by Crimethinc. Workers' Collective
Available in 284 free installments
Owner:
Many of us were freaked out by the experience of danger?few had been ready for such risk, and in retrospect we should have at least been better prepared psychologically before we took to the highway?^but we were also catalyzed by it, shaken out of the routine into which our Critical Mass had fallen. We decided to have another ride the very next week, and that one was as thickly attended as any had been in years. There was a police officer there, who insisted he was there to "protect us," a justification the department had used before for sending police with us who then attempted to herd us, threaten us, and charge us with traffic violations; deliberately playing dumb, we reassured him over and over that, though he was new to the Mass, we would be sure to protect him. He was so demoralized by this that he eventually left! This time, we rode the opposite direction through town, taking over the main street and demanding as much attention as we had on the highway but at less risk. We gave out fliers all along the way about the behavior of the motorists the week before, and what it indicated about the kind of people who drive SUVs and support imperialist wars?and the people who got the fliers, some of whom had heard about it already, were sympathetic and receptive.
Hanging out at the local organic food co-op after that ride, we discovered that in the wake of our misadventure a local liberal who had long ago ridden with Critical Mass was trying to get a motion passed that would allocate a police escort to every ride. With some effort, he was talked out of this, on the grounds that it wasn't anyone's business to make decisions that would have permanent implications for Critical Mass in our town. This was the last of the aftermath of our brief takeover of the highway Things certainly woidd Bicycle Parades ^^^^ played out much differently in a less Hberal town, but you always have to tailor your 106 approach to the local environment.
Painting by Bicycle
This is a recipe for leaving trails of paint on streets and sidewalks. These can lead to buried treasure or secret rendezvous points, chart surprise parade routes, or outline figures and characters that can only be made out by people willing to track the trails on a map?^believe us, it happens!
Ingredients
I. Get a bucket. 1 found a great one?the same diameter as tiie standard five-gallon, but shorter. You can use a five-gallon bucket and cut it down to a reasonable size, but you'll have to find a way to seal the top so paint doesn't slosh out. Remember to poke a small hole in the lid so a vacuum won't build up.
2. Cut a square block from the two-by-four.
3. Slather the top of the block with a generous helping of waterproof glue?construction adhesive will work nicely {figure j.i).
Instructions
Painting by Bicycle w8
4. Fasten the block to a flat place in the bottom of the bucket, off-center, by screwing through the inside of the bucket into the block {figure ^.2). Drill pilot holes to avoid splitting the wood, and use washers so the screw heads won't pop through the plastic.
5. Get some tubing. After a lot of trial and error, we settled on white plastic tubing that was flexible but hard. We got it in the plumbing section. A half-inch inside diameter provides a good rate of flow?producing a stream of paint about a quarter-inch wide when you bicycle at approximately seven miles per hour?^but you could go bigger.
6. Drill a hole in the bottom of the bucket, through the center of the block of wood. The hole should be the same diameter as the outside of the tubing you have chosen.
7. Use coarse sand paper or a rasp to rough up the surface on the outside of the top two inches of your tube.
8. Coat the inside of the hole and the outside of the tube with plenty of waterproof glue, using a brand that sticks to plastic and wood. Stick the tube into the hole until it is flush with the inside of the bucket ifigure j.j). Let this dry thoroughly before you move it.
9. Mount a milk crate very securely to your bike rack. Cut out a part of the bottom of the crate to accommodate the block and tube. A five-gaUon bucket fits perfectly in most milk crates. Attach the bucket to the crate firmly?^paint is heavy!
10. Use cable ties to fasten the tube in place. We fastened a steel rod to the seat-stay to guide the tube to just above street level and hold it firmly behind where the back wheel touched the road (/igwre 3.4).
