Events

Venue

Civic Center Park

Broadway and Colfax Ave.

Denver, CO

303-892-1112

http://www.denvergov.org/

Critical Mass

Date/Time:Last Friday of every month, 5:30pm

Contact Info: | Event Website

Mass Movement

Cyclists clog traffic to spread their earth-friendly message.

Drew Bixby

If you think nothing could be worse than downtown rush-hour traffic, you've never been a motorist stuck behind Critical Mass. Started by San Francisco bike messengers in 1992, Critical Mass is a passive-aggressive movement of bicyclists seeking social change that's reached more than 300 cities to date. On the last Friday of each month, anywhere from six to sixty Denver disrupters block all lanes of traffic and ride together through downtown. Their goals? To encourage drivers to share the road, to agitate for more bike lanes, and to generally be a pain in the ass to the status quo.

"In the beginning, riders weren't letting RTD buses by, and that really didn't go over well," says Shawn Kumar, the unofficial founder of Denver's Mass branch. "Police try to give the bicyclists tickets, and there's always that one motorist that causes problems."

Cyclists interested in this month's ride should meet at the seal fountain in Civic Center Park tonight at 5:30 p.m. Get more information at www.critical-mass.org/.

write your comment