Fallen Into Knowledge

If I have not shared this with you, you have missed out.  Lucas Brunelle Makes movies of Ally-Cat races by strapping a camera to his helmet and racing himself.  High speed cycling through thick traffic, many laws are broken - it is not advisable to ride like this.  Still, the videos are a blast to watch.
Lucas Brunelle Videos

It is always interesting to see yourself though another’s eyes. New York Press has an article about Portland bicycle culture; as seen from the eyes of a New Yorker. Interesting to notice what the perception is, I’ll leave it to the reader’s whether or not the article gets it right.
A little background for those who might not be aware, New York authorities are really cracking down on Critical Mass in New York; every CM generates between 30 and 100 arrests; using everything from Motorcycles to helicopters to catch those pesky cyclists

Okay, this is crazy:

1. build a tall bike: stack two bike frames on top of each other and weld.

2. learn to ride the tall bike

3. take one 10 foot piece of PVC pipe and attach one boxing glove to the end

4. get together with a bunch of people who have done steps 1-3 themselves

5. Attempt to knock each other off the bikes - medieval-style.

Critical Mass is Friday.  Meet in the North Park Blocks, in front of the Powells Technical Bookstore at ~5:30, leave at 6:00.  It is shaping up to be a great ride.
The Mass also plays host to the word of the day: Xerocracy.
“And bring your fliers to pass out, help maintain a healthy xerocracy.” -Elly

I have been without car since the end of last summer, which means that most of my time getting used to living without one has been during the winter.  Admittedly, the winter was mild; nonetheless, I have found using my bicycle as the primary form for my transportation to be enjoyable even in less than pristine weather.
Today, while racing from Multnomah Bible College to PSU in shirtsleeves, with the sun shining, and without any wind, I found myself grinning from ear to ear.  I am looking forward to summer in portland without a car.  It is a great pleasure to ride in weather like this, and  I highly recommend it.

Here is another, about half way into the ride, taken while re-grouping

Here we are just before leaving on the ride - I would estimate between 200-300 people total rode.

I just now got back from this month’s Critical Mass, and as I’m sure will be reported heavily on the local news tonite, the Mayor, Tom Potter, rode with us (as previously noted, see below). When I asked him why he wanted to ride with us, he responded that he had received conflicting reports on the movement from those who rode and the police the are inevitably our escort; so he wanted to see for himself what this was all about. He also noted that he had just planned on showing up - this wasn’t supposed to be a media event. But it was - it seemed as though every local TV station was filming and reporters were present from every local newspaper. Also, since the word got out about the mayors riding with us, there were hundreds of cyclists present.
I talked with some of the people there and got the vibe that many people who want to participate in the ride haven’t because of the stories of police “harassment,” but given the mayors presence now felt comfortable.
It was an enjoyable, peaceful ride. I only heard a few directions from the police escort - all aimed at preventing cyclists from breaking the law - and only saw a few angry drivers, most of whom quickly had a bicycle police officer talking with them. It was a good ride! It will be very encouraging if we see people come back to do it again next month.