NYC: Earth Day Bike Action -and- Critical Mass



J

Jym Dyer

Guest
=v= Tomorrow there's a TIME'S UP! Earth Day Bike Action, a
bike ride that ends up at the Earth Day Fair in Central Park
for an after party and picnic.

Earth Day Bike Action, Picnic & After Party Saturday,
April 24th Meet 1:30pm at Union Square Park South (on the
steps at 14th Street) Ride to Central Park on the Great
Hill (106th Street on the west side)

Wear green, pack a picnic lunch. The Hungry March Band will
greet us, and TIME'S UP! will provide free valet parking.

For this ride, TIME'S UP! will unveil a new bike trailer
sound system. Our crack team of audiophile sound engineers
are now making the final adjustments, towing it up and down
the aisles of Carnegie Hall to get the acoustics just right.

A TIME'S UP! table will be at Central Park: come visit,
become a member, buy a t-shirt and get the latest calendar
of events. The ride is for bicyclists, skaters, and anyone
else who gets around with non-polluting transpotation. All
events are free. If you are walking you could meet us at the
Fair at Central Park. [Rain date April 25th.]

=v= Next week:

Critical Mass & Special After Party Friday, April 30th
Meet 7pm at Union Square Park North

Spring is here, so get your bikes or skates and let's hit
the streets! The April ride will feature an after party at
the NYC Bike Show! There will be music and dancing with your
bike in the Chunk Pleasure Disco Rink, brought to you by the
amazing Chunk 666. (Free valet bike parking if your bike is
a wallflower.)

We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and will
continue, in large part because of you and your
participation in Critical Mass, which has increased bicycle
exposure in turn has altered NYC’s infrastructure in a
positive way. According to
_Critical_Mass:_Bicycling's_Defiant_Celebration_ editor and
author Chris Carlsson, in every city that the Critical Mass
achieves the crucial number to make it a success, biking
numbers increase all around. This year it's NYC's turn.

The amazing thing is that everybody is working together,
from young to old, from punks to yuppies; we’re on a
variety of bikes: road, mountain, beater, folder, chopper,
and fixed-gear.

[If you would like to help at any of these events call
TIME'S UP! at 212/802-8222 or send an email to richkrollman
at yahoo .com.]
 
"Jym Dyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> =v= Tomorrow there's a TIME'S UP! Earth Day Bike Action, a
> bike ride that ends up at the Earth Day Fair in Central
> Park for an after party and picnic.
>
> Earth Day Bike Action, Picnic & After Party Saturday,
> April 24th Meet 1:30pm at Union Square Park South (on
> the steps at 14th Street) Ride to Central Park on the
> Great Hill (106th Street on the west side)
>
> Wear green, pack a picnic lunch. The Hungry March Band
> will greet us, and TIME'S UP! will provide free valet
> parking.
>
> For this ride, TIME'S UP! will unveil a new bike trailer
> sound system. Our crack team of audiophile sound
> engineers are now making the final adjustments, towing it
> up and down the aisles of Carnegie Hall to get the
> acoustics just right.
>
> A TIME'S UP! table will be at Central Park: come visit,
> become a member, buy a t-shirt and get the latest calendar
> of events. The ride is for bicyclists, skaters, and anyone
> else who gets around with non-polluting transpotation. All
> events are free. If you are walking you could meet us at
> the Fair at Central Park. [Rain date April 25th.]
>
> =v= Next week:
>
> Critical Mass & Special After Party Friday, April 30th
> Meet 7pm at Union Square Park North
>
> Spring is here, so get your bikes or skates and let's hit
> the streets! The April ride will feature an after party at
> the NYC Bike Show! There will be music and dancing with
> your bike in the Chunk Pleasure Disco Rink, brought to you
> by the amazing Chunk 666. (Free valet bike parking if your
> bike is a wallflower.)
>
> We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and
> will continue, in large part because of you and your
> participation in Critical Mass, which has increased
> bicycle exposure in turn has altered NYC's infrastructure
> in a positive way. According to
> _Critical_Mass:_Bicycling's_Defiant_Celebration_ editor
> and author Chris Carlsson, in every city that the
> Critical Mass achieves the crucial number to make it a
> success, biking numbers increase all around. This year
> it's NYC's turn.
>
> The amazing thing is that everybody is working together,
> from young to old, from punks to yuppies; we're on a
> variety of bikes: road, mountain, beater, folder, chopper,
> and fixed-gear.
>
> [If you would like to help at any of these events call
> TIME'S UP! at 212/802-8222 or send an email to
> richkrollman at yahoo .com.]

The only success Criminal Mass has is in increasing
resentment towards cyclists.
 
In article
<[email protected]>,

> "Jym Dyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and
>> will continue, in large part because of you and your
>> participation in Critical Mass
>
> Absolutely untrue.

I wouldn't be surprised if CM was a tourism draw. And if
tourists find they can cycle around a city and get
acquainted with it, they might be inclined to return and do
it again. Maybe even move there.

Maybe car use historically proliferated because they had
their own "Critical Mass". History can repeat itself w/
other transportation modes.

- Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
 
| We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and
| will continue, in large part because of you and your
| participation in Critical Mass.

(I should mention that that's boilerplate text from
TIME'S UP!)

> Absolutely untrue.

=v= New York does indeed seem to be following a pattern I've
seen in other cities: a Critical Mass reaches critical mass,
then within 3 years you get an energized bike activist
community and a bunch more people on bikes. An alternative
argument has been made that the greenways are putting more
people on bikes, but for me that leads back to the energized
bike activists.

=v= So, no, not absolutely untrue. <_Jym_
 
"Tom Keats" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article
> <[email protected]>,

> > "Jym Dyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >>
> >> We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and
> >> will continue, in large part because of you and your
> >> participation in Critical Mass
> >
> > Absolutely untrue.
>
> I wouldn't be surprised if CM was a tourism draw. And if
> tourists find they can cycle around a city and get
> acquainted with it, they might be inclined to return and
> do it again. Maybe even move there.

I see it now...someone sitting at home thinking, "I sure
would like to go to Manhattan. I wonder if Critical Mass has
proven that you can ride a bicycle in Manhattan? Well, they
probably haven't, so I won't go there."

> Maybe car use historically proliferated because they had
> their own "Critical Mass". History can repeat itself w/
> other transportation modes.

What has that to do with a bunch of folks making enemies by
intentionally snarling traffic?

a.
 
"Jym Dyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> | We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and
> | will continue, in large part because of you and your
> | participation in Critical Mass.
>
> (I should mention that that's boilerplate text from
> TIME'S UP!)
>
> > Absolutely untrue.
>
> =v= New York does indeed seem to be following a pattern
> I've seen in other cities: a Critical Mass reaches
> critical mass, then within 3 years you get an energized
> bike activist community and a bunch more people on bikes.
> An alternative argument has been made that the greenways
> are putting more people on bikes, but for me that leads
> back to the energized bike activists.
>
> =v= So, no, not absolutely untrue.

The area I live in has a good number of bikers, is adding
bike routes, and lanes, and a bunch more people on bikes.

What is doesn't have is a bunch of jerks intentionall
clogging traffic.

So, yes, absolutely untrue.

a.
 
>What has that to do with a bunch of folks making enemies by
>intentionally snarling traffic?

The traffic snarl is unintentional. The real purpose behind
the Mass is to get on your bike and have fun. Which you
should probably go out and do, given the grumpy tone of your
post above.

Besides, I can report to you that traffic in Manhattan that
Saturday was mostly unaffected by the Critical Mass. The
front of the Mass poked its nose through several nasty
traffic snarls on the way to Central Park - they were
provoked by other things, like the construction on 3rd Ave
that we squeezed past. It seems to me that Manhattan traffic
is capable of snarling itself up without assistance from an
occasional roving crowd of bicyclists.
--
eravin@ | Grief can take care of itself; but to get the
full panix.com | value of a joy you must have somebody to
divide it with.
| -- Mark Twain
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...

>I wouldn't be surprised if CM was a tourism draw. And if
>tourists find they can cycle around a city and get
>acquainted with it, they might be inclined to return and do
>it again. Maybe even move there.

Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC,
shouldn't! If you know the rules of the road and how to
behave in traffic you don't need a bunch of other
cyclists to do it with you.
---------------
Alex
 
Alex Rodriguez <[email protected]> wrote:
>In article <[email protected]>,
>[email protected] says...
>
>>I wouldn't be surprised if CM was a tourism draw. And if
>>tourists find they can cycle around a city and get
>>acquainted with it, they might be inclined to return and
>>do it again. Maybe even move there.
>
>Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC, shouldn't!
>If you know the rules of the road and how to behave in
>traffic you don't need a bunch of other cyclists to do it
>with you.

OTOH, it can be a liberating experience. My first experience
cycling in the city was a Times Up! Moonlight ride in
Central Park (not CM, but not too different). The ride
itself was off-road, but getting to the ride made me realize
that I could ride my bike in NYC. Up until then I just
assumed that it wasn't possible. (But that's just what THEY
wanted me to think.)

--
Steven O'Neill [email protected] you know who THEY are,
don't you?
 
> Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC, shouldn't!

=v= Faulty premise. Nobody said anyone *needs* CM to ride in
NYC streets. It just makes it more fun by attracting more
bicycling and more bicycling community.

=v= That said, rides in safer contexts are an ideal set
of "training wheels" to get people ready for the
streets. <_Jym_>

P.S.: The streets of NYC aren't actually so bad to ride on.
Unlike other U.S. cities, the surface is ruled by
pedestrians, not cars.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>> Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC,
>> shouldn't!
>=v= Faulty premise. Nobody said anyone *needs* CM to ride
>in NYC streets. It just makes it more fun by attracting
>more bicycling and more bicycling community.

It's no fun riding with folks you can't be sure know how to
ride properly. This weekend should be interesting to watch
all the folks who take their bikes out once a year crashing
into each other. Let's hope no one gets seriously hurt.

>=v= That said, rides in safer contexts are an ideal set
>of "training wheels" to get people ready for the
>streets. <_Jym_>

That's fine, practice in the areas where there is
little traffic.

>P.S.: The streets of NYC aren't actually so bad to ride
> on. Unlike other U.S. cities, the surface is ruled
> by pedestrians, not cars.

True, but those pedestrians can be a real pain. Many, many
times I have had pedestrians walk out right in front of me
when they have a red light and I have a green. It's as if
they didn't see me coming down the road.
---------------
Alex
 
"Ed Ravin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

said:
>
> >What has that to do with a bunch of folks making enemies
> >by intentionally snarling traffic?
>
> The traffic snarl is unintentional. The real purpose
> behind the Mass is to get on your bike and have fun. Which
> you should probably go out and do, given the grumpy tone
> of your post above.

I ride every day. What I don't do is ask 500 people to
ride in the same place at the same time with the intention
of proving that I belong on the street. I know I belong on
the street. Whether someone else disagrees is of no
concern to me.

> Besides, I can report to you that traffic in Manhattan
> that Saturday was mostly unaffected by the Critical Mass.

This I can believe. One of the dumbest things I ever did
was take public transport from Jersey City to Brooklyn one
Sunday morning on the way to church. It took about an
hour. All that time I realized my truck was patiently
waiting in the garage. The next week I made the drive in
about 20 minutes.

a.

PS I'm not grumpy. I just disagree with the tactic of riding
bikes during rush hour to prove some point.
 
"Jym Dyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC,
> > shouldn't!
>
> =v= Faulty premise. Nobody said anyone *needs* CM to ride
> in NYC streets. It just makes it more fun by attracting
> more bicycling and more bicycling community.
>
> =v= That said, rides in safer contexts are an ideal set
> of "training wheels" to get people ready for the
> streets. <_Jym_>
>
> P.S.: The streets of NYC aren't actually so bad to ride
> on. Unlike other U.S. cities, the surface is ruled
> by pedestrians, not cars.

In my experience, my local single track is probably better
surfaced than the streets of Manhattan.

a.
 
>> >What has that to do with a bunch of folks making enemies
>> >by intentionally snarling traffic?
>>
>> The traffic snarl is unintentional. The real purpose
>> behind the Mass is to get on your bike and have fun.
>> Which you should probably go out and do, given the grumpy
>> tone of your post above.
>
>I ride every day. What I don't do is ask 500 people to
>ride in the same place at the same time with the intention
>of proving that I belong on the street. I know I belong on
>the street. Whether someone else disagrees is of no
>concern to me.
...
>PS I'm not grumpy. I just disagree with the tactic of
> riding bikes during rush hour to prove some point.

Read my message again. We do it for fun. Pure,
unadulterated, joyous, celebratory fun. Tonight's Critical
Mass in NYC, for example, had well over a thousand (!)
participants. We may have made an enemy here and there, but
we also made hundreds of friends
- people were lined up on Manhattan avenues and cross
streets applauding, cheering, and in general smiling,
laughing, and enjoying the spectacle. The Mass ended at
the NYC Bike Show, where there was not only free admission
for the rest of the night, free indoor bike parking, but
also free beer from the Brooklyn Brewery. Read my lips:
FUN, FUN, FUN.

PS: You are grumpy. If you weren't, you'd realize that 7:30
PM, when the Mass takes off, isn't exactly rush hour.
--
eravin@ | Grief can take care of itself; but to get the
full panix.com | value of a joy you must have somebody to
divide it with.
| -- Mark Twain
 
> It's no fun riding with folks you can't be sure know how
> to ride properly.

=v= I think if you surveyed the many, many, many bicyclists
who went on last night's ride (down Broadway, up 6th Ave,
down through Time's Square, up again, over, up, and down
again, ending at a CHVNK 666 disco bike rally at the New
York Bicycle Show), "no fun" would be perhaps the last words
leaving their lips.

=v= You seem determined to diss Critical Mass no matter what
actual participants do or say about it, so about all that's
left to say to you is ... _ _ ( \ / ) _\ \ _ _ / /_ (((\ \ /
X \ / /))) (\\\\ \_/ / \ \_/ ////) hat-everrr! \ / \ / \ _/
\_ / / / \ \ /___/ \___\

Have a nice day,
<_Jym_
 
> PS: You are grumpy. If you weren't, you'd realize that
> 7:30 PM, when the Mass takes off, isn't exactly rush hour.

=v= And for such Grumpy Gusses, there is only one cure: A
fun Critical Mass bike ride. Woo hoo! <_Jym_
 
"Jym Dyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > PS: You are grumpy. If you weren't, you'd realize that
> > 7:30 PM, when the Mass takes off, isn't exactly rush
> > hour.
>
> =v= And for such Grumpy Gusses, there is only one cure: A
> fun Critical Mass bike ride. Woo hoo!

Since there's no need for bike riots here, I went mtb'ing
alone this morning. I saw some deer, geese, ducks, etc.

It was really nice.

Grumpy Gus
 
> Since there's no need for bike riots here, I went mtb'ing
> alone this morning. I saw some deer, geese, ducks, etc.

=v= I must've missed the riots when I was on Critical Mass.
Where/when did they occur? <_Jym_
 
"Jym Dyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Since there's no need for bike riots here, I went
> > mtb'ing alone this morning. I saw some deer, geese,
> > ducks, etc.
>
> =v= I must've missed the riots when I was on Critical
> Mass. Where/when did they occur?

Humor impairment got you down?

a.
 
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