MAR '06 RIDE: The Biggest Ever

The last ride before Daylight Savings! Got there at 7:15 pm. In the dim light I saw Brian. There was a guy w/ blinking Christmas lights on his bike, so I went up to him and it was Drew! Brad showed up a bit later, equipped with a camcorder. He said next time he'll show up with a helmet-cam to record the whole ride.

I never stopped -- just went right into circling the fountain. By 7:30 most riders were up and circling, then with a single yell we poured down the main promenade towards Laurel Street Bridge. People were very conscientious about keeping it together.

We went up 5th to Hillcrest, down University to North Park, then down 30th to Golden Hill. Shooting down the steep section of Broadway just east of the I-5 was cool. But scary. Lots of people shouting and cheering in support. Rode past many police cars. One policeman said through his window, "Hey won't anyone stop and talk to me?" Another was invited to join us, and he replied, "I gotta work. I gotta get paid!"

The fun began in Gaslamp. Circling in intersections, sometimes with cars trapped in the center. Once right in the middle of Gaslamp circling began, with two cars trapped in the middle. Two cops on foot patrol happened to be near. At first they looked amused, then within 30 seconds they walked over to the circle and told people to get out of the intersection, and seemed to grab at a couple of the bicycles. The bikers got away.

We went through Little Italy (where there is always good cheering from bystanders). I had a chance there to count the number of riders: we were 60, exactly. That's the biggest group I've seen there. And this is after we had already lost a few.

Instead of turning up Hawthorn or Grape, some genius led us to Laurel St., where we had to bike up one of the steepest roads in San Diego. What goes around comes around.

Some Random Bicycle News in San Diego

Six San Diego bicycle messenger companies roll with changes (2006-02-16) read »

San Diego named best city for bicycles (2006-03-01) read »

Rail Trail bicycle path to run 44 miles from from San Diego to Oceanside (2006-03-02) read »

Mayor Sanders and Councilwoman Frye ride a tandem bicycle around Mission Bay to promote cycling (2006-03-03) read »

Balboa Ave., Clairemont, will get bicycle lanes and be made more walkable in October (2006-03-03) read »

Man robs a Mission Valley bank on a bicycle (2006-03-06) read »

FEB '06 RIDE: Strength In Numbers

You get a spike of courage when you're riding in Critical Mass. People tend to shout out, "Get a bike!" or "Your car is too big!" (to an SUV cruising Gaslamp Qtr). I found myself yelling out a few times, "Critical Mass!" At one point I heard a rider say to another rider, "There's strength in numbers." But I have to ask: what is the strength for?

I got to the fountain at 7pm on the dot. There were about 20 people. The astronomy club was out there, and I got a chance to see the rings of Saturn through their telescope. By 7:30 the number swelled to 40, and I tried to get a few people to whip the group into action by circling the fountain. It seemed to work, then another small group shouted, "Down to 4th Ave and go right!" and we were in motion.

We cut W across the park, crossed the Laurel St Bridge and went N on 4th to University. Took University E to 30th and went down the E side of Balboa Park. Then snaked around gaslamp.

We were relatively cohesive, though the tail end of the group had to run a few red lights to stay together. Several times we occupied the intersection and rode in circles. One guy had brought sparkling fireworks and occasionally set it off and snaked through the mass.

OCT '05 RIDE: Minimum Mass

How many people make a critical mass? It depends on what/where/when, but we teetered on the threshold on Friday.

The ride was my first this year to begin after sunset. Daylight savings was to end on Sunday. After a long hot summer, it felt like a dark curtain coming down on a brightly lit stage. It was still twilight when I got to the fountain a few minutes late. I circled the fountain, and heard my name called out.

That was the fastest start: I saw two bikers circle the fountain, and within a minute we were all moving. South on Park to east on B. Just on that leg we lost 2 slow riders. I tried to keep them trailing, but the front just took off.

Within 15 minutes we were at the parking lot next to the Midway Aircraft Carrier. It's beautiful to look out over the water, but I was puzzled and annoyed that we'd stay there so long. Then somebody organized an impromptu "no rules" cross-town bike race. When the dust cleared, there was just a handful of us.

We rode down Harbor Dr., then up 5th. The I-5 on ramp on 5th is dangerous. Even further up 5th, halfway to Hillcrest, morons in SUV's roared past us at 50 mph. How many of us is enough to be seen? To be safe? We were on the borderline that night.