Prince George Critical and Kidacle Mass 2014

Spring has arrived in Prince George, and so has Critical Mass.  And now there is another fun ride, Kidical Mass.  Kidical Mass was started in Eugene Oregon, in 2008.

Both of the first rides of the season held on the last Friday and Saturday of May, had similar amounts of people.  Not tons, but the usual 8-10 people.

Critical Mass in July

On Friday, July 27, it was Critical Mass night in Prince George.  It's really like the Critical Few as we don't get lots of people attending.  A lot of UNBC students participate and they are gone away for the Summer.  We did have a student from Spain join us though, who is working at UNBC for the Summer.  But I will say that some people always show up, so I am never the only one at the meeting place.  Word apparently gets around.  If you are from Prince George, I encourage you to join us on the last Friday of each Month (except in Winter from November to March) at 5:30pm in front of the Civic Centre.  Let's show Prince George how important cycling infrastructure is!  And how important Cyclists are.

Upcoming Critical Mass - July 27, 2012

It is Critical Mass time again. It's a great time of the year to meet up. Don't forget to invite your friends! I hope to see a good sized group come on Friday night as it's so nice outside. It would be so awesome!

We meet in front of the Prince George Civic Centre at 5:30pm on Friday, July 27th, 2012. We will depart at 5:40pm.

We will hang out at Nancy O's afterwards if anyone is interested.

Riding along the Nechako- May Prince George Critical Mass

Reminds me of Google car, but on a bike.

The last weekend of May, and the weather was awesome!  It was also going to be a busy weekend for me.  It started with the local Critical Mass ride on Friday night.  Although Bike to Work Week started on May 28, it was still part of the scheduled events on the local Bike to Work week website.

April Critical Mass- the beginnings of Spring

The last Friday of the Month had arrived and it was time for another Critical Mass.  I took over Adrian's job of advertising it on Facebook.  I was so happy to see a few riders show up!  It was still cool outside and rain was threatening us.  A total of 8 attended, so it was not too bad a turnout.  I am sure that we will get more when it warms up.  One person just missed the ride, so I was kind of sad, but I'll make sure she knows about the next one when it comes up.

Critical Mass- The Community Garden Tour Edition

Despite still being under the weather with a cold last night, I joined the first Critical Mass of 2012.

2011 Halloween Critical Mass

I see a magical Unicorn!

10 people showed up for the last Critical Mass for the Season. As it's much colder outside, I didn't expect the amount of people that we had last month.  Four of the group wore halloween costumes.  My favourites were the Unicorn (which looked like a smart thing to wear on such a cold night) and the Zombie in the Yellow Dress.   I think that the Unicorn got us a lot of honks and support.

September 2011 PG Critical Mass

I finally made it another Critical Mass in Prince George.  I've missed riding it since Spring as I've been busy and was away a lot.  Although I missed the one in August simply by not thinking about it until it was too late

Critical Few

Tonight was this Month's Critical Mass.  I came just before 5:30pm and no one was there!

But soon enough, 2 people showed up.  Jillian, who is the President of the local Cycling club and also runs the upcoming Bike to Work Week.  And Arthur, who was here for his first ride.

We rode for about 1/2 hour, and even though there were only 3 of us, we took up a lane.  People in cars weren't too excited about that!  That's the Rebel side of me.  ;)

I don't consider tonight's ride a failure as SOME people did in fact show up!  I got to put some of the little adverts that I have laying around on some bike racks, and on bulletin boards before the next ride to give the ride some publicity.  Thanks to Jillian and Arthur for making it happen tonight.  Hope to see you next month!

Spring Return of Critical Mass

The last Friday of April brought the return of the Prince George Critical Mass.  I arrived at the meeting place by 5:15.  I was just about ready to give up and go home at 5:30 meeting time, when all of a sudden, people started showing up!

August Critical Mass

After missing July's Critical Mass, I was back at it!  Like the one at the end of June, it wasn't too big, this time there were 7 or 8 of us.  It's nice to see though that there are always some people showing up for it, and there was at least one other that has been to them regularly.  There were a few people that I missed, but maybe they are on holidays as it's still Summer.  Hopefully they'll be back in Sept. Critical Mass.

We biked around town for a bit..

Then we biked a big section of the heritage trail that follows the Fraser and the Nechako Rivers.  We stopped for a break near where the Nechako feeds into the mighty Fraser.  It threatened to storm, but never did.  I brought my rain gear just in case!

The lady with the orange bags with yellow stripes made those bags using old workers safety wear.  Looks pretty durable!  They clip on like most panniers which makes them very practical.  What a neat way to recycle!

June Critical Mass

Once again, Critical Mass is upon us!

There was an even smaller turnout of 10 this time.  I suppose as it is the Summer time, many people are away on holidays.  It is a smaller centre that I live in, so we won't ever get the numbers that big cities do.

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I noticed this new bag on one of the rider's bikes.  She says it is made with recycled tires.  What a wonderful way of recycling stuff, and it looks like the bag holds a lot too.

I finally got around to decorating my bike for the ride.  I rushed over to the local Dollar Store just before it and bought some stuff to put on my bike.  I like the Go Green sign I found there!

When I first got the bike I had a bad habit of 'chipping' the paint with my lock..I'm more careful now, but to help me feel better, I put stickers over them.  I also put other stickers to balance the other stickers on my bike and to personalize it.

Above: I took the group on the Heritage trail which is near where I live.  There were some hills which got some of the riders off guard and they had to walk up it.  If you know there are there, you can build momentum before you start going up so you can make it up all the way without getting off your bike.  It's a nice ride in that trail and if I am going to park, it's much more fun biking on the trail to there then going on the road.

By the Via Train station, we picked up a bike tourer.  He had taken the train from Jasper because he got sick a few days ago while touring.  He was biking from Winnipeg. It turns out that he knows a few people on our ride.  He came with us to the restaurant we like to frequent after the ride.  He has a custom Surly Long Haul Trucker with a nice Brook's saddle!  Recently, I saw another custom one that someone just bought at Ruckus Bike shop in town , also with a Brook's saddle.  I think they must be good touring bikes, the one I saw at shop had more spokes then normal and 27 speeds which is better for going up Mountain passes.

All in all, a great evening of riding and socializing!  I got to skip July's Critical Mass because I'm on my own adventure, but I will be sure NOT to miss the one in August.

Decorating my bike for Critical Mass helped me complete yet another event in LGRB Summer Games.  I've never had so much fun participating in an event.  Thanks again to Dottie and Trisha for organizing it!

May Critical Mass and Social Cycling

Tonight PG had its Critical Mass ride.  I was hoping for more riders, but it was still an ok turnout.  I've been making sure to post adverts on bikes and to mention it to other bicylists when I can.

I am not sure how many came today, maybe around 16?  Still, good times had by all.  Someone brought balloons, so we would stand out more.  That was a great idea!  I was thinking about decorating my bike, but never got around to it.

The guy below has almost the same bike and the exact same tires.  He has 5000 kms on the tires, so I know how long mine will last now, till next Spring..then I will replace them.  Good to know!  I first met him at last year's Bike to Work Week.

I only took photos at the beginning meeting  point as then after, my camera batteries soon died. (!)  I should remember to change them.  :)

And there I am in the background...blue fleece top.  On the left,with the green helmet, is Jillian, who organized PG's Bike to Work Week on her own with the help of the City..Bike to Work Week starts on Sunday.

With the ride tonight, I have completed another LGRAB Summer Games event.  Woot!  After the ride, we went to to some nice bar/restaurant downtown.  It's a pretty new place and I like it.  I will be back..this was my first time there.  Anyone reading that was on the ride remember what the place was called?  It's not in the phonebook yet.   Thanks to all that join in on the fun! See you next month.  (we really need another group ride- tweed ride anyone?)   I'd have to buy some Tweed, mind you.  :)

Critical Mass- Prince George

Good turnout for the event, 26.  Not big, but not bad for a first time in Prince George.  Well, for a long time, they did apparently used to have them before, but I didn't know that until after the fact.

There was some nice bikes including a chic cyclist!  Yeh!  It's about time... :)  She said she found it at a garage sale in pretty good shape.

Even some children towed along, which was great!  They really enjoyed the ride.

Now it was time to start the ride..leaving the Civic Centre/Library area, which was a nice bike friendly place to meet.  And oh look, someone brought some flowers along!  :)

We even tried out the local skateboarding ramp.

I can't wait till the next ride, the last Friday of May.  Come and join us, and have some awesome fun!

Critical Mass and Hiking Meeting

Tonight's a busy night, with both Critical Mass AND the Hiking Club's Spring meeting.  So not much time to post.  Hope everyone has an awesome Friday night!

Critical Mass Returns

Critical Mass returns to PG!  I've never been to one, but now I've got a chance.  It's a mass bike ride held all around the world like this one in San Francisco-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7-MxK8AvHI.

Ours will be tiny in comparison, but fun nevertheless.  Mass bike ride!  So looking forward to it.  If you are interested, it's the last Friday's of the month, at 5:30pm.  Spread the word!