Critical Ass

I saw this stunt in a wilderness survival movie once.

Once a month, cyclists gather at Balboa Park and ride around San Diego to promote bicycle-powered transportation. Critical Mass is held in dozens of cities around the country, and when it’s large enough—when it reaches a critical mass—the group often blocks the road and ignores traffic rules in order to assert bicycle independence.

Last Friday, someone decided to express his displeasure with the two-wheeler slowdown. The rage occurred on Broadway near the Gaslamp Quarter.

"These two guys in a black Mercedes were talking shit out the window, wouldn’t turn off the road," said one rider, Jody Polk. "They got surrounded by bicycles, making threats out the window. There was some egging on on both sides."

The banter apparently got serious, because, according to witnesses, the two guys jumped out of the car, possibly ready for a fight. But Polk suspects the pair changed their strategy when they turned and saw 100 or so riders coming down Broadway toward them. That was when one of them pulled "a large pistol" and fired it into the air before getting back into the car and speeding off.