Mostly event announcements, news, and bicycle related activist opinions... Download Critical Mass flyers and posters, or upload your own Email vancouvercm~AT~gmail~DOT~com for a posting password Yes, we ride the last Friday of every month!

25.6.09

June Massive Ride 2009

This Friday June 26thRide with us (skate, walk, roll...)Take public to the streets, by all means except the motorWe are the world that we imagine, and our vision can be made realThe Age of the Bicycle will be upon us!as we move Towards Carfree Cities.The choice is Live Free or Drive,We choose to ride en mass!

This year, I strongly suggest we ride ALL the way across the Lions Gate bridge to the North Shore. This is may be more considerate of other (always jammed cars) bridge traffic - and it is more fun than doing the same thing every year. We are traffic (and we increase speeds of people crossing the bridge when we ride there) so lets act like it!

you are invited to come with us and enjoy the safety and comfort that we create by simply riding together. families too! dress us, bring sidewalk chalk, bring musical instruments, or just be part of the fun.

we ride together in a big mass, because together is more fun. That means we don't go too fast and occasionally the front of the ride will stop (say, just past the apex of a bridge) and wait for the mass to bulk up so we don't all become spread thin. this also helps make the ride safer and less confusing for those stuck in cars (the ride sometimes precipitates road rage) because we stay together. We don't cut the ride in half at red lights but volunteer corkers stop and talk to drivers to get them to wait for us to pass. Since there is no leader of the ride we are all responsible for watching out for ourselves, other riders and keeping it fun and safe.

This is not an us vs car drivers ride. Those stuck in car traffic are our friends and we need to be polite and respectful of them as we increase the traffic by putting more people on the roads. We do have to prevent cars from entering the mass and if anyone tries to use a car as a weapon to threaten aggressive force we call 9-11 and try to defuse the tension. We can't avoid all the road rage that precipitates when we liberate city streets from the yolk of car-only dominance - but we can make our ride safer by being intelligent and respectful as we deal with people.

Communication is very important so please talk with pedestrians, other cyclists and those in their cars. Critical Mass is opening up the once silent (loud with the noise of motor nothings) city streets to the conversation about how we live and move around. This is not just transportation, it is about affordable housing (people "must" drive if the only choice is suburbia), the environment, and much much more. You never ride alone so don't act alone, we are strong in one another.

Instructions for Ride and Photos from Last Years:(and details of corking, flyers to use, etc...)

6.6.09

Great Stop Sign Video

If only this were considered here in BC. This video is from Oregon where last year a change to cycling law was being considered. Unfortunately, the law did not pass. In practice, however, this is a great video explaining how it works in the real word, legal or not.

I wish this guy would also make a video like this about stopping at red lights. In 2005 Idaho updated their law so that cyclists could treat red lights as if they were stop signs. I haven't heard any complaints about it working there. And a video like that would go a long way towards bringing the debate about cycling in the city in line with reality.

However, I'm not sure what angle such a video would argue. This Yeild don't stop video uses the trendy idea of energy conservation as the structure for the argument. We commonly argue for the CM way of going through red lights as a group. This doesn't really apply to individuals. I think some kind of Safety based narrative could be used but unfortuntly the trends in safety thinking aren't as positive as those in energy conservation. With safety thinking we still have a lot of superstition. Evidence based analysis is still very much on the fringe.

Anyway, I thought this video was really great. Besides being well argued, the visuals are brilliant and really help make the points.

1.6.09

Support the English Bay Ciclovia

Please support the English Bay Ciclovia proposed by the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) for several Sundays this summer.

Video of last year's landmark success Ciclovia in Portland:

The Ciclovia will provide the missing connections between Burrard Bridge and the Seawall providing a wonderful, safe cycling and walking experience for people of all ages. The 'ciclovia' concept was pioneered in Bogota, Columbia in the 1980s to promote active recreation and social interaction on car-free streets. Generally, a ciclovia involves opening kilometres of city streets to non-automobile traffic to provide a safe space for cycling, walking, aerobics, and other similar activities.

Ciclovia-style car-free events are becoming increasingly popular in many cities, including New York, Ottawa, Chicago, Portland, and Guadalajara. The proposed route is from Denman at Beach (English Bay Beach Park), along Beach Avenue, Pacific Street, Burrard Bridge, Cornwall Avenue, Point Grey Road, to Jericho Beach Park. The ciclovia would thus be approximately 6 km and would provide opportunities for walking, running, cycling, rollerblading, and other forms of active recreation, while connecting parks and public spaces along the English Bay waterfront. The Ciclovia will encourage people to cycle and walk over the Burrard Bridge during the trial increasing the likelihood of success of the trial and a two lane reallocation as the long-term solution. The Ciclovia is being put forth as a consideration to council this Tuesday at the Traffic and Transportation meeting. It seems to have received a favourable review by staff but it wasn't included in the recommendations as it was not in exactly in the scope of activities that where defined for the Summer Spaces program. It would be great if you could send a message to council supporting this.