@ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite A4. I've been on one of a Critical Mass ride with an "incident". But, the fuzz turned tail and ran when we cited ORS 814.430 2 (c).

Can't really think of anything that rises to the level of "an incident" ... mostly just humorous anecdotes.

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@ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite A4: seeing a cop pulled out of his police car and shoved up against it by a motorist who was really, really angry about being delayed by Mass. Luckily this is Australia so he survived and may even have escaped criminal penalties.

Similarly, a pedestrian stepped out into mass and punched a cyclist. A velocop. Who very politely picked the pedestrian up, moved them back and suggested they stay there until the cop felt like dealing with them.

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@ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite A4: a mass during an antiglobalisation protest that was so badly managed by the cops that we rode onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Where we were stopped and a guy at the front arrested. About 30 minutes later (felt like hours) he was unarrested and we were asked to please go back into the city and let rush hour resume.

You know it's bad when even the velocops are asking WTF their boss thinks he's doing.

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@ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite

A4. I do remember on CM ride here in Rome where the biggest problem was aggressive people on those big, couch-like Italian scooters, who kept trying to honk through the pack. Someone decided to start circling around the most annoying one, and I joined in as we just went round and round him, to his immense frustration. Luckily, it didn't escalate.

I should add, scooters are often worse than cars here for anti-cycle behaviour.

#bikenite

@ascentale
We've been to a *lot* of critical mass rides around Germany and often helped with corking. Yes, we've had some bad interactions with particularly aggressive drivers (very rarely rising to the level of assault w/ a deadly weapon), but for the most part it's just a big party on wheels.

It took some time to get the coordination with police to work, but it's mostly mutually respectful working together now - thanks in part to support by local politicians.
@bobjonkman @bikenite

@ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite A4. Not that I was involved in originating, but I went to SF Critical Mass in its earlier days. I stopped participating when it started getting a bit aggro - which was 100% a consequence of how the media covered it (and how cops encouraged the media to cover it), IMO.

This happened with punk as well - if news covers it as "Look at this violent movement" when it's just people having fun in the mosh pit, it attracts jocks who like to get violent. #BikeNite

@ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite A4. I haven’t done many group rides. One time, though, on a solo ride through the local countryside I encountered a group ride. We passed each other three or four times (me passing them when they were stopped 🤣) and had some friendly banter that was fun. I caught it on video, and it’s visible in a ride I created in Rouvy 😀🚴‍♀️❤️

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