Nashville Critical Mass June 2005

You may not realize it yet, but Nashville now has a monthly Critical Mass ride. The event takes place on the last Friday of every month, which in this case was last Friday the 24th. This past Friday marked the second month Critical Mass has hit the streets of downtown Nashville. Word began to spread about this event before the first time it took place, but NashvilleCyclist.com did not fully believe until we saw the pack flying down 21st Avenue towards Broadway back in May.

NashvilleCyclist.com, being an inquiring sort and online community publisher, decided it was best to get a firsthand account of what this newly formed ride is all about. The meeting place this month was at Dragon Park in the Hillsboro Village area. Riders began arriving around 5 PM, but the ride did not take off until 5:30. We are unaware if this is the regular meeting spot, but it is likely this information could be found out through word of mouth or the message board.

If there is one thing learned after doing research on such events it is this ride takes a life of its own. Nobody officially organizes the ride and there is no one person leading the group. It just happens and takes shape as the pedals are pushed. This is mostly due to troubles found with the police or city government if any one person or group organizes the event without receiving a permit and approval. Therefore, if you attend a Critical Mass in any city you will not find a true leader of the event lest they get carted away in cuffs.

NashvilleCyclist.com's experience at this event was 100% positive. Put your pre-conceived notions aside and do not allow yourself to judge the outcome of something without experiencing it first hand. NashvilleCyclist.com was at a loss of words to describe how fun this ride was from start to finish. The expectations beforehand were there could be trouble either within the pack of riders or with the police, but neither came close to happening. What we did see were approximately 30 riders (and one jogging guitarist!) enjoying the streets of Nashville without negative responses from anyone around.

The riders did take up the entire road, only a few wore helmets, but each one was respectful of every motorist and pedestrian along the approximate 3 mile course to Centennial Park. The most surprising aspect was how motorists were responding to what was taking place on their drive home. All drivers appeared to be stunned with laughter at what they were witnessing as many were waving and allowing the cyclists to ride without incident. It was not until closely reaching Centennial Park did traffic begin to really back up, but despite that we still did not get any belligerent drivers demanding to get riders out of the way.

After speaking with several taking part it is apparent this group of riders want to grow this event. They are looking for more riders to become involved in order to promote alternative transportation, and to help create a greater awareness of bicycles on the streets of Nashville.

Lastly, NashvilleCyclist.com neither sponsors nor endorses this event, but rather is reporting what is taking shape in the bicycling community of Nashville. We want to make that point clear lest we are the ones ending up in cuffs.

Below are some pictures during the course of the evening. No gallery would be complete without a Bikes of Critical Mass, so scroll down and get an eye full of enjoyment.

By far the most interesting. Johnny the guitarist jogged and led the ride by
playing his guitar the entire ride. This was not a problem for him since he recently
rollerbladed from New York to Philadelphia in 22 hours....with only one rest stop.