A group of about 450+ cyclists attended Friday evening's Miami Critical Mass ride which took them through Little Havana, The Roads, Coral Gate, Shenandoah, Brickell and Downtown. Once again the rain and cloudy skies did not deter these cyclists from their last Friday of the month ritual. Thanks to all the corkers who help keep the group together, the ride go smoothly, although in recent months I've noticed less of them. I want to remind folks to slow down up front, we're not in a hurry to get anywhere and those in the rear cannot always keep up. The whole point is to ride in one large mass, those in the front who continue riding at +15mph only disrupt the flow of the ride and do everyone involved a disservice.
For those unaware, BAR, the establishment we have been stopping at post-ride since February 2010 will be closing down. We'd like to thank BAR for being so accommodating to all the cyclists over the past year and a half.
Next month we will be stopping at the The Filling Station in downtown Miami. Some of you may already be familiar with them from previous Beer Snob Bicycle Pub Crawls. The Filling Station is located just a few blocks from Government Center, they have great food & beer + outdoor & indoor seating. They also have an upstairs area with a foosball table, air hockey and televisions. They will have specials for all the cyclists also. More details in a few weeks.
Here's a video clip from the intersection of Coral Way & 37th Avenue courtesy of Federico.
Check out Beached Miami for more photos.
I think there are two reasons why there are less corkers.
ReplyDelete1. The group is too fast and the corkers have a hard time catching up, especially with such a large group.
2. The group is way too thin in the back and the corker has a hard time keeping cars back when this happens.
I spent most of the evening riding alternative, parallel routes rather than working my way through the group, losing time.
ReplyDeleteSo it was hard to get a feel for what was going on, beyond the pace and cohesion of the group.
The former did seem a bit swift. But there seemed to be good cohesion.
As I rode west on SW 21 Terr., the street north of Coral Way, I saw the group passing through 17th & 22nd Aves. I got the the impression that there was a shortage of corking. But decided to go on to 27th Ave., ahead of the group, to initiate corking there, as the 17th & 22nd Ave. situations were ongoing.
Of the eight or so intersections I corked, I generally found adequate help, particularly along Calle Ocho and beyond.
So perhaps asking for volunteers before hand might help.
I went into this ride with a specific strategy for maximizing my corking contributions. And while the results were somewhat different than the details of my plan, overall, the strategy worked for me...
--The Bikemessenger
ADDENDUM:
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason that the strategy I applied to this ride as an individual cannot be expanded to a cooperative effort...
I corked a bunch of intersections and thought the ride was pretty cohesive. The people towards the back of the May ride seemed to be lagging more than the June ride. Even so, the pace on some of the wider ones was quick. I was unable to work by way back up towards the front by the time there was another intersection in need of corking. I was worring about the turns in Brickell but they turned out to be good. I corked the merge just over the drawbridge on the curve on Brickell/Biscayne blvd. The drivers were extremly supportive and loved it. I can't say the same for the drivers in little Havanna though!
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