March 28 -- Thousands of cyclists rode through the streets of San Francisco this evening to protest the war on Iraq and promote bicycles as an energy efficient form of transportation that reduce Amerika's reliance on oil. Organized jointly by Critical Mass and Bikes Not Bombs, politics in the group ranged from those who have participated in critical mass rides for years as a way to promote bikes as zero emissions vehicles to people making the ride as one more way to make a statement in opposition to imperialism and the war for oil. Wearing signs opposing the war, and in some cases riding with banners attached to poles secured to their bikes, cyclists backed up traffic throughout the city chanting "bikes not bombs" and "whose streets? our streets."

Observers reported that the string of bicycles took as long as 20 minutes to pass a point and MIM has not seen any serious attempts to estimate the crowd size which was certainly at least several thousand. Several times during the ride the lead cyclists took the group around a block only to meet up with the middle of the ride at the end of the circle.

The ride did not follow any set route, with leaders veering off to avoid rode blockades by the cops, or to head to a more crowded street, continuously turning to keep the cops guessing. MIM overheard cops on their radios talking to each other saying "it seems like they are now headed..." and gangs of cops on motorcycles circled the city trying to anticipate the crowd's next move.

Particularly fearful that the riders might attempt to take over the Bay Bridge, the link between San Francisco and Oakland, cops in riot gear were stationed at every bridge entrance blocking it, with batons out ready to beat down any riders that might attempt to go that way. This action by the cops ended up stopping traffic to and from the bridge without the riders doing anything illegal. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported "Long lines of idling cars clogged streets leading to the Bay Bridge, where a line of police in riot gear blocked the First Street ramp to all traffic to prevent cyclists from riding onto the bridge."(1)

Many motorists honked in support or waved peace signs as they waited for the bikers to pass. And many people standing on the side of the road cheered, including a small crowd of people who seemed to be waiting to watch the ride go by, holding anti-war signs, near the civic center. There were doubtless also many angry drivers but this reporter didn't witness any openly hostile actions by motorists. And as a member of one of the sponsoring organizations, Bikes Not Bombs, noted in response to a question about inconveniencing drivers: "It's more inconvenient to be bombed."(1)

MIM salutes the creative tactics of San Francisco protesters who are finding many ways to take their message to the streets. We found the crowd at this protest very friendly to signing MIM's petition opposing the Patriot II Act, and to reading MIM Notes with several regular readers commending our work. There was a relative lack of political literature or organizing at the gathering prior to the rally and while MIM welcomes the opportunity to talk to a crowd of several thousands without competition from revisionist organizations, this underscores the need for more people to get involved and work with MIM to take the opposition to war in Iraq up a notch, making the connection with imperialism. Contact us to get involved or visit our web page to download petitions and flyers and hit the streets in your town.