The movement originated in San Francisco, California, in September 1992 as a way to bring together diverse groups in a festive reclaiming of public space, protesting the conditions of motorized traffic. It quickly spread to other cities around the world. The idea was quite simple, conceived by one person who shared it with other cyclists. The prominent messenger community, the first group to join the initiative, spread the word. Meanwhile, someone was distributing flyers to cyclists in the heart of the financial district.
People enjoyed the experience and decided to make it a regular occurrence. So, ever since, they meet once a month in the same place at the same time. There was no need to organize or advertise; the meeting took place spontaneously. Nor was it necessary to ask for permission, as the gatherings were entirely spontaneous.
The first ride, under the name "The Commute Clot," consisted of about 30 cyclists, a number that doubled in the following months. Critical Mass was consolidating and growing in San Francisco, gathering more than 1,000 cyclists in October 1993. It was beginning to gain recognition among cyclists in the city—although city authorities had not yet officially registered its existence—and was spreading to other cities. The San Francisco Police Department and Mayor Frank Jordan took notice and looked for ways to address the movement. In June 1997, when Critical Mass was approaching its fifth anniversary, the new mayor, Willie Brown, paid attention to the movement, demonstrating his lack of understanding when he made the comments that sparked the massive demonstration in July 1997 and the subsequent clashes with the police (see We Are Traffic!) .
The series of cycling events taking place in different cities has become a large-scale, decentralized, and popular movement.
In short, Critical Mass is simply a group of cyclists who pedal together for a while on a set or unset route, reclaiming that public space that car culture has stolen from us.
The people who attend these events are given the term "Masser" or "Masser," a popular way of classifying a new anonymous citizenry who unknowingly put into daily practice the great theories of thinkers such as the Frenchman Michel Foucault (creating collective strategies to fight against " biopower" ) or the Italian Toni Negri (questioning the sovereignty of the "empire" and spontaneously generating a multitude as a revolutionary subject ) .
– The name:
The name Critical Mass was taken from Ted White's cycling documentary, *Return of the Scorcher* (1992). In the documentary, George Bliss (an American bicycle designer) describes a typical scene in China, where cyclists often cannot cross the streets due to the number of cars and the lack of traffic lights. Slowly, more and more cyclists gather, waiting to cross the street, and when there are enough of them—a "Critical Mass," as George Bliss called it—moving together they can push past the cars and cross the street; this was the image that inspired the first cyclists to adopt the name Critical Mass.
When people gather on their bicycles, they can take control of the city streets if their numbers are large enough. The power dynamic with car drivers shifts: one cyclist might be hit, five might be harassed, but fifty or a hundred cyclists reclaim the street! The term is associated with social theories that posit a social revolution is possible when a certain level of popular support is reached—a "critical mass."