[*BCM*] Bostoncriticalmass Digest, Vol 74, Issue 11

[Rebecca Albrecht]

On 9/23/10 12:03 AM, bostoncriticalmass-request at bostoncriticalmass.org 
wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
>     1. Courteous Mass? (Rebecca Albrecht)
>     2. Re: Courteous Mass? (Hiroyuki Yamada)
>     3. Re: Courteous Mass? (Ben Moss)
>     4. Re: Courteous Mass? (Hiroyuki Yamada)
>     5. Re: Courteous Mass? (Jym Dyer)
>     6. Courteous Mass (Rebecca Albrecht)
>     7. Re: Courteous Mass (danny.piccirillo at gmail.com)
>     8. Re: Courteous Mass (Aaron D. Ball)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:46:56 -0400
> From: Rebecca Albrecht<ralbrecht at speakeasy.net>
> Subject: [*BCM*] Courteous Mass?
> To: bostoncriticalmass at bostoncriticalmass.org
> Message-ID:<4C9ABFA0.6050708 at speakeasy.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> 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.
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:56:40 -0400
> From: Hiroyuki Yamada<hyamada at MIT.EDU>
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Courteous Mass?
> To: Boston Critical Mass<list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Cc: Rebecca Albrecht<ralbrecht at speakeasy.net>
> Message-ID:<4C9AC1E8.7060800 at mit.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> I'd be up for this sort of mass as well. Mostly because I missed most
> (read:all) of the Boston summer masses due to being silly and
> out-of-town the whole summer, so I would be in favor of any and all safe
> and populous city bike rides. (I ride in and out of the city all the
> time, but it's much more enjoyable with a mass.)
>
> Any interest in advertising at this week's [critical] mass for an
> october 8th courteous mass? Actually.. now that I think about it, the
> 8th might not work for me, but in general I would be up for riding a
> 2nd-friday-of-the-month ride.
>
> I can get access to a large amounts of printing, but I don't think I
> have time to design one or cut them into 1/2 or 1/4 sheet size... If
> someone has an old design they can re-work, I can print 100 or so copies
> and give them back tomorrow night for someone to cut up for friday. Or
> just hand out full-size posters, but that's a monstrous waste of paper
> for what amounts to "Come ride again in 2 weeks!"
>
> -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.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Boston Critical Mass mailing list
>> list at bostoncriticalmass.org
>> http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
>> To unsubscribe email list-unsubscribe at bostoncriticalmass.org
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:59:42 -0400
> From: Ben Moss<benmoss at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Courteous Mass?
> To: Boston Critical Mass<list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Message-ID:
> 	<AANLkTikk+LdcUeOQ9WxOmSfpAWO3Ni1ZRi6mnRUoxtaw at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I love the Oct. 8 Courteous Mass idea - let's do it!
>
> Ben
>
> On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Hiroyuki Yamada<hyamada at mit.edu>  wrote:
>> I'd be up for this sort of mass as well. Mostly because I missed most
>> (read:all) of the Boston summer masses due to being silly and
>> out-of-town the whole summer, so I would be in favor of any and all safe
>> and populous city bike rides. (I ride in and out of the city all the
>> time, but it's much more enjoyable with a mass.)
>>
>> Any interest in advertising at this week's [critical] mass for an
>> october 8th courteous mass? Actually.. now that I think about it, the
>> 8th might not work for me, but in general I would be up for riding a
>> 2nd-friday-of-the-month ride.
>>
>> I can get access to a large amounts of printing, but I don't think I
>> have time to design one or cut them into 1/2 or 1/4 sheet size... If
>> someone has an old design they can re-work, I can print 100 or so copies
>> and give them back tomorrow night for someone to cut up for friday. Or
>> just hand out full-size posters, but that's a monstrous waste of paper
>> for what amounts to "Come ride again in 2 weeks!"
>>
>> -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.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Boston Critical Mass mailing list
>>> list at bostoncriticalmass.org
>>> http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
>>> To unsubscribe email list-unsubscribe at bostoncriticalmass.org
>> _______________________________________________
>> Boston Critical Mass mailing list
>> list at bostoncriticalmass.org
>> http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
>> To unsubscribe email list-unsubscribe at bostoncriticalmass.org
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 23:02:00 -0400
> From: Hiroyuki Yamada<hyamada at MIT.EDU>
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Courteous Mass?
> To: Boston Critical Mass<list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Message-ID:<4C9AC328.1000403 at mit.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> 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.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Boston Critical Mass mailing list
>> list at bostoncriticalmass.org
>> http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
>> To unsubscribe email list-unsubscribe at bostoncriticalmass.org
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:31:10 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Jym Dyer<jym at econet.org>
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Courteous Mass?
> To: Boston Critical Mass<list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Message-ID:<Jym.22Sep2010.4c9ac9ac at scorcher.org>
>
> =v= I am in support of courtesy.  It is the exact opposite
> of courteous to hijack another event's name and alter it in
> an insinuating way.
>      <_Jym_>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 23:51:15 -0400
> From: Rebecca Albrecht<ralbrecht at speakeasy.net>
> Subject: [*BCM*] Courteous Mass
> To: bostoncriticalmass at bostoncriticalmass.org
> Message-ID:<4C9ACEB3.9060304 at speakeasy.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
>
> Having tried to do a Courteous Mass in the middle of the month I think
> it would work better to do it on the traditional day of the last Friday
> of the month ie. this Friday.
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 23:58:00 -0400
> From: "danny.piccirillo at gmail.com"<danny.piccirillo at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Courteous Mass
> To: Boston Critical Mass<list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Message-ID:
> 	<AANLkTi=0Hqp-TGDmFz_OQPeK_uN2Mjw2ehKUsPLNe6Gg at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Shouldn't all critical mass rides be "courteous"? That's not to say it
> isn't an act of disobedience, but the guidelines in the original
> message, should be the guidelines for all mass rides. We can be
> disruptive and show that we don't want pure chaos. I'd also like to
> add that we should avoid riding on sidewalks and pissing off
> pedestrians.
>
> I'm glad someone posted this because i've had a draft email that i've
> been meaning to write and send about this very issue, i just never had
> the time!
>
> On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 23:51, Rebecca Albrecht<ralbrecht at speakeasy.net>  wrote:
>>
>> Having tried to do a Courteous Mass in the middle of the month I think
>> it would work better to do it on the traditional day of the last Friday
>> of the month ie. this Friday.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Boston Critical Mass mailing list
>> list at bostoncriticalmass.org
>> http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
>> To unsubscribe email list-unsubscribe at bostoncriticalmass.org
>>
>
>
>
"> I am in support of courtesy.  It is the exact opposite
> of courteous to hijack another event's name and alter it in
> an insinuating way."
>     <_Jym_>
If you think the name courteous hijacks the name critical so be it. We 
can keep the name Critical Mass. Its really just about riding in a 
cohesive mass. Thus some very basic guidelines. We would still be 
inconveniencing cars just as cars inconvenience one another because we 
are also traffic. It just would be more fun to stay together as a group.