Critical Mass - 15th anniversary

I rode my bike in Friday’s 15^th anniversary critical mass. This is only the third time I rode my bike in critical mass. I support the ideals of critical mass, but I am concerned about the way it blocks mass transit. I wish the bike ride focused more on the wider streets where cars dominate and create ‘mini highways’ through the city. In San Francisco, it’s Fell, Oak, Franklin, Gough, Geary Blvd, Masonic St., Guerrero, and Potrero. That’s not even the streets through the car centric SOMA neighborhood, which has tiny sidewalks and 5 lanes of cars. How can those neighborhood ever have community without the basic public space that sidewalks create.

My ride was great, as I left my house in Duboce Triangle, there were just a few bikers on Market St. By the time I reached VanNess, there were several and by the time I was downtown I was already running into friends. As always the ride is a fantastic way to ride through the city without having to worry too much about car traffic. The critical mass of bikes just halts the cars and nobody can get through.

A friend told me that in years past the bicyclists were giving out flyers to car drivers with reasons for critical mass and distributing flowers to create peace. I did see lots of women with flowers in their baskets and several trumpet players, boom box and iPod bike systems, single wheeled riders (don’t know how they stayed up on all the hills). However, this year I had some bad vibes from motorists. On 16^th and Valencia a guy in a small convertible car tried to get through the ride as it was getting thinned out and actually ‘hit’ a few bikers. Eventually, a crowd had to stop in front of him to prevent any serious issues. Also, the ride tried to enter the highway on Octavia and then again on Duboce St. entrance. Both attempts failed with cops literally creating a wall. I talked with one of the cops and asked what would happen to me if I rode onto the highway. They said they would arrest me and I would come back with bruises and scratches, because they are authorized to use force as necessary. Humm…. I was not taking my chances.

I wonder what it will take for San Francisco to change it's perspective and look at biking as an alternative to congestion, pollution, and isolation created by riding a car. Cities like Amsterdam and Paris have emerged as an ideal of what I would like San Francisco to do. I wonder if it will take a new mayor, a green mayor to actually implement this type of system. We don't have any streets permanently closed off to traffic and dedicated to pedestrians, it's only fair that we create more sidewalk and bike lanes in the meantime.

Here is a short video from Valencia and 16th St. area where bikers were coming from both directions:

On a brighter note, today all of San Francisco will be dancing at Love Fest: http://www2.sflovefest.org/.