Minivan’s rude introduction to Critical Smash — I’ve run into these San Francisco jerk-offs more than once and find them to be the most arrogant creeps on the planet. There used to be a group of these jerks who’d do this in Berkeley too. The idea is that these folks do not like cars and demand that everyone ride a bike. Until we all knuckle under to their demands they will continue these traffic stopping protests. Exactly why this isn’t considered terrorism (by today’s definition) is beyond me.
It was supposed to be a birthday night out for the kids in San Francisco, but instead turned into a Critical Mass horror show — complete with a pummeled car, a smashed rear window and little children screaming in terror.
The spontaneous Critical Mass bike rides, in which thousands of free-spirited cyclists roam the city, have been a fixture on the last Friday night of the month since the early 1990s. But even bike-weary cops, who have seen their share of traffic disturbances and minor skirmishes, weren’t prepared for what happened during the latest exercise of pedal power.
related links:
critical Mass non-website
In the other 49 states this would be called a “thump thump” rally, because that’s the sound a bicycle makes when you run over it.
If you check the website they do these all over the country. Although no single area tolerates it as much as San Francisco.
Try that crap on someone visiting from Oakland. In a fight between hippies and ganstas my money is on the ganstas.
Hell’s Angels gone green?
J/P=?
I guess running over or shooting these Critical Mass people is out of the question. That is a pity…they deserve it.
They’re also duking it out with NYC authorities:
http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/runninscared/archives/2007/03/
that sounds alot like terrorism to me – I’d sue the hell out of the city if something like that happened to me
One more reason not to ever visit that part of the country
This one is easy. You are in fear of your life and the life of your children. Van goes into drive, foot on gas….see ya later.
Too bad the van was not wired to record video from the interior, through the windows, to the outside.
Am I the only one that would not have stopped if people were striking my car with their bikes?
I haven’t met a bike rider in San Francisco yet that isn’t a complete asshole.
It’s the little things. For example just yesterday I arrived at an intersection intending to turn right. The light was red, so I stopped, and then started inching my way up to make the right turn, with the blinker going. The female on a bike cuts through, and stops right in front of me intentionally blocking my right turn, for no reason whatsoever. I did not cut her off at all, she just wanted to impose some kind of ‘power trip’.
Cyclists pretend to be green… but they are just a bunch of selfish aholes with no consideration for other people.
http://www.securityprousa.com/noname4.html
Nerd Gangs!
There will always be selfish people who think it is their God given right to get in your face and do what they think is acceptable no matter who it inconveniences or hurts.
What a world we live in!
I’m an avid bike rider in NYC and fully support the mission of Critical Mass to raise awareness of these issues.
However, if what the article says is true and the riders behaved in such a way, then there’s no excuse and I fully support going after those that are responsible for damaging the vehicle and scaring the girls.
When I ride I regularly see asshole bike riders that ride without considering pedestrians and cars. I regularly chew them out, publicly, for being pricks. I try to ride courteously and I think it’s bullshit when the millions of bike riders who don’t ride like assholes are painted with the same broad brush.
It’s as unfair as saying all automobile drivers are assholes because a lot of them truly are.
A few years ago, I went to D.C. to protest the upcoming war. As we marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, we passed a Starbucks. All of a sudden, a lot of the protesters stopped chanting “No Blood for Oil”, instead saying “Starsucks” or even “Starfucks”. I was bemused and angry at the unfocused anger of the crowd. Here I had travelled 600 miles to protest an unjust war, and these aholes were complaining about a coffeeshop. To me, that’s one of the biggest problem with modern day Liberals. We spend too much time picking fights about unimportant issues, while letting the big problems go unchallenged.
These bike guys would do well to focus their anger constructively.
Let’s see… put self-righteousness together with youth and what do you get? A-holes in training. The same kind of a-holes who spat at returning soldiers in the late 60s. Never had much patience for them, either, and I fit right in as a Berserkley student at the time. It’s the self-righteousness and disrespect for others that defines them in any generation, and they come in all political colors and in any position on that Libertarian double-axis chart.
#1 James Hill – Go to Hell, real tough guy using a car vs. a bike (share the road)
#10 – Please ignore this type of thing, this is just one asshole setting a bad example for all other cyclist. When cycling, I make a point of pulling out of the way at red lights to allow motorist to make turns. Her action was that of an idiot. Please remember Awake, it’s the asshole that leave the impressions, not the considerate ones.
I’m a avid cyclist, but I absolutely hate these Critical Mass assholes. I agree with #7, this is terrorism. They’re disrupting everyone’s normal life to get their point across. This leaves nothing but a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and does nothing to promote cycling. If anything, it makes people less tolerant of cyclists.
Most of these Critical Massholes don’t even commute by bike everyday; they’re just doing it for fun. Someone I work with thought it would be fun to get a group of people together to do this; they had no idea this is meant as a form of protest. It’s just a bunch of hippies looking for a good time.
I think a solution to this would be turning the fire hoses on them. This needs to be stopped.
I live in Chicago and this summer I plan to protest Critical Mass by getting a critical mass of pedestrians to block their path. I bet that will really chap their asses.
I’d like to apologize to the Ferrando family on behalf of all the considerate cyclists out there for what happened. These assholes DO NOT REPRESENT the cycling community.
A group of “radical cyclists” tried to stop traffic in Times Square for some protest the other day when I was walking through. At least 100 police officers PROMPTLY – as in about 2 minutes – had moved in and removed and ticketed the offenders. (one more vote for Giuliani; his legacy lives)
I used to debate politics, but this behavior goes well beyond that. Although I am an Independent, I must admit that those on the (far) Left of the political spectrum seem to often taint their protests with violence, and their discourse with an overwhelming air of condescension, arrogance and meanness. I have several friends on the Right with whom I disagree – but enjoy their company. Those on the left, once they find out you are not on “their side”, act like anything but friends…….
Rasco, well said. I also live in Chicago and have similar feelings about Critical Mass. I am a bicycle commuter and get so angry at the riders who blow red lights and weave through traffic. My safety depends on cyclists predictable and lawful behavior on the road. There was an article in the Tribune last year about a cyclist killed while stopped at a red light because a car swerved to avoid another cyclist running the red from the other direction. Real nice. I feel like Critical Mass promotes this kind of law breaking and reckless behavior by encouraging people to run red lights. That said I’ve never attended Critical Mass and feel as a cycling activist I should at least show up at one to see if there’s something there I’m just not getting, but I think my instincts are probably correct on this one. If you organize a pedestrian protest I’d like to hear about it just to see how it all goes down.
Remember there are asshole cyclists out there the same as motorists, but the most important thing is we all get where we’re going safely.
#16 – Right On!
All organizations that have a sect/cult/faction that is out of line, should be dealt with from within. Muslims should out the terrorists, Catholics the pedophile priests, Cyclists the Critical Massholes, etc…
Time to clean house!
You guys ain’t seen nuthin.’ Criticial Mass is at its most outrageous in Portland and Seattle. Many of them consider themselves anarchists, which for them translates into believing that anything they want to do is fine because they’re the only folks who count.
Sometimes things get comic, though. They will raise hell whenever a bike rider is hit by a car. But, out here, at least, a surprisingly high proportion of people hit and killed while bicylcling are intoxicated. Holding a vigil for a bicycle rider who had three or four times the acceptable amount of alcohol in his system is rather ironic, though Critical Mass types don’t see this.
Here in Portland, OR, mayor (and former police chief) Tom Potter, actually took part in a Critical Mass. How’s that for law and order?
It’s only a matter of time before one of these rallies escalates into carnage. All it takes is one really ticked off driver who snaps and decides to see how many riders an SUV can take out. Then what?
Fred, I’m surprised Portland has not already been sued over a Zoo Bomber injury or death. Applauding those idiots for speeding on children’s bikes as that attention whore Sam Adams has done makes it appear that city government approves their behavior.
You are all acting like car drivers in the US aren’t just as big assholes.
My god the average level of driving skill in this country is pathetic. It’s just the same with cyclists.
Assholes are assholes. Doesn’t matter what they ride.
After several people pointed out how annoying it is to paint an entire group with a broad brush based on the malcontents, Todd opens up with a torrent of offensive comments.
He begins:
“Left of the political spectrum …” here we go. The entire left.
According to a recent Pew Study issued in March, 50% of Americans identify with the “left”. With a population of about 300 million, that’s 150 million Americans Todd is talking about. Pew Study:
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=312
“seem”
The always useful, “seem”, which nicely avoids specific facts. Plenty of things “seem” one way, but that’s hardly a basis for judging anything.
I don’t want to belabor the point, but this is why Todd’s statement, is so deeply offensive. He’s talking about 150 million people. His qualification is nothing more than “seem.” As if his subjective perception of 150 million people makes any comment non-offensive.
“to often taint their protests with violence …”
To Todd, it seems that when any of those 150 million people protest, the protest is tainted with violence. Is it really necessary to point out the thousands and thousands of protests that occur every year where there is no violence and occur without incident?
“and their discourse with an overwhelming air of condescension, arrogance and meanness.”
It’s hard not to sound arrogant when you’re highlighting the ignorance or offensiveness of comments. I’m sure if I said the following:
“It seems that those in the middle of the political spectrum are ignorant wishy-washy fools.”
It would be difficult to respond to that in a non-emotional, non-arrogant way because it’s so deeply offensive. My example is an unproductive and ignorant comment. Similarly, Todd’s comment is unproductive and ignorant. However, it’s difficult to convey that to someone that seems so deeply out of touch without coming across arrogant and condescending.
“I have several friends on the Right with whom I disagree – but enjoy their company. Those on the left, once they find out you are not on “their side”, act like anything but friends…….”
Again, 150 million people and they all are, as Todd implies, are arrogant, condescending, and mean.
Todd’s comments serve as examples of deep ignorance and a lack of restraint in expressing them. It’s this ignorance that serves as the foundation for many political conflicts. One of the many dangers of ignorance is when it leads to conclusions, and those conclusions lead to action.
Todd’s ignorance about “those on the left” has led him to conclude that 150 million people are arrogant condescending and mean and entirely unworthy of a dialog. That conclusion leads to action, posting on a blog deeply offensive and ignorant comments. And, I would venture to guess, he has expressed these opinions to other people.
These comments poison discourse and make it impossible for gaps to be bridged.
I walk the mile to campus every day and I can’t tell you how many times I have nearly been run over by some ass in a car who seems to think that those signs that say “stop” are meerly suggestions that apply to everyone else but them. I can’t someone on a bike nearly running me over.
Wow… I really don’t care about the phanatism of these cyclists. Normally, I tend to like these sort of irreverent, eco-friendly, screw the rules, in your face sorts of things… but this kind of activity breaks my big rule which is that whatever you do, it’s okay to annoy people, it’s NOT okay to endanger them… ever. So these guys get no support from me.
But calling these riders terrorists? C’mon. Let’s all try to get some perspective here… These guys are overzealous cyclists. They are dangerous cyclists. But what happened here and what they do doesn’t even get within a mile of any rational definition of terrorism.
Podesta, I’m an avid biker myself but truly despise these Critical Mass riders, including the mayor. The people who run Portland seem to welcome Critical Mass and pander to its participants–mostly a bunch of disrespectful punks and losers.
As a result, they do as much to further the cause of bike riding as English soccer hooligans do to promote soccer. It’s more about the thrill than sending a message.
A_B (24) – Minor nitpick (which is completely irrelevant to the conversation, come to think) – you’re referring to everyone left of center – Todd, I believe, was referring to those well left of center, of which there are enough to perpetrate the stereotype he describes. The right has similar issues with the ignorant, set-in-their ways, holier-than-thou types. (which, come to think of it, describes the stereotypical far left pretty well too). As someone else said, its the offensive people that stand out.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if these bicicle riders were also mac users.