2004-07-31 - 4:17 p.m.
A Party on Wheels
For the past several months, Cher, Max, and I have been talking about doing Critical Mass, the last-friday-of-the-month bike ride where bike riders take over the city streets to let it be known that bike riders have rights too. Before I met Max and Cher, Chris and I talked about doing it [for the past four or five years].
Each month, Cher, Max, and I get geeked about it and, usually a day before, something always happens to put a kink in our Jones. We talked about doing the July one, but due to sleep deprivation, lethargy, and general ennui, we all flaked. That is, until Max and I found ourselves in the middle of it.
So, we're walking down Wells Street, Max and I, to get our bikes and we see bike riders and we hear music.
"Dude!" Max said.
People were shouting, "Happy Friday!" and waving, and it was just like a parade.
"Let's do it," said I.
We unlocked our bikes from the bike rack we'd locked them to, and we joined the procession.
It kicked ass!
I must admit, I shed a tear or two. It was just like getting a great gift that you'd never expected. And in a way, I guess it was exactly that. If you've never done this (or heard of it), who'd ever think that he or she would get the opportunity to ride a bike in the middle of the street--NOT the bike lane, NOT the "door zone," NOT behind some lame motherfucker who's gonna cut you off at the next corner, but IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GOD DAMNED STREET!
So, the weather is great, music is playing, people are waving, people are shouting, some people sitting in their car are obviously pissed, some people are sticking their hands out of car windows so we could give 'em five--it was a beautiful thing.
I think this was something I really needed. It made me think that the past will always be with us, and great possibilities are still ahead.
