Deviation day

I'm a little nervous today. I've proposed a route for tonight's Critical Mass route. I posted it yesterday. On the one hand, all my work may be for naught. There's usually competition with 2 or 3 routes that the massers vote on. Some proposed routes roll south while others roll north. Every now and then a west side roll is proposed.

On the other hand, what if my route is chosen? This is the traditional Oktoberfest Ride. It has the support of the Logan Square Draught Beer Preservation Society - soon to be the Chicago Beer Preservation Society. And the Chicago Critical Mass listserv has been strangely quiet about other proposed routes.

Perhaps combining the celebration of rolling with the celebration of draught beer will bring out the massholes. They were the topic of the last Critical Mass Happy Hour. Folks agreed that we should pass out flyers asking everyone to refrain from unnecssary confrontations with cagers, other bikers, and from any other potentially risky behavior that could endanger others and themselves.

I've done my part by developing some graphics. Several are of the Thou Shalt Not... variety. At the same time, I put Roll Responsibly on tonight's route flyers.

After I created them I thought it might be more appropriate to drop the paternalistic approach. Massers are typically an independent, Don't Tread on Me lot. Attempts to moralize could easily backfire.

Well, whatever happens it should be quite a roll. The rain seems to be holding off, although it will be rather chilly. That should keep away some of the sunshine massholes. Even, today's horoscope is pointing to some promising deviations in my normal routine. It stresses novel adventures. Not that I'm obsessed with horoscopes; sometimes, though, they can be very uncanny indeed.

This influence signifies a day when you will make new discoveries, encounter new people and generally have a sense of excitement and interest. And you won't have to go out of your way to experience these effects, for your immediate environment will present all the interest you need. If you find this day disruptive, examine your attitudes and ask yourself if you are being too rigid. Rigidity and unwillingness to allow anything to deviate from a prescribed plan will make this influence more difficult to handle. This is a good day to tackle old problems that you have not been able to resolve in the past. In your communications with others, startling new ideas will come up. All around you, new aspects of life will be opened up for you to experience.