[*BCM*] Open letter to the Cycling Community

[John Kerr]

Hello all, I'm a first time poster to the BCM list.

Anyway, I have been in L.A. this summer and went on their CM.  The odd thing
here is that they do stop at reds, only corking if the mass is already
within the intersection, and, most of the time, occupy only the right lane.
Of course, as the night wears on (these rides last from 6:30 to 10 or even
11), the ride becomes less organized, but during the beginning at least,
people seem to accept that they need to follow the law as best they can.
The downside? To get this level of lawfulness, a few people with a megaphone
sort of become de facto leaders of a leaderless ride, which is obnoxious.
The plus side? No cops.

Why does this happen?  I think it has a lot to do with the huge cycling
community here, with lots of self-organized group rides.  If Boston has more
group rides, building more of a stronger community among the non-messenger
crowd, we could educate more cyclists about riding en mass.  In a way, these
rides lessen CMs importance here in LA, but the cycling community is alive a
well, so it may not be a bad thing.

Does this make sense to anybody else?

On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 9:52 AM, Sean Carstensen <i at seancarstensen.com>wrote:

> IMO about the random aggressive motocycle (or car) would be concerned,
> looking out for your safety (and other cyclists) is the best measure
> to take. Hitting them with a U lock, probably not the most productive
> action (no matter how good it might feel in the moment). Generally
> taking aggressive action to face of an aggressive situation only leads
> to escalated violence which does no one any good.
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 12:36 PM, Jon Ramos <jontramos at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > And how should one behave when say... an aggressive motorcycle is trying
> to
> > bob and weave their way through the mass on charles street near the
> gardens?
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: "tjvitolo at bu.edu" <tjvitolo at bu.edu>
> > To: Boston Critical Mass <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 12:18:37 PM
> > Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Open letter to the Cycling Community
> >
> > Quoting sari canelake <sari at mit.edu>:
> >
> >> i think someone on this thread mentioned something about how non
> >> violent techniques worked in the civil rights movement.  i feel
> >> like if we as bikers banded together to obey all the laws that we
> >> are supposed to, together, more people could find it in their
> >> hearts to be on our side.
> >
> > Non violent techniques like those used in the Civil Rights Movement and
> > by Gandhi and his followers were decidedly *not* law abiding.  A
> > particular Critical Mass draws substantial negative press not when the
> > riders are violating the law, but when they don't behave peacefully.
> >
> > Each Critical Masser has his or her own reasons for riding, and those
> > reasons are as varied and colorful as the Mass.  Behaving peacefully in
> > the face of violence requires tremendous courage, and I hope all
> > Critical Massers have that courage and discipline during the ride and
> > during all other parts of their lives.
> >
> >
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> >
> >
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