July’s Critical Mass got a bit nasty in a couple cities last month. In Seattle, a driver who was “corked in” (ie, blocked) by bikers as the Critical Mass streamed past, got frustrated and drove forward plowing into several cyclists. One cyclist got his leg run over and another ended up on the hood of the car as the driver attempted to drive off. Thankfully, no serious injuries seem to have occurred. The news reports up there seem to be getting the facts wrong which isn’t a surprise.

During the NY Critical Mass a rookie cop charged a biker on foot, slamming the cyclist off the bike and onto the sidewalk — this incident was caught on video. It is unclear if there was any previous provocation for the action, but it certainly seemed in the very least to be excessive use of force, if not downright assault. There is a bit of justice in this instance: as of this writing, the cop has been stripped of his badge and gun and is doing desk work while the action undergoes investigation.

Peddlya Haters

The blogging of both of these incidents on Checksum Arcanius, Gothamist, and Boing Boing has brought out the Critical Mass and cyclist haters:

• “Like many (most?) urban pedestrians, I have little sympathy for Critical Mass thugs.”
• “this mob is out of control”
• “I say it again (as ignorant as it sounds), the cop should get a medal. Good for him.”
• “As an avid road cyclist I have big problems with things like ‘Critical Mass.’ What they do is extremely unsafe and gives responsible cyclist a bad name.”

The last quote makes me recall the June Critical Mass here in SF, where there was one corked in car with two fancy carbon road bikes on the roof rack. The passenger of said vehicle, who obviously was driving somewhere outside the city to ride their bike, proceeded to furiously yell insults out the window at all the Critical Mass cyclists — massive cyclist culture difference.

Of course, some of these commenters are just semi-professional trolls, and there was also a decent share of people who support the rides. I see these supporters on the comment threads and out during the Critical Mass events themselves, happily waving at us as they remain stuck in their cars. However there are also a good number of people who hate the rides and hate any cyclist who “breaks the law.”

Who’s Breaking the Law Now?

Car drivers break the law all the time, as do pedestrians, but they do it in different ways: drivers speed, drive recklessly, roll through stop signs and more; pedestrians jay walk. Everyone breaks the rules here and there when they feel that the risk is lower than the reward; and for cyclists going through red lights and stop signs is less of a risk than it is for cars. The WashCycle blog wrote an excellent article called The Myth of the Scofflaw Cyclist, which does an excellent job discussing this very topic, so I won’t be going into it more myself.

Reclaiming Streets For Fun

Culturally, Critical Mass is an interesting issue. As much as many Critical Mass riders claim it’s a pro-city-cyclist political act, it is also frankly just a way for a whole lot of cyclists to get together and have fun once a month. In many ways, it shares a relationship to the Running of the Bulls, Carnival, New Orleans Running of the Roller Girls, Songkran, and any other traditional or nontraditional roaming street festival. Like Critical Mass, all these events are all reclaiming the city streets for fun and enjoyment rather than the hoo hum of business and the daily grind.

I’m sure that many of the same people who bash Critical Mass in the Boing Boing comment thread would call other moving street festivals “AWESOME!” It’s all a matter of perspective: for them, as long as your fun doesn’t get in their way it’s great. In reality, most of these drivers stuck corked in have lost maybe 10-15 minutes of their day.

For all of the above reasons, whenever I am talking to a frustrated stuck driver in the middle of the CriticalMass, I don’t tell them “we are traffic” or get abrasive. I just tell them to think of it as a parade; a bicycle parade that happens on the last Friday of every month. Frankly, I think it’s a better way for Critical Mass riders to frame it for themselves as well. When your out there, don’t think of yourselves as political rabble-rousers, but as a leaderless parade celebrating the joy that these city streets can bring.

So I got hit by a car on Friday of last week. Typical frantic mother deciding last minute to pick up cough meds for her daughter. She pulled into a parking spot right in front of me. Thankfully, I was able to stop in time so as I didn’t go flying into her car. Still my front wheel tacoed and I dropped to the ground giving myself some quality road rash on my elbow.

She was nice, drove me to work, and she’ll pay for all damages. Turns out that the damages are just to the front wheel, but I’ve got decent rims so that turns out to be a decent amount. I was already leaning towards looking at a new bike sometime this year so I decided take a gander on craigslist to see if there was anything interesting. As it turned out there was. A total drool-worthy bike right up my alley — so I went ahead and did it using the repair money towards this new bike instead. I figure I’ll slowly repair the old bike and sell it or use it as a second bike.

I’m really happy with my new bike and it’s frankly a bit 1 level higher quality overall then what I was looking for originally. It’s pretty and therefore solidly a target, so I’ll need to upgrade my locking standards. It’s also a bike that goes against almost everything jwz says about proper bicycle commuting, but then again I’ve been bicycling for years in San Francisco too so I’ve built up my own share of opinions on bicycles, commuting, and utility bicycling.

When I first started writing this post, I had thought I would craft a similar advice list discussing where I agreed/disagreed with jwz; however, as part of this is about upgrading my own bike I thought I’d create a list for intermediate level utility cyclists — which will be the focus of my next post.

I eek over the crest of the hill. Out of the corner of my eye a driver creeps left, looking to try and pass me. I grin knowingly — he’s got no chance.

I switch into high gear, the push of muscle combines with the pull of gravity, acceleration quickly transforms to velocity, and I take the whole lane. A fleeting feeling of weightlessness catches me as I whip over the speed bump; in a blink, I’m down the hill. Faced with the threat of a raised bump of asphalt, the car slows down to a crawl and has barely moved from where I left it.

The drivers don’t realized how bulky and slow they are in their cumbersome metal carriages. Their slowness contrasts with my own agility and my moment by moment connection with the road — reminding me why I enjoy riding these streets, and making me feel alive.

Many people I know have a love affair with whatever it is they tote stuff around in. Obviously the connection between a woman and her purse can be nearly sacred, but guys too have there bag obsessions.

The bag is an interesting piece of fashion, both functional and ripe with social identifiers.

I remember as a school kid being really picky with my chosen backpack. Growing up as a industrial punk, spike modified military packs were all the rage and the goths all toted their lunchboxes and little black leather handbags just big enough to carry lipstick, white face powder, cigs, and a bit of brimstone.

Gadget, check. Wallet, check. Gadget #2, check. Phone, check. Gadget #3 check.

Choosing the right bag has gotten to be even more of important in the past decade due to the rise in gadget n’ laptop culture. It’s quite fascinating to see what people keep in their bags these days. In fact, there’s even a flickr group dedicated to this called What’s in your bag?

Nowadays it’s hipster messenger bags replacing the uncouth backpack (not the most back-friendly fashion shift) — though backpacks are still cooler than those rolly packs. Also on the way out are briefcases, which have been replaced by the ubiquitous laptop bag. Oh and there’s also the nascent man-purse (aka murse) trend, which is slowly expanding beyond the it’s core metro-sexual set — “no really it’s not a man-purse it’s a gadget bag!” (I admit I’m looking for one — they’re useful)

As a great example of this generation’s romancing the bag, Scott Beale, of Laughing Squid, just posted about his new Timbuk2 Hacker Bag. It’s a well designed back and seems a perfect fit for his photographer/blogger lifestyle. One commenter accused him of timbuk2 product placement — missing completely the real reason behind the post: bag-o-philia.

Confessing my own love for fashionable lugging equipment

I admit I’ve got a strong streak of bag-o-philia myself. And that love combined with what’s left of my punk-roots often leads towards rather beat up bags. I lean towards backpacks rather than messenger bags, and in the past few years I’ve burned through a couple. However the one bag that has lasted for me is my Arkel Bug combination pannier and backpack.

I know most bicyclists go for a messenger bag, but I gotta say unless you need instant access it’s way better not having anything weighing you down or making you back sweat. And the Bug is a fabulous design. Like all their panniers, it’s extremely well made, tough and water resistant, with plenty of sensible storage, and it comes with a lifetime guarantee.

I love my Bug and like Scott Beale’s post this is not a paid product placement just an blatant admission of my passion for a good bag.

UPDATE:

My Arkel Bug is still going strong. In fact it’s lasting longer then my bike. I still really recommend it — as do friends of mine who also picked up bugs recently. However, I thought I should update this post with a couple other options for people who are looking for backpack panniers:

Nashbar makes a Action Pack-n Pannier. Tout-terrain makes a seat post attachable backpack called the Sherpa (go the bottom of the page). Ortlieb makes a weird carry system, which is basically are stow away backpack straps that you can attach to any of their bike panniers into a backpack — neat idea but it probably takes a little bit to set up rather then the pleasurable instant on-off of the Arkel. Also, Knog makes a nice looking over the shoulder laptop bag that has a pannier attachment and backpack attachment (not sure how good they work though).

If you want to got the DIY route, this guy came up with a pvc attachment method for his normal backpack: see pics here and here. You could also go overboard DIY and make your entire rack yourself out of wood like this guy

Tomorrow, Fri the city goes a bit haywire…

• Zombiemob – 6pm – starting at market and sutter and heads towards Union Square
• Pillowfight – 6pm – Justin Herman Plaza
• Critical Mass – 5:30pm – Justin Herman Plaza
• North American Courier Championships 2007 registration day – 2-6pm – House of Shields

I don’t give a damn about the bike courier, but I do think a very short critical mass and then get taken by zombies along market is in order.

Heads up thanks to SFist “Like Dropping Mentos in Coke, Only With Bikes”