One of many reasons I rarely drive across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco is the existence of Critical Mass, a group (that claims it is not an organization) which stages monthly mass bicycle rides through the streets, forcing all other traffic to stop and often behaving extremely obnoxiously. Charmingly, they don't give the public advance warning of their route, announcing it shortly before they begin to ride.I was once inadvertently caught in one of their rides, and endured not just immobilized traffic, but an unpleasant experience of being passed by hundreds and hundreds of cyclists, some of whom shouted curses at me for daring to drive on their streets, and a few of whom thumped on my car. Raw anonymous hatred is always just a bit scary.(By the way, my gasoline taxes pay for their streets and highways. Exactly what financial contributions do bicyclists make toward the maintenance of the public rights of way?)Something along similar lines to my experience, but much worse, happened...(Read Full Post)