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Deck the Bike with Boughs of Holly

Critical Christmas Update: Thank you to Kevin Howe for his story in the 12/19/11 Monterey County Herald, “Light on Wheels:  Cyclists maintain unofficial bike parade tradition.”  

As Howe’s story noted, Girl Scouts [of the Central Coast/Northern Region] were represented by at least one troop leader and a cadette.  Curious to learn more about Critical Christmas 2011 participants?   Read 13-year-old Rebecca and 11-year-old Justine Warwick’s story, “Campfires and flat tires:  The Warwick sisters on keeping up with Dad.”

Organizer Jim Wrona estimated a total of about 75 participants for Critical Christmas 2011, his count taken on the return trip from Cannery Row.

Two days later, Salinas High Cowboy Racing’s Jim Warwick–coach of the only high school mountain biking team in Monterey County–and his daughters returned to the same spot to share with friends the pleasures of the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail and other bikeways by daylight.  Below they are at the Custom House Plaza on the morning of December 20–a bright, beautiful morning and early afternoon that brought out a lot of cyclists; watch this site for a gallery of others.

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Announcing Critical Christmas 2011

12th Critical Christmas Monterey is  Sun, Dec 18. Review Cali bike laws, prep your lights, and meet up with new and old friends!

Monterey County Weekly proclaims this event a hot pick.  Keeping it fun since 1989, event organizer James Wrona welcomes everyone to participate in this annual holiday celebration.

Cali bike laws and personal safety:
  1. There is no pressure on an individual cyclist/family to venture beyond the Custom House Plaza and bike/multi-use path.   Some bikers may prefer to drop out when other cyclists ride the streets.
  2. “Same roads, same rules, same rights.”  Unless you are part of a calvacade/procession that is formally excused (by the presence of a directing police officer) from obeying traffic lights and stop signs, California traffic laws apply.  Please refer to one or more of the following to be prepared for this ride:
Bike lights

Charge up your bike headlamp.  If you don’t own one, see “Biking in the Dark” for tips on purchasing one locally or rigging up a low-cost option.

For info on decorating your bike with lights, see below, and contact Jim Wrona with questions.

Thank you to event organizer James Wrona for  providing the press release  printed below, and thanks to Kaki Cheung of the Transportation Agency of Monterey County for passing along the flier for this local seasonal event.

 

Happy holidays!
Critical Christmas 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011 starting at 5:30 PM/Depart at 6:00 PM – Rain cancels event.
Start and Finish at Custom House Plaza, Monterey

Photo contributed by Jan Valencia, Velo Club Monterey’s Answer Man

Press release below provided by Jim Wrona, event organizer

Critical Christmas is very loosely patterned after, and an amalgam of Critical Mass plus that goofy event they do in Ukiah where truck drivers decorate their 18 wheelers and parade through town. Critical Christmas is intended to get adults and kids out for a leisurely, fun, and goofy bicycle ride, although not necessarily in that order.
One goal of Critical Christmas is to ride either the worst bicycle you can get your hands on, or a classic bicycle (Schwinn StingRay’s are highest on the pecking order), decorate it with as much Christmas stuff (also known in popular culture as “bling”) as you can duct tape in place, and ride and sing your way through Monterey. The Critical Christmas motto is “More of Everything,” which pretty much sums how much wattage you should be considering when buying those battery powered LEDs. This is, after all, Critical Christmas, where it’s not the bicycle but the decorations taped to the bicycle that really count (caveat: anyone sporting a racing bicycle will be made fun of relentlessly).
The event starts Custom House Plaza at 5:30 PM for the ceremonial decorating of the bicycles (bring lots of tape and batteries, please). We will roll at 6:00 PM out in some random direction. The only known along the route are hot laps in both directions around the Custom House Plaza
fountain. We usually finish riding in less than an hour.

Dress for the weather. Rain cancels. Food and libations follow at a local establishment. Critical Christmas is free, however complimentary pints of post-ride beer will be graciously accepted by the organizer, Jim Wrona.
Call Jim Wrona at (831) 633-1819 with any questions.

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For a little history, see the Monterey County Weekly’s 2004 story about this local event.

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This post has been updated from the November 2010 edition.

Posted by: marilynch on November 15, 2011.
Last revised by: marilynch on January 12, 2012.

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