so, based on the last critical mass discussion, i am throwing out friday, july 11 as a date for an experimental "courteous mass."
it is called "courteous mass" because everyone will ride no more than two abreast, only taking up the rightmost lane of traffic. everyone will also obey all traffic laws (including stop signs!). no stopped cars will be passed on the right (unless there is a bike lane).
it is called "experimental" because i really don't see this sort of ride as a viable thing to do more than once. if you look at the comments about critical mass posted on ajc.com and the sbl website, a vast majority of folks' problems with CM seems to be that "critical mass riders don't obey traffic laws." really, though, a few hundred riders riding two abreast will obviously aggravate drivers more than a few hundred riders packed together running through intersections. BUT, if we can publicize this and make this ride highly visible, it could serve to make a statement. especially if local media was made aware of this. or, if we could get some folks to film both critical mass at the end of june and then the courtesy mass in july.
i don't want to do this ride for the sole purpose of pissing off more drivers than is necessary. but i do think it would be an interesting experiment.
i'd like to know what other folks' thoughts are on this...
EDIT: it has been brought to my attention (by people far more in-the-know than me) that this is actually called "courteous mass," not "courtesy mass"
hilarity ensues
i'm in...as a drug addicted sopo communist and atlanta bike campaign board member..and only if you let me take care of the media work.
Video?
I might have to break out the helmet-cam for this one.
I'm in.
I'm in
Must must must spread the word at next critical mass, since they will be most likely to participate. A question:
Are any of the Critical Mass hating hall monitors planning on attending, since it's street legal and all? I'm thinking the answer is probably 'no,' but just in case, I for one think this ride would be better off without internal negativity. (read: check your douche at the door)
.
not to worry. i'll be safely tucked away in the pacific northwest corner of the country by then. i won't even be able to ride by and shake my fist at y'all like the May CM
peace pipe
I hope our head butting on the 'tubes hasn't made me out to be a critical mass hater hater. Have fun on your trip. But be careful... I hear those northwestern hippies are all about some CM :)
internetseriousbusiness.jpg
nah man. people are different and have different opinions. my opinions of people opinions on such things as CM have little effect on my opinions on them as a whole. similarly, people's opinions of my opinions and their opinions of opinion of their opinions are equally unimportant.
yr cool dawg.
i'll miss atlanta, but i'm excited to set up a new stomping ground. eagletearneverforget(atl).gif
yes
i am anticipating flyers to be handed out at june's CM
i can help make and photocopy something, but i'm not sure whether i can actually make it to critical mass this month.
i can hand out flyers
do you need flyers made?
would you also like me to write a press release?
I can hand out flyers too
I can hand out flyers too
Flyers?
Has anyone come up with a good flyer?
Nope
I can hand them out though.
I can make one if no one else does, but it'll be ugly...
bummer on the date since its
bummer on the date since its also sprint night for the 2nd Festival of Speed at the velodrome.
Routes
seems like most of the courtesy masses have a planned route. Any suggestions?
All for it.
As for the route, we should only use streets that do not have bike paths. I am all for the experiment and I'm glad someone has put it out there as an event. I can't wait. Let's do it. Okay, maybe bike paths would be all right, I really don't care about the route. Let's ride.
Planning questions
I was thinking... What's the game plan for keeping the ride somewhat together? I'm thinking if we're stopping at all lights and stop signs, it won't be long before the ride becomes very split up. If it gets split up enough it turns into a bunch of people spread out on bike with no mass. At some point will the leading 2 abreast buddies pull over and wait for regrouping, or can anyone think of a better solution? Perhaps limit to only roads with a passing lane? Or does that make it too dissimilar to critical mass?
Another fear of mine: if our numbers don't compare to critical mass, this could fail to be a useful experiment. How can we come close to matching the numbers of the well established, well know, yet totally centrally unorganized critical mass?
That's the only way it will work.
The only way it will work is if it's allowed to split up into smaller autonomous groups. It really wouldn't be that bad. It would ease the impact on auto traffic while at the same time exposing more autos to cyclists.
Think about it: as a driver, would you be more influenced by a mob mass taking over the streets and holding you up or by seeing cyclists on a large number of roads where, riding in a legal fashion, they wont obstruct your commute and will still demonstrate the feasibility of cycling on Atlanta roads?
In the end, there will still be pissed off drivers -- you're just taking their excuse away by following the law.
You are right connie! It
You are right connie! It will basically serve as a "see this is what it would look like if there were this many cyclists all the time".
p.s. this hall monitor CM hater is coming to this one.
piedmont park?!
i was thinking about this yesterday... perhaps if part of the route goes through piedmont park, maybe halfway through the ride, we can stop and regroup.
Sounds good
also, this points out the reason courtesy masses have a planned route--otherwise you would never see the rest of the riders after the fragmentation started.
route?
i think that this ride should be visible, but we shouldn't spend long periods of time on the same road. we should have route sheets to hand out prior to the ride.
so, should we parade up peachtree for a little bit like CM does?
personally, i'm not a fan of long stretches on ponce, but a couple of blocks would be fun.
should we incorporate roads with bike lanes?
I'll suggest one soon
Riding for long stretches on one road is not good, especially for the people on the end of the mass--they have to put up with the frustrated motorists immediately behind the ride. Frequent turns are good hallmark of careful route planning. Personally, I don't think there are enough bike lanes in this city to worry about trying to use them on a ride like this.
Edit: Start of a route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1983120
1. Trying not to stay on main roads too long-frequent turns
2. Using Piedmont Park as a regrouping point
3. Trying not to make left turns across major roads
4. Need route from Atlantic Station back to downtown without left turns or big hills (trying to keep this noobie-friendly).
I welcome all suggestions/changes.
Deleted. Link broken.
Deleted. Link broken.
Updated route
Comments?
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2020385
Nice
I like the loop through the park... We can be courteous to joggers, roller bladers and drug dealers too!
Be Courteous!
They're not drug dealers. They're purveyors of controlled substances! :-P
Revised suggested route:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2047232
I am trying avoid taking too many left turns, so the last bit to get back to Woodruff Park is a bit circuitous. Please suggest alternate routing if you have a better idea.
is state street still cut
is state street still cut off, going through Home Park?
Flyer posted in graphics
Please let me know if you see anything on the flyer that needs changing.
http://fastermustache.org/gallery/graphics/Courteous+Mass+July+2008+flye...
edit: Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?
looks fine. "taking up the
looks fine.
"taking up the right lane" - maybe emphasize *only* the right lane somehow.
time
maybe reiterate time on flyer, too. i'm totally gonna be there! what a great experiment!
Thanks
I posted the updated flyer.
http://fastermustache.org/gallery/graphics/flyers/Courteous+Mass+July+20...
[G2:27623]
nice
i couldn't make it to the last critical mass -- did anybody hand these out?
i can spread the word elsewhere...
Please do spread the word
and no, I didn't handout anything at the last CM--typical biker slackness.
What does "so as not to
What does "so as not to interfere with traffic flow" mean?
Turning the other cheek
it is part of that whole Judea-Christian ethnic: to respond to an aggressor (motorist) without violence (by not blocking the entire road).
Like what we are doing in the Middle East.
yeah, i'm interested to know
yeah, i'm interested to know why we should go single file on 3 lane roads? did you just mean 2 lane roads?
Dookie
Anyone heading to the Festival of Speed before during or after this jaunt?
so
i am psyched about this ride, folks. it's being publicized in the AJC, and the ABC, and probably lots of other places with acronyms.
jeff, do you have a finalized version of the route? i can print it out and make copies to hand out to folks on friday.
Route editing
How about this: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2059892
Please do look at the route and see if there are any issues with turning left--which would really slow the ride down.
The idea is to use piedmont
The idea is to use piedmont park as a regrouping point, right? If so, what about another regrouping at the park on the 5th street bridge?
Sounds good
I don't think we need to change to the map to reflect that re-group.
oh, of course not; i'm
oh, of course not; i'm excited about the route. I was just posing that question because I can't recall ever stopping and using that little park area.
by "issues with turning
by "issues with turning left", you mean left turns at big streets without traffic lights, yes?
if that's the case, then it all looks good to me!
Cue sheet?
Since it's a lot of turns, has anybody generated a cue sheet to hand out?
Today
right after lunch...
Good
Because trying to figure out how to generate one on bikely.com is giving me fits.
Thanks Jeff! See you this evening!
0.04mi 0.04mi R - Park
0.04mi 0.04mi R - Park Pl SW 206° 1112.2ft
0.38mi 0.35mi R - Martin Luther King SW 218° 1069.6ft
0.89mi 0.5mi L - Centennial Olympic Park Dr SSW 188° 1072.8ft
1.58mi 0.69mi L - Peters St NE 44° 1066.3ft
2.3mi 0.71mi L - Peachtree St NE 35° 1046.6ft
3.18mi 0.88mi R - Harris St E 87° 1328.7ft
3.26mi 0.09mi L - Peachtree Center Ave NNE 0° 1053.1ft
3.51mi 0.25mi R - Ralph McGill Blvd ESE 106° 1056.4ft
3.73mi 0.21mi L - Piedmont Rd NNE 0° 984.3ft
5.14mi 1.41mi R - 12th St (into Piedmont Park) ESE 97° 931.8ft
6.02mi 0.88mi R - Piedmont Ave NNE 20° 931.8ft
6.18mi 0.15mi L - 14th St W 270° 951.4ft
6.46mi 0.29mi R - Peachtree St NNW 344° 711.9ft
6.77mi 0.31mi R - 16th St ENE 61° 984.3ft
6.9mi 0.12mi L - Peachtree Cir NNW 344° 961.3ft
7.04mi 0.15mi L - 17th St WSW 243° 967.8ft
7.72mi 0.68mi R - Market St NNE 1° 885.8ft
7.87mi 0.15mi L - 19th St WNW 271° 882.5ft
8.01mi 0.14mi R NW 308° 882.5ft
8.03mi 0.02mi L - State St WSW 238° 882.5ft
8.33mi 0.3mi L - 16th St ENE 59° 885.8ft
8.4mi 0.07mi R - Atlantic Dr S 179° 892.4ft
8.85mi 0.46mi R - 11th St WNW 272° 938.3ft
8.93mi 0.07mi L - State St SSW 185° 954.7ft
9.28mi 0.35mi L - Ferst Dr E 89° 941.6ft
9.64mi 0.36mi R - Fowler St SSW 180° 935ft
9.71mi 0.07mi L - 4th St ESE 105° 935ft
9.82mi 0.11mi L - Techwood Dr NNW 357° 941.6ft
9.94mi 0.12mi R - 5th St ESE 91° 954.7ft
10.22mi 0.27mi L - W. Peachtree St NNE 1° 1017.1ft
10.27mi 0.05mi R - 6th St ESE 92° 997.4ft
10.44mi 0.17mi R - Peachtree St SSW 185° 1010.5ft
11.96mi 1.52mi SSE 140° 1125.3ft
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/167017
(minor edit to take State street through GaTech)
My version (non-techno-geek)
Park Place south
right on MLK Dr.
left on Centennial
sharp left on Peters
go across Spring to Trinity
left on Peachtree
right on Harris
left on Peachtree Ctr Ave
right on Ralph McGill
left on Piedmont
right into Piedmont Pk at 12th St
go around playing fields--regroup
right onto Piedmont Ave
left onto 14th
right on Peachtree
left on 17th
right on Market
left on 19th St
left on State St.
left on 16th St.
right on Atlantic Dr.
left on Ferst Dr.
right on Fowler
left on 4th
left on Techwood
right on 5th
left on W. Peachtree
right on 6th St
right on Peachtree
I cut out the around-the-block at P'tree/16th/17th.
right on Atlantic Dr. left
right on Atlantic Dr.
left on Ferst Dr.
pretty sure that Atlantic is still blocked in between 10th Street and Ferst.
Updated route
Park Place south
right on MLK Dr.
left on Centennial
sharp left on Peters
go across Spring to Trinity
left on Peachtree
right on Harris
left on Peachtree Ctr Ave
right on Ralph McGill
left on Piedmont
right into Piedmont Pk at 12th St
go around playing fields--regroup
right onto Piedmont Ave
left onto 14th
right on Peachtree
left on 17th
right on Market
left on 19th St
left on State St.
left on Ferst Dr.
right on Fowler
left on 4th
left on Techwood
right on 5th
left on W. Peachtree
right on 6th St
right on Peachtree
I cut out the around-the-block at P'tree/16th/17th.
I'll make some handouts for tonight.