Courteous Mass is Dayton’s newest bicycle advocate group that aims to do monthly group rides in the urban core of Dayton. The name is a play on the already-established Critical Mass – a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. Unlike that group that has been perceived as a protest group, “Courteous Mass – Dayton” is a group focused on promoting the positives of creating a bike-friendly city. Dayton’s event is to be held every first Friday of the month – which then leads into Dayton’s First Friday art hop events, giving riders a reason to stay downtown afterwards.
Matt Lindsey founded the group which has already had a kick-off meeting last month and a “Shakedown Ride” this past Friday for a few initial folks to check out the route before the group’s first official ride – Friday April 3, 2009. For now the group will be starting at c{space (20 N. Jefferson) – Dayton’s community “third space” for local artists, musicians and other creatives. Gatherings start at 4pm with the rides starting at 4:45pm. So if you have a bike, want a reason to leave work a little early on a Friday, want to get some exercise, want to meet some new friends and want to help add some vibrancy to the streets of Downtown Dayton while showing community leaders that there is a need for bike-friendly streets and planning – then come down on Friday April 3. I know I plan to be there!
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