This Friday, hundreds of cyclists worldwide will gather at a prearranged starting point and ride through their respective cities en masse in a bicycle-friendly event known as Critical Mass, a term first popularized in San Francisco in 1992. Though often viewed, by observers and participants alike, as a bicycle-powered protest against the priority often granted to motorized vehicles in a urban setting, the mass is also considered by many to be a party on wheels — a regularly scheduled celebration of bicycle culture and public space. The open-ended definition and decentralized “organization” of the ride allow for a broad spectrum of experience. Whatever the individual makes of Mass is what it can be.

The basic framework of each Mass is the same. A group of cyclists gathers at the appointed place at the appointed time, and when the numbers are deemed sufficient, the ride sets off into the city streets. Riders spread out across all the traffic lanes creating a safe space for bicycles on streets that may normally be a treacherous, car-centric obstacle course. Since the ride is ostensibly leaderless, the route is often different from month to month, and sometimes even splits in two, depending on the navigation skills of the frontrunner bikes. Detractors of the Mass cite the subsequent delay in motor traffic to be unnecessary and potentially dangerous, while event proponents claim that the minor inconvenient delay suffered by motorized vehicles one day per month does not begin to compare to the daily inconveniences suffered by cyclists during their normal commute — uneven roads, lack of bike lanes, aggressive drivers, and so forth.

While certain rides are bigger than others (some numbering in the thousands, and even tens of thousands) you really don’t need more than twenty riders to take over a street. Don’t have a Critical Mass in your area but you wish you did? Pick a starting point, print up a few flyers, call up a few friends, and bring a few noisemakers (a portable sound system/boombox is always a welcome component). When the moment feels right, take to the streets and see where they lead. Freedom could be just a bike ride away.