Seemed more like Critical Mob to me!

I was inadvertantly caught in Critical Mass tonight as I headed South on Halsted but the thing was: I was biking! I understand that the point is to take back the road for cyclists, but why is it ok to ride all over the street with no regard for safety or rules? Why is it ok to plow over your fellow bikers??

I'm looking forward to my first ride in August!

I loved seeing the excitement that the last ride generated. It was great to watch and experience. I was watching from a CTA bus on clark that had to stop for the entire ride, no biggie. Then a rider ran into the side of the parked bus and proceeded to blame the bus driver for hitting him, thus leaving us parked for an additional 10-15 minutes after everyone went by... Not cool!

Riders, please realize that you have to pay attention to where you are going. Drunk or not.

SAVE THE SPINDLE! [report+video]

June's Mass was so much fun, I was wondering how July might live up to the Joy that was June. However, early in July, news of the untimely demise of Berwyn's beloved 'Car-Kabob' ignited the Chicago Critical Mass community. The car-kabob is a public sculpture titled 'Spindle', which has eight cars skewered on a 50 foot spike right in the middle of Cermak Plaza. Walgreens already has one of their convenience stores in the mall, but they want to put a new store right where the Spindle lives.

i took some pictures..

it was a great ride from my perspecitve..

i didnt see any of the bad excitement, but i took pics along the way

enjoy

Press charges?

I feel so awful for the people who got hit by the red car.
It was coming right for me. Fortunately I got out of the way in time...
Does any one know the legal status of this guy? I'm not a vengeful person, but I think he should be charged with hundreds of counts of attempted murder. Anyway, if anyone knows what they're charging him with/ whether or not he is currently in jail, please let us know. I don't feel safe with people like that on the street.
Edit by hnk:
The DA is still putting the case/charges together. =Very= good people are working on it.

Contact information for Will and Family

Hey, does anyone have any contact info for Will and his family? He is the poor kid who got hit by the drunk driver on Friday. It would be very helpful if someone would let me know!

Edit by hnk: Will's mom Jane has been posting to the CCM listserv hosted at UIC. Directions for joining or viewing archives are available by visiting the "get involved" page on this site. Jane is a CBF board member and a one-woman advocacy organization in Blue Island-- woe to anyone who crosses her.

Ride to the spindle

Great ride! Good weather, good route, very friendly peepul, a raucous party at the end and several mini-masses to ride back to the city with!

Pictures: by Ride to the Spindle

an ecstatic experience

From my viewpoint, the whole ride was wonderful. Very bubbly, very sociable, very fun. Often on Critical Mass there are long stretches where I'm essentially riding alone in the middle of a crowd. Little of that this evening. Got to hang out with old friends and new.

But when we got to the spindle, the crowd went to a whole new level of enthusiasm. We passed a large building on the left, and the spindle came into sight. The crowd sped up a little, and as we approached, we could see a group of about thirty bikers riding laps around the spindle. How could I resist? I had to join them.

Photos from July 2007

I thought the ride was great but then I didn't see any of the driver aggression and violence either. Hope everyone is OK. My pics are posted:
donsorsa.smugmug.com/Events and a few will be on flickr afterI edit.

The incident at 18th & Loomis

I actually thought I wouldn't make July as i had to be at a restaurant in Pilsen around 800 (leaving from the north shore) and was running late. I took off around 6 from around foster and headed for my straight shot down howard only to run into the tail end of the mass a mile or two before getting into uic. this part of the story is pretty boring i guess.

July 2007 ride to Berwyn

July's ride was very memorable-- just when it seemed like we were in a serious rut we did something completely unprecedented.
Steven Lane did publicity, and coordinated with the Save the Spindle folks in Berwyn, while TC and Garth worked on the route.
I reposted John G's cafe route to the website, on the principal that having only one route is a step backwards, but no-one printed it and no-one else brought a route to propose.