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Lost in exuberance and senseless acts of beauty
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Alex Pujo
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Sep 30, 2006 18:57 PDT
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Critical Mass in Santa Barbara
Friday, September 29
I don't know what happened: I'm old enough to know better, but I couldn't help it. I was on my way home minding my own business when here comes this Mardi Gras on wheels sweeping everything along.
"Just down to the Dolphin Fountain", I say to myself. Well... yes, the fountain and then all lanes of Cabrillo Boulevard, and instead of returning via Milpas (as promised) this thing keeps growing and getting louder. Somehow I end up in the middle of this peloton of festive lunatics down Butterfly beach, Coast Village Road and back streets of the Eastside, where Mexican kids with small bikes and big eyes begging their parents for permission to join (denied!). Round and around the Milpas circle (how many times?) until finally we are up the hill, the County Bowl and back to State.
They turn left, I turned right, a full hour gone by. We had crossed the whole city back and forth at rush hour and I must confess: I never felt safer riding my bicycle in my whole life. It is hard to describe: a rowdy crowd with no apparent leaders yet completely under control, with riders placing themselves strategically at intersections to stop traffic and led the river flow.
Were drivers irritated by the delay? A few were. There was a lot of honking, but mostly celebratory cheer from cars, and from the sidewalks too. I think most people realized that they had witnessed something rare, the opposite of road rage: road euphoria. And its underlying message: ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE.
Alex
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