Critical Mass and motorcycles

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Sun, Feb 02, 2003 at 12:19:26AM -0500, Sam Clements wrote:
> Someone over at the StraightDope posted a weird message about a "critical
> mass" of motorcycles in Philly last week.  I jovially asked for a
> description of what a "critical mass" of motorcycles might be.  Another
> poster cited an article from someone in Calif? and I remembered that I saw
> about 200 motorcycles go through a traffic light just down the street from
> me here in Akron in September.  Mentioned in the article was the fact that
> they were going through a red light.
>
> So, is there currently some validity to the term "critical mass" as applied
> to motocycles going through red lights?

"Critical Mass" is the proper name for a monthly mass bicycle ride aimed
at asserting cyclists' rights to the road. It started in San Francisco
in 1992 and has now spread to many cities around the world; it's only
semi-planned so no one can be held responsible. Not all CM rides go
through lights; some are more anarchistic, and some are very law-abiding,
merely showing through force of numbers that, as their slogan goes,
"We're not blocking traffic, we ARE traffic."

I hadn't heard of this having spread to motorcyclists.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED