Critical Mass growing pains
It’s the last Friday evening in August. A motley tableau of bikes and riders of all ages, shapes, and sizes (both the bikes and the riders) meanders through downtown Vancouver. Accompanying the hundreds of riders are cheers from sidewalks and buses (nowhere more so than in the Downtown Eastside) and even the occasional celebratory honk of a car horn. There’s a lot of support for Critical Mass, even from those trapped behind a windshield. But as a Craigslist rant indicates, the monthly rolling celebration of self-propulsion doesn’t leave everyone thinking “two wheels good.”
The tradition of Critical Mass has come a long way in a short time. What began in 1992 with a few dozen riders in San Francisco is now a global phenomenon. Major cities such as Vancouver have hundreds of riders showing up for some rides, and the Bike Month Critical Mass in June sees well over a thousand cyclists participating.
But with the growth of an event designed to highlight the advantages of bikes as transportation comes, ironically, congestion. When that congestion is caused by cyclists celebrating their favourite mode of transportation, some drivers claim that Critical Mass does more bad than good in its efforts to get people out of their cars.
I initiated a conversation with a motorist who was clearly frustrated by the delay as the August Critical Mass crossed the Cambie Bridge and all the lanes in front of him were occupied by cyclists. Here’s what he had to say about Critical Mass:
“You know, I like to cycle. But this just makes no sense at all. I would totally support an initiative where the police went out and targeted drivers who were unsafe towards cyclists. But someone like me, who lives in Surrey, I’m not going to be cycling in to work. It’s a free country, and people can do what they want, but it doesn’t help the cause. Somehow this small group of radical people represents everybody who likes to cycle? Who isn’t for cycling? But [promote cycling] in a productive way, as opposed to a negative way to the people you’re making your point to. I probably won’t get home until 8:15 or so, I’ll be lucky to get a half-hour with my kid before it’s bedtime. So, is this the kind of thing that’s going to make me go out and support cyclists?”
It’s a good question, and one that’s divided opinion since the first Critical Mass in Vancouver. One long-time cycling activist had this to say:
“As far back as I can remember, when 30 participants was a big ride, cycling advocates were calling for change and sometimes even the demise of Critical Mass. From that very beginning, participants of Critical Mass presented the ride as a positive celebration, being friendly to those who don’t always want to share the road.”
Another veteran member of the local cycling community makes this observation:
“There is a different interpretation of civil action than the classical model. When activists were going to break a law they would plan the action as a way to communicate to the world about a higher justice and would give their names to police and media and be ready to be arrested. They would protest unjust laws or public policies, not their neighbours’ lifestyle choices.”
The success of Critical Mass as a social phenomenon has been credited in part to the concept of “xerocracy” – a term originally coined to describe how anyone can create, photocopy, and hand out flyers to promote an event without having to answer to a central authority for approval. Some of the earliest promotional materials for Critical Mass rides suggested routes, a concept that some Massers would find antithetical to the ride’s ethos.
Now the “x” has been swapped for a “z” and the term “zerocracy” is heard in relation to Critical Mass – a nod to the anarchistic structure of the ride itself, where whoever is at the head of the pack can become the leader as long as their
route choices meet with the approval of the riders behind.
For car drivers conditioned to think of transport as a means of getting from point A to point B, the slow-moving pointlessness of the ride (there is rarely a predetermined point B), the celebratory nature of the event, and the practice of “corking” (blocking cross-traffic at intersections regardless of traffic signals, to keep the riders together) combine to breed the frustration and anger commonly known as road rage in those drivers who lack the patience to wait out the stream of riders flowing past them.
According to the Vancouver Police Department, as Critical Mass grows they are hearing more from frustrated drivers. But it’s not likely that an uneventful Critical Mass will get much in the way of police attention. While the force has contingency plans for emergency response personnel to deal with the ride, the VPD views Critical Mass as a peaceful demonstration. And, as police department media liaison Howard Chow observes, the logistics of trying to ticket every cyclist that ran a corked red light would result in even greater congestion than the relatively few minutes of delay created by a large Critical Mass.
The question of Critical Mass’ ability to win hearts and minds has been on Robert Alstead’s mind for more than ten years. His film You Never Bike Alone draws on interviews with motorists “stuck in traffic,” cyclists of all backgrounds, and local politicians, some of whom ride on Critical Mass themselves.
Chronicling Vancouver’s advocacy efforts has given Robert ample opportunity to see both sides of Critical Mass.
“While I’ve heard of a few serious incidents, from what I’ve read of other Critical Masses, Vancouver is pretty good.”
Robert recounts how an Edinburgh Critical Mass degenerated when one irate motorist had his keys stolen and some cyclists had their bikes run over. As he says, “If you rise to the provocation, you’ve removed the reason for Critical Mass.”
For the Massers themselves, their reasons to join the celebration shared two common themes. One was the idea of safety in numbers – the chance to enjoy riding without the fear of automotive inattention turning them into another fatal statistic. The other was the idea of providing an example to car drivers to consider biking as a transportation alternative. Antagonizing drivers was not cited by any of the participants interviewed as a reason for the ride.
Stephen Gaudet’s comments are emblematic of many. “I find it empowering to be on the streets without fighting traffic… and, I’m an environmentalist, and I like to promote alternate modes of transportation.”
Another August ride participant, Raven Taylor, was even more effusive: “It’s one of the most inspiring gatherings of people doing something fun with political overtones that I’ve encountered in Vancouver in a long time. I think it’s profound.”
There is no better proof of the safe space created by Critical Mass than the growing number of children participating. Pint-sized pedallers in trailers, on trail-a-bikes and tandems, and even astride their own bicycles ride in places that would normally be unthinkable for a child cyclist.
For Brent Granby, Anita Palepu, and their two daughters Saffrin and Mallika, Critical Mass is a summer time family ritual as much as a political statement.
“I think it’s our third season – we typically come out three or four times… and we’ve always come with the kids… I think it’s an easy way to demonstrate our commitment to having better infrastructure for bicycles, that it’s possible to use the bicycle as an efficient mode of transportation, and that the city needs to provide [better cycling infrastructure].”
As many of its veteran riders have observed, Vancouver’s Critical Mass now has a life of its own – it’s “gone viral”; it has momentum. As it grows it will continue to provide a safe space – even for the smallest of cyclists. What remains to be seen is whether Critical Mass will win favour with the general public in this city and succeed in coaxing harried drivers out of their cars.
Smaller group rides offer alternatives to monthly mass
While the ride held on the last Friday of the month remains the flagship event in many cyclists’ schedules, other, niche “masses,” are popping up. These alternative masses cater to specific sub-groups of the cycling community, and there are now many to choose from: late night rides, picnic rides, chopper rides, mini-bike rides, fixie rides, cruiser rides, rides for steel-frame enthusiasts, and even commuter convoys. They take the concept of the group ride and give it a direction and purpose that can’t be imposed upon a traditional Critical Mass, with its emphasis on the politics of road space and freedom from hierarchy. Though these new variants are unlikely to supplant the large Critical Mass that is becoming a monthly staple of downtown life, they do point the way to the evolution of urban self-propelled transportation and culture.
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