First paragraph (Teaser):

Ah Ouais! On avance!
A personal account of the august 25th Critical Mass Bike Parade
By Charlieo

As usual, there were fifty or sixty cyclists gathered at Phillips Square for our monthly celebration. It was bright and sunny, which suited our beach party theme somethin' lovely. I parked my bike, custom-fitted with
my ficus plant, Frank, roped to the handle bars. Said hi to some friends, smoked a smoke, and then walked around to say hi to everyone else. I had a stack of cards produced by the Pivot Legal Society (www.pivotlegal.org) and Equity Access (www.legaloutreach.mcgill.ca) to give out to everybody. These include a statement for the police, and a brief explanation of our basic rights as citizens, just in case!

Rest of the text: Also, someone had prepared flyers about car and bike safety to hand out to drivers during the ride. For me, these were a reminder that cyclists literally risk their lives when they take to the streets for their daily commutes. What can I say about the cyclists that have died on the streets of Montreal? I can say that I'm thankful that my friends and family are happy and healthy, and that my sincerest condolances go out to anyone who has lost a loved one because of cars and trucks. There was a big pile of free stuff on the lawn. Riders helped themselves to home-made patches and flags, some taking a minute to pin "fuck trucks" or "joyeax moulineaux" on their friends back. One rider had a paper mashay palm tree strapped to the back of his bike with inner tubes. There were a bunch of people in swimsuits, some with beach towels, taking the weather and theme to heart. There was no group discussion before the ride. A hearty rally cry of "LET'S GO" got everyone up, and we poured onto St. Catherines. We rode down to the film festival, and took a left, getting some waves from police officers parked on the side of the road. Up to Sherbrooke and left, left again on Peel. Excellent corking from experienced and rookie riders kept everyone safe and together. We were heading south on Peel when we first heard the obnoxious sirens and non-sensical demands of the Montreal Police. We had enough energy and group dynamic to keep riding, and keep smiling. As we approached McGill College, an ironic and down-right funny thing happened. Over his cruisers' loud speaker, an officer said "ah ouais on avance". The Mass riders quickly took this up as a new cheer, "AH OUAIS! ON AVANCE! AH OUAIS! ON AVANCE!", smiling and laughing at the ironic situation. There were hundreds of walkers, talkers and shoppers smiling and waving from the sidewalks, wondering what was going on and asking for the flyers that some people were handing out. As we approached Union, I thought the police had left us free to continue with our celebratory ride. There were no more sirens, and no more silly orders booming at us from behind. Just then, a speedy rider weaving through cars to catch up passed on the bad news: "someone's getting arrested! We have to go back!" Without waiting for the crowd to react, I turned into oncoming traffic to see what was going down... to be continued!

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[ EDIT (Mic. Lessard for the CMAQ * added the themes: Activism | Ecology | Repression * minor cosmetic details ]