“Critical Mass” bicycle demonstrations began in San Francisco in 1992 to protest the challenges of bike riders in car traffic. In Seattle, monthly protests began to take place during rush hour.

This overhead view of a Critical Mass rally at Fourth Avenue and Pine Street was taken from the balcony of Westlake Center. Cyclists had tangled with police near Westlake Center a week earlier, but this rally of about 200 cyclists was peaceful.

Caption information source: “Bicyclists are regrouping with mass ride today”, by Jane Hadley, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 7, 1997, pages C1, C2.
Caption information source: “Bikers show rush-hour traffic during ‘uneventful’ protest”, by Vanessa Ho, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 8, 1997, pages A1, A8.