Friday, June 29th
6:30pm
Government Center
150 NW First Street
Downtown Miami
We will be riding through East Little Havana, Miracle Mile, Coral Way, Shenandoah, Little Havana, The Roads, Brickell, and Downtown. The route is available here, total distance is 14.6 miles. It's strongly suggested that you print a copy of the map for yourself in case you are tardy or get lost. The ride stops/ends at The Filling Station, which offers specials on food & drinks for cyclists. It's conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Miami and just two blocks from Government Center.
Don't forget to bring bicycle lights. It's the law!
PLEASE READ & SHARE THIS!
Please read the tips & guidelines to help you understand what is expected of all participants on this community ride. Cyclists ride at their own risk and assume responsibility for their own safety! This is a very big group, look out for one another.
We will be leaving at 7:15pm sharp. If you arrive late you will be left behind, the ride starts & ends in Downtown Miami. Rain or shine!
RSVP on Facebook.
Cue Notes:
The Filling Station will have specials for cyclists including $3 Grolsch beer and a $5 food menu (burgers, wings & veggie wraps), they also have indoor & outdoor seating plus an upstairs with televisions, foosball & air hockey. Bring a bicycle lock if you intend on going inside! See you there!
* Riders are advised to immediately clear the street and not obstruct traffic outside the establishment once we arrive, please move yourselves and bicycles to the surrounding sidewalks and/or parking lot across the street.
A few years ago, as I first started attending Critical Mass rides regularly, well as it may have gone, there was always an emotional letdown when the ride ended.
ReplyDeleteWe'd return to Government center; immediately you could sense the bond we had begun to form begin to dissolve.
Sometimes I'd just go home. Sometimes I'd go with a small group to some place nearby such as Bayside, for food, drinks and conversation.
But either way, that great camaraderie that can come only from a Critical Mass, ephemeral...
Then in early 2010, when the event still only drew a few hundred, this changed.
Rather than end at Government Center, the traditional starting point, the ride ended at the now-closed "BAR" on 14th street.
Here, a large courtyard and an accommodating staff kept the emotion of the event alive, allowing us to both reflect upon and celebrate the night's adventures!
Sadly, the BAR closed a year ago. But since, The Filling Station
http://thefillingstationmiami.com/
, just four blocks from the starting point, has filled this role (pun not intended).
The Filling Station's location, across from a vast, largely empty parking lot provides ample space for the crowd, now regularly estimated at well over one thousand, to stay together for post-ride festivities...
But this location also presents a serious problem that we must address.
S.E 2nd street, the site of this gathering, is a two-lane, westbound, one-way street.
This is the main access to I-95 for motorists leaving the downtown area, the on ramp being at the next intersection.
Having spent the last hour-plus making a statement to the South Florida motorist that they are obliged to share the road with us, what are we, as a group, doing?
We are getting off our bikes (and now as pedestrians) needlessly blocking both of these lanes, so vital to the motorists' rightful use of the road.
We are failing in our own obligation to share the road, badly subverting our own case.
Some short-sighted people seem to revel in this, failing to grasp the implications.
But I suspect the majority are merely being careless. The psychology of the crowd leads each individual to remain out in the traffic lanes, as indeed, if they alone move, it makes no significant difference.
One solution that has been suggested is for a few people to take it upon themselves to prompt people to at least clear one of the two lanes.
Four to six individuals working together could probably accomplish the task.
I'm always reticent to ask for volunteers for corking, given the potential hazards of facing down impatient motorists at intersections for the upwards to ten minutes it may take for the mass to clear an intersection.
But here, it involves facing people on foot. So hopefully, I can count on a few good citizens to step up and ask the crowd to clear the street, thus clearing our good name...
Grand Central Park and The Corner!
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