1. Loud AF (your ears will be damaged) 2. Riders painting graffiti along the way. 3. Loud ass music, not turned down in residential streets. So we wake everybody up, for what? To prove what? Can't we let them sleep and be courteous? 4. A bunch of wheelie maniacs, driving on the wrong side of the road, trying to scare the cars. 5. Long breaks, like 20 minutes times two. Waste of time. This Los Angeles critical mass bike ride gives bikers a very bad name. The organizers do nothing to enforce any rules. Can you imagine spray painting, graffiti along the way in front of hundreds of people and the organizers do nothing. Finally, you are likely to get knocked over by one of these wheelie showoffs. Terribly organized, and terrible experience. I imagine in other cities around the world it's much more civilized. And when I say loud AF, I mean AF times 100. It will damage your hearing. Especially going through the tunnels where people must blow their horns yell scream turn up the music do everything possible to destroy your eardrums. It really sucks. read more

If you want to ride with a large group in an extremely organized event, check out CicLAvia. They have events every few months and the routes are completely walled off and family friendly. My first and only Critical Mass was back in September 2016. At the time I was an avid road cyclist, so this was something I had always wanted to participate in. Contrary to what I had hoped it to be: it was semi-organized, loud (people blasting music from speakers attached to their bicycles), disruptive to car traffic, and FILLED with cyclists without proper etiquette. Multiple times throughout the slow ride I had cyclists cut me off without looking first (sometimes these cyclists had pegs attached to their BMX's) and people spraying their spit in the air instead of bending over and getting as close to the ground as possible. If you think it's fun to ride ~10 mph, to slam on your brakes periodically because some kid blatantly cuts you off, to get your face sprayed with spit mist, and/or to cause more LA traffic at night then please check this out. In the meantime, I'll be staying very far away from this meet. read more

Critical Mass - meeting point - Festivals Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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If you like to cycle, It is Critical that you join this Mass of people for the next Friday night ride (Last Friday of every month.) The man that runs this group donates his time and car and works hard to coordinate others to put this ride on in the busy city--He is a Saint and knows the city well. The Friday night ride is one of the most fun and exciting rides that I have ever been on and I have been on many a bike ride in my time. Critical Mass group rides do not require a road bike and Tour De France speed skills. It's a slow ride with many stops for intersections, lights, and re-grouping. I would not bring any children on this ride, but anyone that has experience riding with a group and street bike lanes should do fine. I use my 32 pound straight bar heavy hybrid bike. I am not the fastest on the ride, but am able to keep up fine because they stop a lot. You don't need a friend to come to this ride--you will make a friend. The people that show up are cool, (some are too cool) and the ride is free, but make a donation by buying the water and food they provide--they are burning up fuel with their cars to facilitate this ride so give something back. Make sure you have a front headlight and rear taillight. Good working brakes. Tires and tubes in good condition and ready to ride. Not every one wears a helmet, but unless you have a death wish, this is a good ride to have one on as well as gloves. read more

Very fun ride that happens every last Friday of the month. Music, good vibes, good way to see the city as a collective bike parade

Awesome atmospheres, chill pace and wonderful sights Every month a different route, from the West side and East side, something new. read more

Critical Mass - Festivals Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Participated in my first ride on 4/27/12 and it was a blast! My friends and I parked at the endpoint at Sunset and Western and biked to the starting point at Wilshire and Western about 1.5 miles away. This made life a lot easier at the end of the ride, and probably the start, too, judging from the SWARM of cyclists at the corners (all four) of Wilshire and Western. Starting promptly at 7:30, we wound our way all over LA: Koreatown, USC/Exposition Park, Hollywood and more! What a treat to ride down Hollywood Blvd on a hectic Friday night, giving all the tourists something to see! Note: they change up the route so you may not get the same route I did. Apparently the last one was a lot more hilly! We rode from 7:30 to almost 11:30, with a few breaks totalling about 45 minutes, so it's a good long ride. Since you're escorted all the way by police who block all the intersections for you, no stopping for lights--awesome. But if you were a motorist who happened to unwittingly come across the swarm, I feel for you--I'm sure it was all kinds of fuck on toast. It can be kind of dangerous, too: even though the ride officially says you must have a helmet, front and rear lights and at least ONE working brake, I saw dozens of people (mostly young boys) who had none of those things, resulting in at least one pretty epic crash. Some streets were severely lacking in the streetlight department so if it was dark for me with my lights, if you didn't have lights you'd just have to pray you didn't come across a pothole. And some of those bottleneck areas come up real fast so pay attention! Finally, because of all those young boys, you will be rolling your eyes as they shout all kinds of crude and annoying things at pedestrians. Other than that, my friends and I had a great time and are looking forward to more rides in the future. read more

Critical Mass - ready to ride! - Festivals Near Me - Los Angeles, California

This is something everyone should experience. Meet is the last Friday of every month at the North East corner of Wilshire and Western at 6:30pm. Ride starts at 7:30pm. +25 miles throughout LA. Speeds are pretty tame, around 10 mph. You get to ride throughout the city. It's safe because the LAPD closes off streets for you to ride. read more

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Rode my first Los Angeles Critical Mass on 4/27/12 Rides are the last friday of every month, and meets at the purple metro station on Western and Wilshire. Rides leave at 7:29pm sharp. I arrived late around 7:45pm and the group had already left. There was scavenger group that left at 8:30pm that i rode with, they brought us to meet up with the critical mass pack so you are not totally out of luck if you arrive late. There was a good 20 people that rode together to join up CM. It is a very chill ride with LAPD escort. Had a great time despite arriving late and felt safe the entire ride. read more

Fantastic and fun! However, not for the newbies and out of shapers (if that's a word)! Just rode the October 25th ride with my wife, who I would say falls into the newbie category. Started at the usual meeting NE corner of Western and Wilshire. Supposedly they get around 3,000 riders, but on this particular (somewhat coldish) night there was probably around 1k riders. 7:30 with a large police escort we were off! The escort was great (at first at least - more on that later) blocking traffic at intersections for the caravan of riders to safely pass. There were cops on bikes, motorbikes, and cars. They did a really good job, blocking off intersections. One motorist stuck in his car waiting for the caravan to pass, yelled out, "Thanks for ruining my night!" Joking or not, cyclists and myself, appropriately replied, "You're welcome!" With the our tax paying dollar escort, even at night, I think just all of the riders felt really safe riding in the street, crossing intersections, and red lights. Call it the rebel in me, but I couldn't help feeling a little glee ;-) riding with no hands, running through red lights - all awhile 5-O stand by and watch. You have all kinds of riders: the semi-pros with their thousand dollars bikes; the off-hour bike messengers that didn't get enough cycling for the day; the hobbyists; the curious with whatever bike they have - from Cannodale, Trek, Schwinn to a classic, Huffy; the wannabe costumed super-heroes (2 Spidermen) & cosplayers ( Chun-Li, animals like bears including a panda); and my favorite - the avant artist cycling fans, with their tricked-out bikes (some glowing bright, some taller than others, and some blasting sound waves). There were about 3 pit stops for breaks (so bring some snacks to replenish). The ride doesn't repeat, but does head back to the starting place...ending roughly around 11-11:30. But by that time however, a lot of riders have gone off to their selected places of late night dining or individual stops. Oh, back to the police escort that I had mentioned earlier, if you fall behind the anchor car....well, don't expect them to wait for you, they won't. Regular motorist will be giving you the proper incentive (natural fear of dying )to speed up...or at least get off the street. Serious, my wife was having a little issue with a little knee injury a fell behind (but didn't give up;-)...cops passed us by, leaving us to our own.... got a little hairy with cars zooming by (must be late to clubs). So I started blocking, and played rear bumper, stayed on her 6 till the end. Luckily it wasn't that far to the end. Of course there are more that I left out, but you should see and experience it for yourself. I recommend it, just make sure to have some rear night lights and able to stay with caravan (about 10-15 mph for 30 miles). It's a lot of fun like CicLaVia, but different in that: takes place at night (duh); it has less riders; longer ride (about 30 miles) so a little more serious. Hope to see you at the next one - last Friday of each month. read more

The bf, puppy, and I went on our first critical mass ride in August 2013. It took the bf a while to convince me to go and I was still trying to talk my way out of it 15 minutes before the start time. "Come on, you know I'm clumsy, bad at riding bikes, and just terrible at active things in general," I pleaded. But when he offered to ride by $90 Walmart bike with the bike basket for the puppy and let me ride his fancy bike , I gave in. Luckily, the distance to the starting point was short since I already live in Ktown. I was surprised by how large the group was and it was a refreshing experience to ride down major LA streets and not have to stop at red lights. I only had one near-accident during the entire ride, quite the feat for me. The evening wind felt awesome and the puppy got a lot of attention from other riders and pedestrians. As the ride progressed, the group started getting smaller and smaller as people fell behind or rode their bikes elsewhere. It was getting dark and the farther we went, the less choice we had to turn back. I really didn't want to ride all the way back home in the dark without good bike lights and having to stop constantly for traffic. So while we were getting tired (me, because I'm a terrible rider and the bf because he had to ride a cheap bike and pedal with the 20lb puppy), we pushed on as much as we could. Our ride took us from Wilshire/Western W on Wilshire, S on La Brea, W on Venice and eventually hit Venice Beach. We then rode N along Pacific/Ocean to Santa Monica, E along Santa Monica Blvd through Century City. Around the time we got to Century City, we were at the very back of the pack and started hearing the police cars blast "If you can't keep up with the ride, move to the right and obey all traffic laws. You are now on your own." I tried to pedal as fast as I could but it was uphill and I just couldn't do it anymore. It was disappointing to not be able to finish but luckily, we quit right in front of the Hyatt Regency in Century City and easily picked up a taxi van to take us back home. So ok, we didn't finish. Maybe you would feel like a failure if you were me but we felt like such winners. Honestly, I didn't even think I'd last that long but we completed over 20 miles and slept so well that evening. read more

It use to be great years ago when the police helped out now it Sucks. Poor organization & follow through. Too bad.

Fantastic night-time bicycle ride - loads of fun, good exercise, and a great way to explore the city! I've been on the ride many times and it's been a great experience every time. If you enjoy bicycling and discovering areas of LA you may not have seen before, then this ride is for you. It's a great mix of friendly people, well organized, and it goes to a different part of town every month. It's a real treat to see the sights of - for example - downtown LA at night and at a slow pace! Don't worry if you're not a hot-shot Lance Armstrong bike rider, the ride goes at a very reasonable pace and they stop every so often so people can catch up. Just bring a bike in good working order and a positive attitude and you'll be just fine. Also, if you don't think you're up to riding 25 miles, or if you don't want to stay out too late, just bring a tap card and head back whenever you feel like it - no pressure! As for the review that mentioned a lack of bathrooms on the ride, I would say this is usually not a problem. Generally, the first pit stop will be at a park that has bathrooms, and it is normally early enough that the restrooms are still open. The second pit stop happens a bit later, so restrooms can occasionally be a little scarce, but there is almost always something nearby - restaurant, gas station, etc. (And there are even "bathroom-finder" apps for smartphones now!) The pit stops are 20 minutes long, so there is usually plenty of time to seek out a bathroom and not get left behind. The best part - the ride is free, so you have nothing to lose! But chances are, you're going to have a great time and even want to make a donation to the volunteers to help support the ride. (I know it's got to be a lot of work to put on an event like this month after month.) Anyway, after you finally get around to riding, your biggest regret might be that you waited so long to do it! read more

Thank you volunteers for stopping traffic and attempting to keep us safe; however, I miss the professional police escort. Imagine thousands of cyclist, road bikes, mountain bikes, fixies, and crappy bikes, all riding along the streets of LA with traffic and pot holes and little regulation. Mathematically, that equals chaos. We cycled at a extreme slow pace and often needing to stop. There were some people on roller blades who got in the way and also some cyclist doing tricks and ruined the flow of the ride. If you don't care about slow speed, somewhat organized chaos, high potential to get run over, and opportunity to meet new opportunity, this is the ride for you! read more

loud & annoying. nobody wants to hear morons yelling while they are trying to sleep

where else can you ride your bike in the mean streets of L.A. with over a 1,000 hoodlums, share beers at a pitstop/while riding and be escorted by the poh-lice?! im talking about good ol' critical mass. takes place every last friday of the month and the group takes off at 7:30pm sharp so don't be late! i've introduced CM to 5 of my friends and they love it. have yourself a good time and go to this monthly event! read more

So excited about the concept, but the execution sucks. The ride itself is brilliant, no matter what the route it's amazing to ride in a big group and go where the route takes you. But ... the start and end points are 2.5 miles apart. STUPID. Pick one or the other, people ... because I parked my car at the end point, rode the 2.5 miles down Western which was scary enough to get to the start point. At the end of the ride, no announcement that the large group I was following was riding back to the start point, leaving me at nearly midnight to make my way back to the so called end point. Thanks for nothing, people. The metro at midnight is not my idea of a good time. The safety of the ride comes from the numbers. When the number of riders surrounding you is gone and you're left on your own to make your own way back to the end point, the ride then becomes useless. The organizers have also made this ride too guy oriented as the rest stops are in public parks with no bathroom facilities around for women. As the guys go off into the cold night air to pee in public parks, the women are left to hold it for the hours of the ride. Thanks, guys. I did not feel safe and that is the worst thing I have to say about this experience, I was left on my own to navigate my way back to my car 2.5 miles away and that is never okay. read more

I had been wanting to join the Critical Mass ride for months, but always missed it. Until tonight. And it was one of the greatest rides I've had all year. We left K-town and headed all the way to the Watts Towers and back via the Memorial Coliseum and LA Live. It was hundreds of people (OK, mostly guys) just enjoying taking over the city streets with their bikes. The LAPD did a great job keeping people in check. I mean, when would I have had a chance to ride from Watts to DTLA at 10 p.m. up major streets, just seeing life in that part of the city? People came out of their houses and businesses to cheer us on, and the kids (yeah, there were a lot of young 'uns) were actually pretty funny to listen to as they shouted amongst themselves or to the people watching us. If you want to experience a different kind of LA, meet at Western & Wilshire on the last Friday of the month by 7:29. There is a FB group you can join to get reminders. Five stars all the way around. read more