“BikeSummer” Rolls Toward New Haven

<i>Other suggestions: monthly Bike to Work breakfasts; Critical Mass rides on the last Friday of the month; bike movies on the Green or at the Criterion; an art show for bicyclists who are artists or artists who use bike images; East Rock time trials; women's rides.</i>

Of course the drivers of motor vehicles are by far the largest cause of dangers to cyclists. I believe most motorcycle accidents involve a collision with a motor vehicle that did not see the rider or the bike and turned into the way. However, a day rarely goes by without seeing some fool on a bike risking their life by their (often illegal) traffic behavior.

My suggestion to local bicycle riders: obey the traffic laws - stop riding against traffic in the street and flying through red lights. Use some form of light as a safety device when riding at night. Travel at reasonable speed in heavy traffic situations.

My suggestion to the local police: warn first, and then if necessary, arrest every single participant in "Critical Mass" rides that illegally blocks and impedes vehicle traffic and fine them heavily. This behavior at such rides creates a potentially deadly situation at intersections and anyone participating or encouraging participation should be prosecuted.

i agree with nfjanette about the dangers (not to mention frustration) that the critical mass participants cause to those of us on the inside of automobiles during their demonstrations.
i own a bike, and enjoy riding my bike when the weather is nice all over the new haven, and so. ct area. i often travel with a friend or two. we try to stay on routes that aren't a danger to us, or where we can cause accidents, backups or any reason for folks in thier cars to hate us.
i've been stuck in the mess critical mass has caused twice, and it sucks. these folks are not doing any favors for anyone. i'd like more bike lanes, and a more bike friendly environment in new haven, but not at the expense of workers trying to get home after working all week and want to see thier families (perhaps so they can take their kids out on their bicycles) and enjoy their much deserved time off.
i encourage the critical mass folks to vote, educate, organize bike-a-thons in the manner of the popular walk a thons. but don't screw the general population by causing everyone to be stuck in an intentional traffic jam.

Hooray for BikeSummer!!! This summer the city will explode with bicycles and energy that it spawns will last for many years. Congrats to everyone!

Those of you who are not happy with the way bicyclists behave are encouraged to participate. One of the challenges that we face is encouraging bicyclists not to behave in ways that endanger themselves or others. The other side of this is that we need to educate drivers to the fact that bicycles are vehicles and, by law, have the same rights and responsibilities in the roads as motorized vehicles do.

Elm City Cycling holds meetings at City Hall on the [second] Monday of every month and everyone is welcome -- call City Hall or join the above listserve to keep informed as meeting times may change.

I'll echo Bruce's comments about encouraging you to participate. It's certainly more effective then complaining on internet forums.

Secondly, I'll speak for Elm City Cycling, something I'm generally loathe to do.

ECC is NOT Critical Mass. ECC does NOT represent any cyclists who are actively engaged in illegal behavior & are creating dangerous situations for themselves & everyone else on the road. We have NO say or involvement with these people, most of whom seem to be Yale affiliated and think New Haven is a death trap that can only be navigated by riding sidewalks.

Third, I'll tell you that Critical Mass is not intended to create havoc as you claim. Critical Mass is a large group of people riding together.

Chief Ortiz has spoken out in favor of Critical Mass New Haven, and NYC can not manage to stop it, as the police invovlement has been determined to be illegal by the supreme court. I'm sorry that once a month you are delayed by bicycles: Every day of my life I am delayed and threatened by cars. I don't think that sharing the road once a month is such a big thing to ask.

Critical Mass in and of itself does not advocate breaking laws or being a nuisance. I'm sorry that you had such a bad time, but I'd ask you to examine your own cycling competence. Were you ready to ride in such a large group, did you have the experience necessary? Many people do not, & end up panicking and putting everyone in danger. I do long group rides on the weekends, and people who have been coming for years still do not understand how to safely ride with other cyclists.

Please, use common sense when cycling. Critical mass isn't for everyone. Elm City Cycling however is, and if you want to be heard & contribute to the overall safety of all, please come to our next meeting. If you want some practice riding in a group, drop me a line, it'd be great to have some nice casual rides as we enter into Spring.

Critical Mass is not intended to delay workers trying to get home. The goals of CM are multi-faceted. One basic idea is to encourage the use of bicycles as transportation espescially to and from work. Perhaps this would prevent people from racing home on friday to enjoy their much desevered days of rest which probably equates to watching sports and eating.

Here in Portland, OR, BikeSummer 2002 was our all-important gateway to diverse, productive bike activism, or "bike fun" as it's known in these parts. Several institutions and organizations sprang out of our first BikeSummer, including an annual 2-week festival of bike events called PedalPalooza, a monthly Midnight Mystery Ride, a Breakfast on the Bridges for bike commuters, free lights and helmets giveaway programs in poor neighborhoods, creative initiatives to teach EVERYONE to share the road, and a whole range of other ways for people to advocate for bicycling causes in whatever way they think best. Tellingly, our Critical Mass rides are incredibly polite and barely attended these days, and mostly by out-of-towners. And that's partly because BikeSummer gave us a running start into bigger and better things. I think Critical Mass is great and badly needed in places where there is not much other bike activism -- it raises visibility for bikes and gets bicyclists to thinking they just might have a right to the road too. Critical Mass is the roots of bicycle culture and activism. But once a community embraces bike fun, as New Haven has been doing for some time now, you learn there's so much more out there. So if you love Critical Mass or hate it, support BikeSummer and say hooray for bike love!