A Critical Mass (of Bouviers?)

Nop, not Bouviers...bicycles!

Yup, Guy and I partook in the 2,000 bicycle strong Critical Mass bike ride through Vancouver this evening. The idea is to remind people that bikes belong on the roads too. The oft chanted refrain is "we're not stopping traffic, we are traffic!" From what we heard, the other objective was to "close down the downtown core" and I think we accomplished that too.

We met at the VAG and rode across the Granville Bridge, down Broadway to Main St, back into downtown, down to Davie, along Davie to Denman, up Denman to mid-point on the Lion's Gate Bridge where we hung out and closed traffic for about 30 minutes, then back through Stanley Park, across the Burrard Bridge to Kits, and once we hit Broadway we turned off and went home, while the others continued on.

As the group moved along, front-riders would stop and hold back traffic at each intersection so everyone could move through safely. We took our turns "corking" as they call it. It was peaceful and drivers were always thanked for their patience. For the most part, motorist were either mildly amused or resigned to cooperate. A few people were angry, but they mellowed as they sat around waiting - even the guy in the Hummer we forced to stop and wait - now that alone was worth the 2.5 hours of cycling.

We peddled for about 2.5 hours, with a good cross section of society -- most of whom were flying their freak flags high and proud. Some were costumed, others were naked! Many adorned their bottle holders with beer cans, while many more puffed as they rode. It was a real sense of freedom to cycle without having to worry about cars.

Sadly, the Bouvier can't cycle, so he couldn't join us, though I was eyeing some of the contraptions people were towing their kids, boom boxes, and the like in, and wondering if the Bou would like to join in some time. I think we'll make this a regular event (last Friday of every month) so I hope some of you will join in - what do you think Millie!