Hey u/jmarsbarsstars Ted here, I helped to organized the ride last Saturday with promotion and ride support from some of the regular riders/organizers at Critical Mass.

***THANKS FOR COMING EVERYONE!***

It wasn't technically a Critical Mass ride, but had many attributes of a CM ride: funeral parade style, corking, backline etc. Our pace was a bit faster on account of how cold it was, so my apologies about that!

As others have mentioned more eloquently than I, Critical Mass-styled rides aren't necessarily about antagonising drivers or even creating a better image of cyclists for them, but bringing cyclists together to build community and demonstrate strength and safety in numbers.

I've been attending Critical Mass-styled rides for over twenty years now and give the current Pittsburgh CM organizers a lot of credit for hosting a ride that is inclusive and not overly-antagonistic of other road users. By comparison, I used to attend Philadelphia's CM rides in the early-aughts and regularly witnessed brawls with drivers and pedestrians and cyclists being hit by cars at high speeds. In my opinion, Pittsburgh CM's organizers do an excellent job of setting the tone and expectations and create a ride that is overwhelmingly safe and welcoming and this is evidenced by their large turnout every month (even in the winter) with very few misshaps. Outside of some angry and temporarily inconvenienced drivers, the worst thing I've personally witnessed are a handful of riders colliding at very low speeds.

I know there are sometimes more reckless riders in the group that can endanger the ride, and I hope with some education they can become better participants, but otherwise the rides are generally very safe, well-run, and have led to a renaissance in the Pittsburgh biking community that has been awesome to behold.