Published: September 27, 2008 12:23 am            

Effingham bike riders take to the road

Eric Dee took a break from his cross-country road/bicycling trip Friday afternoon to stop off for a coffee break at Joe Sippers Cafe, Effingham.

When the Seattle resident saw the posters for a bike ride at 5:30 p.m., he knew he wanted to be a part of it and hung out for nearly three hours waiting for the event to begin.

Dee was one of nearly 50 people who gathered at Joe Sippers Friday to participate in Effingham’s first Critical Mass bike ride.

“This is really good. This is better than rides that have happened in Pittsburgh or Seattle,” Dee said, adding he used to help organize Critical Mass bike rides when he lived in Pennsylvania.

Local cyclist Frank Brummer also was impressed with the event’s turnout.

“It’s a good turnout. The first Critical Mass in Harrisburg, Penn., started with 30 riders, and they said it was a success. Effingham got a lot more than 30 riders,” Brummer said.

While it’s unclear who organized the local event, the purpose of the rides are “to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists’ right to the road,” according to Critical Mass’ Web site at www.critical-mass.info.

“Critical Mass has no leaders, and no central organization licenses rides. In every city that has a CM ride, some locals simply picked a date, time and location for the ride and publicized it, and thus the ride was born.”

“The intention of Critical Mass is (for motorists) to just be aware of us (cyclists). We’re on the road. Hopefully, people driving will be more aware,” Dee said.

The Critical Mass Web site contains a guide for starting a Critical Mass bike ride, including encouraging ride organizers not to seek a permit and advice on what riders should do if they are confronted by angry motorists, the local police or even arrested.

Though the local participants did not expect any trouble from authorities.

“I hope not. It will be interesting to see what happens. We’re trying to stay off the main roads,” local cyclist Cindy Eder said.

The riders were instructed to “follow the rules of the road” and “stick together” just before the bike ride began. Copies of the Illinois Bicycle Rules of the Road were available all over Joe Sippers.

Eder said the riders would follow a planned route that would take them through the downtown area, Kluthe Memorial Pool, the local bike trail and Bliss Park. The ride was expected to last between 45 minutes and one hour.

“We just want to make sure that cyclists know they can ride around town leisurely. We hope to have one (bike ride) the last Friday of every month,” Eder said.

Angie Faller can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 131 or angie.faller@effinghamdailynews.com.