Critical Mass cyclists accost man in antique car, cause traffic jam, extort $4

[Ediacara]

So I'm here at the computer and I hear a ruckus outside my window. I look outside and see an antique car surrounded by about 20 cyclists (obviously part of the Critical Mass ride). I then grab my camera and go out on my balcony. Considering Seattle's last Critical Mass fiasco, I might be in a unique position having a camera and a mostly unobstructed view of what was going on.

I have no idea what caused them to surround this guy's car, but here they are, seventeen bikes, versus one very old car, blocking all four lanes of traffic.



The driver gets out of the car (it's a right-side drive car), and the cyclists and driver start yelling (I couldn't understand what about). Five cyclists have left. The white Grand Cherokee in the right lane eventually asks the cyclists to get out of the way so they would only block two of the four lanes of traffic.



As time drags on, only three (and then two) cyclists stick around to yell with the driver. This causes a traffic jam.



At about this point the driver pulls out his wallet and hands the female cyclist four dollars. Which seems to satisfy whatever it was that made the CM riders so mad.



By the time everyone leaves, traffic is backed up for several blocks.

[jobycom]

1. I'm sensing a Pulitzer! But how did you know it was $4?

[Ediacara]

8. Because he pulled out his wallet and made a big production of counting it out

I'm sorry there was no photo of that...

[flvegan]

2. That appears to be a vintage Morgan.

[no name no slogan]

3. The car's a Morgan, the cyclists are clearly Morans

I'm an urban bicyclist, but for fuck's sake leave the car guy alone and quit causing congestion for no reason. Idling cars produce more pollution that those that are in motion. Plus those bike assholes make the rest of us look like dicks.

[vadawg]

5. yup, they really are acting like dicks, lucky no one has smacked them in the mouth

[Ediacara]

11. I think you're right flvegan

A Morgan Plus Four if Wikipedia is correct....

[Kutjara]

65. Definitely a Morgan; not necessarily vintage.

The Plus 4 and 4/4 designs have remained the same (right down to the ash frame) for the better part of fifty years. So the car could be vintage, or it could have been made last week. The Morgan Car Company doesn't believe in rushing things.

[flvegan]

67. Right, but with it being right hand drive

I assumed it was vintage since I don't think you can buy the newer ones right hand drive in the states. I may be very wrong. Never been Morgan shopping.

[Heddi]

4. That looks like Western Ave

I musta been sleeping through that...was it today? If so...I was mightly hungover and sleeping all day. Man, I wished I woulda seen it. damn alcohol :(

[Ediacara]

9. Yes, it was right before seven

I actually looked over to see if you guys were in.

(this is the same neighbor, dinoboy, I just changed by DU name)

[Heddi]

71. Ha! I was either sleeping

or attempting to put together some piece of Ikea furniture that never seems to be as easy as the cartoon man in the instructions would make it out to be.....

[Critters2]

6. What is Critical Mass? nt

[Lex]

7. .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass

[Critters2]

10. Thanks! I probably haven't heard of this because I haven't lived in

a large city since like 1990.

[CreekDog]

44. As a pedestrian, I wish I did not know

i've had the misfortune of having to cross Market St. in San Francisco during Critical Mass. Although I didn't get hit, it was way too close, they didn't stop for the lights and they glared at me for having the temerity to try to cross the street --but the thing went on forever.

[NYC_SKP]

12. Assholes, self-righteous selfish bastard assholes. That is all.

They don't further their cause one bit, this behavior is beyond rude and is counterproductive.

:patriot:

[CreekDog]

45. critcal mass in SF

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/04/BAGLRP2LEI8.DTL

[NYC_SKP]

61. Yep. I've been in the city on C.M day, most folks are respectful, but....

others, and it's a small percentage, are super assholes and even criminal, as the story details.

Thanks. :donut:

[rcrush]

13. No one has ran over one of these idiots?

If I lived in the city I'd carry a bat in my car to beat the shit out of their bikes.

[Ediacara]

14. There was a big deal a few months ago where someone did hit a cyclist with his car

after they did this same block the street, surround the car, act like assholes move. The cyclists then slashed his tires, smashed his windows, and put him in the hospital.

[vadawg]

15. so what you are telling me is that if im surrounded by cyclists i should defend myself to the utmost

i guess my having a 12 gauge and carbine in my truck is a good idea afterall.

[Ediacara]

17. Did I say that?

[leeroysphitz]

19. You are in a TRUCK. You don't actually need the other weapons...

[vadawg]

20. yeah but if they are going to assault me to the point im in the hospital

i dont want to damage my truck, and im pretty sure i am allowed to use deadly force to defend myself if i believe that the idiots are going to do me physical harm.

[rcrush]

16. Damn I guess I should run down anyone on a bike I see.

Damn people need to be stopped!

[Ediacara]

18. Do you often jump to ridiculous conclusions?

How do you hold a job?....

[jobycom]

23. Someone tried to kill Lance Armstrong once. I guess that was close.

Long ago pre-cancer Lance used to train around Austin, on what are now major roads but at the time were isolated country routes. Some guy in a pickup got mad at him and tried to run him down. There was a big trial.

I ride and I drive, and I've had more trouble with bikes while in my car than intentional trouble with cars while on my bike, but I wouldn't advocate taking a bat to anyone or to their vehicles.

[billyoc]

59. We do. The best think about Critical Mass is that you can beat them to death

and the cops will walk right past you smiling.

[slutticus]

64. I've tried but they anticipate it and they're quick.

I only try to run them over when they block intersections on purpose. Nothing but a cluster-fuck of drunk idiots with a police motorcade for protection.

[Lethe]

21. gimme a break

there must be more to the story than bikers robbing antique car enthusiasts?

critical mass is awesome - especially so when you ride a bike every day, and almost get hit every day by negligent motorists, who roll down the window and yell at you for observing traffic laws. (i get a near miss about once every 3 days - or near hit as Carlin would say, always the motorist's fault, which is usually avoided by my quick reaction time)

in many places, bikers take abuse after abuse after abuse - critical mass is a way of saying, "hey, fuck you. enjoy a nice slow ride thru traffic today assholes. it's our road too."

at least thats my take on it

[jobycom]

24. They are bullies, but I'm sure there was more than extortion involved.

I never liked CM. Back when I used to belong to cycling groups around here they gave us all a bad name and caused more drivers to hate us than any good they might have generated. They don't give a shit about messages, or bikes, or anything but feeling powerful. They just like to piss people off, and they are an offense to real cyclists. Next to assholes who blow stop signs on bikes, they are the worst cause of tension on the streets.

But I suspect there was something else going on in the pictures. Someone knew someone, or the car had brushed one of the bikes, or something. Looks like he could have driven through or around them if he wanted to. Plus, no one would get out of their car if they felt they were being harrassed.

[Lethe]

25. it depends on the city

i wouldn't say that they are bullies, CM is more a show of force of numbers and solidarity.

also, it's one day of the month. 12 days a year, where bikers can feel good about themselves. it's not asking much, really.

[vadawg]

26. yeah, their feeling good about themselves is more important than the feelings of others

And id say that a show of force and numbers is exactly a type of bullying. As i said im surprised they dont get their clocks cleaned more often, i guess its due to were they do their silly little protest.

[Lethe]

28. uh

like i said, real urban bicyclers take abuse on a daily basis even though they are in the legal right.

how is multiple people riding bikes as legal traffic a form of bullying?

[vadawg]

30. i seem to recall your words were a show of numbers and solidarity

seems the whole point is to remind drivers that the road belongs to cyclists as well, never had to deal with the idiots myself but if what has been described happens then they are a bunch of pricks who think that their little protest is more important than the time of the people they screw over.

[CreekDog]

46. yes solidarity in not allowing pedestrians to cross the street

CM does not stop at lights, not even when there are thousands of them.

[Ediacara]

42. If they were riding as legal traffic, it wouldn't be

[SoxFan]

63. This is bullying

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/08/BAG0SP504J1.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/13/BAGNLPQ6MJ1.DTL&type=printable
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_072508WAB_car_vs_cyclists_KC.262be9a.html

[jobycom]

27. It does depend on the city, very true.

It's not the one day a month that is the problem, it's the fact that they deliberately try to make people's lives worse. That's going to make people try to make their lives worse. Even if it's one day, that's just an unhealthy attitude. I don't have to tie up traffic to feel good about riding a bike. Actually, considering you keep cars on the road longer, you add to polution, so you'd probably feel worse.

The thing cars in Austin do that bothers me the most is parking in bike lanes, forcing cyclists out into traffic to go around them. I'd say we should pick one day a month and egg any car parked in a bike lane. :)

[Lethe]

31. i disagree

if you think slowing down a car is making people's lives worse, then i disagree.

it makes them think about riding a bike, and how many people actually do it, instead of driving a gas guzzling car.

if it pisses them off, that's their problem.

[vadawg]

33. Are you nuts with that logic, the driver should bump the cyclist to show a car is safer

best thing is for the dumbasses who think this is a good idea is to get out of the way of traffic and not piss of everyone else on the road.

[Lethe]

35. bicycles are traffic

that's the whole point

[vadawg]

36. therefore they like all traffic should yield the overtaking lanes if not passing

but all these asses want to do is slow everyone down, as i said im shocked that no one has ever just mowed them down, i guess its down to the cities they do these slow downs in.

[leeroysphitz]

68. Sharing the road goes both ways.

[jobycom]

37. No, it really doesn't make them think that.

It makes them think that someone is being rude to them, and makes them angry. That won't make them want to ride a bike, it will make them hate cyclists. Republicans do that kind of thing all the time. They think that if they show graphic pictures of aborted babies people will turn against abortion. In reality it makes people turn against them. Critical Mass doesn't get anyone to ride a bike, they don't even try to. They just make people hate cyclists.

[Lethe]

39. look, we're obviously not going to see eye to eye on this

and you are way out of line using that kind of example, which i think is ridiculous

god forbid somebody is delayed 2 minutes from getting a sandwich at arby's.

edit: following your extreme example:

blacks shouldn't have staged sit-ins at white restaurants, because they were just getting in the way of the white customers who needed to eat, and had an obvious right to be there. the blacks who did this are bullies, and are just increasing the hatred in whites towards blacks for the audacity of the sit-in.

[vadawg]

40. or delayed from getting to the hospital to see a dieing loved one

or late for that last chance job interview, or late to pick up their 9 months pregnant wife, or their kids from school, god forbid if people think that the cyclists holding them up are selfish and childish pricks.

[CreekDog]

49. blacks were sitting waiting to be served

cyclists taking over Market St. and breaking all the traffic laws are not doing what blacks at lunch counters did.

[Tom Kitten]

58. but what if they held up a "black" who wanted to eat at "arby's"?

who would win in the pr sweepstakes?

[CreekDog]

47. they wouldn't let me cross the street

defend that.

[Ediacara]

50. But you're polluting! Think about riding a bike!

[CreekDog]

51. I was walking knucklehead

walking to BART. (or perhaps you're joking with me) :banghead: :crazy:

[Ediacara]

53. I was joking

I am a walker/busser that has been delayed at crosswalks numerous times by these "law abiding" citizens.

[CreekDog]

57. i know

i had a feeling you were joking and then noticed you were the OP! :hug:

i hear ya.

[Ediacara]

41. Give you a break what?

Like I said, I don't know what caused them to surround this guy and create a traffic jam and eventually get $4.

[Lethe]

43. the whole tone of your post and the others

especially the word "extort"

maybe that guy slammed into her? you said yourself you don't know, so why use the word "extort?"

[Ediacara]

48. Because it was so ridiculous

That after much yelling four dollars ended the ruckus. He obviously didn't hit anyone because they didn't call the cops (or physically attack the driver). Why make such a big fucking deal if FOUR DOLLARS solved your problem?

[Lethe]

52. what makes you think a CM person would call the cops

the police hate CM in general

why do you think a bunch of bicyclists would encircle a car for no reason?

[Ediacara]

55. I thought CM was all about showing how cyclists were law abiding citizens?

You're making them out to be Hell's Angels.

I have no fucking idea what caused the fracas, but it mustn't have been a big deal if $4 solved the problem.

[vadawg]

56. i think you will find that everybody hates CM, pedestrians, cops, drivers, family pets

as far as i can tell just a bunch of selfish pricks trying to force everyone to see the joy that they experience from cycling.

[mentalsolstice]

22. Where's taterguy?

When is his head surgery. I'm not trying to be a smartass, but I wondered what area of the brain he is being operated on. Could he, would he the cause of a traffic jam? After surgery, is there a chance he would be in the Escalade, depending what lobe was being operated on?

[Lyric]

29. I think that the problem lies in assuming that bikes and cars can co-exist peacefully.

Sure, some can--but the exceptions and assholes (on both sides) ruin everybody's day. I think it's absurd that there aren't overhead arterials for directing bicycle traffic away from car traffic. The benefits would be enormous--for example, how many less people would choose to fight city traffic in their cars if they could zip right over all of the congestion on a bicycle? For the price of a bit of exercise, people would never have to be late for work again. I know LOTS of students who'd gladly ride bikes to campus, except that they're scared to death of riding a bicycle on a road with cars. Building overhead "bicycle roads" would reduce traffic, reduce traffic-bicycle conflicts, and help the environment, too.

Build three-lane overhead arterials with their own exits onto sidewalks, parks, and parking areas--two lanes for bikes, scooters, mopeds, etc. and one lane for joggers/walkers. They'd pay for themselves over time in reduced road wear (thanks to less cars,) fewer accidents for taxpayers to pay to investigate, and less environmental pollution due to people choosing to ride a bike instead of waiting two hours in traffic while driving a car. There would probably be some healthcare savings too, as bike-riding is a healthy lifestyle choice. It would also give bicycle police a safe, fast, efficient way of getting from Point A to Point B in an emergency.

Just my $0.02.

[vadawg]

32. the bike lanes in your utopia would be just as congested as the main roads are now

we would probuably get groups of walkers gathering to protest and go slow to show the cyclists that they own the lanes too. Human nature i guess makes everyone think that they are the most important person on the planet, all i know is that if im in a hurry to get somewhere you better get out off my way or someone could get hurt.

[Lyric]

34. I highly doubt that. And even if it *was* true, the congestion would at least

be free of environment-killing exhaust fumes.

all i know is that if im in a hurry to get somewhere you better get out off my way or someone could get hurt

You do realize how incredibly assholish that sounds, right? Especially in light of the first part of that sentence? Yeesh.

[vadawg]

54. difference is i am important to the person who needs help

i dont have time to sit in traffic as you have your silly bicycle get together, and as i said you better get out of my way or your contibuting to someone mayby being hurt or killed, but then again you slowing me down is more important.

[jeff30997]

38. But,but...

All they really wanted was Grey Poupon !!!

[datasuspect]

60. this is why you carry your tire iron under the front passenger seat

bike salad tastes good with blood.

[bikebloke]

62. Four dollars is about the price of a tire tube.

Maybe he caused another bike to get a flat? Or broke some other $4 part. Though I have found making a show of taking a license number gives quite a few a big scare. Much more effective. They've stopped so they could say, "Hey man, I'm really sorry. Really, really sorry...." I say nothing and give them a hard stare. While wondering if a cop or your cousin Darryl - who just got out of jail - will knock on their door, maybe they'll be more careful.

I bike daily, year around. In this area, I obey more traffic laws in 5 minutes than most drivers do all year. There are also quite a few consumerist Tour de France poseurs who are not just a nuisance to cars, but a danger to other bikers. Selfishness abounds.

[Noodleboy13]

66. Critical Mass has a lot of problems... I no longer ride them.

I've been a year round commuter here in Mpls for 7 years. When I first started riding, I used to ride in CM because I found it "empowering;" I also had a far more adversarial relationship with cars. And while we have had our share of unpleasantness during CM, we always tried to be somewhat respectful ie, we would let buses through, and emergency vehicles obviously, and even with 200+ riders we tried not to be a total pain in the ass. What I discovered, however, is that the medium and the message aren't really in sync with CM. Annoying people generally doesn't win adherents.
I've gotten older, been in the hospital twice for bike injury (1 hit and run, 1 totally my fault) and have learned a few behaviors for getting along with the cagers.

1. Stay off major/arterial roads whenever possible. Generally there will be a street a block over with less traffic and fewer stops that will get you there just the same. Bike route are different than car routes.

2. If there are a lot of cars around, don't blow the red light. It makes us all look like scofflaws.

3. Helmets! Lights! I find that give you more respect if you look the part. I ride a Bianchi Volpe with full fenders, multiple lights, panniers, reflectors, etc. I appear more "responsible" than the guy in a black hoodie on a black fixie with no lights.



And on a side note, some of the posts here got rather aggressive towards cyclists. I would hope that these people take some deep breaths, and maybe try to lower the blood-pressure. Exercise. Maybe go for a bike ride.



peace
Noodleboy

[no name no slogan]

69. Great advice

I do all of the above (I even wait for red lights even if there's no traffic), and I've gotten a lot more respect from auto traffic. I also signal all my turns, and even find myself yielding to cars in places where I have right of way, if the driver seems particularly agitated.

Like you said, dressing the part helps a lot. It shows you're serious and responsible. The helmet and lights are essential, IMHO.

[slutticus]

74. What about stop signs? I can't count the number of times i've almost been taken out by a bike ....

...running a stop sign. It goes both ways. These idiots want respect on the road but they don't think the laws apply to them. I really don't get it.

Cars > Bike > Pedestrian

[leeroysphitz]

70. I'm a year round cyclist but I'd pay good money to see a bunch of bike snobs try this here

in Detroit. :P

[benEzra]

72. I'm very pro-bike, but this kind of behavior makes cyclists look like idiots.

Critical Mass would be a lot more effective if they organized bike-commute days in which a thousand cyclists rode into the city in a pack, moving fast, but being courteous. Treating bicycles like COMMUTING VEHICLES instead of, you know, roadblocks. The problem with some motorists is that they already view bicycle commuters as roadblocks, and the behavior by these goons only reinforce the idea that "bicycles only get in the way of cars."

A big bike-commute day would actually get people thinking about bike commuting, might actually turn some people into regular bike commuters, and could be used as an educational opportunity to teach car drivers that bicycles are vehicles, too. But to do that, you have to use the bike as a vehicle, rather than as a badge of jerkitude.

[Incitatus]

73. It's stupid to ride your bicycle in the middle of the road. Things like this happen