Poor Critical Mass has been getting a lot of heat lately not including the terror the NYPD is unleashing on Critical Mass there. If you're in Eugene and among the few that don't seem to see the sense in it, there is another option:

Art.

Eugene's Last Friday Artwalk is a do it yourself tour of real art by real people. What's the bike related content? Check out these pics from one particular gallery:

I couldn't even get all the bikes that were parked in front in one shot. They went all the way around to the other side of the house. They were piled on top of one another. Some of the bikes themselves became canvases for artistic expression. Note the flowers wrapped in the rear basket.. or better yet, the red velvet baskets on the one behind it.

Ignore the motorcycle in this one! Ero (who does some aluminum welding for us at BF and got his experience at Kinesis where he welded his own GT MTB to show for it) is standing in front of a bike CAR.

Though the Lawnmower Shop had some nice fixies to show off, including a gorgeous Bianchi track bike, it's just too bad there's not much bike art there, e.g.:

Of course, you *COULD* do Critical Mass and then do the Artwalk after. They are both free. They're also both a celebration of a readily accessible human-scale activity that can "just about change the world" (as Grant Petersen once said re: bikes and art). It should also be noted that neither seeks to deny the rights of others to express themselves in their own manner.

Moral of the story? Art won't hurt you and neither will Critical Mass.