Critical Mass Photos

yeah met up with hep & co on market at justin herman, followed the cyclists down market and veered off main or spear and were headed up the on ramp near folsom. i tore off on folsom to head back towards muni.

=v= According to this Associated Press story:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2003/03/28/state1757EST0100.DTL

The CHP didn't catch anyone going onto the bridge (or the freeway). Wouldn't be the first time they missed it, though.

What a load of crap, "CHP said the bikers had not come their way". Yeah right!!! And the idea that it was only 2,000! The ride was sooooo long, it took over 20 minutes to pass any given point. Riders snaked through downtown under and around the Bay Bridge, and then along all the freeway on and off ramps of both Harrison and Bryant, and then some. CHP were there with riot gear and tons of motorcycles desperately hoping to protect the holy motorcar from bicycle insurrection at all costs.

And how 'bout them run-on sentences? And since when is CM sponsored by an activist's group? It is its own being.

Here's the excerpt:

A group of anti-war bicyclists -- Bikes Not Bombs -- staged an anti-war protest Friday evening to coincide with the monthly Critical Mass ride sponsored by a cycling activist's group.

Altogether, about 2,000 people rode their two-wheeled vehicles through the city to draw attention to an energy-efficient form of transportation that organizers say would reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil and obviate the need for war.

San Francisco police officers, who had known about the mass ride for days and worried that it would interfere with rush-hour traffic and the start of a preseason Giants game at PacBell Park, monitored the riders' activities, but reported no problems. California Highway Patrol officers guarded freeway entrances leading to the Bay Bridge, but the riders had not come their way as of 8:30 p.m.

This was a great Cat & Mouse game. The Cops were utterly convinced that we were going to take over the bridge.

I saw at least 4 helicopters in the air, and there were at least 10 motorcycle cops and a bunch of riot cops at each onramp/offramp we passed.

And then we veered away ("If the cops go straight, you go left or right!"), somewhere else, the cops chased us, they went straigt, we went right. Over and over again. We made them earn that overtime!

As I headed towards Pee-Wee Herman Square, I heard a couple of reporters say with dissapointment "If they wait any longer, there won't be any traffic to block!", as if that was our primary purpose: To block traffic.

Bah, they just wanted to get their pretty pictures, hoping that the convergance of Bike-not-Bombs, Critical Mass, and the anti-war foot protest would result in some sensationalist pictures for the Friday Night News.

"California Highway Patrol officers guarded freeway entrances leading to the Bay Bridge, but the riders had not come their way as of 8:30 p.m."

On pretty much the first leg of the ride, a large group passed the Bay Bridge entrance, which was guarded by CHP standing accross the access point. This was at about 6:30PM.