CPD tried to stop critical mass

reub2000

The Chicago Police Department tonight tried to stop critical mass. At Rosevelt and Canal St, they setup a blockade along the planned route towards the lake front. They even arrested a few bikers. I'm not sure what the CPD was trying to do.

sideshow_bob

If it's anything like critical mass I've seen in Australia. What the PD did was stop a bunch of feral f&^*wits are are generally unconcerned with cycling advocacy and more interesting in pissing off Joe public, making life on the roads for actual cyclists more difficult.

I hope the Australian police take some lessons.

--brett

ilmooz

Was it critical mass that bungled up traffic on Lake Shore Drive last year? If so, they succeeded only in demonstrating the mob mentality of "there are too many of us to control so we're going to do whatever we want". The snarled traffic delayed at least one ambulance from transporting a seriously injured person to Illinois Masonic Hospital among other countless unnecessary delays.

Good intentions (maybe?) but decidedly poor direction. What were the police doing, you ask? They were doing what they do - enforcing laws that protect the rights and freedoms of those critical mass seek to trample on.

alienator

Well, if as cyclists we want to be respected on the road by drivers, then the last thing we want is for Critical Mass to be on our side. Critical Mass really could care less about how their actions impact other cyclists.

reub2000

It's a friday night, and a few thousand cycylists just want to get together and drink a little bit and ride together. What's the big deal.

alienator

Maybe you'd have a different opinion if you were the one lying in the back of that ambulance. Maybe you'd have a different opinion if you were concerned about cyclists getting more respect from drivers and from the people who are in charge of making the laws and distributing the funding of things that could benefit cyclists on the road.

Of course, you don't seem to get that, so go out and enjoy your CM rides and don't concern yourself with anything that doesn't involve you directly.

reub2000

Well here is an account of what happened:
http://chicagocriticalmass.org/node/5106

It's a show of just how many riders there are in chicago. Maybe it will even encourage a few cagers to get on their asses and start pedling. Either way, the police departments actions where unsettling. A couple of months ago, a buddy of mine had some weed planted on him by the police.

alienator

Clearly, any report by Critical Mass must be objective. Thanks, but no thanks. Your attempt to educate folks on the events fell far short with that bit of garbage from CM. You might want to look up what unbiased reporting means.

As for your friend, maybe he shouldn't be so stupid as to be carrying pot when stopped by the police.

As for showing how many cyclists are in Chicago....well, it was really just a demonstration of just how many cyclists in Chicago don't give a shit about what really benefits all cyclists.

reub2000

That why I called it an account, and not a news article. It's subject to the bias of the one writting it.

More like framed. Well I have no idea of what actually took place, but I see no reason to trust the police.

alienator

Dang! What solid reasoning! Likely, your friend is just a liar and can't face up to the consequences of his actions. You know, he's a weasel.

DrunkenBiker

Talk about slanted reporting.

I wasted 5 minutes of my life watching that first video and witnessed the politest arrest I've ever seen in my life. How boring.

These Bicycle Mass things are assine, arrogant and selfish.

Isn't there a bike tour thru Chicago ala NYC's Boro Tour ?? If so, just ride that and enjoy pedalling down the middle of the street. If not, then group together and see if you can arrange it.

But if you just take over the streets at your leisure, I hope the local PD tasers your ass.

ilmooz

Indeed. Whoever adds the text for that website likes to highlight the police swarming on individuals as if it's overkill when, in fact, it's the opposite. If there are two, three or four officers on one knucklehead they're able to smother an attack before it can happen without minimal force. If it's one on one and more evenly matched, that's where it can require greater force to gain control over a resistor/attacker.

CM goofs: Check out http://egov.cityofchicago.org/bikechicago for redirection to dozens and dozens of legitimate organized events you can participate in including Bike The Drive, the Boulevard Lakefront Tour and the midnight L.A.T.E. Ride among others. Check out "Bike to Work Week" too.....if you have a job.

reub2000

Golly Gee. It's not reporting. It's a first hand account. The writter wrote it from his perspective, writing down what he saw, and how he thought about it.

If you want a news article, here you go:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/...-MASS02.article

I was a part of a group that got lost and seperated from the main group. The Chicago police helped us find the main group. Something should have seemed fishy at that point.

What about when cars take over the streets? Oh wait, it's called rush hour and it takes place two times a day.

sideshow_bob

You've completely made my point for me. CM participants are generally completely ignorant of real cycling advocacy programs, and seem to have either the mindset shown above (nothing to do with promting cycling) or the rabid far left crazies who treat anyone in a car as 'the enemy' and have the mindset of "I'll show them by trying to create as much havoc as I can". Again nothing to do with cycling.

As others have pointed out there are a multitude an programs that intelligently promote cycling to a wider audience. People like you and the other CM fucktards are simply trying to justify your own completely selfish actions by stating you are supporting cycling in any way, shape or form. For those of us who see (and heavily use) the roads as a shared resource, all you do is create a very definite us and them mentality for the other 364 days of the year when you're not actually anywhere near a bike and I'm out on the road on the bike.

Seriously, all you tools need to fuck off, cause I don't want or need your 'support'.

--brett