Critical Mass Fort Lauderdale is back and running tonight, but with a slight twist.
According to the CM Fort Lauderdale Facebook page, a new route with some new rules has been set down.
Only thing is, you'll have to arrive early to find out what that route is, as they won't be posting a map or anything online.
The new route and rules come on the heels of several run-ins with Fort Lauderdale Police in recent rides.
Among those run-ins, was one rider being tackled by a police officer, and another being knocked off his bike by a cop. During last month's ride, some riders were ticketed without warning.
All came to a head, however, during July's ride when Critical Mass Fort Lauderdale spokesman Ray Strack was arrested.
To curb the madness, Critical Mass announced that a route change as well as a new rule allowing some more experienced riders to get ahead of the pack before everyone else does.
"At the start select a group based on anticipated ability, fast, moderate or slow," Critical Mass Fort Lauderdale's Facebook says. "The groups will all go on the same route but the faster riders will get to leave first and do an extra loop at the start, and the slower riders will do a little short cut."
"It was the consensus that we don't really want an exact repeat of last month, where traffic lights sliced the ride into a series of different groups, where tickets were issued instead of warnings, and even though we handed out a map some people got a little lost," the post adds. "That is why we were trying to work with the police for a better protocol on intersections. As of now we have not had a positive response from Fort Lauderdale Police Department about assisting the ride through intersections. The only definitive statement is that they will be out monitoring the ride and enforcing the law, like last time."
The new route is designed to avoid as many traffic lights as possible, as well as hit more localized roadways.
Fort Lauderdale Police has insisted that the mass be split at each traffic light, which has created small pods of riders. CM is going to try breaking riders into small groups prior to the ride starting, in a preemptive maneuver to avoid this headache.
Each small group will have an assigned leader who will dictate the pace of the group. Moreover, if a group gets accidentally split up by a red light, the others can simply pull over and wait for them to catch up.
As usual, Critical Mass Fort Lauderdale will be meeting at the War Memorial Auditorium, located at 800 NE 8th St.
Everything starts at 7:30 p.m. sharp. In order to avoid the mess, get things running smoothly, and not have police interference and mayhem, organizers are asking all who plan on participating to get there early. Faster riders will be allowed to get a head start, while the rest will follow.
Although, as ever, it's not a race.
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