many out of their cars and onto their bikes, even if only for a short ride through the streets. Although some of those riders may have been turned off by Critical Mass, they are being turned back on to these non-politicized rolling parties.

MacKool of Slow Roll explained, “We definitely have gotten a lot of riders through Critical Mass because it is a tight community, but I don’t think we have taken away from Critical Mass. We both have grown over the years, but I do know there are a lot of people who prefer Slow Roll to Critical Mass.”

Radder Day Rides drew from the spirit of Critical Mass, but breaks from that model with business sponsorship, professional flyers, and partnerships with other businesses and advocacy organizations, which only some Critical Mass rides mimicked in the past. On the other hand, Midnight Ridazz rejects any association with the Critical Mass experience as mass rides were, as Roadblock puts it, “Never much of a thing in L.A.” Ultimately, Critical Mass surely seeded the idea that can’t be killed in one way or another, but most of the rules, or lack thereof, have undeniably changed in this new format.

Organizing logistics and intents aside, the idea of the group fun ride is appealing because the riders bring their own agenda of fun to the events. Roadblock explains, “It’s great to see people create their own themes and ride leaders emerge and run their own FUNarchy.” Wolos expressed a similar sentiment, “People meet people and have fun riding at whatever speed they want.” Critical Mass rides differ only in degree, but there is a noticeable divide when we consider the conflicts of agenda that seem to take center stage on the mass rides, while the individual agendas of the group fun riders tend to be obscured under the larger banner of fun. Dapper summarized, “Everyone just wants to have fun, that’s really the only agenda.” It’s that simple.

“Group Fun Rides” seem to be the “Neo-Critical Mass” of bicycle counterculture at this point, but only time will tell if they will be more sustainable than the Critical Mass model, which, arguably, still has legs 20 some years on. Group fun rides are still quite new, however, and the ride organizers have various perspectives on how they see their role in the near future. Nick Drombosky, the founder of Flock of Cycles, questions it completely, stating, “When it was started, cycling in Pittsburgh was in a much different place and organizations like Bike Pittsburgh were much smaller and capable of much less, leaving gaps in what could be done to help the community. Now with the explosion of the number of riders in the city, the added infrastructure, and other rides, activities, and events, it’s not clear if there is still a need.” Wolos of Radder Day Rides considers diversifying the event, “I grew sick of just doing things once a month. It is just too much space in between raddness, so this month we started the Take Over The Night ride,” he then detailed more planned rides, “…in the near future we will have a Sunday brunch ride and another themed ride so we have a ride every weekend. We will have a weekly ride if not this riding season, next riding season. I want to have a Monday ride because unfortunately so many people hate their jobs and get depressed on Mondays and I want to give them a boost.”

The momentum of the group fun rides seems to be growing at the moment and, so far, they are avoiding the logistical pitfalls and tensions that strained the efforts of Critical Mass. Riders, both new and old, are coming together, wearing underwear or tweed, getting Rad, at midnight, and in countless other ways, to simply have fun and ride bikes with friends. This group fun is no longer the enticement for other intentions or motivations, political or not, but rather the point itself. It will be interesting to see if these group fun rides continue to exist alongside the struggling Critical Masses or replace them completely, but most importantly, people are still on bikes, gathering together, and having a great time, carrying on the spirit of the rolling party and continuing to prove this is an idea you simply can’t kill.