In August 2005 FM first got involved with Atlanta's Critical Mass...with a little persuasion and promotion, CM has grown to crowds of a couple hundred people each month. Thats a lot of people showing up and so should you! Critical Mass appears around 6:07pm on the last Friday of every month at Woodruff park in downtown Atlanta. Here's some pictures from each month someone from here has been there with a camera and If you'd like some more information on the phenomenom, cheack out http://www.criticalmassatlanta.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass. There are also some Videos over on Google Video.
Critical Mass is a group bicycle ride held after work the last friday of every month in cities all over the world. The goal is to raise bicycle awareness and celebrate/improve rider solidarity. With enough riders CM ocupies the entire street and requires less sustaniable forms of traffic (i.e. cars & SUVs) to take notice. The message is simple - Bikes don't interfere with traffic, bikes ARE traffic. It is by no means a dificult ride and riders of all skill/experience levels are encouraged to join. We ride slowly to maximize our density and impact. Past rides have been high in energy and enthusiasm with positive vibes flowing like crazy. Rides often end with drinks and conversation at a friendly bar. Faster Mustache encourages its members and other riders to strip off unecessary clothing to improve our visibility and simplify everything. Wear a speedo, or underwear, or take your shirt off, or wear nothing.
Here's some things we have to say about Critical Mass:
- This is NOT a protest or war or fight or anything like that. It's people riding bikes because they want to. If you want to ride to protest, awesome. If you want to ride because theres a beer at the end, awesome. If you happen to ride because you were just on a bike and don't even know whats going on, awesome.
- This is not an FM event. We just spread the word.
- Publicity should say every month instead of this specific month so the same places don't need to be revisited every time.
- Routes are good.
- V1ct0r had some good suggestions
Here's some advice FM has for people participating in Critical Mass:
- It's supposed to stay massed up. Don't run red lights unless it was green when the front of the mass got to the light.
- If the police are trying to stop people, and you stop, you will be arrested. It's tough for a police officer to arrest hundreds of people riding bikes so they have to pick and choose. Don't do something to let yourself be the scapegoat for the actions of someone else or the crowd. Riding a bike on the street is not illegal. And don't be stupid by back talking to a police officer.
- Stay away from buckhead. For real. Every time CM heads to buckhead, bad things happen.
