03-09-2005, 08:15 AM
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#17 (permalink)
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| | Re: The Blizzard of 2005 - Critical Mass
[Old subject, but I was off-Usenet for most of January.]
>> I thought I would do that Moonlight ride in Central Park.
=v= Well, first things first. The Moonlight Ride and Critical
Mass are very different. The Moonlight Rides are in and around
parks and are organized by a nonprofit environmental group:
http://www.times-up.org/moonlight.php
Getting back to your original query about whether to bike in a
blizzard, well, the second thumbnail photo on that page shows
three bikers totally enjoying the snow -- and I'm one of them!
=v= Executive summary: It's more fun biking than driving or
just about anything else, even in winter, but you really need
the right clothes! A balaclava is essential, for example.
=v= Riding in winter is a topic all its own. Here's an old
list/website dedicated to it:
http://icebike.org/
And a newer resource started by Chicago's CM community:
http://www.bikewinter.org/
>> I like to read opinions concerning something that seems to be
>> controversial. I think critical mass is one of those groups
>> that people are very passionate about or totally against. I
>> don't think there is a middle ground according to what I am
>> reading about the rides and the people involved.
=v= I've seen substantial middle ground over my last 12 years of
participation. Online forums usually bring out extremes and are
usually not the full picture. Ditto the media. The only way
to know what's really going on is to check it out in person and
have yourself an unmediated experience. (I write about this in
the Critical Mass book, but that's "media" too.)
> My slogan is, "A critical mass is one bike."
=v= Good for you. Most people's version of that slogan is, "A
Critical Mass of One," which is a variant of the U.S. military
recruitment slogan. Not all of us want to be loners nor fodder
for the oil industry, though.
<_Jym_>
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