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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2002/09/28/MN228486.D
TL
                  Cycle of conflict 
                  Boisterous Critical Mass bicycle
                  ride caps S.F.'s timid first attempt
                  at a car-free day 


               Saturday, September 28, 2002 


                  The larger-than-usual turnout for the 10th anniversary
                  celebration of the Critical Mass ride raised spirits
                  among bicyclists and blood pressure among
                  motorists, some of whom idled in traffic for 20
                  minutes or longer. 


                  Police arrested about a dozen people during the ride
                  Friday, topping off a day of combustion-engine
                  disdain in San Francisco that included the city's first
                  official Car-Free Day. 


                  The arrests were for everything from assault to failing
                  to disperse, police said. Several riders suffered minor
                  injuries. 


                  The two-wheeled throng -- estimates by police and
                  organizers ranged from 3, 000 to 5,000 riders -- got
                  so thick when it hit Union Square that some cyclists
                  had to walk their bikes past tourists snapping
                  photos. As the riders cruised through the Tenderloin,
                  residents opened their windows and toasted them.
                  Police said riders stretched nearly 40 blocks at one
                  point. 


                  When the crowd hit 18th and Dolores streets, near
                  the end of the ride at around 8:30 p.m., more than
                  200 riders remained in the intersection, locked in a
                  stare-down with three dozen police officers wearing
                  riot helmets and holding batons. After about 30
                  minutes, tension eased and the police walked away. 


                  Even though Critical Mass has occurred on the last
                  Friday of every month for the past decade, some
                  motorists were caught unaware. Or just didn't care to
                  celebrate. 


                  The driver of a Lincoln Continental near Larkin and
                  Ellis streets didn't wait for the riders to pass. He
                  inched forward, knocking over a cyclist. The rider
                  picked up his bike and slammed it on the hood of the
                  driver's car. The driver emerged, and got into an
                  altercation with the cyclist, who suffered a bloody
                  nose. 


                  Others motorists were frustrated, like the woman who
                  got out of her car that was stranded on Steuart
                  Street, three cars back from the parade of passing
                  bikes. She walked toward the intersection of Steuart
                  and Howard crying and screaming at passing
                  cyclists. 


                  "I'm pissed," said the woman, who declined to give
                  her name. "It's costing me $10 for every five minutes
                  I'm late picking up my daughter at day care." 


                  Matt Gabard, 27, of San Francisco was stuck in his
                  SUV for 20 minutes near the corner of Mission Street
                  and the Embarcadero. Passing riders yelled, "Get
                  out of your car," and "How much does it cost to fill up
                  that thing?" 


                  "Yeah, I'm a bit frustrated," Gabard said. "It's a bit
                  rude. I feel antagonized. As far as the whole bike
                  thing goes, they ought to be working with us
                  (motorists). They're too adversarial." 


                  Some drivers didn't treat the anniversary celebrants
                  too kindly. The passengers in one SUV cruising
                  down the Embarcadero unimpeded by the cyclists
                  rolled down their windows, yelled obscenities and
                  flipped off the riders. 


                  Rudeness went two ways. A driver got out of his idled
                  car near Mission Street and Embarcadero to jaw at
                  riders. After he climbed back in, three cyclists sat on
                  his hood to make sure he didn't try pushing into the
                  throng. 


                  The scattered scuffles belied the upbeat vibe that
                  hummed under the preride gathering at Justin
                  Herman Plaza. 


                  BICYCLING FOR 'JOE NORMAL'


                  Claudia Eyzaguirre dressed in a silver lame top,
                  black miniskirt and silver tights to celebrate the
                  anniversary ride. "(Critical Mass) has shown that
                  bicycling is not just for sideshow freaks," said the
                  26-year-old Berkeley resident. "I mean, we look like
                  freaks, but that's just us. Most of these people are
                  just Joe Normal." 


                  Like George Wesely, 35, of San Francisco, who
                  pulled his 7-year-old son on a trailer bike behind him
                  for the youngster's first Critical Mass. And Sarah
                  Kaplan, 23, who came from Chicago with six friends,
                  and passed out tiny cartoon books a pal drew.
                  Others wore stickers reading, "Help Prevent Death --
                  Stop Driving," and some wore banners opposing
                  military action in Iraq. 


                  "This is amazing," said Chris Carlsson, one of the
                  founders of Critical Mass, as he surveyed Justin
                  Herman. 


                  Earlier in the day, Carlsson was tossing a Frisbee at
                  high noon in the middle of Montgomery Street, which
                  was closed off to traffic for the city's first Car-Free
                  Day. 


                  Well, sort of closed off; local merchants pressured
                  city officials to open three streets of traffic to cross
                  Montgomery Street. The event wasn't totally car-free.
                  Mayor Willie Brown, for one, tooled around
                  Montgomery in one of several electric cars on
                  display. 


                  "It's alternative transportation day," Brown corrected.
                  "And that's not a car. That's a golf cart." 


                  Police estimate that the car-free celebration drew 150
                  people who wouldn't ordinarily be walking along
                  Montgomery between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. People like
                  an inline-skating Elvis impersonator and two women
                  driving giant battery- powered pink bunny slipper
                  cars. The born-in-San Francisco monthly ride through
                  rush-hour traffic has spread to 300 other countries. 


                  And the link between Car-Free Day and pink slipper
                  cars is . . . 


                  "Wouldn't you like to wear your slippers when you
                  drive to work?" said slipper driver Lisa Pongrace.
                  When it was pointed out that it would probably be
                  more hygienic to wear slippers while driving rather
                  than on Muni, Pongrace said, "Oh, that's sooooo
                  20th century." 


                  MOVEMENT'S BABY STEPS


                  Every movement -- and that's what San Francisco
                  Supervisor Sophie Maxwell called Car-Free Day at a
                  Commonwealth Club transportation gathering Friday
                  morning -- starts with baby steps. First, Maxwell
                  said, you've got to get people to think differently
                  about public space. 


                  That might be difficult. Even though Montgomery was
                  closed to cars for nearly four hours, many people
                  continued to cling to the sidewalks. 


                  Some riders are still pondering what the day all
                  meant. 


                  Jonathan Zwickel, 27, was overwhelmed by his first
                  Critical Mass. "It's much more than I expected. I
                  thought I'd be going on a little ride. This is a
                  statement. No, it's an exclamation." 


                  Unless you're in a car. Then it's an expletive.