Critical Manners

If you are a humourless wannabe cyclist who wants to rebel against the renown Vancouver critical mass, this event is for you. Don’t take back the streets, don’t assert supremacy over gas guzzling Hummers, don’t do anything but do what you’re told.

The first Critical Manners bike ride through downtown Vancouver went off this evening in Vancouver, and it was huge fun!
What is Critical Manners? It is a very Canadian response to the Critical Mass bike rides … Critical Manners rides gather as many cyclists as possible to ride through the city … but *politely* … obeying all traffic laws, stopping at lights and stop signs, and generally enjoying a group ride while sharing the road with drivers and pedestrians.
The ride tonight was a lovely mix of about seventy cyclists of all ages and experience levels, carefully and politely wending our way (albeit with more hand-​signaling than I really thought entirely necessary) from Yaletown, through Downtown, and across the Burrard Bridge. A lovely, and very law-​abiding ride. And, for me, as a new cyclist, an opportunity to check my comfort level riding downtown with a big and friendly group.