Critical Mass is a bicycle ride that is held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. It was founded in 92' in SF with the idea to spread the good word about sharing roads with riders and to help bring attention to how unfriendly the streets can be for riders.
Rides range from a dozen or so riders to THOUSANDS! Each location where there is a ride can have a totally different feel and reason to the ride. Some are random..the only organization is the day, time and meet up ...and then the ride is random from there. Other rides have a set goal for the ride with specific jobs for some riders, locations to stop, and a way to block traffic.
The leaderless organization has created quite a stir from civic groups, the police, and politicians.
There have been instances of violence, arrests, and police brutality. Fights between motorists and riders are probably the most common. Here in WA there was an instance where a motorist who was impatience and upset by the blocked traffic he rammed through some of the riders injuring a handful and then he himself was beaten with bike locks in retaliation.
In the end the ride no matter what brings attention to how there needs to be more awareness to riders and their safety!
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