Bicycle Austin forum

Jason

Member

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-31

Posts: 48

Website

Critical Mass Ride - This Friday (9/26) - 9PM @ UT West Mall

That's right, the last Friday of the month is upon us and the time has come for another Critical Mass bike ride. UT West Mall at 5pm this Friday. Bring bikes, friends, music makers, costumes, plenty of beverages, bike-friendly pets, and anything else you can think of to turn this ride into a celebration of biking!

Please stay to the right when possible and try not to antagonize cars. It keep everyone happier and safer. There are already plans for an after-party so stick around after the ride for that!

Jason

Chuck_McNeil

Member

Registered: 2008-06-05

Posts: 33

Re: Critical Mass Ride - This Friday (9/26) - 9PM @ UT West Mall

I rode CM today.  The ride was pretty tame.  I'm looking forward to the halloween ride.  I hope it's cool enough for me to wear my costume.  :D

Jason

Member

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-31

Posts: 48

Website

Re: Critical Mass Ride - This Friday (9/26) - 9PM @ UT West Mall

AWESOME:

plarson

Member

Registered: 2008-05-27

Posts: 42

Re: Critical Mass Ride - This Friday (9/26) - 9PM @ UT West Mall

Where was that? And when is the best time to ride on mopac? I think 5:30pm, exit 35th street and go south to Town lake blvd. Weave in and out of stopped traffic.  I'd be up for it.

Jason

Member

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-31

Posts: 48

Website

Re: Critical Mass Ride - This Friday (9/26) - 9PM @ UT West Mall

Oh dude just you wait. That picture was from a guy that DIDN'T ride the upper deck. Prepare to have your mind blown, this video is from ME:

http://vimeo.com/1835832

From a long video shot where I counted 91 cyclists entering and leaving the frame I estimate 120+ cyclists took to the highway. We entered northbound I-35 at MLK and exited at Airport.

I mapped out the majority of the last leg of the ride (I can't do the ride to the final park since it's not in google's maps yet) but of this only about 1.75 miles were on the highway:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2300579

Mopac would be interesting, but I think once is enough for a while. I really don't want to get in trouble.

Last edited by Jason (2008-09-29 13:18:41)

damicoaustin

Member

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-27

Posts: 143

Website

Re: Critical Mass Ride - This Friday (9/26) - 9PM @ UT West Mall

I love it Jason....the music is perfect. The folks at TxDOT will have a fit if they see this! Where were the police?

dougmc

Administrator

Registered: 2008-06-01

Posts: 631

Re: Critical Mass Ride - This Friday (9/26) - 9PM @ UT West Mall

It didn't last long.  Maybe 10 minutes or so?  The police don't usually move that fast, especially when it's not certain there's a problem.

I'm not sure that TxDOT or the police would have a lot to say about it.  I pulled up google's street view, and I don't even see any `no bicycles' signs on the on-ramps to the upper deck -- which would suggest that they're not prohibited.  But maybe there's some law somewhere ... I could have sworn there used to be signs.

(I took the picture you see above -- I decided to take the frontage road.  And to answer plarson's question, I was on the frontage road of I-35, north bound, Just north of MLK.  Right about here.)

As for the best time to ride on Mopac ... trick question!  There is no best time!  There's only bad and worse times!  :)

More seriously, I-35 is typically worse than Mopac at any given time of the day.  Mopac south of Wm Cannon has nice big shoulders, and is pretty reasonable for riding on, and is commonly ridden on by cyclists.  On the other hand, when I ride to work, the best route involves taking Mopac over the greenbelt -- that's the most scary stretch of road I ever ride on.  It's downhill, so I tend to hit 30-35 mph, and it's only 0.6 miles, so it only lasts about a minute, but the shoulder is 9" of gravel, drainage grates and screaming death, then there's a 4' tall concrete barrier, and then a big drop.  And 65-70 mph traffic everywhere.  Not fun, but at least it's over quick.

And yes, great choice of music.

mikelikestoridehisbike

Member

Registered: 2008-09-30

Posts: 7

Re: Critical Mass Ride - This Friday (9/26) - 9PM @ UT West Mall

I love it Jason....the music is perfect. The folks at TxDOT will have a fit if they see this! Where were the police?

I have to say, I was totally expecting the police to be waiting at the off-ramp...but I think ACL had them pretty much focused on the other side of town.