Had a pretty low key Christmas Day at home, we'd already done the big present exchange and dinner at my Mom's on Festivus. We had a friend over for turkey dinner (that was mainly made for leftovers) and after I got her slurring-her-words-drunk on two beers (in fairness, they were Duvels, weighing in at 8% ABV, and our guest doesn't drink often and doesn't weigh much), I drove her home.
After which me and Mo went to mass. Lots of people go to mass at Christmas, I know. But we're not Catholic, we went to Critical Mass. I didn't have my bike of course, I just stopped by and had a beer and socialized during the pre-party, took a few pics.
I knew it'd be a relatively small turnout. Cold, winter masses are never huge like summer. In June or July you can probably find a couple hundred people, about a third of them regulars, about a third occasional riders, and a third tourists trying a Critical Mass that one time. I'm guessing at the ratios, but I think it's a pretty solid guess.
When the mercury dips a bit, the tourists dry up. Same thing with rain. The regulars, the core of Critical Mass, are mostly year round urban cyclists who dress for the elements and don't let the weatherman tell them when they can ride. And even that group gets smaller when the weather might be fine for riding but not so super-duper for standing around drinking beer. Add to that a major holiday like Christmas falling on the last Friday of December, I was surprised at how many people were riding. It was over a dozen.
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