374 back in the saddle


It's been a couple years since I've ridden Critical Mass. This was the smallest one I've been to.

But not the least fun. It was a great ride.


Met up with my buddy the Mighty One, and his buddy, who shall remain nameless. 


It was a chill route, not really looking to take on the world. There were about 30 or 40 of us. We flowed pretty good, but had a hard time taking over the whole street.


Our first destination was the new Crane Park.


Then we buzzed through the Chase Center. The ride started with three motorcycle cops escorting us, but they took off quickly. But somebody must have called the cops on us, because there were two piling out of their patrol car as we left the Chase Center. 


(Why don't the Rockefellers want to call it the Rockefeller Center? That's who Chase is, btw.)


Then we buzzed Dolores Park. This is where our unnamed companion peeled off, after some elbow bumping. The naked guy also put clothes on.

Mighty One and I left the ride in the Panhandle. He wanted to go all the way to the beach, I wanted to eat. 


But when it came around to eating, Mighty One had a strong urge to go to Little Star, so we did that. Which is deep dish pizza. Above, he's calling in the order.

Saw this sushi restaurant on the way!


Apparently Little Star is so popular they didn't bother to open a parklet. Pizzas were flying out the door as we waited. And waited.


This is the restaurant next door, also a pizza place. They apparently rely a little more on the ambiance. People looked like they were having fun, although the picture doesn't do it justice.

The parklets in general were pretty busy at 9pm. They close at 10pm. For now. Having worked in a bar (as a DJ) I can tell you 8-10pm are actually the slow hours. A lot of bars make the most money of the day between ten and midnight. Hopefully someone is communicating this fact to the people making the rules.

Be safe, everyone, and give bicycles 3 feet of clearance! 

Interestingly, not a single ebike amid the Critical Mass crowd. There was a pretty sweet sound system, but I didn't get a picture. 


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