Critical Mass counter-inauguration bike ride

January 20, 2005
Union Station, Washington, DC, 7:30 am


I had a good time getting ready for this the day before
and had set my bike up with signs that say
"End the War/McBush/Over 1300 Americans Killed" on one
side of the bike and "Ethical Values Matter Too" on the
other. I did this with a box attached to my bike rack,
a trunk bag to sit inside the box and hold it in place,
and a lot of clear packing tape to waterproof it.

There was a small frozen crowd of maybe 40 bicyclists
on this ride. From 7:30 am until nearly 8, we were
hanging out with various media types. It seemed there
were more cameras than bikes, but many CM people were
taking pictures too. I got interviewed twice, with the
most common question I heard from the media being "who's
in charge here?".

I was happy to stumble across two people I already knew,
DT (and his pink Surly 1x1) from the DCAMB yahoogroup,
and Katie who I know from her activism work with HIPS
(www.hips.org).

For the ride there was a police escort, which I gather
is normal for a Critical Mass ride (this was my first
one). There were no big incidents that I noticed;
lots of onlookers were supportive of the CM Anti-Bush
Pro-Bike message. A bunch of folks joined the DAWN
rally/march at Malcolm X park (aka Meridian Hill park
at 16th and Florida, NW). Some of the guys were talking
about finding some brews. I decided that I had done
enough of my civic duty for the day (that and my toes
were frozen), so I headed home.

Summary: I left home a bit after 6:30, did the
media/protest thing and, 4 hours and 19 miles later,
was back in bed with a mug of hot chocolate.