Critical Mass! 11 25 11

Critical Mass!

• Date: November 25th 2011
• Time: 5:30 pm
• Location: Underneath Burnside bridge on the westside, by naito parkway

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Purpose

November 2011 Buy Nothing Day

Critical Mass in November coincides with the day after Thanksgiving--known in the popular press as "Black Friday," i.e., the biggest shopping day of the year, and known in more progressive circles as "Buy Nothing Day," a day to relax in your pajamas all day, watch movies, eat leftovers with friends, work on handmade holiday gifts--or at the very least, a day *not* to drive out to the big boxes and trade punches with six hundred desperate strangers over the last $388 laptop. Critical Mass Portland converged in an anarchically unorganized fashion to share bagels, bananas, cookies, friendly chat, even a bin of spare change where you could leave some or take some depending on your means. We didn't buy anything--and some of us went out afterward and liberated perfectly good food from NE Portland garbage bins.

* 5:30pm - Meet up underneath the Burnside bridge.
* 6:00pm - Get your ride on!

Bring your bike, your friends, your lights, and your biggest smiles!

Critical Mass is:

• A leaderless, spontaneous bike ride through the streets of Portland (and hundreds of other cities worldwide)
• A time to ride your bike without fear through busy downtown streets
• A great way to meet other bicyclists, pass out fliers, learn about other events
• A meandering celebration of bicycling
• Something different for everyone
• Family-friendly
• A visionary projection of what our future might look like

Critical Mass is not:

• Dangerous, violent, threatening, or exclusive
• A place to buy, sell, or capitalize
• Planned in advance
• A race to the finish

You will want to have a white front light and red rear light / reflector in order to avoid getting a citation. If you ride to antagonize motorists, please choose another time / place, some of us have worked very hard to reduce and mellow the police presence.

Critical Mass meets every month, last Friday, 5:30P (departing around 6:00) from the North Park Blocks (NW Park and Couch, by the elephant)

Other details
Critical Mass rides have been perceived as protest and intimidation activities. Organizing the rides and communicating the desires and problems of the cyclists to the city council is sometimes the goal of the event. In other cases, they are described as "political-protest rides".

Sponsored by Portland Critical Mass. You can join an email group for Critical Mass at https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/pdxcriticalmass

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