Critical Mask (mass) - Biking Halloween

–Critical Mask

If it’s interpreted as a political event, then any foreigner in it might be deported. Be careful.

Apart from that, riding on scooters (As you do right?) might be more in style for Taipei.

Mr. He.

Mr. He. I fear that Co2 from your new kero heater has damaged your brain. There’ll be a bunch of foreign clowns dressed to the nines zipping around on bicycles on Halloween. I can’t imagine Constable Ah Plod, or any of his mates, will be much interested.

You’re right though. I’ve only got a scoot these days.

Check out Critical Mass. It is a good idea. Think of it as turning Taipei into Pukeing, erh, Peking. Then again, perhaps don’t.

HG

It’s a kerasun heater, which you would know if you had accepted my invitations and biked down here on the old ironhorse.

Damn. I’ve sent that mate of mine an e-mail to get the dirt on those previous massers.

They still have the website but the contacts have apparently dropped off the radar.

http://www.geocities.com/Pipeline/Valley/4231/CMASSTAIWAN/

HG

Huang, do you have a bike? How many foreigners have a bike (apart from the mormons, and I think we have discussed them enough - before you joined, that is)

Quite a few. Check Mother T’s thread on biking in preference to going to the gym as a thin sampling. But then, this event is by no means limited to foreigners.

Good point about my late conversion to Mormondom. The ten wives don’t have bikes either and I’m waiting for the golden tablets to re-emerge and will not have time to spruce up my Raleigh chopper or even dust off the banana seat.

(Thanks and no thanks for that memory Sandman. Its all coming back to me. The gleeful squeels of the rich brats in the neighbourhood as they sped up and down the sreet with the pegged plastic purring away in the spokes, ribbons streaming from the handlebars. I think that single event led to an early life of rabid socialism that I’ve only relatively recently expunged.)

HG

Surely driving a fossil fuel powered scooter defeats the entire premise behind Critical Mass?

From critical-mass.org, criticalmassrides.info/

“It’s a movement … of bicycles, in the streets.”

“Critical Mass is a monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists’ right to the road. The idea started in San Francisco in September 1992, and quickly spread to cities all over the world.”

Mr He… check out www.formosanfattire.com to see the foreign interest in biking in Taiwan.

All right, but I don’t have a bike, so I won’t join you.

While it would be great to zip down the mountain on a nice 10-speed racer, the slow struggle back up is not quite me.

The purpose is worthy, though.

No offence, but I think that today’s taxi driver protest is more likely to have an impact on Taipei traffic.

I agree, so even more reason for a bunch of people not to use scooters in the critical mass ride.

Can anyone let us know what happened at the Critical Masque?

I wasn’t part of it but I just got this in an e-mail from someone who was,

“dismal failure as a critical mass, but a helluva good time for the 25 or so of us - all honkie freaks - that made it. Didn’t exactly stop traffic.”

Fun but no mass by the sound of it. I think they’re going to keep working on it though.

HG

Taichung apparently has a good mass now and then.

Check out www.inorbitt.com

I had really wanted to participate. What could be better than clogging Taipei’s streets with thousands of bicycles, whooping and hollering and acting like clowns, driving bewildered and aggressive drivers into a frustrated rage as they would be forced to just sit and wait. But, we had a company dinner on Friday and I was forced to consume massive quantities of Kaoliang instead. I did look out the window at 7 and notice that it was already getting dark. It should be earlier next time.