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Whole lot of biking planned for South Boston and the South End tonight
By adamg on Tue, 05/28/2013 - 10:35am
The first Boston Bike Party kicks off at 7:30 tonight in Dewey Square, with the rolling party scheduled to wend through the Seaport, down to Castle Island and then across the rest of South Boston, into the South End and ending by the Pru.
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Damn...
I was all set to make some plans for this evening, but then I re-read the headline. It does NOT say what I thought it did upon first glance: "Whole lot of BIKINI planned for South Boston and South End tonight".
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
In before this blows up
The video and description looks just like the Critical Mass bike rides (which I believe should occur again this Friday). The only difference I can tell is there's a planned map showing in the link versus what the front bike riders decides to lead (and no official political objective unlike CM, but many participants in CM only ride for the fun - myself included).
I rode in those events - though I haven't since I graduated in 2011. I must admit that CM probably didn't made progress towards its political objective as it irritated half the riders (though the other half enjoyed the spectacle).
FUNdamentally different than CM
There are some pretty big differences between Boston Bike Party and Critical Mass. A few noteworthy ones are:
- Planned route
- Starts AFTER rush hour
- Here to celebrate bikes, not create havoc for other road users.
- Front rider will stop at lights (with a group this size not all bikes will make it though in one light cycle, so some intersection blocking may occur)
- A large portion of the route is NOT on streets (Castle Island Causeway, Harbor walk, etc)
- Goal is to have a fun / safe time, nothing more!
"Here to celebrate bikes, not
"Here to celebrate bikes, not create havoc for other road users."
directly competes with
"(with a group this size not all bikes will make it though in one light cycle, so some intersection blocking may occur)"
Hardly Havoc
So you need to wait a bit for them to pass. Don't be in such a rush, or be so grumpy you begrudge other people having fun.
So with your logic...
Any family out for a Sunday drive is creating havoc in the streets?
Sheesh...
Allowed for funerals
Funeral processions and VIP motorcades are allowed the privileged of intersection blocking. Doing this without pulling a parade permit perpetuates the impression of cyclists as spoiled and considering themselves entitled to privilege for whatever reasons.
Hey Kaepplein,
Hey Kaepplein,
WTF is it with you and your broken record? You're like Pavlov's dog. Every. Single. Time. Why is it someone yells "crap" and you rush in on the shovel?
WTF did a cyclist do to you to cause you to be such a single-minded complainer? Did someone take away your toys as child and now you're trying to make someone else pay?
When I see a parade permit for a traffic jam
Maybe I'll listen to your entitlement rant.
Drivers block intersections for me all the time...
Oh, right, pedestrian parts of intersections can be blocked at will, we're not real users of the road.
I'm super excited for this.
I'm super excited for this. Great idea, maybe those CM fools will catch on.
Conflict?
Looking at the Boston Bike Party map, they'll be trying to use the same part of Northern Avenue being used for a charity 5K this evening... maybe they will be just late enough to let everyone run and bike on the same road.
Conflict avoided
Probably because of this, we rode straight east on Summer Street from Dewey Square into South Boston, rather than using Northern Avenue or winding our way around Fan Pier as originally planned. We also did not ride around the Castle Island causeway -- maybe because the group was much larger than expected.
The Boston Police Department was very helpful to the Bike Party, by blocking intersections to keep the group together, as well as occasionally escorting the ride. They also made sure that riders kept to the right rather than overflowing the center line on the narrower two-way streets.
It's a good thing since you didn't since bicyling is not allowed
at Castle Island, only along Carson Beach.