Last night was the Halloween ride, traditionally the one ride of the year you don’t want to miss, for all the obvious reasons: the incredible costumes, the end of the beautiful October weather, the last warm ride for a few months… This year’s Halloween lived up to expectations. It was warm (if a little drizzly), the costumes were amazing (hard to believe you can pedal dressed as a banana), and the vibe was overwhelmingly positive and fun.
photo by Steve Rhodes
photo by Steve Rhodes
Glad to see some No on L (the stupid Sit/Lie law) joining us. This stupid proposed law is an attack on our public space, and public space is what Critical Mass is really all about. Let’s vote it down! (More info at Sidewalks Are For People.)
photo by Steve Rhodes
These are some scary clowns:
photo by Steve Rhodes
Speaking of clowns, who was leading the ride last night? Seriously, some lame ass decisions being made at the front. After a good decision to leave on Embarcadero, we made some pretty bad moves. Coming up Bay to Columbus was a bad idea — bikes had to hop a curb. And then, instead of heading into North Beach via Columbus, we turned around and headed back the same way we came to go to downtown. Nothing wrong with downtown, but did we have to ride almost the entire way on Market Street? For those who may not remember what happens with Critical Mass on Market Street: there are grates, lots of them, and rail lines that are slippery in the rain and difficult to cross. (One reason why exiting on Embarcadero was a good idea, hello?)
At one point, it seemed we were going to visit Union Square, but no, we turned back to Market. At another, we were on our way to the Castro, but no, we turned right on Guerrero. That’s when I split!
I concluded that people in the front of the ride were lost. Seriously, if you’re going to ride at the front and call the route, you must have a passing familiarity with the city layout! Or at least bring a map!
(Alright, I know I’m being a crank. I could have ridden to the front and shared my enlightened advice, but I’m hoarse with a throat cold and couldn’t raise my voice above a whisper all night.)
photo by Steve Rhodes
photo by Steve Rhodes
photo by Steve Rhodes
Tyrell Voitkampf also got some good shots:
photo by Tyrell Voitkampf
photo by Tyrell Voitkampf
photo by Tyrell Voitkampf
Hey, we put the word out for more sound systems to join our ride on Halloween. With that many more people, we need that much more sound to keep it festive! We were happy to see that the good folks from the East Bay Bike Party joined us. The EBBP rides the 2nd Friday of the month, and it leaves late, so you can ride after the East Bay Critical Mass!
Joel reported a nice encounter he had towards the end of the evening: “Best of all, saw someone riding alone near my house after I left the ride. She was glowing. I asked her if she’d been in the Mass. She said, ‘Yes! but only for two blocks. It felt so good to be in that crowd! I’ve heard of it before but never saw it. I was just on my way from school and there it was. I loved their energy. It changed my life. Now I feel ready to face my heavy school work and I’m so happy I got to experience that.'”
See y’all next month!
