press: Surrey Leader

Hey! So the Surrey Leader printed a nice pre-ride announcement article... re-printed below. Cheers to them!

By Hannah Sutherland
Mar 23 2007

Cyclists are expected to gather at Surrey Central this weekend to celebrate the city’s cycling community.

The ride is part of a global movement called Critical Mass – bike rides involving large groups of people that are usually held on the last Friday of every month in cities around the world.

The goal of the rides is to demonstrate the advantages of travelling by bike and to point out the need for more facilities and safety measures for cyclists.

This will be the first Critical Mass ride in Surrey and it will take place March 24 at 3:30 p.m. in the public plaza near the Surrey Central SkyTrain Station.

Cyclists are encouraged to bring decorated bikes, costumes, noisemakers and flags. Critical Mass rides are usually self-organized, informal and free of leadership. Typically, only the date, time and meeting place are planned.

When biking on roads, riders may use a tactic called corking, where cyclists block traffic from side streets and proceed as a group, sometimes through red lights. It is thought to be safer to stick together and push through traffic in a large mass, than let cars drive through the pack.

The term Critical Mass was adopted from cyclist behaviour observed in some parts of urban China where people on bikes would wait at uncontrolled intersections and gather in a large group. Together, the “critical mass” could safely push through traffic.

The first Critical Mass ride was in San Francisco in 1992 with 48 riders.

Cycling community celebrated Saturday