Mission Mission

eddo_likes_you is on the scene:

HOLY SHIT. 20th & Florida, light blue Mercedes just HIT A PERSON and SPED OFF. [Link]

Everyone is outside, ppl are looking out windows, helping. Atlas Cafe folks are out on scene. Someone caught the license plate #. [Link]

Update: Okay, not a person, thankfully, hopefully, maybe:

Ok, heard misinformation. Crazy driver hit several parked cars, I think no ppl tho? No one was hurt? Several ppl got license plate #. [Link]

Here’s hoping this misinformation doesn’t get out and wrongly rile people up — on Critical Mass night.

Great, a week after I spend $70 on lights so that my friends can do Critical Mass with me in Sacramento (where front and rear lights are required by law if riding after dark), SFBC and Muni give away free blinky bike lights. The event goes from 6-7pm tonight at various locations throughout the city. The Mission spot is Valencia and Chavez, in front of St. Luke’s. SFist has the details here.

When we found out Friday’s Critical Mass was all peaceful, we went off in search of one that wasn’t. Over at milkyboots, our favorite Louisville-based webcomic, Virginia (an avid cyclist) tells us about a pal of hers named Pat who had a bad experience in the aftermath of Friday’s ride. Virginia believes Critical Mass is about fun and community rather than messing with motorists, so:

It goes without saying then that I strongly disagree with the Critical Massers who looked up Pat’s address and then went out and SPRAYPAINTED HIS FUCKING CAR. How are we supposed to get anything accomplished if we repeatedly prove to this city what assholes bike riders are? Yes, I know we are better because we ride all the time. So start acting like it. Don’t let your anger control you. If you want to spraypaint something, spraypaint the fucking slaughterhouse. Or McDonald’s or something. People in cars aren’t the enemy.

They’re just cyclists who don’t know it yet.

But wait, couldn’t the slaughterhouse just be a petting zoo that doesn’t know it yet? And the McDonald’s a Gratitude? Read the whole story (titled “Critical Massholes”) here.

A herd/troupe/gaggle – whatever you call a big mass of bikers on a mission – made it over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco last night, to give a talk at the Mission District Sports Basement about what they’re out to do. It’s a good thing: on bicycle, traveling from Vancouver to Tijuana down the entire Pacific Coast of the United States to raise money for microfinancing through Kiva. The basement of Sports Basement was speckled with stars of the microfinancing movement, including the folks who created Kiva, one of the founders of Global Agents for Change, and the Mission District’s own Jess Arnett! The bikers are staying in the Mission for a few days – keep an eye out for people with unreasonably huge thigh muscles – and will be participating in Critical Mass this Friday. They head south on Saturday (San Francisco bikers are welcome to join them for a day or two, if you feel like a challenge).

Since you’re on the internet already, take a look at what GAFC and Kiva are doing. The concepts behind these groups are pretty fabulous, and the microfinancing movement is becoming big news. This is the sort of trend that makes the internet a source of democratic power, and is a potential venue for action that can have help equalize the messed-up global distribution of wealth. Don’t mind the global distribution of wealth? Feel free to point someone towards kiva.org next time they start complaining about it. We live in San Francisco. It’ll happen.