YES yes, it's true. The little big city of Aurora, IL actually had a critical mass. A pretty successful one at that.
Now, the turn out wasn't what you'd expect from the Chicago one. Which completely shuts down the loop. But there were about 50 or so people of all cycling abilities. Some out on beach crushers, others on full carbon race bikes, even one tall bike was out there.
The local paper even did a quick write up about the ride. However there were less than positive response from the public on the paper's web-site. Most of the complaints where, "arn't there enough trails already?". True, the whole of the Fox Valley is very spoiled with it's trail system, which will take you from Yorkville, Il to the Wisconsin border. Which I did in the spring if you remember. This was not the point of this ride.
http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/1651790-417/aurora-bike-critical-lanes-mass.html
The point was the cyclist need to been seen and respected on the roads. Illinois law states that a car must give a person on a bike at least 3 FEET. The trail system can't take you every where. For many people, the bicycle is their only means of transportation. Aurora has one of the largest Hispanic populations, and many of them rely on bicycles to get to work to provide for their families, I mean who do you think cooks your food or changes your oil? It ain't white people with 40k SUV's I can tell you that. There are a lot of dumb mother f*#$ers out there, that think it's funny to drive at you! IT'S NOT.
Lets not also forget that at the last turn of the century (1900), the "Rules of the Road" where originally created for cyclists. Back then, the High-wheeled bicycle was in vogue. With the increase in manufacturing, more and more people where riding bikes. Due to the large numbers, they where spooking horses and buggies, laws were then put into place to create some kind of order.
With that said, the next Critical Mass will be on Halloween!
