Conscious Choice: Critical Mass

July 2005

Critical Mass

Colorful monthly bike parades through the Loop at rush hour challenge drivers to rethink the commute

By Mandy Burrell

It’s not every Friday that a giant yellow chicken rolls down Michigan Avenue, a parade winds through the Loop during rush hour and hundreds of bicyclists take to Chicago’s streets en masse.

It’s not every Friday — just the last Friday of every month at around 6 p.m. when Chicago Critical Mass pushes off from Daley Plaza, rain or shine.

Critical Mass (CM) is a worldwide movement to promote the use of bicycles as a viable means of transportation. The group draws its name from the practice in China where bicycle commuters wait at street corners until their numbers reach a large enough proportion that they can take over the street and safely cross. In cities from Milwaukee to Munich, bikers (referring to bicyclists and not to be confused with motorcyclists) gather at a predetermined location on the last Friday of the month. The rides are free and open to all manner of people and creatures great and small. OK, so it’s not a real chicken, just a guy dressed as one.

“Chicago Critical Mass is a fantastic, fun, party parade,” said Alex Wilson. As one of many unofficial leaders of the Chicago rides, he’s tough to miss. Wilson is typically decked out in bright orange, and has rigged a rather large sound system to the back of his bike. The added bulk makes changing a flat tire a-pain-in-the-you-know-what, but the upbeat tunes infuse the crowd with energy, even during wet, windy or winter rides.

The route varies each ride, with a majority vote deciding the group’s journey and destination. Charting routes is rather nuanced: Rides must be safe and interesting, should introduce riders to new neighborhoods when possible, and avoid traversing any given street for more than a half-mile, so as not to provoke any single group of car-drivers for very long.

For instance, during one event riders circled Daley Plaza about a dozen times, as part warm-up, part rallying cry. Then the relatively small group of about 300 riders, most fresh from work, pushed off onto Randolph Street. At a pace of about 5 mph, the ride slowed Friday night rush-hour traffic to a standstill, particularly at intersections. However, most pedestrians and car-commuters didn’t seem to mind, with reactions ranging from bemused to bewildered. The few rude honks and hoots were met with a cheerful “Happy Friday!” from the bikers as they wound down Wacker Drive, headed north for a quick jaunt down Michigan Avenue, cut over on Chicago Avenue to Rush Street and made about a dozen more turns before ending up some 2-1/2 hours later at Konak Pizza & Grill, on the 5100 block of North Clark Street. There, the riders who made it all the way refueled and celebrated.

Some rides have attracted up to 1,500-plus riders. The come-one, come-all celebratory tone sets Chicago’s ride apart, say the faithful.

“After a ride, a person can say, ‘I explored my city, I saw new neighborhoods, I saw how fantastic city life can be,’ ” said Wilson. “When you know your city, you feel it’s an extension of your neighborhood and you feel a sense of ownership and responsibility. You start to take an interest in the people and the businesses and you change your ways.”

For instance, he said, regular bikers are more inclined to make frequent trips to local shops, rather than fight for parking at a big box store. And perhaps, through conversations with peers, bikers will gain enough confidence to contact their alderman about adding bike lanes to neighborhood streets or approach a landlord about reserving space for bike storage. Chicago is the third most congested city and local traffic jams cost 365 million excess gallons of fuel, acording to a 2004 Texs Transportation Institute Study. In Chicago only half of one percent of commuters ride their bikes to work, compared to approximately 64.6 percent who drive in private vehicles, 26 percent who use public transit, and 5.7 percent who walk, according to the 2000 Census.

“Sometimes in our culture, there’s so much process. You can’t do this and you can’t do that, or you have to do it a certain way,” said Gin Kilgore, a schoolteacher who’s been car-free her entire life and has participated in the local Critical Mass rides for about four years. “CM is a really good forum that encourages you to roll up your sleeves, get out there and get things done.”

Different Spokes for Different Folks

While Chicago CM is not an official organization, it has spawned organized offshoots, including Chicago Bike Winter, which hosts cold-weather workshops and events; the Campaign for a Free and Clear Lakefront, a coalition to de-pave Lake Shore Drive and make way for parks and bike paths; and Cycling Sisters, which supports women bikers through activities such as basic-mechanics workshops and social rides. Chicago CM has rallied participants around a wide range of community issues, including the installation of bike paths to connect open space in the city and suburbs; efforts toward fairer treatment and compensation of Chicago’s bike messengers; and fundraisers to help low-income Chicago families obtain bikes for their children.

And closer-knit relationships have formed among the participants. Kilgore, for instance, met her husband, Michael Burton, through Chicago CM. Burton is a leader in the Campaign for a Free and Clear Lakefront. More recently, an eight-person group of Chicago CM regulars set up a residential co-op in Little Village.

“We’ve got separate living spaces, but we’ll be sharing welding equipment,” quipped John Stoner, a co-op resident.

Stoner deals daily with a disease called muscular dystonia, which causes some of the muscles in his body to contract uncontrollably. He credits Chicago CM with encouraging him to use his bike as a regular form of transportation, which he says affords him independence and therapeutic benefits.

Recently, he participated in a two-day ride from Chicago to Milwaukee and back. Participants left Chicago in time to ride in Milwaukee’s CM.

Joyful Disorganization

Though the CM community exists worldwide, it is not a formal organization. Some call it a movement, others anarchy, but most often it’s touted as a “joyful dis-organization.” Critical Mass was launched in San Francisco in 1992. Reports of Chicago CMs date back to the early 1990s and in September, 1997, the Daley Plaza rides began.

However, CM has sparked some conflict. Sometimes verbal confrontations arise between bikers and motorists.

“I think you have issues if you don’t have the patience to wait for a five-minute parade,” said Wilson.

But, he added, when bikers instigate confrontations, it sets back the entire movement.

“[Vulgar responses] to motorists’ irritation was not doing the trick to gain public support of Chicago Critical Mass or add more riders to our cause,” said Christopher Wallace, a Chicagoan who has been riding in Chicago CM for about seven years and is a founder of the Youth Bicycle Education Network.

That’s why CM bikers organize regular open meetings, where they develop creative, positive strategies for de-escalating confrontations.

“We came up with the slogan ‘Happy Friday,’ ” said Wallace. “[Honking drivers] think they can egg us on, and they get a puzzled look when we wish them well. It quiets them down fairly quickly.”

Tactics like these also help to maintain the ride’s safety and accessibility in the face of occasional rogue riders.

Brushes with the Law

Several years ago, Chicago police in the 18th Ward arrested some bikers during a ride. Eventually charges were dropped, and since then no arrests have been made, thanks in part to meetings between bike advocates and Chicago police. Today, while neither the City of Chicago nor Chicago police have an official position on Chicago CM, police tend to leave riders alone. On particularly large rides, some police help by blocking streets to halt angry motorists.

Jane Healy has ridden in Chicago CM for about 3-1/2 years and, in good weather, is joined by her husband, Mike, and children ages 5, 7, and 1. “In some places Critical Mass is seen as a threat or an inconvenience.” she said. “In Chicago, it truly is a celebration.”

Mandy Burrell is a Chicago-area freelance writer who lent her bike to her grandfather three years ago and now wants it back.

Get More Info:

• Chicago Bike Winter, bikewinter.org

• Campaign for a Free and Clear Lakefront, foreverfreeandclear.org

• Chicago Critical Mass, chicagocriticalmass.org

• Cycling Sisters: cyclingsisters.org

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