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<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=3>Jym Dyer's comment (" =v= Yet she [Corinna] lurks
on the Boston<BR>Critical Mass list, waiting for her chance to opine at the
media with<BR>the same old tired complaints") is as unpleasant as it is
unfair.<BR><BR>Corinna makes two good points:<BR>1) that Critical Mass is not
"about the benefits and challenges of<BR>commuting by bike in boston"<BR>2)
that, in her opinion, Critical Mass does not raise awareness in a<BR>positive
way.<BR><BR>The WGBH producer may be genuinely confused about CM -- or perhaps
just looking for any Boston bike-related mailing list. In terms of raising
awareness, I agree that CM can be counterproductive to bicycle commuters, to the
extent that it exacerbates motorist hostility. The recent discussion on this
list about the negative comments about bicyclists, and specifically Boston
Critical Mass, on the yelp site, is a concrete example of the negative effect of
Critical Mass. One could say that too frequently, rather than being a joyful
celebration of urban cycling (as it could be), Critical Mass rides reinforce the
stereotypes of the dominant paradigm -- that bicyclists are inconsiderate jerks
who do not belong on the road. Perhaps one day people such as Jym Dyer will
realize that they are really supporting the anti-bicycling motorists (probably
the day GWB realizes he has been the biggest asset to OBL).<BR></FONT><FONT
color=#888888><BR><FONT size=3>Paul Schimek<BR></FONT><A href=""
target=_blank><FONT
size=3>http://bicycledriving.com</FONT></A></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>