HS: Critical Mass planned in Durham

Posted on September 3, 2007 
Filed Under bikes, critical mass

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…

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