Critical Mass is perhaps a victim of its success. from cycling's blog

Although he thinks we still need Critical Mass, especially with the surge of traffic violence and backsliding on Vision Zero commitments, Carlsson rarely goes to the San Francisco rides anymore. They have become more of a celebration, and Carlsson wanted politics, wanted to have philosophical debates while riding. He still finds that energy at Critical Mass events in other www.cycling-off.com  countries (he was recently in Santiago, Chile) but not in the ride’s hometown. 

Here, Critical Mass is perhaps a victim of its success. It’s an event that seems to thrive on conflict: Its biggest visibility came when then-mayor Willie Brown picked a public fight with the event in 1997. Brown lost, and Critical Mass grew stronger. But, by its 20th anniversary in 2012, when thousands of riders took over the streets, the ride had already begun to change the urban landscape.

“The bike infrastructure we have today would not exist without Critical Mass — mass seizure of the streets,” Carlsson says. “It caught people’s imagination,” led to “an explosion of bicycling,” and created an activist culture that helped birth other movements, most notably Occupy.