A lot happened on the ride last night. Here's what I observed and head about from others.

Weekly CM rides were announced. Because Weekly rides have a different meeting point, there was confusion on where to meet last night. Some folks arrived early to N. Park Blocks (NPB) and marched with the Radical Feeder march that was heading out from there.

Some folks gathered at the standard Burnside Bridge spot. At about 15 till 6, a group of us headed over to NPB to meet up with others. Food Not Bombs moved over there too. A little later, another group came over from Burnside to NPB. After substantial socialization, bikers from the Radical Feeder returned and we all left. I would say there were perhaps 150 of us, maybe 200? Did any count?

The first breaking of the mass occurred as soon as we left NPB. Folks headed west on Burnside and up the hill toward Powell’s. I was late to leave the park and was at the end of the line. There were tons of motorcycle cops up the hill and I saw most people turn around and head back down Burnside. Some folks appeared to either go forward or turn, I couldn't tell.

We cruised all through the city, seeming to go in a lot of circles. We were flooded with cops on motorcycles, on bikes, and in cars. The ride broke into many smaller rides, perhaps as many as 10, 12? Who knows.

The ride I was o was mellow with bike cops. The cops were fun and friendly. They urged us into one lane and as long as we did that, they were cool. At one point I was in a very small rid that was trailing behind a larger ride, but kept being stopped by lights. One of the bike cops said, “Look how far back we are, what slackers we are!” It was a good moment.

We rode to Pioneer Sq after several hours of riding and hooked up with the vigil and other CMers. More rides poured in periodically, groups of 15 or so at a time. At one point a group of about 20 people left to ride over Hawthorne. Others stayed to hang at the Sq.

I spoke with one guy who said cops were pepper spraying people and while that happened, a group of people took off for the Hawthorne bridge. Because the cops were so distracted, they rode cop-less until halfway across the bridge. At that time, the cops zoomed across the bridge and caught up with them to reel them in. The Massers exited the bridge onto the esplanade and went back up to the bridge on the other side to ride back downtown. After they got downtown, the police herded the mass back to the bride and away from the city. A few people snuck back downtown to the square.

Perhaps related to the above-mentioned pepper spray incident, one person said on his ride a woman was pulled off her bike by police. He said she was a really unassuming rider, not yelling and very mellow. He was shocked they picked her. She was handled roughly by them and throughout the process, she said “What did I do? I’m sorry, what did I do?” with nervousness in her voice. The person who described this was not clear, he was at the back of a large group I guess, but he said he thinks the police were pepper spraying, and possibly at the girl.

I’m trying to compile information for KBOO reporting, so if you know anything, please share here (if you want) and please get in touch with me.

Ayleen