For any one who has ever commuted by bike, skateboard or roller bladed alongside heavy traffic, the critical mass, is a dream come true. A time where the tables are turned on vehicles and riding or rolling through the streets is how it should be, fun, safe, and for the most part free from car exhaust. Not to mention, you’ll be joined by hundreds of other car- free commuters, cruising happily through the streets of the city.

By now your probably still wondering what exactly this critical mass is, why it happens and if your like me the first time I heard about it, when and where can I go!

The critical mass although perceived to some as a protest on wheels, is meant to be more of a celebration of living car free. Calling it a celebration also prevents heavy policing that attend most protests. The first ride took place 15 years ago in San Francisco and has since spread world wide. In smaller cities the numbers can be as low as 20, but in larger cities there have been masses of over 1,000. The largest was estimated at over 50,000 in Budapest this year!

The only organized part of the mass is that it happens on the last Friday of every month at a set central meeting place and time, and lasts about 2 hours. The route itself is improvised, changing each time. The pace is relaxed enough to have a conversation with whomever you might be riding next to at the time, and if you want to move ahead or fall back the crowd kindly lets you. Many participants dress up to add to the event, and bells and cheers are almost non stop. Especially when passing the gracious “corkers” - the people at the front who stop at the cross walks and block it off so the crowd can stick together and ride uninterrupted though red lights. At one point, I pulled of onto the sidewalk to see if my friends were in the crowd. As it turned out they were not in the mass, but after hundreds of bikers passed by smiling, and cheering and being told to “join our cult” I wasn’t feeling lonely at all!

To find out if the critical mass is already happening or how to make it happen in your city go to www.critical-mass.info.com