shelbinator.com

This ride was actually proposed in early June, well before our recent Critical Mass tangle with the law. The recent write-up in the AJC of the police crackdown — I hesitate to add “perhaps assisted, in part, by my 123,000 view-getting video of the affair,” lest I deeply offend someone’s journalistic professionalism — will hopefully add meaning and numbers to the experiment. The vast majority of the comments on the CNN iReport and the AJC article are from raving lunatics who apparently lust after moving down bicyclists for any minor infraction, but the bike-haters who weren’t quite foaming at the mouth (and the cyclists who disagree with Critical Mass’s tactics) all demand that even a 400-bicyclist group should obey all traffic laws and keep to the right.

Well, I doubt we’ll even get over 100, but we’ll see how much better traffic goes (or not) when we split up at every red light and become a large number of mini-masses. I’ll be there with cameras blazing, and if you pay attention to Twitter, I’m probably going to try to live-stream video from the road as well — provided I can find an appropriate duct-tape solution to mount the phone.

Courteous Mass Bicycle Ride

Friday, July 11
Meet @ 6:00 PM
Woodruff Park
Leave @ 6:30 PM

This ride is different from Critical Mass in that it will follow a planned route and follow state traffic laws. It is intended to demonstrate support for better bike facilities and safer traffic conditions. It is also a great opportunity for less-experienced cyclists to try riding on the streets, as well as being a fun social event. We urge everyone who believes in a balanced transportation policy to join us.

Courteous Mass Tips:

• Ride no more than two abreast on 4-5 lane roads, taking up only the right lane.
• Ride single file on 2-3 lane roads so as not to interfere with traffic flow.
• Please allow faster cyclists ahead of you so they are not stuck behind slower cyclists during single-file stretches.
• Do not pass stopped cars on the right (unless there is a bike lane).
• And as always, be courteous!

But just because we’re being “courteous” doesn’t mean I’m not going to be as armed as legally possible in case some of you carpsychopaths get uppity. ;-)