First ever Critical Mass ride in Surrey, BC !

The first ever Critical Mass Ride in Surrey (specifically North Surrey) is happening this month: March 24th, 2007. Riders will meet in the public plaza near the Surrey Central Skytrain Station at 3:30pm, and then take off together for a leisurely ride around North Surrey, keeping in mind one of the popular Critical Mass mottoes: We're not blocking traffic, we are traffic!


So just what is Critical Mass anyways?

The term was taken years ago from an observation about cyclist behaviour in some busy parts of urban China. At uncontrolled intersections, cyclists would wait and gather into a group, and that tight group would "push" its way through the cross traffic: Once the cyclists had reached "critical mass" they could safetly and firmly assert their legal right to be on the roadway.

In 1992 in San Francisco, cyclists started doing group-rides home across the city at the end of the workday. They'd take up entire lanes partly as a safe way to not get squished by traffic, and partly to protest the lack of suitable infrastructure (bicycle lanes, push-button crossings) to ensure their safety at other times.

Wikipedia has some more info on the ride here, and you can check out other cities' Critical Mass rides through this link.