Halloween Critical Mass

This year, I participated in my first Halloween Critical Mass. And a mass it was. A mob almost a mile long of crazy people in costumes on bikes. Blocks and blocks of cars stuck at lights while they changed from red to green to red again. What can I say, it’s the one day a month when the bikers take back the streets. Drivers should know better than to drive on the last Friday of the month in San Francisco.

I broke from the crowd early to head back and put the finishing touches on my costume. I circled back all the way down Polk, rode about 20 blocks and was shocked to see that the mass of bikers was still coming through. As I crossed in front of city hall, a guy in a van that had been probably trapped at that intersection for at least 15 minutes stuck his head out the window.

“You’re making the world a better place!” He shouted at me, a big grin on his face.

It made my night. Yes, I thought, we bikers are totally making the world a better place – saving the city from even more parking problems, traffic and pollution. But how funny that he recognised that on this particular night. The night that, for anyone trying to get anywhere in San Francisco, we were making the city a living hell. But that’s what Halloween is all about, right?