ORLANDO, Fla. â If youâre looking for something to do each month, thereâs a unique meetup that will get you off the couch, out of your car and moving.
Itâs called Critical Mass and itâs become a worldwide movement.
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In Orlando, the community rides bring out hundreds and even thousands of people of all different ages.
If youâre wondering âwhat the heck is Critical Mass?â' Youâre not alone. I had no idea what it was until my colleague Josh Chaney, a News 6 photographer, told me about it.
Josh is an avid bike rider and says Critical Mass has given him a sense of community.
âI always liked to ride bikes. Itâs something Iâve done since I was a kid. Growing up my dad would ride a lot,â said Josh. âWhen Iâm on my bike I feel free. I feel young. I feel joyful. Thereâs just so many emotions I have. Just being one with nature and feeling the breeze, thereâs nothing like it.â
Josh moved to Orlando from Birmingham about two years ago at the start of the Pandemic.
Many businesses like bars and venues were temporarily closed, making it difficult for Josh to meet new people. One evening, while out on a bike ride, he noticed something familiar: a large group of people making their way to an Orlando park on bikes.
âI want to say there were thousands of people. Youâve got scooters and people on one wheel,â said Josh. âI was like âoh my gosh, look at these bikes.â I was in heaven... I participated in Critical Mass in Birmingham and it was good, but a little tougher to navigate. We didnât have as many bike lanes and sidewalks like Florida has.â
So what is Critical Mass?
âCritical Mass is a bike ride centered around having safety in numbers,â said Josh.
Itâs not an organization, but a movement promoting peace and harmony between cars and bikes that share the roadway, doing so in a safe way.
âThere are several messages this movement shares. I think the most important is safety. Just being aware that there are people that have other modes of transportation like bikes and scooters and theyâre traffic too so respect them. Same for the bicyclists respecting drivers.
âTwo: Community. With people in Orlando coming together, the community aspect is an important message as well. And three, there are other ways to get around. If you live close, you can ride your bike to work or the grocery store. It saves you gas, and with the prices as high as they are right now, itâs a better option,â said Josh.
Critical Mass is held the last Friday of each month and isnât something that happens just in Orlando. It takes place worldwide in more than 600 cities according to a travel publication. The movement originally started in the early 1990s in San Francisco.
âPeople coming out, having fun and being able to just ride their bikes through the city in a safe way and not worrying about other traffic coming through,â said Josh. âItâs all ages. You see kids three or four, then you have older people. Theyâre still getting out and being active and still having joyful moments. What itâs really all about is community.â
You wonât find a website for Critical Mass in Orlando, but there are social media pages on Facebook and Instagram run by the organizers who post updates. Rain or shine they host the community ride, meeting at Loch Haven Park in Orlando on the last Friday of each month at 6:30 p.m., with the ride starting promptly at 7 p.m.
According to the Orlando Critical Mass Facebook page âWe are a group dedicated to spreading bike awareness in our city, all skill levels welcome.â
Is there a Critical Mass meetup in your area? Let us know by typing in the meeting location in the comment section below, so our Insiders throughout Central Florida can participate in the ride closest to them.