The Blizzard of 2005 - Critical Mass - Page 2

01-25-2005, 12:49 PM

Jeremy Parker wrote:

> One bike, using the streets we have, is all that it takes to show
> people that you can ride on today's street system efficiently and
> enjoyably. If you want to get that message to as many people as
> possible, logically you should have people riding in as many
> different places, and at as many different times, as possible, not
> all bunched up together in just one place.
>
> Jeremy Parker

Agreed.

There's also the issue that the IQ of a group of people tends to follow
the pattern 1/n, where n is the number of people.

There more in the bunch, the more likely they are to believe it's their
right to take up the entire road, which does not promote the activity in
a postive way.

Rich

01-25-2005, 12:49 PM

Jeremy Parker wrote:

> One bike, using the streets we have, is all that it takes to show
> people that you can ride on today's street system efficiently and
> enjoyably. If you want to get that message to as many people as
> possible, logically you should have people riding in as many
> different places, and at as many different times, as possible, not
> all bunched up together in just one place.
>
> Jeremy Parker

Agreed.

There's also the issue that the IQ of a group of people tends to follow
the pattern 1/n, where n is the number of people.

There more in the bunch, the more likely they are to believe it's their
right to take up the entire road, which does not promote the activity in
a postive way.

Rich

01-25-2005, 12:49 PM

Jeremy Parker wrote:

> One bike, using the streets we have, is all that it takes to show
> people that you can ride on today's street system efficiently and
> enjoyably. If you want to get that message to as many people as
> possible, logically you should have people riding in as many
> different places, and at as many different times, as possible, not
> all bunched up together in just one place.
>
> Jeremy Parker

Agreed.

There's also the issue that the IQ of a group of people tends to follow
the pattern 1/n, where n is the number of people.

There more in the bunch, the more likely they are to believe it's their
right to take up the entire road, which does not promote the activity in
a postive way.

Rich

01-25-2005, 02:46 PM

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 14:49:46 -0700, <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
scud sucker, Rich <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>There more in the bunch, the more likely they are to believe it's their
>right to take up the entire road, which does not promote the activity in
>a postive way.

Yeah, those fukenkarz and their idiotic operators really screw up a
whole city. I think driving should be banned. It's too dangerous.
--
zk

01-25-2005, 02:46 PM

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 14:49:46 -0700, <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
scud sucker, Rich <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>There more in the bunch, the more likely they are to believe it's their
>right to take up the entire road, which does not promote the activity in
>a postive way.

Yeah, those fukenkarz and their idiotic operators really screw up a
whole city. I think driving should be banned. It's too dangerous.
--
zk

01-25-2005, 02:46 PM

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 14:49:46 -0700, <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
scud sucker, Rich <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>There more in the bunch, the more likely they are to believe it's their
>right to take up the entire road, which does not promote the activity in
>a postive way.

Yeah, those fukenkarz and their idiotic operators really screw up a
whole city. I think driving should be banned. It's too dangerous.
--
zk

03-09-2005, 08:15 AM

[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:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

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:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

And a newer resource started by Chicago's CM community:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

>> 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_>