DOWNTOWN DIARY
One gal’s (that’s me!) account of going in search of pleasure in downtown Fort Myers and its surrounding areas
Lights, check. Helmet, check. Energy, fully charged. I’m ready for an 11-mile bike ride in the Fort Myers River District. And so are about 200 people around me, with their bicycles dressed in colorful lights. The first Friday of every month, riders gather at the Publix parking lot in downtown Fort Myers to join the Critical Mass bike ride for about an hour of biking and fun. I had seen the long line of cyclists roll through downtown during Art Walk, so I decided to see what it’s all about.
Turns out, it’s much more than a couple hundred lit-up bicycles rolling down the street—which looks pretty neat, by the way. Critical Mass is a worldwide cycling movement that originated in San Francisco in 1992, and since then has made its way around the world reaching hundreds of cities. All are independent from each other and operate as the participants choose.
The organizer in Southwest Florida is Rob Seibert, who participated in Fort Lauderdale’s Critical Mass in 2013 to ride with his best friend from childhood. He thought it would be a good idea to start a group here. “There wasn’t anything like that here in Southwest Florida, so I felt the need to start a conceptually similar ride,” he says.
The first Southwest Florida Critical Mass bike ride kicked off in August 2013. Seibert says the participation has grown from about 30 to 200 people participating.
The ride isn’t a competition, but rather a structured collective bike ride through the streets of the Fort Myers Historic District on a peaceful Florida evening. Seibert says there isn’t a main leader. They are just cycling at the same time with safety in mind.
Critical Mass bike rides have a higher purpose than just having fun exercising during community get-togethers. They draw attention to cyclists on the road. Seibert says the group follows different routes, but each is designed for roadway safety and maximum exposure. “We’re all about massive awareness for cyclists,” he says. “The more we’re seen, the more people think of cyclists sharing the roadways.”
Each ride is structured to keep the group safely moving forward, Seibert says, noting that everybody rides at their own risk. The fun aspect, along with the positive energy of the crowd, keeps many families and friends coming back every month.
Completing the 11-mile downtown route from the Publix parking lot through Art Walk and the neighborhoods surrounding the Edison & Ford Winter Estates takes about an hour, plus a 10-minute break at 5.5 miles.
Seibert says it’s a couple of hours a month to drop all your life worries. “A moment to forget about work, your personal issues, your politics, your wealth or race,” he says. “Just a time to breathe, smile and enjoy your life. You can put all the ‘things’ back in your head after the ride.”