REVscene Automotive Forum - ‘Critical Mass’ bike ride expected to snarl downtown traffic Friday

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‘Critical Mass’ bike ride expected to snarl downtown traffic Friday

For fuck sakes.....

Quote:

VANCOUVER — Police took the unusual step this week of warning motorists away from the city’s downtown core Friday in an effort to ease tensions generated by a planned “Critical Mass” bike ride.

The ride — which takes place on the last Friday of every month — is expected to draw a record crowd of up to 3,000 cycling enthusiasts, and police say drivers are better off avoiding the area if possible.

Police say the ride has grown so large they have given up trying to rein in participants, even those breaking rules, such as riding without a helmet or blocking traffic.

“The fact of the matter is that Critical Mass has reached a critical mass of civil disobedience,” said Vancouver police Insp. Rick McKenna.

Strict enforcement of the Motor Vehicle Act or city bylaws would “lead to greater confrontations, escalated incidents of violence and further polarity between drivers and riders. None of us wants that,” he said.

Instead, McKenna said, police concentrate on targeting individuals who commit more serious criminal acts.

Last month, a driver was arrested for assault after an “exchange of words” with a cyclist involved in the Critical Mass ride erupted into violence. The incident resulted in an injury to the cyclist.

McKenna said police are concerned similar conflict could flare up again this month.

While the ride was originally designed as a protest over the lack of bike lanes, “Critical Mass has now morphed into a major celebration. Unfortunately, it has also morphed into a source of major conflict between riders and drivers,” he said.

Because of that, he said, “we are reminding motorists that this Friday evening they should try to avoid the city core if at all possible.”

But police say riders, too, can be a problem, with some cyclists engaging in mischief and tactics that exacerbate conflict with drivers.

“Riders routinely block intersections to allow bicycles to move through red lights and occupy oncoming lanes,” McKenna said.

Drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana — behaviours police have cited in the past as problems — while cycling only makes things worse, he said.

McKenna said officers will be out Friday on bicycles and motorcycles to monitor the ride and keep the peace as best they can, but asked for tolerance and cool heads on both sides of the road.

“Friday night promises to be a hot summer night. We respectfully urge all of the riders and any motorists who must be in the downtown core to do their bit to lower the temperature,” he said.

Vancouver cycling advocate Arno Schortinghuis said he welcomes police presence during the Critical Mass rides.

Safety and fun are primary considerations for the vast majority of participants, many of whom bring their children along.

“It’s a real kind of celebration atmosphere,” he said.

As for the drivers who may feel inconvenienced by the ride, Schortinghuis feels some sympathy.

“But, on the other hand, motorists rule the road for the whole month,” he said.

Though the bike route has not been made public, the Critical Mass ride traditionally sets out from the Vancouver Art Gallery around 5 p.m. Traffic may be disrupted over the Burrard, Granville or Lions Gate bridges.

dahansen@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Most people will leave Vancouver for the long weekend anyway so no worries

why doesnt somebody get a twig and throw it at the spokes of the first few bikers? then it'll be called critical injury as a domino effect of cyclists falling off their bikes

^ :lol @ BNR's suggestion

spike strips that would be the best way to shut them the fuck up

just buy a SHIT LOAD of thumb tacks, be ahead of them and just cover the road in thumb tacks.

Lets all throw water balloons at them!

time to go gta style

"Critical Mass has reached a critical mass of civil disobedience" hahaha, damn.

I say everybody switch roles. driver -> biker, biker -> driver. Once everybody has a better understanding of what each faces...then you won't need critical mass anymore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 124Y (Post 6527316)

Lets all throw water balloons at them!

Filled with motor oil then enjoy the carnage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 124Y (Post 6527316)

Lets all throw water balloons at them!

You'd just be helping them cool down

we should join in the critical mass group and start smoking weed among all the riders. This will help make the public think critical mass are a bunch of marijuana smoking hippies that do drugs and are up to no good. (and hopefully stop the retarded parents from bringing their young children to these events without helmets)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BNR32_Coupe (Post 6527281)

why doesnt somebody get a twig and throw it at the spokes of the first few bikers? then it'll be called critical injury as a domino effect of cyclists falling off their bikes

I'm extremely surprised that nothing like this has happened so far

"Last month, a driver was arrested for assault after an “exchange of words” with a cyclist involved in the Critical Mass ride erupted into violence. The incident resulted in an injury to the cyclist."

This guy is my fucking hero. Someone who actually had the balls to stand up for himself.

More people need to be like him, or stand up for people like him.

It's stupid they are "warning" motorists to stay away because of this, that's pretty much like the cops saying "Well we can't do 4/5ths of fuck all about it, we give up! Let's go catch us some street racers instead!"

Why don't we just unleash the wrath of the black peoples?

fucking cyclists think they run this place. really all it takes is one road rage driver plowing into them to shut it down forever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synaptik (Post 6527407)

fucking cyclists think they run this place. really all it takes is one road rage driver plowing into them to shut it down forever.

And that person shall be granted Martyrdom by downtown motorists...

I've said it before and i'll say it again, just wait until someone's child or parent is in some hospitals emergency ward about to die and its sibling can't get their to say gooodbye because some bikers are breaking the law. Its this fucking scenario that pisses me off so much about these bikers.

motoroil motoroil motoroil motoroil

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sid Vicious (Post 6527365)

you know what u gotta do
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph...sh_675860n.jpg

+1 for an awesome idea.. they can go screw themselves honestly motorists get tickets etc for disobeying speed laws etc and general road laws..why do cyclists get to get away with this just because theres a lot of them..to me its almost like a clear act of unlawful gathering just like with car enthusiasts or bike groups at a local gas station or something..unless you have official papers they should get just as harrassed by police as any one else ..just cause theres a lot of them doesn't mean police shouldn't hand out tickets etc...if hats the case then we could all just walk down the city streets and all sit down at some random intersection and say oh we feel bad that the lights in the city are on at night and killing birds who fly into the buildings so none of you get to go home in other words retarded shit like that

wait why is there gonna be carnage? don't they have a bike lane on teh burrard bridge? i'm sure they will be testing it out , and next year, Robertson will convert the part of burrard into a bike lane. i bet you guys didnt know about that!!

Time to build a oil spray contraption on your car, make sure you get ahead of the bikers when they start and just lube the road for them.