City
Reaching VeloCity in Critical Mass
On June 25th, I went to the Museum of Vancouver to see the Velo-City bike exhibit, but also to attend one of their free lectures (first one of the summer, I hear, so stay tuned for more free stuff) called Park This. The lecture brought three different speakers together from different backgrounds to discuss bicycle parking (or lack there of) in Vancouver.
There were some crazy slideshows of fancy bicycle 'vending machines' called Bicebergs, but also simpler solutions like bike cages, and your good old fashioned bike tethering posts, which always remind me of a place to hitch your horse. Or, there's Japan's crazy underground bike storage if you want to trust your bike to a robotic machine.
One of the things that surprised me about Vancouver is that, though the city is pretty bike friendly, there is a lack of vision surrounding the parking option. Where there is bicycle parking there is often not enough of it, or it's in disrepair. Even areas like Commercial Drive and Main Street, where I imagine a lot of bikers reside, don't seem to have enough spots to lock up bikes, leaving people crossing the street, going around corners, or locking up to, ironically, no parking signs.
The last part of the presentation consisted of sketches of a redesigned Robson St where more bike parking was included through alternating parallel parking spots on one side of the street between parking for cars and parking for bikes. The sketches that followed showed an addition of a bike lane, and then finally cars were gone entirely, leaving bike lanes, wider sidewalks, and two vehicle lanes for transit only.
For those that missed the discussion and are interested in listening, I was told that the talks were recorded and uploaded to Co-op Radio CFRO.
A day after this I attended my first ever Vancouver critical mass:
I had been on midnight mass before, which was really fun, and also found myself randomly taking part in the Minneapolis critical mass when I was there a few weeks ago (yes, the same critical mass where, during the Republican National Convention, bikers were arrested and gassed), but the timing of the Vancouver event had never worked out for me until this past Friday.
Let me just say this first: critical mass is a hell of a lot of fun. Riding on the road, on the bridges, and not worrying about cars is possibly the most freeing experience I've had on my bike, and even, perhaps, in the city at all. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, with music blasting from speakers (some had even synced theirs together), people dressed in costumes, kids, and even a trailer with a dog sitting on it like a little parade float.
Some people got angry, of course. But not as many as I assumed would. Most sat there in their cars, some waving, some reading books, some on the phone. One lady stood beside her car, waving and smiling and shouting that the lady inside, her mother, was 100 years old that day. The lady inside was shriveled and cooled herself with a paper fan. Others laid on the horn, causing a cheer to go up through the mass of bikers. I was confused at the horn-honkers. What was their intention? Did they really think that honking the horn was going to get them anywhere?
I'm sure many in the city have mixed feelings about critical mass. On one hand, they might support biking. On the other hand, they might be late for something important because they are stuck in traffic. On the other other hand, it does only take up about 2 hours each month. And that's like, what, two episodes of Lost?
For those that don't already know, critical mass happens on the last Friday of every month. Meet at 5:30pm at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and start riding around 6pm (although, it's easy to join up after the ride has already begun).
The Park This discussion talk me that making a city more bicycle friendly is fraught with politics, budget problems, and red tape; and then, a day later, critical mass reminded me that making a city more bicycle friendly is really in the hands of the ones on the bicycles.
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Critical massholes.
I missed a doctors appointment thanks to you elitist assholes.
And then, of course, there is the other side, represented above.
Elitist? Bwah hah hah. And can I get your doctor's name because my doctor only works nine to five.
So, I knew there was going to be a mixed bag of comments in relation to critical mass, and it leads me to wondering certain things, like what exactly does critical mass do for biking in a city that is attempting to become more and more bike friendly?
Does it hamper that goal by creating animosity between bikers and other commuters, where they get labeled 'massholes' and 'elitist bastards'? Where many in the city may develop anger towards bikers in general because of critical mass? If it's an environmental thing, then how do I feel about blocking the public transit system?
Or, does it further that goal by bringing a community of bikers together to have fun, to show the city that there is a need for bicycle infrastructure and that there is a general interest in biking in the city?
Before I went on critical mass I had reservations about the idea of it. I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't fun, because it was, but was that fun a slightly selfish fun, when viewed through the eyes of people stuck in traffic? I suppose the answer to that question lies in the grey area that is rarely discussed.
Usually the dialogue around critical mass is polarized with name calling on either side. I wonder if that's just an inevitability of the nature of critical mass, or if it's something that can be eventually overcome.
While not a driver, I take issue in Critical massholes blocking public transit and generally disrupting things.
It doesn't add to your cause, it just creates a divide between bikers and non-bikers.
Peter, I guess that depends on what you view as the 'cause'.
As a protest for positive thinking around biking, it has major flaws. As a fun bike ride, however, it does its job. Albeit, in a selfish manner, perhaps.
I'm not sold on the protest side of it, but I'm sold on the fun side. Which maybe makes me a masshole.
Yeah, I had a scheduled BALLS enhancement, but you massholes ruined everything. Yeah. Everything is ruined because of you.
informative. cheers.
Vancouver is definitely lacking in bike parking options. I was just in Toronto, and most streets have the lollipop style bike posts every few meters. On many downtown streets in Vancouver there isn't a single bike rack.
On Friday afternoon I was sitting with a friend who's phone was receiving a steady string of texts from people mired in downtown traffic. Things like: "dreaming about running over bikes right now", "cyclists please die", etc.
The Critical Mass rides may be fun for cyclists... who wouldn't like the Lions Gate all to themselves... but I don't know how much the rides are doing to raise positive awareness for the cycling cause.
For the record, I'm a dedicated cyclist. I've bike couriered through Toronto winters and used to walk past my car an a daily basis to commute by bike from Kingsway and 33rd to Park Royal Mall.
Loved the blog, for every mad driver we saw two happy drivers who would have rather have joined us. . .
good job angering some evil car drivers that had to sit idly by while the enlightened critical massolytes whizzed by in an ecologically friendly euphoria.
oh but you also tied up traffic for people riding public transit, and pedestrians trying to cross the fucking street.
its good, because it pisses off douchebags.
The Lions Gate and Georgia causeway into downtown were way more backed up and for a longer period on Saturday at exactly the same time as Friday's ride the night before. Why? "Volume delays"
No accidents, no stalls, no cyclists on the road.
It's not like this only happens when the CM happens.
I guess at that point drivers probably shout and curse at each other in the same manner.
While it is too bad buses and such get tied up as well, the biggest problem with traffic and movement is not a monthly ride, but the daily slog of thousands of single occupancy vehicles.
Our roads are clogged and jammed because of unnecessary vehicular traffic and that's just our old, tired N. American attitude that's to blame.
^^^
Excellent points, David.
I get that some of them think they are protesting and some are just there to have fun.
As a fun thing I totally support it. Seems like a great way to build a community of bikers and meet new people.
As a protest it makes absolutely no sense. All you do is piss off people trying to get places. This in no way makes anyone support your cause. And referring to the car drivers as "evil" is a very close minded point of view. Most people participating in this event live close to downtown. For simple space reasons, not everyone who works downtown can live downtown. Taking transit downtown even from Burnaby is madness in rush-hour . Every skytrain is packed and I often miss a few because they are full. It takes me 15 mins do drive downtown and about 45 by transit. What would you all do?
If it is just for fun then that is great, but if it is just for fun why must you occupy such vital driving routs such as the burrard bridge and broadway, not to mention practically every street in downtown?
How about this, next time meet in Langley and ride around there. Then you won't piss many people off, and you all get to see how difficult it is to make a big commute without a car for a change.
Langley have their own Critical Mass, as do many of our surrounding cities. Heck, even Gibsons does one sometimes!
People I ride with commute from Vancouver to Surrey and Burnaby by bike all the time. There are quite a few long-distance bicycle commuters in town...
You know who those critical massholes remind me of?
Santa Claus and his monopolistic corporate sidekicks, who regularly block off major downtown streets at a pre-announced time for their elitist parade just so that some spoiled little babies can have some magic in their lives.
What this city needs is no communal bike rides, no christmas, no fireworks displays, no pride, no vaisakhi, no street closures of any kind for any reason, and a swift and brutal police response by anyone who tries to participate in any kind of celebration in a public space if someone might object.
Let's whine our way to utopia!
Nice one, Fearsome.
It's once a month for 2 hours. Everybody knows when its going to be and roughly where it'll be. Drivers own the roads for 99% of the month and bitch and moan when they lose the 1%. Hate that Lions Gate often gets taken over? Maybe for that 1% you should take Second Narrows?
People whine way too much. Maybe they should get a bike and learn to relax.
vancouver needs a critical manners ride where all laws are obeyed (stopping at all red lights). this would slow the whole process way down and seriously, but legally, mess up traffic far more than critical mass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass#Critical_Manners
bikes are traffic too after all and are considered the same as a vehicle in the motor vehicle act.
why would we want to screw up traffic "far more"....?
let's just stick with a good thing, huh rob?
agreed, the wording in my previous comment was harsh. i am not out to jam traffic for fun. for several years now i call in each critical mass i attend to the local traffic radio stations so they can inform drivers, and they are finally starting to report it on their own.
my point remains however that there's an alternative to critical mass that doesn't break any laws but still - arguably more effectively - raises awareness about how cyclists put our lives at risk each time we ride our bikes. a critical manners ride would likely attract much less people than a critical mass ride anyways (slower, not as fun).
the bike lanes and infrastructure we enjoy today did not happen by asking politely for them. it is worthwhile considering all options. another intriguing idea from montreal are die-ins at large intersections where cyclists lay across the middle of the intersection.
as jake's post concludes, "making a city more bicycle friendly is really in the hands of the ones on the bicycles."
Hello Jake Good post This study examines motor cortical representation of hand position and its relationship to the representation of hand velocity during reaching movements. In all, 978 motor cortical neurons were recorded from the proximal arm area of rostral motor cortex. The results demonstrate that position and velocity are simultaneously encoded by single motor cortical neurons in an additive fashion and that the relative weights of the position and velocity signals change dynamically during reaching. The two variables hand position and hand velocity are highly correlated in the standard center out reaching task. Thank you for your great post .