Advice to anyone protesting anything: (Pittsburgh, Gap: dangerous, safe, moving)

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Okay here is the deal with CM in Pittsburgh. There are actually two rides that just started up this month. It has been 4 years since there was a CM ride in Pittsburgh as far as I know. There was two this month. One was a law abiding one and the second was the dumb old school CM. I call it dumb, because I don't think it serves a good purpose for people to go out on bicycles and make a bunch of enemies with people driving cars and apparently pedestrians. IMHO, that is stupid and goes against everything commuters have worked for. I don't know how many riders went out on the old school CM, but the law abiding one had about 8 riders. I guess that isn't bad considering it has been 4 years since the last one. There are lots of Pittsburgh folks that don't want to get some crazy fiasco CM ride going, that gives cyclists a bad rap. As you can see, someone on this thread mentioned a CM ride that didn't allow her to cross the street. Is that the reputation I want for cyclists in our region? Nope, but some folks just love to stir the pot. Gives us all a bad reputation and there will be NO progress if motorists can't stand cyclists because they ALL break the laws all the time and are looked upon as a bunch of hooligans. If I hear about the old school CM more, I will post how it went, but I guess it would be some bike riders that want to prove they are the king of the road for the day. I hate to inform them, that they aren't, and it just makes it lousy for those of us that want to ride in a more harmonious fashion with everyone trying to get to and from work.

Yes, agreed. Bad apples, etc.

[gg]

I don't know how many riders did the old school CM, but there were more than the law abiding one. Seems there was a ticket given out for riding in some bus lane, but I don't know much more about that. I guess the ride has started up again, which is sad IMHO. I don't think Pittsburgh is the right kind of place for this. We aren't NYC or San Fran. I would like to think Pittsburgh is more civil and a bit more kind to one and other as a whole, but there are always some folks that want to make a statement. Riding around on a bike muscling up to cars is really accomplishing nothing expect making motorist angry at us. One ride like this a month and all of a sudden ALL CYCLISTS are jerks and people want to run us over even more than before. I really dislike the old school CM and IMHO, it doesn't belong in Pittsburgh. Wonder if the organizer is from Pittsburgh? I could probably find out more, but what for? I just want to get to and from work on a bike in some peace without conflict. I ask nothing more. 97% of the motorist I encounter are fine. There is that 3%, but I just figure out a way to let them past or get away from them somehow.

Sorry some folks are going to deal with these folks. Seems the ride will be monthly at this time. Hope it doesn't get huge, but I am sure they want it to be huge.

[gg]

Originally Posted by doo dah

Oh, please. Critical Mass would not let me cross the street, at the intersection, when I had the light. In Pittsburgh. As a pedestrian.

When was this? It might not have even been a CM ride. Some groups aren't all that great at following rules of the road either.

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

When was this? It might not have even been a CM ride. Some groups aren't all that great at following rules of the road either.

It was not this past year, but I don't recall exactly. Before Flock.
Was a pretty large group though.

[grep]

The old Critical Mass (circa 2009) was a circus. I'm glad it's dead. We need more law abiding bicyclists, not antagonistic red light runners. As other posters have noted, Flock of Cycles is a much better ride. CM is trying to reboot as a better version, but it hasn't taken off yet.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I thought you were talking about the crazies in Squirrel Hill who were running amok at the corner of Murray & Darlington the other evening with their pro-Israel nonsense, screwing up traffic in the process. Doesn't anyone in this city have a job?

Sounds like ZOA (Zionist Organization of America), who are fairly crazy, and just as ****-poor at lobbying and grassroots activism as the pro-Palestinian contingent.

[UKyank]

& this afternoon multiple roads are closed to another big protest that looks like an obama hate fest oddly enough by lots of union workers (I noticed mine workers union & electrical brotherhood members)

[DaisyDaisy]

Yes, I knew of some people who did a Pgh CM ride a few years ago. It was to block downtown traffic for "cyclist rights." The people I knew of would not have blocked pedestrians; it was more a mass ride to promote the idea of cyclists needing space on the roads. But of course, I'm sure there were some jerks who were antagonizing anyone they could.

It's like anything where you've got a large group with similar interests but different goals. I've been to protests where most of us were just concerned about getting the word out about a particular cause, but doing so on the sidewalk with signs. Then you get a few nutjobs who may or may not care about the cause but they love to protest, harass people, get arrested. They make a bad name for the cause, when they aren't about the cause anyway.

Back to the UK Yank's original message, I would have been severely pi$$ed if I'd encountered that traffic when trying to leave work, especially when you have to pick up kids, or have other responsibilities - or are just tired after a long day.

[tclifton]

From the CM ride on the 27th.

This is just one example of bikes feeling like they own the road. There's no reason why these 2 can't ride single file so that a car can pass when there's nobody coming the other way, but instead they ride 2 abreast, blocking all traffic behind them as they trudge along.

Source: Critical Mass Pgh facebook page

09090007 - YouTube

[gg]

Originally Posted by grep

The old Critical Mass (circa 2009) was a circus. I'm glad it's dead. We need more law abiding bicyclists, not antagonistic red light runners. As other posters have noted, Flock of Cycles is a much better ride. CM is trying to reboot as a better version, but it hasn't taken off yet.

As I have already stated, there are now two CM rides. One that is law abiding and one that is the old style one that is out to cause problems and take over. It just started back up this month and looks like it is here to stay. The circus has been reborn.