Hundreds of UCSB students and community members made the
connection between bicycling and peace yesterday by cycling to the peace rally
from Isla Vista. The connection is clear: Consumption of oil and other
resources for private motor vehicles is the single greatest force driving our
wars.
The fourteen-mile ride visited a number of death contracting (military
contracting) facilities, including planting an olive tree of peace on the lawn
of one of the numerous Raytheon buildings.
Peace activists gathered at 9AM in Isla Vista.
We soon made our way through some of the most human-unfriendly areas of Goleta,
reclaiming the entire road from the ramming machines of death that ordinarily
fill them.
After visiting the death factories of Raytheon, the exhilaration of taking back
the streets grew ever greater! The hideously hostile intersections of Goleta
became a playground. Hollister at Los Carneros, at Fairview, at Patterson, at
Turnpike each became a merry-go-round of circling cyclists!
Old Town Goleta, the site of two recent deaths by motor vehicle (a cyclist and
a pedestrian) was filled with the joyful sight of cyclists!
At 11:15AM we arrived at Five Points Shopping Center, taking over a very
hostile area of State Street near Highway 154. We rested a few minutes and
received water and made quite a spectacle at the crowded shopping center! Would
we get to the rally on time? Who knew for sure? But the priority was the safety
and comfort of our cycling companions.
Soon we were on our way, continuing to occupy all of State Street as we passed
La Cumbre Plaza and on to Loreto Plaza! At 11:30 we stopped there to visit our
local military recruiter! Usually it is a serious crime to recruit people for
killing, but they do it every single day.
Most of the rest of the ride was a downhill cruise. As we passed Mission Street
at around 11:45 and entered the downtown area everyone stopped to watch us and
most gave us peace signs and friendly waves.
Almost exactly at noon we rolled past the Farmer's Market to the staging area
for the peace march! We were greeted with cheers almost as if we were a
triumphant army!
And in a way, we were! Riding a bicycle to save resources often feels like
going into battle. Three million Americans are injured each year by private
motor vehicles. That is a lot more than are injured in military battles. And on
a bicycle, we don't get armor or defensive weapons!
Please check out these http://www.swt.org/act/criticalmass031707/ photos of this
Critical Mass ride! Don't miss the cool video clip of the occupation of the
Fairview/Hollister intersection!
And remember that Critical Mass Rides happen the last Friday of each month here
and in most other cities!
Best wishes,
Robert
Robert Bernstein
Santa Barbara, CA USA
www.swt.org/robert