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Rock Hard, Ride Free
Posted by Chris on 07/04/06 (Shite)
Winnipeg Police Services Press Release June 29th/ 2006:
“The Winnipeg Police Service Bicycle Patrol Unit will ensure the cyclists safety by escorting participants during the Critical Mass June 30th, monthly ride…”
Ha! Ha! Ha! Nice back-pedalling (pun intended) you stupid, stupid, lame, lame idiot cops. First you beat bike-awareness demonstrators, now you “ensure” our “safety”? Thanks, but last Friday made it evident that cyclists in Winnipeg need neither your protection nor your permission when they come together and stick together to peacefully demostrate for sane urban transit in a time of global warming, peak oil and a world at war for control of fossil fuel.
Hundreds (and hundreds) of Winnipeggers showed up to Central Park on human-powered transportation of every shape, size and style to ride in solidarity on a spontaneous route through the downtown Winnipeg at the height of rush-hour. I guess we owe a debt of thanks to the stupid cops for inadvertently rallying the citizenry to action through their abuse of authority at previous demostrations. Thanks dumb-asses! Back to the drawing board for stupid, stupid cops trying to crush bike-awareness, eh?
Next ride: July 28th/ 2006. Meet at Central Park, 4:30 pm. Let’s sustain this shit.
Much respect to those who rode in the much less well-attended (and much more targeted) demonstrations before June 30th. Cheers to you. Every cyclist in Winnipeg owes these people a debt of thanks for getting the mass rolling.
24 fragments of dialogue thus far ...
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Comment by tom on July 4th, 2006 at 12:47 pm:
i guess critical mass is stuck betwen trying to get the word out about the rides while trying not to attract the cops. i guess secret locations wouldnt really start.
i think that there should be a contingent amongst critical massers who’s mandate should be to consume hoards of red kidney beans before the ride. said contingent should hover around the rest of the riders next to the police “escort” and just fart away like there’s no tomorow. at least make it pleasant for the pigs.
Comment by Kyle on July 4th, 2006 at 6:24 pm:
I don’t know why, but I have a really hard time believing that police would want to attack cyclists. I mean, I saw the video(s), but I didn’t see what they hoped to accomplish.
I just don’t get it. I don’t even know where to begin.
Sustain the hell out of that. Good luck.
Comment by Yaniv on July 4th, 2006 at 8:19 pm:
The land to the peasants, the factories to the workers, and the streets to the cyclists. Hehe.
Comment by passingthrough on July 5th, 2006 at 10:03 am:
(to kyle)
they wanted to provoke the riders to defend themselves, so the police could say the cyclists were rioting and start arresting people. this was obviously a ploy to cast criticalmass in a bad light.
there was something about pressure from big business and them being sore about self-propelled transportation, i didn’t catch all of that.
Comment by poo on July 6th, 2006 at 7:26 am:
I’m fucking sick of myself. i constantly swagger and grandstand on this blog and then apologize for it later.
Comment by poo on July 6th, 2006 at 9:42 am:
did i mention i am a needle-dicked bug-fucker?
Comment by Glen Johnson on July 6th, 2006 at 10:08 am:
I live in a city where no one bikes and poor drivers are far more of a danger than thick-necked douche bag poor-lice. I love the idea that people are coming together around the issue, but I can’t help but wonder the kind of change that would take place if all of these brave people stood up and got active in campaigns that are far more effective for the environment. Going vegan, for instance, reduces total emissions by an outrageous amount, and a recent Cambridge study concluded that going vegan is far better for the environment than switching to a Hybrid or Bio-diesel vehicle (biking is clearly better, but most of y’all have cars as well, just admit it). I know I know, everyone has their issues that they care about, but I can’t help but wonder why progressives refuse to think big picture on environmental issues, and then make small changes (like biking more) to that end. Peacefully demonstrating against insane oil consumption is a must, and certainly worthwhile, but if you’re buying animals’ flesh, you might as well be driving an 18 wheeler around for a few days, dumping crude oil out the window as you go.
Comment by tom on July 6th, 2006 at 10:34 am:
a mosquito?
Comment by poo on July 6th, 2006 at 11:13 am:
I’ve lost my virginity to a dung beetle.
Comment by C-Wipe on July 6th, 2006 at 11:24 am:
i don’t know who is editing people’s posts or how you’re doing it, but as funny as it is, please stop it.
Comment by poo on July 6th, 2006 at 9:02 pm:
Thats funny chris very funny. As much as I love you. I have lost all respect for propagandhi and you can now take that ride in dexter hollands jet you stupid fuck
Comment by Black Oak Arkansas on July 6th, 2006 at 10:25 pm:
Are you on medication by any chance Poo?
Comment by rise on July 7th, 2006 at 12:48 am:
im going to be there in time for the next ride.
more importantly, hahahahaha… you said dung…
Comment by D-Rock on July 7th, 2006 at 9:24 am:
Yet more evidence of car culture insanity folks.
Comment by tom on July 7th, 2006 at 1:48 pm:
haha ok fine, context:
i drive a car to get to work, in fact to get anywhere. i live on the border between rural and sub-urban quebec. montreal, the city which i live close too, has probably one of the worst public transit systems in the world. also famous for insane drivers who have no respect for non-drivers, this city is not safe for cyclists.
i also drive a cube van for a job, spending over 200$ on gas per week. thats like 200 litres. my boss has no intention of converting to bio-diesel. and here’s where my point comes in.
if an individual does all possible to reduce emmissions, yet governments and buisness owners do nothing at all, how can we expect change? it’s a global problem and it requires a global solution, no?
i find that buisnesses and politicians seem to go green as soon as they realize lucrative advertising or revenue potential. green is a better color to paint your corporation with. do you get what i mean? the powerful will only become enviromental if it serves their interests, with a few rare exceptions.
thats why i think critical mass is so important, and violence against hummers is called for.
thats hummers, not humans.
Comment by tim on July 7th, 2006 at 7:49 pm:
I live in florida and i ride my bike to my first job(1 mile their and back…so it only makes sense)probably could walk but riding is fun.Then to second job later in the day(5 miles round trip).But here it rains and hurricanes…00000000 about 5 months a year so sometimes it takes a little extra ummpph
Comment by tim on July 7th, 2006 at 7:51 pm:
doesnt florida look like a giant wiener.
Comment by Yaniv on July 7th, 2006 at 9:03 pm:
Vicariously, I understand what you mean, Tim -I live in South Florida. Living in a suburbian wasteland, isolated from the city’s downtown area - where I work - I’m left with no options but resorting to burning more carbon monoxide and depending on refined petroleum for transportation. Thus, whenever I can, I use my local public transportation system, despite its inefficiency and unreliability.
Yearly, following the devastation wrought by hurricanes, I witness the entire city of Miami being driven to wait impatiently for long hours for gas replenishmnets; people viciously attack each other as they wait in lines. Ominously, if affluent westeners do not change their over-consumptive, materialized lifestyles, I can’t help but conceptuatlize a bleak future of scarcity and endless fucking chaos.
Comment by drew on July 7th, 2006 at 10:55 pm:
suburban (urban? both!) sprawl makes it so some people are left with little choice other than to use a car. its definitely a predicament . i like to try and make sure my life is arranged so i can walk/bike/mass transit as much as possible. there are a lot of people where there’s no excuse for using a car but we’ve just come to rely on them so much since we were born, its like we forgot we can ride bikes and walk and stuff to get places. plus! riding a bike is so much more fun. that coupled with our busy as fuck rat race culture etc, etc makes for having little time to spend using other modes of transportation that may take more time. however, if people did walk and bike more, they could cancel the montly membership at the gym and kill two birds with one stone and wouldnt have to make time for exercise since it would be incorporated into your daily life. ok enough ranting. sorry for so long.
sustain the fuck out of critical mass, all the world over!
Comment by 4130Punk on July 16th, 2006 at 9:44 am:
I live in Toronto and everyone should blow up their cars and ride their bikes. I bike to work (almost) daily (when it’s raining I’ll take the subway) and it’s a 20km round trip. A co-worker of mine lives in Mississauga and it’s a 120km round trip and he does it everyday (it takes him about 3 hrs). I get e-mails from people asking about safe routes to get from Ajax to downtown and that’s atleast 50km, one way. Cycling is a viable, healthy, and environmental alternative no matter how far you live from your workplace.
As for “if an individual does all possible to reduce emmissions, yet governments and buisness owners do nothing at all, how can we expect change? it’s a global problem and it requires a global solution, no?” that Tom brought up; NO, it does not require a global solution. Governments get elected because they are popular (just like Canadian Idols) and if cycling becomes a major issue, they will implement cycling policy or else they’ll lose their plush jobs in the seats of power. And businesses will also follow suit or else they will have either no workforce, no consumers, or both. I know of many businesses that have install safe, indoor bicycle parking as well as shower facilities for cyclists.
As for the Critical Mass, I have yet to attend one of these events (mostly due to ignorance) but they happen on the last Friday of every month at 6:00pm and they start at Bloor and Spadina. I do not believe there has been in police repression at these events in almost 10 years but I do know that SUV drivers get very upset!!!
As drew said “sustain the fuck out of critical mass”
Comment by Pidgey on July 16th, 2006 at 4:36 pm:
I cycle through London every day, and in the past six months I have been knocked off my bike three fucking times.
The last time was quite bad, but luckily (?!) the car behind me was actually an ambulance. Man, there was a blood dripping everywhere. For the third time it was a dick head driver driving like a fucking dick head (with his fucking iPod in his ears).
After that I got The Fear and had to walk/tube /bus it. Anyway, I’m together now, and this crazy old man at work fixed my bike for me.
Cycle the fuck out of everything. Spread the word and keep clear of dickheads in cars/vans/bendy-busses and motorbikes. I love my bike.
Comment by tom on July 19th, 2006 at 8:16 am:
yeah i agree with you, 4130punk. but didn’t you just illustrate a global solution: governments actually implementing cycling infrastructure? buisnesses following suit. you see, it sounds like much less of a problem the more we talk about people and institutions actually working for change. you’ve proved my point.
Comment by Stefan on July 28th, 2006 at 5:14 pm:
http://www.truthmovement.ca/
new canadian based website fighting the new world order and the globalist agenda…… support is needed …
Comment by Aaron on July 29th, 2006 at 11:36 am:
I’m afraid I need to stick with public transportation and walking… as sad as this is to admit I never learned how to ride a bike when I was a kid and I’m too embarassed to try now.