They will be hiding like scared children indoors, on buses or more than likely in theirs or someone elses' cars.
 

Good for you Charlie Smith. Critical Mass has just about blown any credibility they had with the 98% of us who don't cycle to work. If they want things to change, they need to grow up. Peaceful protests don't work if the predominating goal is to antagonize instead of educate. 

"Enough cars have been diverted to the Granville Bridge to prevent Burrard from becoming jammed with traffic."

Check your facts, Charlie. I love your passion, but not when it's baseless. Simply check http://vancouver.ca/projects/burrard/statistics.htm to confirm that "Vehicle volumes on the Granville Bridge have remained steady."

As predicted by many, traffic volumes on neither Burrard nor Granville have changed. Old habits die hard, and a close look at the cycling numbers will show you scant change there as well, so far, except for those heady first few weeks of the trial. Only time will tell, and we all hope the trial continues.

The important point is that cycling in Vancouver got measurably safer with this trial, and Critical Mass is also focussed on the well-established truth that cyclists are much safer in numbers.

May every rush hour someday see city-wide Critical Masses, Amsterdam-style, only behaving in a Critical Manners way. Traffic congestion in Vancouver, such as it is, would disappear.

Charlie, do not fall prey to Vancouver's adrenalized journalism; keep telling it Straight, and thank you for your advocacy for more separated bike lanes.
 

At least they aren't like the majority of Canadians who really suck at protesting. In more functioning democracies like France and other Western European Nations they show they give a shit and they don't take shit from their elected officials. Our Prime Minister should of been anticipating the public's scorn when choosing not to take his turn to speak at UN on climate change or anything else. Instead he does as he pleases, rightfully so as; barely a Canadian whimper on the subject. These cyclists antagonize indiscriminately and I share in some of the disdain. At least these cyclists buck the trend of Canadians who don't now how to fully participate in a democracy.  

We don't block traffic...........WE ARE TRAFFIC!!! 

Charlie, would you and Matt Burrows have been the least bit upset if these Critical Mass cyclists had blocked the Port Mann bridge? The Golden Ears Bridge? I think not.

Rod Smelser 

Rand,
I wrote a story in August that showed vehicular traffic was down on Burrard Bridge since the experiment began, and up on the Granville Bridge. You can read it here.
 

I've been riding Critical Mass regularly for about 7 years. In that time the amount of support from motorists has increased dramatically. Not everyone is happy to see us. Some maniacs are so outraged they ram through the ride with their killer automobiles. But they are a desperate minority getting smaller with each ride.
Meanwhile we get so many "happy honks" waves, cheers and high fives from motorists and pedestrians it is heartwarming to know we are making a positive contribution towards cycling and sustainability. Those who feel that Critical Mass is counter-productive must be getting their information from the sensationalist media, always eager to find outrage and disension to sell their stories. Come out to the ride and find out for yourself. 

If you poke a tiger in the eye often enough, even the best cat will retaliate. One of these days, something really stupid is going to happen because there is no political will to stop this thing. The ride never affects me, so I have no axe to grind. It will be a sad day, but it appears inevitable, sadly.

I reposted Jeff's comments because they could apply to Crittical Mass. Or they could equally apply to our culture's car dependence which takes away so many of our freedoms.

All those cars spewing planet-killing pollutants and maiming innocent bystanders is a serious poke in the eye. But there's no political will to stop this thing. 

Rod Smelser:

If it ever got to the point where the CM looked like it was taking aim at the Port Mann Bridge or the Golden Ears Bridge (latter I've not ever been over, but anyway) we would be on to that story right away! That would be a story with some bite.

Would I or Charlie Smith be upset? Can't speak for CS, but that's a leading question that seems somewhat bizarre. I mean, I'd be so UN-upset from a journalistic point of view because this would be something of an undertaking and readers would dig the story. Can you imagine, as a cyclist, starting the process of "corking" (where cyclists bunch at intersections and exits etc to allow safe passage of snaking bikes) to facilitate the mass crossing of cyclists over the Port Mann, going eastbound during afternoon rush hour? Can you imagine former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum's face as he reads in the Surrey Leader that these cyclists (INCLUDING BOB BOSE?!?) have stormed across the Fraser? Dianne Watts would have a lot to say too I'm sure.

Keep on rockin' in the free world Rod. 

Granville bridge has been a frequent choice of Critical Mass over the last 10 years or so. The delay is usually not long: 10 minutes or so. Critical Mass can be thought of as a parade and parades normally create short delays. 

Regardless of whether traffic patterns in the city have changed or whether they stay the same, you'd think that the riders would want to draw attention to what they claim to champion: safer riding conditions for cyclists. Our city has just been given a dedicated, protected bike lane, and bikes weren't hoisted on the Burrard St. Bridge to celebrate the occasion?

This is why I stopped going on these rides, because while there may be an expression of free will they hardly qualify as intelligent, positive protest. 

Charlie, your idea that cyclists should be content with the bike lanes on the Burrard Bridge are clearly discrimminatory. Either all the bridges have proper bike access and lanes or alternately new bike & pedestrian only bridges must be built. It is time to stop treating these bike initiatives like favours to the biking community and put them in their true perspective. That compared to the car infrastructure, these bike initiatives are still just handouts and bandaids.  

Let's see what happens during the Olympics, I can see some heavy temporary security measures getting introduced to screw them.

Incidentally, the CM ride often goes across the granville bridge and the burrard bridge, why is this any different, unless you're one of those who begrudge giving up one lane one a 6 lane bridge to cyclists. 

I always get a laugh when I hear someone trot out the "you got a lane on Burrard now go away and be good quiet cyclists who stay out of our way"

We want cities without private automobiles. It's entirely possible (look at examples at http://carfree.com)

CM will end when there's no need to have such rides. That day will be when every street looks like a critical mass ride.

Get with the program, Charlie. You sound a little out of touch for someone whom I know has a high degree of environmental sensibility.  

"... Can you imagine former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum's face as he reads in the Surrey Leader that these cyclists (INCLUDING BOB BOSE?!?) have stormed across the Fraser? Dianne Watts would have a lot to say too I'm sure."
=====================================

Matt, my point is that you and Charlie have been adamantly opposed to any increase in capacity at Port Mann regardless of the need as expressed in traffic counts. The implicit value judgement is that the cars and trucks using that crossing are doing so frivolously and irresponsibly and therefore need not be further accommodated through the provision of additional lanes.

But when it comes to Granville Street, your paper thinks it's "idiotic" of cyclists to interefere with the vehicles there for all of about a half hour.


Rod Smelser 

I am really looking forward to reading about how a commuter reached critical mass and boiled over...

You 'riders' aren't trying to make any point, you are just unemployable and jealous of those of us who have a contribution to make to this world. Here's a thought, get a job. Go plant trees or something...you are giving real cyclists like me a bad name. 

Critical Mass is clearly achieving is main goal: to stimulate awareness of the growing cycling movement in Vancouver. All of this entitled whining from regular drivers is only helping cyclists achieve that goal. Thank you, and please think hard about why you hold such negative views about such a positive movement.  

I haven't done the mass in awhile, but we did Granville in the past and it was hardly a large inconvenience as it takes 5 minutes to pass.

The only bridge that I think is dumb is the Lion's Gate as it blocks the only route to the Northshore, through the whole Stanley Park corridor without having much of an impact as few people can even tell what is going on. 

"We don't block traffic...........WE ARE TRAFFIC"
Good one critical mass. So should the owners of cars, lots that ride their bike consistantly, all decide the last friday of the month to keep their bikes at home and all take their cars? No, because that's stupid and cars don't have anything to prove like cyclists do. Maybe the vehicles can also block off the streets so no bikes and pedestrians can get through. Like you said, we are all traffic, so suck it up and ride your bike, your car, the bus, whatever, like a normal human being does. 

Hey, you loosers on your bikes doing CM in the summer I can bet at least 75% wont show in Nov, Dec, Jan & Feb when it is pissing down rain and cold.

PS I hope someone maces your arrogant face and you ride by. 

Please, please, please do not lump all cyclists together with these boorish morons that do nothing but tarnish the reputation of other law abiding and responsible cyclists. Most of us follow the rules of the road and respect the laws. Instead let's focus on applying the law equally. Punish those that break the rules regardless of whether they are on two wheels or four. Ticket those cyclists that ride without a helmet or lights and those drivers that do stupid things to put cyclists in jeopardy. Like the driver that backs out of their driveway with their eyes closed and nearly kills me or the driver that cuts me off to make a right hand turn across the bike lane two feet in front of me after passing me doing 30+ KPH down hill, or the driver that hits and hospitalizes a friend of mine after pulling an illegal U-turn. Let's all be responsible and realize stupidity is not limited to two wheels.  

I've been cycling part time for years, started commuting this past May. I ride with traffic lots, face friendly drivers, face those who seem like I'm getting in their way when I take a lane for my safety and shrug it off. I've taken CAN-BIKE-II safety course. I ride CM sometimes.

Most in the mass are not confrontation nor belligerent. I think most are making a point about cycling, and enjoying the ride which is amazingly safe, pleasant and fun.

If you're trying to move 500 people in a reasonable time with minimal delay, 1 lane doesn't work. If you actually count how many people are moved in a minute by the mass vs. in regular traffic, I bet it's pretty similar. We are traffic, and when critical mass of traffic needs to proceed, suitable road capacity should be able to be used.

Having done the Critical manners ride too where everything is how the law dictates (single file, bike lane only), it is ridiculously slow and we actually cause more car and bike traffic jams. Please it was much less safe than even the regular ways I ride. Current traffic rules scale very poorly with more bikes.

All cycling goes through season changes, and the mass is no exception. 

The whole group is ridiculous. 

At a once-a-month frequency, it can't be that much of an inconvenience. Car drivers, like smokers, like everyone, would much prefer to not be reminded that their bad habits affect everyone negatively. The CM ride is an effective eye-opener, as evinced by the reactions to this article.

Change has to come; everybody knows it. Most people just don't want to live it. If i lived in Vancouver i'd be riding with the CM ride every time i could.  

The way it operates now has nothing to do with it's original goals and has now just become a way for hipsters to show off how cool they can be by acting belligerent and spreading mayhem, just further building the stereotype that cyclists are just a small group of kooks on the fringe of society.  

Too many car drivers are already bullies; they don't need encouragement from bullies on bikes. I am a full time cyclist who gave up a car as soon as my kids grew old enough to travel independently. My adult kids don't own cars either. OK, so I've established my cyclist credentials -- and I want to tell the Critical Mass supporters they scare me. If I get another car, it will be partly due to them, because of fear of angry car drivers in the week after every critical mass. The quiet majority of all of us need to find ways to make bike lanes truly safe (painted lines are not enough), provide transit options for people who cannot bike (with health problems), and respect those who genuinely need cars to make our city work -- delivering, building, servicing things, helping shut-ins, etc. Critical mass is, imo, simply a mob, and mob rule is worse than tyranny. 

Why not do something to help the two sides meet in the middle rather than squawk at it and fan the flame? This twitter feed hopes to help riders find the mass and motorists avoid the mess. 

owen from winnipeg-
i ride - everyday for 25+ years and have never felt a need to do a cm thing - i don't get it - the roads are far safer than they have ever been - and now i have so many cars getting out of my way by hitting reverse it is amazing - that never happened before - i mean never. ya'll should have been out there with me 25+ years ago when it was dangerous - dude WOW was it dangerous - i could never go a day without a major incident -
and now, because cars have learned to share the road, and be patient, you know like wait 5 seconds for the bike instead of just cutting them off - i honestly have - maybe 2 -3 incidents a year - as opposed to 2 -3 incidents a DAY.

ya'll need to take a chill pill and be happy with how far this had come, and i guarantee it is not because of you, it is in spite of you.

then again - i avoid streets at all cost - i would rather deal with a old lady shaking her cane at me than a road raged psycho macho dude driving a 5000 lb machine looking for something to pancake.

i don't use the streets - if i did, i would be dead.
....maybe that's the point here.....
might be.....