EMAIL FROM Chris Carlsson 08 Apr 1995

Dear Thundercom... I got your missive on a hard copy from a friend and thought I'd respond. I saw the news that night, actually channels 2, 5 and 7. I don’t really put much stock in how Critical Mass plays on the news, but I am curious, and a student of the spectacle, so I checked it out.

I thought they actually represented a curious spectrum. Ch. 2 had a jaggy, MTV-camera with little narrative wraparound to basically a pro-bicycle slant, allowing a good minute plus to angry bicyclists who made it clear that it was the cops who were causing the problem. Channel 5’s reporter was absolutely glowing with that typical Critical Mass euphoria and really raved about her experience of it, but was no doubt admonished by her editors in the studio to present the "disappointment"-that-the-"incident"-had-to-happen line. Nevertheless I thought the Channel 5 coverage again made the police look really petty and irrational.

I realize I’m a bit biased in how I read these things, but honestly I didn’t think bicyclists came off badly at all. Of course the ultra-rightists of Ch. 7, who were aggressively seeking out the route hours before the ride, didn’t even send anyone on bike, and just drove around in a van and followed the police lead. But that’s to be expect

I don’t know how you could imagine Critical Mass setting the "cycling rights movement" back 10 years, when it’s at least in part because of CM that bike advocacy is getting the attention it’s getting. Anyway, I’m pretty skeptical of the ultimate results of the insider, lobbyist approach to social change, and let’s face it, to really make a bike-friendly world implies a major break with powerful institutions running the show now. Rational argument doesn’t seem to matter much in the real world of governments and politicians, so being right, or efficient, or smart is less important (way less) than playing the game with the right people.

I strongly agree with your frustration and anger about the pointless stand-off at Sutter St. That was the police’s game, not ours (well, unfortunately, it’s also Jungle Jon’s game, he’s a strong believer in nonviolent sacrificial arrests as media devices... a rather old and naive strategy in my opinion). We have to keep moving. If people find an obstacle, especially a bunch of posturing macho soldiers with guns, hey, no problem, we can take a different street! What’s the big deal? Of course they’re wrong. Of course it’s ridiculous to give in to blatant injustice. But it’s too much of their game, the script is written and frankly, it’s a dead-end when you get sucked into the legal system, even when you "win." I’m curious about your anger about splits in the "movement." What exactly are you referring to? People who like to ride fast vs. the slow? Confrontational vs. institutional? Peaceful vs. violent? There’s so many possible fissures to explore, far more than any bland unity that may exist around "bikes good, cars bad." I’ve always been more curious about the various/numerous organic communities that are forming within the space opened up by Critical Mass. I think we have to fight to preserve that space, while embarking on initiatives flowing from that experience, perhaps extending it into new arenas... Yes, we should have laughed in their face and gone on, which a fair number of riders actually did. We did have a good chortle when the troops seized California Street as we passed northward on Polk. We thanked them for doing such a fine job of protecting the intersection And wished them a nice night, laughing derisively throughout.

The split between frenzied and mellow, as I understand it, arose from the problem of fast riders dragging the ride along too fast, while others couldn’t really keep up. So rather than keep trying to police the fast riders (of course the cops were also doing their best to hurry it all up, by policy), it was thought to give them something more challenging and long to do, while the rest of us had our meandering conversational rolling space. If the police would just admit that they have no reason to be "supervising" us and leave us alone, there would be no problems! Hell, the "frenzied" ride goes to obscure hilltops and such, it certainly wouldn’t have much impact on traffic. But splitting the ride doesn’t work if one part gets criminalized and seriously hassled. Those who want to extend the effort to stage a simultaneous but different ride will have to think of a more discreet and clever way of pulling it off, probably depending on last minute word of mouth. The main body of Critical Mass seems pretty solid at over 1,000 a month, and the magic is still in the actual experience. If you try it, you’ll probably really like it. It’s almost certainly not like any other common social experience in this society. Well that’s it for this blast.


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