Like almost every other aspect of life right now, riding a bike around Atlanta is different than it was before social distancing and the shelter-in-place order. There are fewer cars are on the road, bike shops are instituting new policies to keep their employees and customers safe and group rides have been canceled.
One of the more notable cancellations was of Atlanta’s largest group bike ride, Critical Mass. It rolls out from Woodruff Park in Downtown Atlanta on the last Friday of every month. On March 27, that did not happen. It was a sunny, 80-degree day, but at the time the ride usually begins, the park was quiet.
Angel Poventud has helped organize Critical Mass for the past seven years. While technically the ride does not have a leader, Poventud creates the route and often guides the ride out of Woodruff Park each month. In response to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom’s shelter-in-place order, he posted to the ride’s Facebook page, encouraging people to skip it this time around.
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