[*BCM*] Courteous Mass

[Bence Béky]

Hi,

just to let you know that the concept of Critical Mass can be fairly
different in other countries:

We had our ride last night. http://criticalmass.hu/english. The
National Cycling Club has put a lot of effort to organizing the event.
I was one of the few hundred volunteers making sure that the ten
thousand participants all ride responsibly. The police fined many
cyclists who didn't stop on red, didn't have lights or rode on the
sidewalk (fortunately generally forbidden in Europe). This was
partially about educating people how to ride without annoying other
participants of traffic, but the emphasis was on showing everybody
that cycling is a means of transportation with equal rights.

We have rides twice a year, the one on Earth Day is more a family
event, with motor traffic blocked around the city. Like a festival.
The one on Car Free Day is the one where we just ride around, as part
of traffic, to show that every vehicle is equal.

The special occasion this time was that city council election is
coming up in two weeks, so last night, after the demonstration, there
was a public forum with the representatives of the four major parties.
This was a nice chance for us voters to see how competent they are and
how seriously they take the issue of cycling.

I'm gonna return to Boston in October, see you guys around!

Bence

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 13:28,  <thom3 at aol.com> wrote:
> I can't say that I disagree with the sentiment and the issue of safety, but
> you know the argument, 'Critical Mass refuses to be defined.' That said,
> there have been led/theme rides before...the parking meter ride for one, so
> why not?
>
> I'm glad you put it out there Rebecca.
>
> T
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: danny.piccirillo at gmail.com <danny.piccirillo at gmail.com>
> To: Boston Critical Mass <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Sent: Wed, Sep 22, 2010 11:58 pm
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Courteous Mass
>
> Shouldn't all critical mass rides be "courteous"? That's not to say it
> isn't an act of disobedience, but the guidelines in the original
> message, should be the guidelines for all mass rides. We can be
> disruptive and show that we don't want pure chaos. I'd also like to
> add that we should avoid riding on sidewalks and pissing off
> pedestrians.
>
> I'm glad someone posted this because i've had a draft email that i've
> been meaning to write and send about this very issue, i just never had
> the time!
>
> On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 23:51, Rebecca Albrecht <ralbrecht at speakeasy.net>
> wrote:
>>
>> Having tried to do a Courteous Mass in the middle of the month I think
>> it would work better to do it on the traditional day of the last Friday
>> of the month ie. this Friday.
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> .danny
>
> ☮♥Ⓐ - http://www.google.com/profiles/danny.piccirillo
> Every (in)decision matters.
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