[Cm-crew] san francisco

Author: Giovanni Pesce
Date:
Subject: [Cm-crew] san francisco

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un nuovo articolo sulla massa di san francisco, dove dei cicloattivisti
difendono la massa dai suoi detrattori

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/22
/ED198867.DTL
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 22, 2002 (SF Chronicle)
Critical Mass moves forward
Anna Sojourner and Josh Wilson

Love it or hate it, 10 years of Critical Mass have put San Francisco
cyclists on the map, and that is a good thing.
Let's put good money on this: One of the reasons you don't ride a bike
downtown is the same as one of the reasons we go to Critical Mass -- and
why it has spread to hundreds of cities around the world. Traffic is
scary. You cannot trust that drivers will defer the urgency of their
passage to the ultimate frailty of the unprotected human body. You are
terrified to walk or bike the streets in our city, and we don't blame you.
That's why we ride "en masse." Critical Mass is about riding socially, and
staking out territory on streets that belong to everyone, but that have
been co-opted by automobiles.
Urban cyclists are regularly forced into riding defensively and committing
moving violations simply because, in a system not designed to accommodate
them,
it would be suicide to follow the rules. Try making a legal left turn by
bicycle from Market Street onto Valencia Street, or a left from Duboce
Avenue onto Harrison, and you'll get a taste of true terror on the
asphalt. This widespread frustration remains a crucial motivation to the
Critical Mass movement.
Unfortunately, the media too often set out the idea that "radical"
cyclists come to Critical Mass to confront drivers and cause trouble.
Confrontations happen, and on every day of every month the majority of
those confrontations are car against car, driver against driver, with
pedestrians and cyclists caught in the cross fire.
The 10th anniversary Critical Mass on Sept. 27 was enormous -- there
haven't been rides that big since the mid-'90s. Back then, and again in
September, there were confrontations, and it is our conviction that many
of those unfortunate incidents resulted from first-time participants (on
bikes and in cars) failing to manage their road rage, or appreciate what
it means to ride socially.
The confrontations of last month's ride are the exception, not the rule.
Critical Mass is leaderless, organic and, yes, a radical movement. But
let's not conflate radical with violent. Bicyclists must take
responsibility for confrontations and work to change this behavior --
though we insist that those isolated incidents pale in comparison to the
daily car-commute's highway fatalities, environmental catastrophes, wars
for oil and huge government subsidies for automobiles to the exclusion of
all other forms of transportation.
We frequently hear people say they would support our goals if we were
"more constructive" or used "other methods to get what you want." This is
missing the point entirely. Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see in
the world." The mass is a slice of the life we have when traffic isn't so
scary. It's a quiet, friendly, and, above all, social commute. Though each
person goes to Critical Mass for his or her own reasons, it's safe to say
that in some way we all yearn for a cleaner, safer, human-scaled city.
For years we have advocated for bicyclists to enjoy Critical Mass
peacefully, and then consider evolving their behavior even more -- to
start riding in self-directed, responsible daily and weekly mini-masses,
wherein smallish groups of cyclists follow the "bike-bus" model. These
massers stop for our pedestrian friends and our allies on Muni. When in
the intersection, they continue through against the light for safety, but
otherwise stop for red lights and let cross-traffic through.
Exuberant, visionary, free-form social space: This is the reality of
Critical Mass, despite media and traffic reports. So come out on the last
Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza
and see what your "rush hour" could be like every day, and then help
create the kind of world you really want to live in.
Anna Sojourner is a geologist who stumbled upon her first Critical Mass 10
years ago. Josh Wilson is a San Francisco-based journalist and editor and
the founder of Independent Arts and Media (www.artsandmedia.net).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle

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<HEAD>
<TITLE>san francisco</TITLE>
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<TT> 
un nuovo articolo sulla massa di san francisco, dove dei cicloattivisti dif=
endono la massa dai suoi detrattori 
 
 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2002/10/2=
2/ED198867.DTL 
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Tuesday, October 22, 2002 (SF Chronicle) 
Critical Mass moves forward 
Anna Sojourner and Josh Wilson 
 
 
  Love it or hate it, 10 years of Critical Mass have put San Fra=
ncisco 
cyclists on the map, and that is a good thing. 
  Let's put good money on this: One of the reasons you don't rid=
e a bike 
downtown is the same as one of the reasons we go to Critical Mass -- and<BR=
>
why it has spread to hundreds of cities around the world. Traffic is 
scary. You cannot trust that drivers will defer the urgency of their 
passage to the ultimate frailty of the unprotected human body. You are 
terrified to walk or bike the streets in our city, and we don't blame you.<=
BR>
That's why we ride "en masse." Critical Mass is about riding soci=
ally, and 
staking out territory on streets that belong to everyone, but that have 
been co-opted by automobiles. 
  Urban cyclists are regularly forced into riding defensively an=
d committing 
moving violations simply because, in a system not designed to accommodate<B=
R>
them, 
  it would be suicide to follow the rules. Try making a legal le=
ft turn by 
bicycle from Market Street onto Valencia Street, or a left from Duboce 
Avenue onto Harrison, and you'll get a taste of true terror on the 
asphalt. This widespread frustration remains a crucial motivation to the<BR=
>
Critical Mass movement. 
  Unfortunately, the media too often set out the idea that &quot=
;radical" 
cyclists come to Critical Mass to confront drivers and cause trouble. 
Confrontations happen, and on every day of every month the majority of 
those confrontations are car against car, driver against driver, with 
pedestrians and cyclists caught in the cross fire. 
  The 10th anniversary Critical Mass on Sept. 27 was enormous --=
there 
haven't been rides that big since the mid-'90s. Back then, and again in 
September, there were confrontations, and it is our conviction that many<BR=
>
of those unfortunate incidents resulted from first-time participants (on<BR=
>
bikes and in cars) failing to manage their road rage, or appreciate what<BR=
>
it means to ride socially. 
  The confrontations of last month's ride are the exception, not=
the rule. 
Critical Mass is leaderless, organic and, yes, a radical movement. But 
let's not conflate radical with violent. Bicyclists must take 
responsibility for confrontations and work to change this behavior -- 
though we insist that those isolated incidents pale in comparison to the<BR=
>
daily car-commute's highway fatalities, environmental catastrophes, wars<BR=
>
for oil and huge government subsidies for automobiles to the exclusion of<B=
R>
all other forms of transportation. 
  We frequently hear people say they would support our goals if =
we were 
"more constructive" or used "other methods to get what you w=
ant." This is 
missing the point entirely. Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see=
in 
the world." The mass is a slice of the life we have when traffic isn't=
so 
scary. It's a quiet, friendly, and, above all, social commute. Though each<=
BR>
person goes to Critical Mass for his or her own reasons, it's safe to say<B=
R>
that in some way we all yearn for a cleaner, safer, human-scaled city. 
  For years we have advocated for bicyclists to enjoy Critical M=
ass 
peacefully, and then consider evolving their behavior even more -- to 
start riding in self-directed, responsible daily and weekly mini-masses,<BR=
>
wherein smallish groups of cyclists follow the "bike-bus" model. =
These 
massers stop for our pedestrian friends and our allies on Muni. When in 
the intersection, they continue through against the light for safety, but<B=
R>
otherwise stop for red lights and let cross-traffic through. 
  Exuberant, visionary, free-form social space: This is the real=
ity of 
Critical Mass, despite media and traffic reports. So come out on the last<B=
R>
Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza<B=
R>
and see what your "rush hour" could be like every day, and then h=
elp 
create the kind of world you really want to live in. 
  Anna Sojourner is a geologist who stumbled upon her first Crit=
ical Mass 10 
years ago. Josh Wilson is a San Francisco-based journalist and editor and<B=
R>
the founder of Independent Arts and Media (www.artsandmedia.net). 
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle 
 
</TT>
</BODY>
</HTML>

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