Critical Mass for Friday, 25 August
Went to IdealBikes after work and took some pictures of bikes, the went on to the Critical Mass at Victoria Park. There were a lot more people there than last month, and just to add to the fun there was a flea market that was just starting to close up as I arrived at 6. I didn't count the numbers myself, but I overheard someone commenting they'd counted up to 60 and lost count.
There were a lot of people there for whom this was their first Critical Mass, it looks like Peter (and his weapon of mass tape dispensation he had attached to his belt with chain) had done a great job spreading the news. Jessie, one of the first timers there commented how Peter had got his bike three times, though he admitted that riding an anonymous CCM bike didn't help.
We set off and rode a fairly winding course, mostly around downtown Halifax past all the bars. There were lots of tourists standing on the sidewalk looking dumbfounded taking pictures, but the people in the bars seemed to take it pretty well, with one wag calling out "more beer less cars". The ride was a little on the slow side, trundling along at 10-15km/hr, although it sped up at the end going downhill on Agricola. We finished at the Citadel, most people left at this point but a few of use went riding round the Citadel a few times.
Martin had organised an afterparty at his house, so I headed back to his place with him, Jessie, Peter, and a few of the other guys. The highlight there was Kwa (I think that was his name) and his fixie; on the freewheel on his flipflop hub he had welded some lengths of chain and wired them together, then put some red LED lights on the hub. The effect was an impressive flickering lightshow when riding, as the LEDs flashed going round the hub with the lengths of chains adding a "double-flicker" effect - a really nice look! I'm tempted to look into doing a simulation to see if it would be possible to create a static image somehow with the same effect on one of my bikes withouth having to use a singlespeed bike. Kwa mentioned that Mark Beaver at Cyclesmith had said he was "going to hell" for doing this, so he decided to name the bike "Heathen".
It started really cooling down at this point, and I was starting to tire after too many late nights and early mornings with the sprog, so I made my apologies and left. I started warming up on the way home, and finally got in around 11.
Martin mentioned that there would also be a "midnight mystery bike ride" on the second Friday in September (the 8th). I might get the hybrid all decked out with lights and attend...
Pictures of the Critical Mass can be viewed here.
Distance logged: 27.116km
Time: 123:04
Average speed: 13.2km/hr
Max speed: 52.9 km/hr
Temperature: 20C-13C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 5183.823km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.43
Monthly distance: 685.298km
Monthly cost per km: $0.24
There were a lot of people there for whom this was their first Critical Mass, it looks like Peter (and his weapon of mass tape dispensation he had attached to his belt with chain) had done a great job spreading the news. Jessie, one of the first timers there commented how Peter had got his bike three times, though he admitted that riding an anonymous CCM bike didn't help.
We set off and rode a fairly winding course, mostly around downtown Halifax past all the bars. There were lots of tourists standing on the sidewalk looking dumbfounded taking pictures, but the people in the bars seemed to take it pretty well, with one wag calling out "more beer less cars". The ride was a little on the slow side, trundling along at 10-15km/hr, although it sped up at the end going downhill on Agricola. We finished at the Citadel, most people left at this point but a few of use went riding round the Citadel a few times.
Martin had organised an afterparty at his house, so I headed back to his place with him, Jessie, Peter, and a few of the other guys. The highlight there was Kwa (I think that was his name) and his fixie; on the freewheel on his flipflop hub he had welded some lengths of chain and wired them together, then put some red LED lights on the hub. The effect was an impressive flickering lightshow when riding, as the LEDs flashed going round the hub with the lengths of chains adding a "double-flicker" effect - a really nice look! I'm tempted to look into doing a simulation to see if it would be possible to create a static image somehow with the same effect on one of my bikes withouth having to use a singlespeed bike. Kwa mentioned that Mark Beaver at Cyclesmith had said he was "going to hell" for doing this, so he decided to name the bike "Heathen".
It started really cooling down at this point, and I was starting to tire after too many late nights and early mornings with the sprog, so I made my apologies and left. I started warming up on the way home, and finally got in around 11.
Martin mentioned that there would also be a "midnight mystery bike ride" on the second Friday in September (the 8th). I might get the hybrid all decked out with lights and attend...
Pictures of the Critical Mass can be viewed here.
Distance logged: 27.116km
Time: 123:04
Average speed: 13.2km/hr
Max speed: 52.9 km/hr
Temperature: 20C-13C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 5183.823km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.43
Monthly distance: 685.298km
Monthly cost per km: $0.24
posted by steve at 8/26/2006 07:25:00 am
3 Comments:
Check it out:
lights
Joe posted that on bikingtoronto. I haven't seen it real life, but it looks like a fun project.
Hi!
I was just wondering if you knew when the next critical mass in halifax will take place? I'm just living 45 minutes outside the city and would love to take part!
thanks,
Julie
Critical Mass is the last Friday of every month, so it'll be the 27th of October. There's also a midnight mystery ride planned for (I think) the 13th which I'll post about closer to the date, but if you're 45 minutes outside Halifax that might be pushing it a bit!
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