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Judith Scherr/Daily Planet
Saturday March 10, 2001

With bike horns honking, hundreds of pink balloons pushing skyward on their strings and one pink contraption on wheels filled with balloons described as a “velorutionary pink bloc,” some 200 riders took off through the streets of Berkeley Friday evening, celebrating the eighth anniversary of Critical Mass, an organization that aims to take streets back for cyclists. “I don’t believe in cars for use in an urban area,” said Brendan Casey, who rides with Critical Mass in New York City and was in town visiting a friend. Casey said another friend, a bike messenger in the Big Apple, was knocked to the ground by a fire truck and broke his leg. “(Critical Mass) makes the public aware of bicyclers,” he said.