[*BCM*] Courteous Mass?

[Hiroyuki Yamada]

Actually, now that I think about it, I can't remember; does the ride 
meet in Copley at 5:30 and leave at 6? Or meet at 5 and leave at 5:30...

Thanks, and see you friday!
-Yuki

On 9/22/2010 10:46 PM, Rebecca Albrecht wrote:
> In 2008 my son, the guy that rides the high bike with the air horn and I
> organized  the courteous mass rides. They were to be held the second
> Friday of the month. For the first ride we had a fair number of people
> though it poured midway through the ride. By the time of the second ride
> Brendan had gone off to college, and just a few people showed up. I
> didn't continue after that. I and I know a significant number of people
> would like to do a more "courteous ride". It would be nice if critical
> mass could become more courteous.
>
> Here are some very basic guidelines of how it could be
> 1. When CM  comes to a red light/yellow light, or to cars waiting at the
> light CM stops behind the cars giving all the cyclists a chance to mass
> up. Weaving through cars waiting for the light to change just makes a
> big mess of things, understandably annoys car drivers and separates the
> cyclists. Personally I do not like to weave between cars to get to the
> front. I prefer to claim a lane which I feel entitled to be in when the
> light changes.
> 2. Once CM has started through the intersection&  then the light changes
> they should just keep going (well, maybe not in Cambridge!) so that
> everyone stays together which will result in less of a log (bicycle?)
> jam for the cars/pedestrians. I think "corking is fine because it serves
> the purpose of keeping CM together.
> 3. Do not travel in the on-coming lane of traffic.
> 4. Be aware that the riders stay together by adjusting the pace.
>
> Although complaints are continually made that CM is a protest ride, I&
> it seems most people like to do the CM rides because it can be fun and
> feels safe to ride amongst a crowd of cyclists once a month.
> Occasionally there are the anti-car chants which I wish could be changed
> to be more pro-cycling instead. In CM it is the "leader" of the ride who
> determines whether CM waits for red lights etc. And that is a big
> obstacle. The leader can be continually changing and it is difficult to
> get that person to follow a few commonsense guidelines. For the whole
> month I ride in a very focused manner so I find that the relaxed nature
> of CM rides can be fun. Maybe we could change the rides to be Courteous
> Mass rides -same place/same time but with balloons for everyone (so we
> can identify one another) who just wants a fun ride and wants to follow
> some very basic guidelines.
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