Monthly Archives: August 2019

Critical Mass Rides

The Critical Mass Rides is a worldwide Critical Mass that will take place in a lot of locations on the same day: September 8. here you have the call  (in Spanish). Basically, it works similarly as the Critical Mass, but different groups are preparing special events to make it impressive and funny with aims such as human health, environment, streets for people, etc. The Critical Mass Rides link indicates concepts and tips to make it successful, though you can follow them or not. Moreover, it encourages bikers in places where there is not Critical Mass to join the cause and spread the word. In fact, this event could be the seed of the Critical Mass where it does not exist today thanks to the global impulse.

Bicis para todas

Bicis para todas (Bikes for everybody, in Spanish) is a project which aims at making life easier to people who can not afford to buy a bicycle. It is developed by bikeaholics from the Valencia area with the goal of making a better world. They accept bikes from donations no matter in which condition and, as expertise in bicycle mechanics, they fix them. After that, they give bikes to people (one per person) who appreciate the present in order to use it for going to work, looking for a job, using the bike to deliver things or gifting it to his/her child. Several groups in urban biking as well as workshops and bike stores collaborate in this project. Regarding the time they spend fixing bikes, the two more important groups are Soterranya from Torrent (a city close to Valencia) and Tándem (which is located at the capital of the Valencian Community). Tándem helps people at risk of social exclusion and show them how to earn a living, whereas Soterranya focuses on minorities with the same target. For instance, Soterranya teaches subjects to children with difficulties at school and manages a library. Both groups constitute the spirit of this project which has made it possible to cheer up more than 500 people as the local government expressed thank to them last September. Good for them!