Critical Mass: Bicycling's Defiant Celebration

by Chris Carlsson (Editor)

Overview

Monthly in cities around the world, bicyclists take over the streets in an "organized coincidence" called Critical Mass. Riding along several hundred strong, hooting and hollering, whistling, laughing and singing; it is a coup on wheels, a clever tactical strike against our oil-dependent culture. Containing writings from participants worldwide, this colorful book bundles together 10 years of legendary debates, photographs, artwork, and life-transforming experiences evolving from the celebratory, visionary revolt on bicycles called Critical Mass.

 

Chris Carlsson is a founder and editor of the notorious underground magazine, Processed World, and the director of the historical multimedia project, Shaping San Francisco. He was recently awarded the Golden Wheel Award by the San Francisco Bike Coalition for founding Critical Mass in 1992.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781902593593
Publisher:	AK PR INC
Publication date:	09/01/2002
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Chris Carlsson, executive director of the multimedia history project Shaping San Francisco, is a writer, publisher, editor, and community organizer. He has edited four collections of political and historical essays. His most recent book is After The Deluge, a utopian novel of post-economic San Francisco. He was long-time editor of Processed World magazine.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	5
Part I	Sweet Sounds, Sweeter Smells	9
	The Power Is Here (Chicago)	11
	Rugged Individualists of the Road Unite! (Chicago)	18
	Spraypaint Slingers, Celebration and a Tidal Wave of Outrage (Montreal, Canada)	23
	Climate Change Caravan (Canada)	30
	Dildo Man (San Francisco)	31
	Halloween 1998 (San Francisco)	35
	Phantasmagoria on Wheels, Halloween 2001 (New York City)	37
	CM Toronto (Toronto, Canada)	39
	I am a Critical Mass (Stuttgart, Germany)	44
	An Aesthetic Rebellion (Milan, Italy)	52
	Critical Mass III (Sydney, Australia)	55
	Melbourne, Australia Photo and Xerocracy Gallery	57
	Mumbikers Take to the Streets (Bombay, India)	59
	Lancaster CM: Does It Still Exist? (Lancaster, UK)	60
	Critical Mass London Style (London, England)	68
	Global Gallery from Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Seoul, Pune India, Budapest, Copenhagen	70
Part II	Defining Anarchy	72
	Crit Mass	73
	How Critical Mass Changed the World	74
	Cycling Under the Radar: Assertive Desertion	75
	A Quiet Statement Against Oil Wars	83
	Of Oil Wars and Leaked Memos	85
	From the Ground Up	87
	A Uniquely Democratic Experiment	90
	Unleashing Public Imagination, or How 'Bout Another Shot of Existential Whup-Ass for your Flagging Civic Libido?	94
	Politics Can Be Fun	100
	Why They're Wrong About Critical Mass: The Fallacy of Bicycle Advocates' Critique	105
	Good for the Bicycling Cause	112
	UCCM: University of California Critical Mass (San Francisco)	116
	Thousand Bicycle Wheels poetry	119
	Lombard Street, San Francisco, July 1999	120
	Maybe You Should Check the Statute (Flagstaff, Arizona)	122
	Massive Critique by Hugh D'Andrade and photo gallery (Berkeley, California)	129
	March Madness! Hale Bopp! Hail Bop! (San Francisco)	132
	U.S. Gallery Lubbock, Buffalo, Boulder, Charleston SC, more	136
Part III	Making Media, Making History	139
	The Velorution Will Not Be Digitized	140
	Reels on Wheels	145
	If You Don't Move I'll Run You Down! (Madison, Wisconsin)	153
	A Well-Camera'd Society is a Polite Society (Berkeley, CA)	156
	Crossing the Pond Underground	159
	Critical (Bike-Not) Snack, a 'zine excerpt (London, England)	163
	An Unknown and Unexpected Prehistory (Ramsgate, UK)	166
	The World of the Bicycle	167
	The Great Bicycle Protest of 1896	175
	NYC flyers and photos from 1972-73	183
Part IV	The Fight for Our Streets	185
	Riding to See	186
	Biciteka in Mexico City	193
	Reclaiming The Streets of New York	195
	Personal History of Portland's Critical Mass (Portland, Oregon)	204
	To the Mass	211
	Austin Critical Mass: Then and Now (Austin, Texas)	212
	Ride a Bike, Go to Jail! CM Democratic National Convention 2000 (Los Angeles)	214
	Victorious Critical Mass Lawsuit (San Francisco)	219
	No Space in the First Place (Minneapolis)	223
	Vancouver CM (Vancouver, Canada)	227
Part V	Appendicitis!	230
	San Francisco Critical Mass Glossary	231
	Bicycling Over the Rainbow	235
	How To Make A Critical Mass (Lessons from the SF Experience) 1993	239
	Global Listing of Critical Mass rides	249
	About the Editor	251
	Contributors' Notes	252
	Index	254