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This is a real bummer. Critical Mass has always been a tumultuous, yet relatively benign event in San Francisco. If you read the article, you'll see the reason for the eruption of violence, and while the anger may be excusable, the violence simply is not.       I've had my encounters with high-strung parents driving in this city. One time, I was crossing Columbus at Broadway in the crosswalk on a walk and this woman in a Volvo started honking and cussing at me because she wanted to go down Columbus. To which I responded by standing in front of her car and having the following conversation:       "What?!!"       "Get out of the way!"       "No, what's your problem? You honked, so something must be wrong."       "You're in my fucking way. Move!"       "No, let's talk about this."       At that point she drove out further in to the street and a bit in to oncoming traffic to go around me. The cherry on top of all of this is that she had a little kid in the back seat. Lucky kid. What a role model...       Anyways, my point being that drivers are rarely relaxed in San Francisco, but throwing your bike through the back window of someone's car does little to show cycling as a good alternative.

Seeing as how you've got three weeks to prepare for the next one, I think it's about time I mentioned Critical Mass. This is a cool event that is actually not just a San Francisco thing, but a nationwide thing. It alerts people to cyclists rights' to the road by basically legally clogging the streets on the last Friday of each month. In a place like San Francisco, this could be seen as something more of a protest because it has the possibility to cause gridlock, but it is perfectly legal and I think it a very good thing. It crams the fact everyone's throats that there are alternatives to the effin' automobile and people should take advantage of this. Naturally, people don't and we are where we are; polluted skies, gross consumerism, and a war in Iraq.       But beyond this, Critical Mass is pretty cool because a lot of people will dress up for it, honk horns, and have a good time. You might even think of it as a mini Bay to Breakers for bicycles without the booze and every month. I'm glad that I work downtown often again, because they tend to ride there and I had missed it for some time.