Durham cyclists give several answers to a simple question...

Posted by nicomachus at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One week from today, Critical Mass Durham continues. Just to get you warmed up...

Thanks to Tino for originally spotting the video.

Meet at Major, the bronze bull in the CCB plaza (can we come up with a better name for the CCB plaza since CCB isn't any longer the owner of the tall building?) at 5:35pm.

Posted by nicomachus at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Thanks to the 80+ beautiful people who turned out tonight, Durham's first Critical Mass in years was a success. I don't know how it was throughout the pack, but in the back, it was calm, courteous, and yet powerful. Thanks to all of you for making it happen.

If any of you have photos or video you would like to see posted here, send it to me. I'm happy to collect the imagery.

Camera-phone video from Jack Warman.


Jack Warman's flickr photos.

Seth's inconvenient flat.

Photos by menshi mihas

Photo by Eleni Binge

The success of our Durham Critical Mass is being noticed as far away as Brazil -- see apocalipse motorizado.

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Critical Mass is a monthly event -- we'll start at Major, the bronze bull sculpture downtown, at 5:35pm on the first Thursday of each month.

Posted by nicomachus at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

By Monica Chen : The Herald-Sun
mchen@heraldsun.com
Sep 2, 2007 : 8:39 pm ET

DURHAM -- Area bicycling enthusiasts are trying to bring Critical Mass, a mass gathering that occurs monthly in other cities, to Durham this week.

The ride will begin at 5:35 p.m. Thursday at the bronze bull downtown at Corcoran and Parrish streets.

Phillip Barron, an organizer of Critical Mass in Durham, said that, unlike events attracting only dedicated Lycra-clad, helmet-wearing cyclists, this event is for the people.

"Our design is for anyone who wants to show up. Tricycles, unicycles, Rollerbladers ... We're happy to have anybody," Barron said. "The idea behind critical mass is a celebration of human-powered transportation."

Barron is a columnist for The Herald-Sun and is also the semi-anonymous cycling blogger on Nicomachus.net. He and other cyclists tried to bring the event to Durham in 2001 and 2002, but it never gained traction.

The first Critical Mass was started in San Francisco in 1992, and was intended to draw large numbers of cyclists to celebrate cycling and assert cyclists' right to the road. The event has resulted in several violent clashes between cyclists and motorists in recent years.

In April, a Critical Mass in San Francisco resulted in $5,300 in damage to a minivan, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. The driver said cyclists surrounded her van and smashed her rear window.

The hostility of some Critical Mass events is well-known among cyclists themselves, some of whom reject the idea of having one in the Triangle at all.

But Barron and participants say Critical Mass will be a peaceful ride in the Bull City.

"I believe Durham CM will be non-confrontational, and the positive will outweigh the negative. I trust we will be car-friendly and not piss off any drivers," wrote Frank Ferrell, owner of Ninth Street Bakery, on Barron's blog.

"The stereotype is a bunch of black ski mask anarchist who want to overturn every car they see and set it on fire," said Barron. "We don't have that kind of subculture [in Durham]."

Barron hopes that about 50 cyclists will come out to the event on Thursday.

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Never knew I was semi-anonymous...

Posted by nicomachus at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What is unclear is why Critical Mass Durham has lay dormant for the past 94 years.

No longer.

The cycling community swells again. At 5:35pm on the first Thursday of every month, meet at Major -- the new bronze bull sculpture right smack in the middle of downtown -- for a group ride you won't forget.

If you want to see more bike lanes, more roads designed with bicyclists in mind, more respect on the road, then come ride with us. If you want to find a safe route to ride to and from work, then come ride with us. If you want to enjoy the company of others like you, who choose to ride, then come ride with us. If you want to find out just how strong Durham's cycling community really is, then come out and ride with us.

See you Thursday, September 6th, at 5:35pm.

Come ready to ride. All bikes welcome.

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Posted by nicomachus at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

While no one can tell you what CM is (because first, you have to experience it for yourself; and second, what CM is depends on who shows up to ride), Daryl Hannah portrays it sympathetically and positively in this week's dhlovelife episode.

Posted by nicomachus at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Raleigh's got an established Critical Mass. Chapel Hill had something like CM while I was in graduate school. So why can't Durham? I've never lived in a city so afraid to hold a Critical Mass. Every time CM comes up for discussion on local listservs, the killjoys chime in and convince everyone that riding down the road in a group is going to invite the crazies to run over us.

A few years ago, a friend and I tried to get it going in Durham, but we couldn't keep a regular crowd. On the day of the last one we held, only the two of us showed up (it was raining) along with an Indy Weekly photographer. The picture actually ran in the paper, so I'm pretty sure that's got to be the best rider-turnout-to-press-coverage ratio out there.

Posted by nicomachus at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)