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So, I just started riding a bicycle in the city. I've realized that this conditioning (the hills will get ya) of my body has cut anxiety and depression out of my life. I love getting out of the house and riding to a cafe and using that time to think about life and whatever I wish. I obey traffic rules. I stop at lights and sometimes I get my bike started when I see the opposing light turn yellow and I know there are no cars coming. I do it for both me and the drivers who don't like that it takes me a bit longer to get up to speed (and I'm not particularly slow!) where there is no bike lane. There's isn't anything in my brain that helps me understand why sometimes people push my limits when I don't provoke them. My conduct is nothing other than civil and fair and it just sucks that people's aggression could easily end the happiness that bicycling brings me. . . or even my life itself.

Sigh. There is more anger and ignorance in this thread than I wish to have ever read. Is this going to make me more paranoid? Probably. Is this going to make me more arrogant, and reactionary to people's dangerous and arrogant actions toward me? I'm not sure—I hope I have the power to not let you steal this from me.

this is how the police deal with bikers during critical mass in nyc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cS85No0T64

amen, nick. your comment is right on. i am amazed at the level of juvenile assholes on this specific thread. its like i live in the deep south again.

there are so many comments, and through the many i've read, i can't help but notice that almost everyone involved with this problem has chosen to act like a juvenile asshole. i realize that typing something is not the same as hitting someone physically, but all of this "i'm gonna fuck some bikers up" talk is really incendiary. there is a chance that someone might actually catch the "fuck 'em" fever and, guess what -- at that point the "fuck bikers" crowd has incited the same thing the actual assholes did. i only go to the trouble to type this because i hate thinking that another innocent person could be abused by a congregation of dipshits. the bikers in question acted wrongly and certainly overreacted -- let's try to punish the crime and keep more from happening, not retaliate on innocent citizens. that's shitty.

“We should all drive more. Driving is better riding a bike”

Who's saying that? The problem is CM's childish sense of entitlement (middle class white kids entitlement) mixed with their aggressive and now violent tactics which do NOTHING to help their cause. Read the Stranger's blog, most of the criticism is coming from cyclists.

These fixie morons and potential Darwin Award nominees seem to forget that a lot of us would like to live in a quaint European city with buses, trains and bikes all squeezed into a small, walkable and expensive city (if you think Seattle's expensive, try buying a home in Paris, London or Amsterdam), but we don't, we have to drive. This is especially true if we 1) have kids and 2) have demanding jobs downtown. Since these hooligans can't respect those of us who actually contribute to the tax base here and help Seattle progress, scr*w 'em.

"Do the loaded words and puerile l33t speak remind you of some personal triumph?"

No. Not yet. I used this language to reflect the fact that people are over-reacting to what is, in effect, a bad traffic jam. I was hoping Shelia would elaborate on why she felt so threatened being confronted by something no more worse than a funeral procession or the end of a Mariners game.

I believe that the answer is a basic ideological one, and has nothing to do with the actions of the Critical Mass riders themselves. These people aren't some 50's motorcycle gang out there swinging bike chains and threatening to bust up the sock hop. They are far left socialists and anarchists protesting our reliance on non-human powered transportation. People who disagree with this stance can make one of 2 arguments against them:

1) "We should all drive more. Driving is better riding a bike"

or

2) "They are a bunch of bad apples and anything they say can be safely discounted because a pregnant woman almost died. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!"

I see no rational pro-driving stances being taken anywhere in relation to this incident. It's all #2 - unsupportable, knee-jerk, straw man smoke and mirrors.

Like I said, I think that the core of this issue is a philosophical and political one, not specific to this group of riders. SF is a more left-leaning city which had more riders and less violence. As Seattle changes into a more conservative town CM will slowly gain fewer riders and become more violent.

But, while tolerance and acceptance may be dead in this town, clearly CH - chivalry is not. Way to respond to my post with full, meaningful text communicating something of value and not resorting to name-calling. Oh and congratulations on the porn. You are a winner.

@Peter:Apparently I was too subtle in making my point, but I think you explained it well -- your text is empty, meaningless, communicating nothing of value. I was, of course, referring to your characterization of one of the victims of the CM fiasco as equating "people on bikes = communists = rapists = OMG teh rape!11!!!1!" Do the loaded words and puerile l33t speak remind you of some personal triumph? Perhaps you wielded them more effectively while you were in high-school, maybe while you were stoned in some frat house or dorm, or more likely while you played xbox with your intellectual peers?
And porn is my porn, and likely that of most Ballardites. You get nothing! You Lose! Good day sir!

Better yet, here is a video of the Seattle Critical Mass group earlier in the ride (the first 2 minutes) and then later in the ride, probably the front of the group that passed the car before he got impatient.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a7xjc4kCXiE&fmt=18

"socialist sex offenders, and jive talk captions"

Um...what? I understand the "puny Critical Mass events" because the one I saw was larger, and you were referencing back to that. But socialist sex offenders? Jive talk captions? Seriously, W...T...F are you talking about? Try putting communication first and baseless vitriol second and then maybe you'll be able to change some minds.

As for name calling, you're right - it's bad. Anyone who would participate in that should have their internet taken away.

Anyway, to make amends, here is a critical mass rider getting slammed to the ground by New Yorks finest. Eroding civil liberties is like porn for you folks right?

if we are going to keep calling people names...Peter is belly-button lint. Despite his being in a place where Critical Mass is much larger and less violent. Oh, how I envy Peter and the places he goes, the things he sees -- he brings perspective that those of us who have only seen puny Critical Mass events, socialist sex offenders, and jive talk captions would otherwise miss, like we miss Three's Company and Friends. Freaking douchebag.

"They weren’t even violent towards me, but I felt like I was completely helpless."

Helpless how? Like you were helpless to get to your destination on time? Oh Noes! Doesn't this happen all the time in Seattle traffic? Or do you think that people on bikes = communists = rapists = OMG teh rape!11!!!1!

I was out of town when this happened, in SF where Critical Mass was much larger and less violent, so I immediately thought "Uh, oh. Suthiis mom let him borrow the car and he finally blew a fuse". After reading the drivers apology on slog though ,I realize this is someone capable of realizing they made a mistake and having human feelings - ruling out our resident D.Bag.

Here's a little more info I came across online: http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/the_driver_...

This story makes me want to cry. I've had my car surrounded by people and it was scary. They weren't even violent towards me, but I felt like I was completely helpless. How can Critial Mass have been so violent with a pregnant woman in the car? No excuse!

Critical Mass are a bunch of petulant, bored middle and upper middle class white kids, most with college degrees, who've discovered that they are boring middle class white kids and are angry at their parents for not birthing them with any street cred. Hence the petulance. You think they'd try this down Rainier Valley?

Personally, I wait with baited breath to witness, but not cause of course, one of these helmet less fools on fixies to wipe out on the street so all his moronic friends can then build a little shrine and talk about the evils of car capitalism on their way to their dead end jobs as baristas. Are fixies are the only way to impress the tattooed ladies with hairy legs?

Yeah! All cyclists are rude, out of control assholes! Let's run them all down! Let's also get rid of all the Arabs! We don't want no terrorists living in Ballard either! And while we're at it let's force all the women out of the business community and back behind the oven where they belong!

Generalizing is awesome especially when it results in violence!

I'm feeling so good right now about biking to work in the morning. I very sincerely hope I don't see any of you crazy fucks on the road tomorrow or any other day.

To the "Open Season" mindset:
What does a critical mass assault have to do with my ability to ride a bicycle safely and lawfully around the city? Seems you have as lawless and reckless a mindset as the other violent thugs. Way to go.

It is officially open season on bikers. I look forward to driving as close to you as fast as the speed limit allows. Prepare to get some haircuts.

please limit yourself to bikers w/o helmets. i am a rider w/my children and your comments, albeit comments alone, do seem threatening. it maybe a comment today, but if we were to catch you on a bad day, who knows what you could do. you're angry already......

why do we need paintballs when we know seattle is capable of more creativity:

It sounds like critical mass had initial good intentions, but not has gotten out of control.

I'm happy to wait 30-60 seconds, or 5 minutes for a peaceful demonstration, but as soon as their"demostration" involves sitting on my hood and heckling me in my car, I think it has turned into an excuse to raise a ruckus.

Time for the police to step in if you ask me. The question is (and the reason that they don't stop it now) is how do you even put a stop to such an "event"?

I should point out it wasn't at this latest "melee ride" but at an earlier one.

I have to admit to a fantasy of some paintball target practice. At least we'd see who these massholes were once they dropped the anonymity of the bike mob but the splattered blue foreheads...

My 3 yr old son and I were trying to cross a major street (on the light) when they appeared. We were stuck in the middle and they actually seemed intent on appearing like they were going to run us over! One actually went over my son's foot - he was confused and scared.

We were PEDESTRIANS; he was a SMALL CHILD. We were actually there FIRST -- it wasn't like we had marched out into the middle of the fray. I was aghast and had to struggle to not let my "protective mother bear" come out and just slaughter someone.

As far as I'm concerned, they're hoodlums -- if it was really about "taking back the roads," I think they'd have shown basic compassion to a child pedestrian. I had given them support in the past, but NO MORE.

What did they teach a small boy? To eschew bicycles. Nice work, guys.

Sorry I meant on the Stranger's blog:

http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/last_nights...

Read Samantha's post - brilliant. (number 113)

As a cyclist who frequently takes completely unprovoked crap from drivers, I would buy a "Fuck Critical Mass" t-shirt in a heartbeat. These guys are ruining this city for the rest of us who truly do try to share the road.

Also, in response to Locks Fan's comment that "they don’t drive single file", bicyclists are not required to ride single-file on the road, though the law states they shall not ride more than two abreast. Critical Mass riders, of course, ignore this law just as they do most every other one.

I'm an avid road cyclist and bike commuter and I can't stand the Critical Massholes, as I call them. I'd take one of those t-shirts.

My experience with critical mass as a driver is being surrounded by hipsters riding around all in black, no helmets, intentionally blocking and aggravating traffic... all of which does ABSOLUTELY nothing for cyclists' rights.

These adolescent turns just grin when they piss people off enough that they honk their horns because they've cleverly taped "Honk if you love bicyclists" signs to their fixies. ARGH.

I hope these goons get what they deserve. The roads would be safer for ALL of us... cyclists and motorists alike, WITHOUT Critical Mass around.

lets print up some "fuck critical mass" t-shirts.

“Share the road, asshole” is what I’m busy yelling at other drivers."

That was you Milo?

Nice spandex by the way.

Ha! "Share the road, asshole" is what I'm busy yelling at other drivers.

Keep in mind that the bike is always going to lose in a car/bike encounter regardless of who is at fault. I'll do whatever it takes to prevent being the one at fault.

(...and personally I believe that suthii is a planted blog agitator who is paid to keep things lively here at myballard.com. Love him or hate him, let's just hope you don't ride a bike or water a traffic circle in his neighborhood.)

i like all of suthii's comments

all i have to say is i love all of suthii's comments.

as an avid cycler and someone who commutes on bike 3-4 times a week, i am the first to admit that most bicyclists don't know what they are doing.

quite a coincidence that trouble follows critical mass.

what are they trying to promote again? even if their agenda is legit, it is lost in their tactics.

i agree with suthii every time i see a person disobeying traffic laws I want to scream "share the road!!!! asshole!!" at them. unfortunately my '89 civic hatchback does not allow me to automatically roll down the passenger side window. maybe instead should just drive up on the sidewalk to pass them and then run through the four way stop, and then weave in front of some other cars so they cant get around me.

Great...21 comments but really only 12 to consider. Sutthii, dude, ya need to step away from the computer and get out for some fresh air.

Rude behavior is bad behavior whether you're on foot, in a Prius, or on a bike (or at the computer).

Enough from me--I gotta get back to more hanging out at the coffee shop.

openseasononbikers, my significant other rides his bike to work everyday and is a ridiculously respectful biker who gets incredibly frustrated with bad bikers.. attitudes like this make me so fearful. every biker does not deserve to be intimidated or hurt by the actions of a few.

i am very much against censoring comments here (a huge debate here at myballard), but when someone is threatening others, i think its appropriate.

Wow. I wasn't there, but I just read about 5 different articles on what happened and it sounds like, while it is entirely possible that the driver just flipped what really happened was:

Guy and girlfriend are parked. They try to pull out of parking spot, when Critical Mass swarms around their car, blocking it from continuing to pull out, sitting on the hood and pounding on the car. Guy tries to reserve back into the parking space to get out of the street and out of the way, but bikers have gotten behind the car, so a couple get bumped into. Bikers flip the fuck out, and beat the shit out of the car, break the windshield, and someone hits the driver through the open window.
At this point, people in the car are totally freaked out, probably thinking they will be dragged out and killed. Did I mention the girl is pregnant? The driver may or may not have tried to pull back out to drive away from the angry mob, so as to avoid getting killed. He also may have simply accidentally hit the gas. In doing so, he may or may not have hit some more cyclists. It was at this point that his tires were slashed. The driver was remorseful and crying, and the only one hurt badly enough to have to go to the hospital.
No cyclists were seriously injured. A couple were arrested and charged, and police are looking for the one hit assaulted the driver.

By their own admission, Critical Mass was blocking both lanes of traffic.

I have experienced these guys before, and while they said that if the driver had just waited thirty seconds, they'd have passed, I have noticed that they take their time in order to (seemingly) clog roads for as long as possible. Other witnesses say that at various parts of their road they disobeyed a number of road rules, including cutting off a bus and flipping off the driver.

Oh, did I mention, it sounds like it was the poor pregnant passenger's birthday?

It makes me sad to read comments wishing that people get hurt.'

No ones been hurt by a comment. Focus on the real thugs who really did beat someone up because of their self righteous extremism.

It makes me sad to read comments wishing that people get hurt.

On a funny note, only in Seattle would you get cyclists beating up a Subaru driver. ......

It is officially open season on bikers. I look forward to driving as close to you as fast as the speed limit allows. Prepare to get some haircuts.

"Being on a bicycle does not give anyone the right to disobey traffic laws and endanger others or oneself."

Agreed, but these clowns see the lone act of cycling as a political act and those of us who drive are morally inferior, and therefore deserve to be beaten up.

Nevermind the fact that we may have to drive because we may have young kids or are two busy, working adults whose jobs do not involve cycling from an apartment to a coffee shop around the corner but are the kinds of jobs where you pay $40K + a year in taxes to pay for things like schools. Clearly we are still inferior people and should be beaten up because we have big carbon feet.

We’ll I’m off to drive to Magnolia, maybe I’ll weave, ride the sidewalks and run lights in my car because you know, it gets 35 miles per gallon and is therefore morally superior to other cars on the road.

I don't drive much and I'm a very safe and conscientious driver.

But I've been unnerved many times very recently by bicyclists. Almost without fail, they don't stop at intersections, even with red lights. They don't drive single file. And many of them wear no helmets whatsoever.

When I bicycle I obey street rules, I wear my helmet, I stop when I'm supposed to stop, I use my arm signals, etc. Being on a bicycle does not give anyone the right to disobey traffic laws and endanger others or oneself.

The same goes for driving a car. People cut you off, don't signal when turning, don't take their turn at stop sign intersections, etc.

I give such cars and such bicyclists as mentioned wide berth, and I don't get in any hurry because it's not worth the risk to anyone. I sure wish more people followed some traffic golden rules, in addition to the actual laws.

"The riders said the man's tires were slashed to keep him from fleeing the scene or running into more riders."

Yeahhhh right. So the person who was carrying this knife was thinking ahead that it was up to him to be prepared to stop evil-doers and prevent the subaru from mowing down others... A hero! C'mon... which party was "prepared" to throw down? Critical Ass is more like it. Hope the driver is ok.

And let's see who was actually assaulted and injured according to the police:

"The driver was taken to a local hospital, but his injuries were not life-threatening, Jamieson said. His girlfriend wasn't hurt. The bicyclists didn't suffer any serious injuries, Jamieson said."

Now is this going to be like the murder of James Paroline where everyone will defend the thugs who were breaking the law?

Here's a real source, the police:

"According to Jamieson, as the Critical Mass group moved down the street, blocking traffic, some riders got in the way of the Subaru and prevented it from leaving. Some bikers sat on the car and were banging on it, he said."

Good enough for me to show who the ***holes were who started this.

"On an online forum for Seattle bicyclists"

Wow, an impartial source!

from the times:

"On an online forum for Seattle bicyclists, some riders who said they were in the Critical Mass ride characterized the Subaru driver as the aggressor. They said the driver was impatient about having to wait for the huge group of riders and intentionally ran into some of them, prompting the altercation.

The riders said the man's tires were slashed to keep him from fleeing the scene or running into more riders."

"If the cyclist is not breaking the law, riding in their lane, obeying traffic laws, the driver is responsible. "

That won't make me feel better when I almost or do get hit by a car. I am with milo dakkat. I try my best not to hit or get hit.

There is a lot of bad behavior in both bikers and drivers. Both parties need to be extra vigilant and extra respectful.

I have to say, though, that when I get yelled at or scolded by bikers when I'm on foot (especially on the BG trail) it makes me a little more cranky about bicyclists when I get back to my car. From what I've observed, the rudeness tends to increase with the number of logos on the bike jersey.

At one point a bike was my main transportation but I'm scared to be on the road in a car these days, much less on a bike.

My hard-fast rule of the roads is: don't hit anyone or anything, no matter what. Now if y'all would just reciprocate the sentiment...

Btw, I'm proud to be a passive-aggressive "thespian" in a Subaru. If you don't like it, move back to the East Coast.

"Both are nervous around the other because they don’t know what the other is going to do"

It's simple. If the cyclist is not breaking the law, riding in their lane, obeying traffic laws, the driver is responsible. If the cyclist is a tattooed-barista-nimrod, recently graduated from Evergreen State, on a gearless bike with no helmet riding down the middle of 65th ave (which I had to deal with the other day), touch wood you'll be lucky enough to witness them wreck.

As a bike rider/commuter, I hate to see this. I also hate to see how many bad habits both riders and drivers have. It creates a feeling of false self-righteousness and fear between the two. Both are nervous around the other because they don't know what the other is going to do. I had a woman almost hit me at an intersection the other day because she didn't use her signal when turning left and didn't yield to me when I was going straight. I see bikers blow through lights all the time without seeming to look. I see riders on the sidewalk almost getting hit by left turning motorists. There are so many folks out there that need to be educated.

These are the same type of mental midgets you see on gearless bikes with no helmets. Anarchists until they have to get real jobs and pay their own bills. I thought most got tired of having their heads bashed during the WTO riots but apparently their suckers for more.

Personally, I look forward to seeing one turned into road pizza by a passive-aggressive thespian in a Subaru.

"to assert cyclists right to the road, to promote bikes as a fun, healthy, viable alternative to cars, to build a greater sense of community, to get more folks on bikes, or simply to celebrate bike love and ride in solidarity with other like minded individuals and have some fun!"

right.

Degenerates who think because they are 'saving the planet', they can behave like moralistic thugs. The same trash from the WTO days, they still haven't grown up.