ATTENTION: Critical Mass riders, I am calling you out. On the morning of March 22nd, some actual cycling advocacy is going to take place, and if you have an ounce of self respect in your skin tight jeans you will be there.
It’s called Georgia Rides to the Capitol. Here’s what it’s about:
During the sixth annual “Georgia Rides to the Capitol” event, cyclists will embark on rides to the Capitol in order to raise support for improved conditions for cycling, including the development of regional systems of both on-road bicycling facilities and multi-use-trails.
Mind you, this won’t be the self-defeating anti-establishment brakeless helmetless law-flaunting frivolity that you normally pretend is cycling advocacy. This is the real kind, with lawmakers present and proper permits and so forth. I will be there. Some members of my team, Faster Mustache, will certainly be there, probably even including Otto, my friend Twotone’s baby.
Baby Domination
This baby has done a lot for cycling merely by never attending Critical Mass
Last year, Chris Kelly, Twotone and I rode out from Memorial near the graveyard all the way up to Roswell, then rode with the group back down into the city, but you don’t have to ride that far if your wee little Critical Mass legs can’t handle it. You can take MARTA some of the way, or do the Decatur part of the ride or whatever.
Be aware, if you ride with us, that Twotone is going to attack on the hills in Roswell and it’s going to suck. I’ll probably be way off the back, wheezing like an accordion with a hole in it, but hey, at least I shave my legs.
Capitol not Capital
Also please note the difference between these two words when you’re telling your friends to attend. “Capitol” is where the ride is going and where lawmakers wear suits at one another. “Capital” is what your parents are wasting on your education.
And speaking of suits, yes of course, you are right to think that lawmakers are full of it. They act the part but they never really do anything, right? No argument here, but here’s your chance to prove that you don’t just act the part when it comes to supporting cycling. Get your ironic tattoos out of bed and on your bike and let’s ride together in a safe, legal demonstration to support cycling.
Oh and if you do show up watch out for the guys on tri bikes. I almost got killed by a triathlete using his iphone on aero bars last year.
Hi. I'm 
You might want to clarify the start point a little bit. “Memorial near the graveyard” is a bit vague. Also, what time will you guys be out there?
To be honest, this year’s ride plans aren’t solidified yet. I haven’t talked to Chris or Jon, and it sounds like there might be a ride starting from the velodrome?
We shall see, but I’ll talk about whatever I’m doing.
Ha! Called your bluff!
I prefer the terms “Engaged in my dialogue”
Here are some of the larger groups riding there together. http://www.georgiaridestothecapitol.org/routes.php
Thanks Ali! Should have included that…
Jim,
Really… You are gonna be another Crit Mass antagonist. And under the heading of the FM crew no less. For many years FM was at the heart of Crit Mass in Atlanta. Granted I’ve been out of the scene for a year or two, but unless FM has pulled a 180, and abandoned its hipster tight jeans roots, to imply that it is a completely law abiding, non-sarcastically tattooed crew is pretty ridiculous. FM24 was one of the coolest events in the city, but to say that riders followed the rules of the road, or that all the proper permits were filed is obviously crazy. I really don’t understand all the vitriol coming out against Crit Mass. Smart cities engage the ride and market it as a way to see the city. But for some reason it has become popular within the ‘serious’ biking community to attack a group that has been doing the same exact thing since Chris Carlsson started it way back in the mid 90′s. All of us on two wheels get attacked enough from those on four. There is really no room for infighting. Just chill, enjoy the ride, and try not to choke on the fumes.
If you were paying attention, you’d know that FM24 ended for precisely all the reasons that I think Critical Mass should.
I believe Jim’s post is simply making the point that the majority of those who ride at Critical Mass believe what they are doing is cycling advocacy (myself included). However, Georgia Rides to the Capitol is an _undeniable_ act of cycling advocacy, in that it’s an organized cycling event with an explicit goal, support from lawmakers and law enforcement, and so on.
He’s calling out those who claim to be cycling advocates, but shy away from actually participating in legitimate advocacy events.
Also, I don’t believe he claimed anywhere that Faster Mustache disapproves of Critical Mass (although I admit I haven’t seen any of them there in a long time), merely that other FM folk would be there.
From my understanding, FM24 ended because it was becoming too large to stay underground, but was too expensive to become legitimate.
Chris told me he’d be willing to put it on again if I could raise the money (ten, twenty thousand?). Of course, since I have no friends and am not independently wealthy, I’ve so far been unable to accomplish this.
i think this says it best: There is really no room for infighting. Just chill, enjoy the ride.
glady, the focus is on us all right now so let’s collaborate and be a united front on 2 wheels.
–national bike summit week
–t-splost funding projects being chosen
–spring is in the air
i’ll ride with any o’ yous!
This is fun.
Hey Jim,
Seems like you put some pretty good bait on this hook and the fishes are biting.
First I wanna say that I’ll make sure and send out an invitation to the Critical Mass group as part of my monthly reminder for Critical Mass for the Georgia Rides to the Capitol event. Normally I send the message out on the Wednesday before but seeing how this is important for the bike community I’ll send it out Monday so that everyone has a chance to see it.
You bring up a couple of pretty good points. Our bike community is changing.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not but we haven’t had an alley cat yet this year and I haven’t even heard anyone talking about one. Not even a whisper for Broken Hearts and Bicycle Parts. Our classic first of the year race for the last 6 or 7 years ( I think? ).
I’m going to make just a few points that I’ve been thinking over for the past few hours since I was alerted to your post.
The Georgia Ride to the Capitol happens once a year. That’s great! It’s amazing that more and more people come out to support the bike community. Critical Mass happens every month. I like that.
I think the main point that I want to make about Critical Mass, and you probably know this already but it’s been bouncing around in my head so I’ll put it here, is that it’s inclusive in a way that no other rides are in the city. It would be easy to get into the ITP/OTP, helmet/ none helmet, spandex/skinny jean bullshit but it’s not about those individual points. The mass events for me have always been about community. My bike community. It’s really special to me when I see new folks that have never been comfortable on a bike come out for mass and then become new bicycle advocates.
Hey Ross,
Calm down!
Hey Stephen,
He did mention after the fact that he thinks Critical Mass should end just as FM 24 did. “If you were paying attention, you’d know that FM24 ended for precisely all the reasons that I think Critical Mass should.”
I don’t think I knew that you thought Critical Mass should end. I have a question for you Jim, seriously. I thought all the fast rides around town stopped for lights and followed the rules of the rules of the road but I did a few of the Outback rides last year and they break just as many rules of the road as Critical Mass does but they just do it faster. Is that typical of the faster group rides or is that just an Outback ride thing? Just wondering.
I want to thank you for inviting Critical Mass to the ride in two weeks, I’ll put the word out.
Thank you.
I can’t speak for the Outback ride as I’ve never done it, but I’ve done the route and there are a lot of lights. If they’re running them, they shouldn’t be.
It is a Wednesday night ride, though, and that’s track night, so I doubt I’ll ever make it.
I can speak for the Pizza ride, however, and say that it stops at the lights it sees. People on the ride get yelled at for doing stuff like passing cars. As far as I know it is the roadiest of the roadie rides.
I can understand and support your desire for community, and of course, I said a lot of what I said specifically to be inflammatory.
Like smoking, Mass has a lot of cool appeal, but isn’t good for us over the long haul.
Now you’re just spouting nonsense in your comments Jim because you think no one knows any better. However, the Airport Ride and Pizza Ride – which I know you do both – are not all “we follow the rules of the road.” In fact it couldn’t be any further from the truth. When you say they stop at “lights they see,” what you mean is that they only stop at lights they are forced to stop at. Saying nothing for stopping at stop signs. In fact if I recall correctly there was a wreck on the first airport ride because someone had the AUDACITY to stop at a stop sign. Oh, the nerve of them to stop with a cop sitting there in plain sight. And don’t get me started on 100 people bunched up and not riding two abreast, or pulling off the road when there are 10 cars or more backed up behind the pack, etc. etc. All are equal if not important rules of the road. And, um, last I did that ride, I got booed at when I did ask someone to please be a little more respectful around cars. Didn’t the Avondale Police pretty run the Pizza Ride out of the city there for a summer or two? Sorry Jim, I call bullshit. If you call for Critical Mass to end, then you should also call for the Pizza Ride and Airport Ride to end, your half-hearted rhetoric by any other name would be called hypocrisy. You should join me in a boycott of those rides too. Yes, gauntlet thrown.
I haven’t ever done the Airport ride. It happens in the winter and I don’t like riding in the cold except for short trips to grocery, coffee shop, etc.
You are right about the two-abreast rule, though, and some stop signs definitely get rolled if there’s no one at them. I’m not saying the Pizza ride is perfect and I don’t pretend to know its complete history, but it is pretty good as rides go.
It does stop at red lights, and the real hammering doesn’t start until it gets in the park. There is no corking of intersections. When I said “lights it sees” I meant “lights it goes through.”
Once in the park, the park cops follow along and shepherd the riders via megaphone. They have been known to ticket (as they should).
Yes, but Critical Mass is a once a month all are welcome ride, the Airport Ride and Pizza Ride are the same people, thus the same ride in my eyes. Jim, I do that ride, it doesn’t always stop at red lights, and it’s dangerous as hell with all ability/skill levels there because of no natural way to break the group up. You can’t tell me otherwise.
And when I encounter someones hatred for cyclists, more often than not it involves mentions of lycra clad Lance Armstrongs than college students on hybrids. You gotta look at yourself when you think about trying to change perceptions. I applaud your effort, but don’t pretend like your own nest ain’t fouled. Problem is no one in Atlanta will take leadership because there’s no unified voice for the racing community when it comes to advocacy. That voice has to be someone who can back it up with results. Unfortunately, they don’t listen to Cat 5s, or former 1s for that matter.
Well, we agree about one thing: I can’t tell you otherwise.
Hmm, how do I edit a comment to add points? Sneaky.
C’mon man, you can’t call out one group ride without calling out another. The only way you can truly do it using Hypocrite Free(TM) is by not doing any group rides at all. And since you were in it to be social, you don’t want to do that do you? Otherwise you’d be living, working, riding in a bubble. Last I checked that was called driving.
And driving to do a ride is not advocacy. It’s called a hobby.
What Angel and Tracie said :)
I know most of the folks commenting and would like to say I strongly regard and respect all of their opinions.
I could have located almost anywhere in the metro, but I came to Atlanta ITP fairly recently, and the appeal of the local cycling culture was a major draw. Critical Mass, alleycat races, competitive cycling, hipsters and cycle commuting are all major components. I’ve been many places and frankly, we are quite lucky to have this here. Unfortunately, many of the points made above probably wouldn’t serve to enhance our cycling culture.
Training rides are something I’ve seen a lot of in many many places. One constant is, I’ve never ridden one yet that did or could obey all the traffic rules. I don’t anticipate that will ever happen and to expect it is quite unrealistic.
Alleycat racing has its roots in the messenger community and is loaded with their character. These are increasingly rare underground events similar to hashing, and IMHO should be respected and preserved as the icons that they are. If every aspect of the American character was sanitized, completely legal and politically correct, it’s quite a boring bunch we would be.
Critical Mass is a monthly event happening in cities world-wide to increase visibility and awareness of cyclists and has been ongoing in Atlanta for years. As mentioned above this is a very well known and widely attended event drawing from all parts of the metro area and well beyond. Also, while “embraced” may be too strong of a description, it is a very well tolerated event by the city. It sure isn’t totally legal either, and does at times infuriate motorists, but anything to increase our visibility (safety) is worthwhile in my opinion.
Riding bicycles for transportation is something I’ve truly grown to love here in Atlanta. This is something that is simply not practical or possible everywhere and I feel fortunate to live in a place where it is. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that following all the rules of the road can dramatically reduce or eliminate the viability of bicycle commuting. The constant stopping and starting is what uses the most energy for cars. Works the same for cyclists. Also, following all the rules on a bike is often (usually) too time consuming and can make commuting impractical (leaving driving as the typical alternative). Many places in the world have come to realize that while bicycles are “vehicles,” they’re not “motor vehicles” and don’t expect them to be. Quite possibly, these areas grant cyclists special rules and privileges to reward and encourage cycling versus driving, and I feel this could/should be a priority here.
BTW, the Airport Ride accident happened because the lead rider initially rolled the intersection, then apparently mid-way through saw the police and smacked the brakes hard. I was there and the inattentive rider on my wheel hit my seat stay severely damaging my bike.
As a recent (3x last fall) first time Critical Mass-er, I’d like to state that for me it is about one thing, fun.