Critical Mass Messes Up Traffic Tonight
It’s the last Friday of the month.
That means bikes, bikes and more bikes with June’s Critical Mass ride.
The two-wheeled anarchy steps off at 5:30 PM from Daley Center and will wind somewhere through city streets during rush hour on a 10-20 mile route. The route is unknown until the ride begins.
Expect a larger then normal ride due to the nice weather. Expect longer than normal delays at intersections if you should happen to get caught by the hundreds of bike riders pedaling past your sorry butt stuck in traffic.
Delays can range from 10 to 30 minutes.
Much like getting caught at a railroad crossing by an extra long line of freight cars, you might be best served if you turn off your engine, call whomever you’re going to meet to alert them to your delay and enjoy the craziness of Critical Mass.
Happy Friday!
As a bicyclist, let me apologize for the Critical (M)assholes. This is not the way to promote cooperative sharing of the roads. And let me again re-emphasize the term sharing. This means that cars are not supposed to veer across the bike lane on Lawrence at Drake in front of the bicyclist to “park” resulting in the bicyclist crashing. And they are not supposed to drive off as soon as they see that they have caused an accident. All of us riding on Lawrence (I was the first of a line of 7 and the one who crashed) were together as a group because we had stopped at a light and it caused us to bunch. We were in the Bike Lane. Following the law. And the cop who probably saw the whole thing (being only a few feet back) cruised right by without stopping.
Seems like the whole point of these Critical Mass Events is to tie up traffic and antagonize motorists whose only crime is trying to get home from work. Not surprising that bicyclists (including law abiding bicyclists who have nothing to do with Critical Mass) find themselves the target of road rage from irate drivers.
David,
What the hell?!? Were you and the other bike riders injured? That sounds like a crazy story if so many bike riders crashed to the pavement all at once.
And the cop did nothing?!?
I was the only one to go down. I ride an old racing bike and I accelerated faster than the other cyclists after the light went green. I was going about 19 MPH when he cut me off. The problem is that there were bicycles (about 6 of us) strung out for about a block. He sped in front of the bicycles and then cut in front of the first one — me. Bad scrape on Elbow, shoulder went into the pavement hard (and still hurts a bit) and helmet bounced off the pavement. The other cyclists had time to stop. I guess the cop saw me “standing” and figured that all was okay.
Its a pretty common accident on the Bike Lanes. Car decides to park, or turn, or pass cars turning left across traffic and simply veers into the bike lane to do it. That’s also why I normally shift over to Wilson (non-Bike lane) as soon as I can. Its a bit slower, I have to stop for lots of stop signs, but one does not get cut off as it is basically one lane in each direction. I was running a little late, I can go 19 – 22 mph on Lawrence if I time the lights right. On Wilson, because you can’t time stop signs, I only go 14 – 16 mph. I really should stop using the Bike Lanes… they are a lot more dangerous because of the very few idiots who do not respect them. (It really is a very small minority of motorists… but its enough to make a difference)
David,
I’m working on a story about dooring and other car vs. bike events. I may reach out to you for some input when I get my head out of the clouds on this.
Thanks
David,
I’m not following how critical massers are assholes while
1) a car nearly killed you b/c he thought nothing of cutting you off for a parking space (e.g. bikes are invisible/irrelevant to that driver)
2) you go 19-22mph on city streets… i feel sorry for the pedestrians who jaywalk w/ you around, lol.
3) you apologize for motorists who can kill you because their foot slips (yeah i agree it’s a sml amt who ignore the bike lanes or are incompetent drivers)… yet the family-friendly critical mass ride that happens once a month is chock full of assholes?
TBH most drivers who are irate by being held up for 10 minutes would be irate regardless of the cause of the traffic. And ppl who would target ANYBODY w/ the intent to harm with their automobile is the true asshole… ugh.