Adventures of Critical Mass

Bicycles rule! [album]

Well it was quite the rush to make it on time to this ride! (On time being a relative term.) Between the problems at work and last minute rushing around, I ended up having to hop the SkyTrain to downtown. Don't start, I realize I'm taking transit to a bike ride. So go figure I arrive at the Vancouver Art Gallery all of 20 minutes late...don't see a soul with a bike.

I roll on over to the hot dog stand and ask the guy which way the bikers went. Just as he starts to tell me this dude on a lime green mini (and I mean tiny!) bike goes flyin' by like a bat outta hell. Through the doplar effect I hear a faint "follow meeee!" Alrighty, away we go.

So here we are, and this guy is peddalin up a storm. I was seriously impressed with his cadence, especially considering that his knees were just about to his ears. He was spinning those wee cranks even faster when standing up. Now picture that scene as he's darting in and around people on the sidewalk and holding onto a conversation with me like this is an everyday occurence. It was awesome!

Meanwhile he's obviously diggin my set-up. I can't take any of the credit though. I just "borrowed" Wease's new cyclo-cross bike while he's out of the country, (shhh don't tell). He basically built it up with random spare parts after he was brought down in a crash that killed his road bike. (Though secretly I think he tired of waiting to steal parts from it just so he could get this one on the streets.)

First thing noticed is the smokin' red Velocity deep dish rim, with matching disc caliper and bar tape. Then you take in the smooth lines of a gleaming frame. The fact that the black FSR chainrings complement the frame and saddle is just an added bonus. That is one sexy bike.

By now it's time to stop droolin' on it and continue our seach. Soon we hit the traffic, (now we must be getting close), and sure enough, everybody's stopped on the Granville St. Bridge. Cars are honking away as the stragglers catch up; some in encouragement, and others, well, let's just think of it as a live bleep to a few driver's choice words.

At this point there's maybe a few hundred of us out. Seeming as I'm a roadie and rarely in a pack bigger than 50, this was pretty cool. I had long lost mini-bike man and was just taking in the sights. There was a Nun and Monk on a tandem, some crazy high bikes with stacked frames, lots of old beaters, a few shiny rides, and a chick in a hot pink thong.

Now I know all you males must be kicking yourselves right about now. But this woman was well, pushing past the tight stages of buns. I personally thought it was awesome! Power to ya! She was laughing it up and having a blast....if only I was that confident on a bike. Things jiggle and shake no matter what the age, and as it turns out her 10 yr old was out on a bike too, and frantically trying anything to get away from her. Some things a son should never see...

Once I had a bit too much of that view, I caught up to mini-bike dude and had a little chat. Turns out he takes part in the Alley Cat courier races, which are now taking on a new form. Quite a few people have collected these mini-bikes and are anxiously awaiting the first Alley Kitten race. Now I don't know about you, but the visual I get (think mini-bike dude multiplied by 10 or 20 riding frantically through downtown?) oh it just makes me giggle. Anyway, he and his buddy run the Midnight Mass bike ride (http://www.midnight-mass.blogspot.com/).

I thought that was perfectly coincedental since I've been trying to drag my butt to one of those for months! Wease met up with the other organizer at MEC a while ago, I meet the other one on this ride. I think it's a sign. I must stay up way too late on a bike ride with a whole bunch of randomly cool people and check out some new awesome route. Only to wake up 3 or 4 hours after I'm done and go to work. Next one is Sept. 14th, (2nd and 4th Thursday). I am officially stoked.

I realized that it was high time to try some corking. (When a few cyclists block traffic at an intersection so that everyone can safely ride on through.) By the time I made my way up to the front we'd gone on quite the tour back across the bridge, around downtown a bit, and then over the Cambie Street Bridge. Just as we're heading down Georgia, I suggest going left at Pender and making our way to Hastings. A few of us chat about that, and bingo, just like that we're headin left. I'd never understood that whole, plan the route on a whim concept. But tis cool to see the spontaneity of it all.

Perfect timing as we're rolling up to stop traffic, the cars have just gotten the red light. I pull up to block the right lane as a Jeep is coming down the road, and a few others help with the rest. Traffic gets the green and all the sudden this Cherokee is revvin 'er right at me. I notice the look on the cyclists face next to me as I turn to see that Jeep slamming on the brakes non too soon. Ok, mildly uncomfortable at this point.

I'd heard a few stories of a few unhappy motorists....but this dude was about 3 seconds shy of a heart attack. And there's something about that rule, if somebody starts, everybody follows. Heck even the bus driver got out and was demanding that we get out of the way! Right, by this point there's cyclists coming down all 3 lanes from Denman St and there's no end in site. We tried to explain the whole safety aspect of waiting a few minutes, but that didn't seem to calm anyone down.

Thankfully we had only about 10 minutes to put up with the incessant yelling. It was almost enjoyable watching the stragglers go by grinning merrily and cheering to the honkers. Little did they know...

I helped cork at a couple intersections after that, just to make sure everybody wasn't like that. Sure enough, everybody's getting out of their cars and pointing. Smiling even about a few minute delay! So it is true, most of the time other people are intrigued by a few hundred cyclists rollin' through.

And then just as quickly as it started, it was over. We ended up on the Ontario bike route, with one guy hollering that he's going to keep riding if anyone wants to continute along. I think most were more than content to find the nearest pub and swap stories over a beer. I on the other hand decided to take Wease's bike for a real test ride and booted it home. Quite the intertesting day to say the least...I'm more than curious to find out what happens at the next one!

Photos