PHOTO VIA ORLANDO SHINE READER SHOWING DAMAGE LEFT ON HER CAR AFTER A STUNTING TEEN CYCLIST COLLIDED WITH HER ON EDGEWATER DRIVE
On the last Friday of each month, thousands of local cyclists take to Loch Haven Park to participate in Orlando Critical Mass (Instagram), a group bike ride that takes over the streets and tours through Orlando downtown neighborhoods.
Critical Mass bike rides first rolled out in San Francisco in September 1992 as a grassroots movement to advocate for cyclist visibility and rights in urban areas. The very first ride was organized by a group of local cyclists under the name Commute Clot before being renamed Critical Mass, inspired by a traffic term used in a documentary where bike congestion reached a point that cars had to wait for the riders to pass.
At its core, the movement has never really been centrally organized or officially led, and was deliberately decentralized. The rides have always typically taken place on the last Friday of every month, with participants gathering en masse to ride through city streets. The purpose was partly celebratory, partly political: to reclaim car-dominated roadways, raise awareness about the needs and safety of bicyclists, and foster a sense of community among urban cyclists.
Over time, Critical Mass spread to hundreds of cities worldwide, from New York to Budapest, often with varying tones, some events festive and peaceful, others more confrontational, especially where local governments viewed them as disruptive. Despite occasional tension with motorists or law enforcement, the rides have played a major role in sparking dialogue about sustainable transportation, public space use, and cycling infrastructure. Orlando’s ride has had multiple clashes with local government through the years because the police wanted to have escorts along with the riders to help enforce traffic laws, but because of the lack of leadership, that was almost impossible to arrange.
But that’s recently changed. The local movement has since been adopted by an organization called the Keep Pedaling Foundation (Website), with the following mission.
“Through the transformative power of cycling, we encourage physical well-being while creating a space for individuals to access the vital resources they need. Our mission is to help everyone pedal their way toward healing, resilience, and a brighter, healthier future.”
– KEEP PEDALING FOUNDATION
An incident at the last Critical Mass ride on July 25, resulted in a collision with a vehicle on Edgewater Drive. A few young riders were heading the wrong way against traffic, and one of them ended up crashing into a car as it was trying to get past the crowd. The car’s bumper was damaged, as you can see in the featured photo for this story, but the rider kept going. In fact, nobody stopped to help the driver, and the ride kept rolling by. Watch the video we shared on Instagram to see the incident for yourself.
“This ride is happening RIGHT NOW and I was just hit on Edgewater Drive by a kid who was on the opposite side of the road COMING AT ME WHEN I WAS BASICALLY STOPPED because several others had come at me and then broke away before they hit me!! This kid ACTUALLY HIT ME!!! Going fast enough to knock the bumper off of my brand new car!!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY BULLSHIT!! I’m a cyclist and I have been a staunch supporter of this ride in the past but THIS IS OUT OF CONTROL!! I flagged someone wearing a “safety” vest who was with the ride, told him what happened and he shrugged and rode off. This is ON YOU, Critical Mass!If you saw this — a bunch of people did and NO ONE STOPPED, which makes me believe this is a normal occurrence for them — please let me know!! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK!”
– VIA FACEBOOK
The driver told Orlando Shine that she made a report to Orlando Police, who told her the only option she had was to file a hit-and-run crash report, but that wouldn’t look good on her record. The damage to her vehicle would be under her deductible, and she told us it wouldn’t make sense to involve her insurance, so she’d have to pay for it out-of-pocket.
We reached out to our official attorney, Moe DeWitt of JustCallMoe Injury & Accident Attorneys (Website), to see what he thought of the situation.
“Based on the video, the cyclist is clearly at fault for riding in the wrong lane, which directly led to the crash. While cyclists have every right to be on the road, they must also follow the same traffic laws as motorists to keep everyone safe. It’s a miracle this reckless cyclist wasn’t seriously injured.”
– MOE DEWITT, JUSTCALLMOE.COM
A representative of Keep Pedaling Foundation reached out to us after sharing a video of the incident who shared that they were in the process of trying to fix the ride.
“We have found the child who did this, so now we are working on trying to locate his parents strategically. We just took over Critical Mass and are looking to make major changes starting next month.” When we asked what those changes may be, they shared, “Our first order of business is figuring out ways to get rid of the kids since that is the bulk of the issues. It’s definitely going to take time and we will need support of the community.”
As a former Critical Mass rider myself, and someone who tried to organize post-ride happy hours, I can attest to the difficulty in trying to manage the teens that congregate on the exterior of the ride, showing off their wheelies and seemingly delighting in zooming in and out of traffic. But there was never anyone really in charge of the ride to enforce any sort of decorum before. It was a free-for-all. And that environment is what is drawing these kids to participate each month.
Keep Pedaling Foundation, as the ride’s first official organizer in years, is looking to make some changes in the coming months to make Critical Mass more governable and community-friendly. But with its roots in dissent and protest, that’s going to be a tall order, and it’s ultimately going to fall on the feet of the riders themselves to make the ride what they want. And it begs the question, “Where are these kids’ parents?” And who is liable when riders act up?
