Earlier I posted about joining a weekly 'club' and the benefits of doing so:  Critical Mass is a local/national bicycling organization that meets in Acadiana.

Critical Mass Lafayette met this past Friday evening in Lafayette and went for a little ride.  I was leaving work from our back parking lot and had to wait for them to get past me, and it took a few minutes... there were several people riding!

I caught up with them just a few minutes later at The Wild Salmon on Foreman Drive, as did Lafayette City Police:

Critical Mass Lafayette at The Wild Salmon
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You can't see him in the above photo, but there is a Lafayette Police Officer standing between the Critical Massers and the roadway.  It seems that, due to the large number of bicyclists on the road, a motorist was upset with having to wait his/her turn and called 911 to report the group of cyclists.  (If I am wrong about this information, please let me know!  This is what I was able to gather from one of the cyclists.)

 

Lafayette City Police at Corner Pantry
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The motorist told the dispatcher that some members of the group were not obeying stop signs, etc.  (FYI: there are NO stop signs on the route between where I saw the group and where the police stopped the group, so I do not know where the motorist was at the time of the report.  It must have been before they made it by the radio station.)

Critical Mass Lafayette Leaving Wild Salmon
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I did, though, notice two or three of them running this red light (in plain view of the officers, though the officers didn't engage in hot pursuit.

In speaking to one of the cyclists, I was informed that Critical Mass meets up on Fridays in New Iberia, Baton Rouge and Lafayette (second Friday of the month is in Lafayette).  Judging from what I saw, this group is a very casual, laid-back sort of organization, not a hard-core aerodynamically-dressed speed racers hell bent on keeping a steady pace to build stamina and muscle tone.  There were even a few bicycles that had trailers for the lil' ones!

As I watched them leave the parking lot, I thought to myself  "they are crazy!

 

(Via Facebook)

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