Austin, TX

Free burritos from 11am-5pm at the Chipotle’s at 8th and Congress, as long as you ride a bike. What better way to carb load for critical mass that a burrito filled with beans and rice? Tell ‘em you heard about it in conjunction with Critical Mass and who knows, maybe they’ll do it again!

There are two events for cyclists this weekend:

Annie P. Ride
When: Friday, July 25th, 2008, 6-10pm
Where: Spiderhouse (29th and Fruth)

and:

Critical Mass
When: Friday, July 25th, 2008, 5pm
Where: UT Mall, between 22nd & 23rd Streets

Critical Mass is a monthly bike ride with approximately 50 cyclists but can vary from a handful to a couple of hundred riders. Some see Critical Mass as a social event and a fun ride whereas others see it as a protest against cars to assert the rights of the cyclist. In any event, be cautious if you’re driving near a Critical Mass ride because many riders do not obey traffic laws. There is a feeling amongst many of the Critical Mass riders that traffic laws were written for cars and should not apply to cyclists.

As you can imagine, Critical Mass also has it’s share of critics. In a recent article for the Austin Chronicle, Stephen Moser writes:

Speaking of bikes, my heart began to turn to stone as I was stopped at Riverside and Lamar watching a parade of bikes indulging, presumably, in some form of civil disobedience. What that meant was that dozens of clowns on bicycles took up the entire street and brought most traffic to a standstill. After several minutes of obnoxious waving and smiling from the riders, I was ready to pull a Lizzie Grubman and plow right through them and be on my way. But I was hesitant to rack up a lot of hit-and-run charges against me … and then there would be all that damage to my car. The thing is, all the smiling and waving did not make me sympathetic to the scofflaws’ “cause.” It made me think: “Don’t give bikes the right. Give ‘em the finger.”

Mr. Moser’s article sparked a slew of threats and a reply by Louis Black, not to be confused with the famous funny man, Lewis Black. Mr. Black writes:

The idea behind most actions is to make a statement and spur public dialogue over the relevant issue. Critical Mass is an expression of civil disobedience; thus, in some ways at least, the action is inherently political. Why this is being denied, I don’t know. It may well be to soften legal consequences. This is also fine, and this column is certainly not advocating mass arrests or forceful dispersion.

For more information on Critical Mass, read here.

For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check out this post.

Austin, Tx, Cycling, Bicycles, Critical Mass, Stephen Moser, Louis Black