Exhibition: “Critically Caroline/Massive Collection”
Sponsor: Caroline Collective
Location: 4820 Caroline St., Houston, Texas
Submission Deadline: January 8th
Exhibition Dates: February 26 – March 18
Eligibility: Working Houston Artist + Critical Mass Cyclist
Medium: Any

THE SHOW

This show celebrates the artwork of Houston Critical Mass cyclists. All work submitted must be inspired by or found while bike riding within Houston’s Inner Loop. Artists should submit work proposals along with the location at which it was inspired. These addresses will be pinpointed on a large-scale map of Houston’s Inner Loop, to reference the origin of each artist’s work. Proposals will be judged on originality, local flavor and critical content.
Send submissions to sladuncan@gmail.com.

THE RIDE

Friday, February 26th, the Critical Mass group will meet at Tranquility Park in Downtown Houston. Riders will meet at 6:30 with the ride taking off at 7 pm. The route will take us around to some of the locations at which the work originated. The ride will end at Caroline Collective around 9:30pm in the Museum District, where the cyclists will get a sneak-peak of the show before it opens on February 27th at 6 pm.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Shannon Duncan by email at sladuncan@gmail.com or by phone at 713-298-7307. We appreciate your support!

This coming Friday, October 30th, should be an interesting ride with Halloween spirit in the air.  Ooo, that sounded scary.  :)  Well, as scheduled, the ride will be meeting at Tranquility park at 6:30pm and hitting the streets around 7.  Come dressed in your awesome Halloween costume if you’d like and anything else you feel like wearing that night.  Should be a crazy ride!

Also, remember to keep the rides safe by respecting the road and the vehicles on it.  We know that some of you hard core riders hate cars and want to destroy them, but save that energy for your next ride through town.  Here’s all we ask from all riders, which will help keep the rides safe and enjoyable for all:

1.  Respect all vehicles on the road.

2.  Stay to the right side of the road when you can.  Please don’t take all 4 lanes when riding through downtown.

3.  THESE RIDES ARE NOT RACES, so everyone please chill and ride at a steady pace.

4.  The rides are usual flow well and we safely go through lights.  However, when it doesn’t appear to be safe to do so, please stop at red lights and keep the gaps closed between pockets of riders.  We don’t want to leave anyone behind.

We’ll see you all this Friday.  If anyone takes photos from the ride, please contact us so that we can get a few to post here on the site.  Thanks.

LOCATION FOR BOTH DAYS:
Winter Street Studios  |  2101 Winter Street  |  Houston, Texas 77007
(off Washington and Sawyer, butted up to the RxR tracks: from Washington, once on Sawyer you will pass up 1 RxR tracks and make a right before the 2nd RxR tracks / drive alongside the tracks)

Presale tickets can be purchased online at www.bicyclejoyride.com with cc or paypal. Cash only at the door.

FRIDAY $7 general admission (do not need your bicycle)
The event starts at 6PM with food, art show, bicycle repair workshop, music (opening reception).
A film will be shown at 8PM.
Once the film is done (9:30-10PM) we will head over to Broken Spoke for drinks, food,etc.

*The Saturday joyride will leave Winter Street at 5PM and costs $5 to participate (need your bicycle)

SATURDAY $7 general admission (do not need your bicycle)
We should return from the ride at 6 ish.
There will be a huge raffle event at 7PM (freebies/donated items).
A different film will be shown at 8PM.
Once the film is done (9:30-10PM) we will head over to Broken Spoke for drinks, food,etc.

www.aurorapictureshow.org
www.brokenspokecafe.com
www.bohemeos.com
www.discoverygreen.com
www.myfitfoods.com
www.pagodabistro.com
www.patgreerskitchen.com
www.projectbicyclefreedom.org
www.urbanbicyclegallery.com
www.urbancreative.com
www.thebykeproject.com
www.tlamarket.com

Visit www.bicyclejoyride.com for all the details.

There’s a lot of buzz about tonights ride with many people bringing new first time riders.  Should be a good night.  If you’re coming out, be sure to be safe on the ride, respect vehicles, enjoy a laid back ride, and remember that this is a casual ride, not a race.  See everyone tonight!

For the most part, the critical mass rides are strictly for fun and a time to get out in mass and simply ride our bikes.  It’s always a good time and so many people look forward to it each month.  But Last week I was chatting with a friend online via Facebook and he brought up a great idea regarding the mass rides.  His thoughts were that if the mass would use its size and influence for “good”, we could make such an impact in this city.  We know not everyone is into “giving back” or donating their time, but what if every once in a while we strategically made a stop at a small mom and pop shop or restaurant and hooked them up with a “massive” amount of business that night.  What if we made a stop at an elderly couples home (scheduled stop of course) and cleaned their yard and did something for them that they could have never afforded or had done without the massive numbers that we brought by.

These are just some thoughts, but because there’s no clear “leader” to these rides, it would take a few of us stepping up and making something like this happen every once in a while.  We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.  Comments please.  See you August 28th.

Hector Garcia - The Byke Project

The critical mass rides that take place on the last Friday of each month are one of the highlights of the month for me.  It’s just very refreshing to meet up with over a hundred people (on a good friday) that have at least one thing in common, and that’s riding bikes.  There’s no official leader, no official route every month, and everything is for the most part, “on the fly”.   But it doesn’t really matter, because everyone there has shown up to simply have a good time and enjoy the ride.

I remember coming out to my first few rides with the mass, and did the ride on my bmx flatland bike.  A couple of friends came out with me and because of our small gear ratios, we pedaled hard through the whole ride, with of course a lot of freestyle tricks along the way.  But because we were having so much fun, it didn’t even occur to us until after the ride, that we had ridden as hard as we did for over 20 miles!  We all felt it in the morning and since then, I’ve decided to never do the ride on that little bmx bike again.  It’s so much more chill to cruise on my mid 80’s fixie conversion, which i do tricks on as well.  Or at least try to.

Making new friends is always key at these rides.  We’ve met alot of great people at the masses and hope to meet more.  People come out with friends, a friend, and many times there are people that come alone.  And don’t forget about the ones that come with their dogs, who enjoy the ride in the comfort of a little basket.  Wish someone would carry me in their basket.  Love seeing dogs at these events though.  But whomever you do or don’t come with, make it a point to reach out and meet new people each month.  It can become so comfortable to stick to your crew, or “clique” in some cases, and not meet new people. We encourage everyone to step out and make new friends.  There are many times where someone who came alone felt so much more comfortable on the ride because someone reached out and welcomed them.

I personally won’t be at the July 31st ride because I’ll be in New Orleans for the BMX Flatland Voodoo Jam.  But if you’re going, have fun and enjoy the ride.  And if you have any links or news that you feel would benefit readers and regular visitors to this site, please send that us.  See you all on the next ride.

Hector Garcia - The Byke Project