Approximately 20 people from Richmond, Virginia today rode in New York City's Critical Mass to greet the Republican National Convention. Estimated to include 2,500 exhilarated people, with hundreds of bikeless supporters along the route, today's Critical Mass was the largest in NYC memory. Some Richmond bike enthusiasts rented their own van with trailer in tow to participate in tonight's mass, while other Virginians have been supporting this past week's actions in numerous ways. Richmonder Anda Lewis sported a tandem bicycle with fellow Richmonder Luke Stevens. "It was the massivest Critical Mass ever, bigger than every Critical Mass in Richmond ever put together, times a hundred!" she said after the midtown Manhattan jaunt. Gathering at Union Square in the middle of Manhattan at 7 p.m. and departing at 7:30, oil-free transportation stretched across all horizons around Union Square. First pedaling south down Broadway and then rerouting north on Madison and Sixth avenues, Critical Mass consisted of a 45 block long brigade of cyclists, skaters and pedestrians. The ride lasted about 2 hours, performed its traditional occupation of Times Square and rode past Madison Square Garden (MSG), site of the RNC. The route took riders through Friday night throngs of New Yorkers and tourists, many energetically waving and shouting in support, others pissed off at their inconvenience. Fear mongering on behalf of the city police department apparently accomplished little even as police passed out bulletins alerting riders of the illegality and possible dangers of riding without a permit. Brendan, an organizer with Times-Up, center of all bike activities occurring during the counter convention, said the NYPD's efforts were unsuccessful. "(The NYPD) tried in so many ways to prevent people from coming out, but we all saw how successful this ride was with the thousands of riders taking the streets," he said. Approximately 800 Critical Massers ended up at St. Mark's church in lower Manhattan, sanctuary for the protest and home to much of the organizing for the counter RNC mobilizing. Upon arriving at the church, the Critical Mass riders hoisted their bikes into the air, waving them overhead as they unleashed a long unified victory cry. The celebratory mood at St. Mark's lasted only fifteen minutes though before police moved and began arresting participants. Critical Mass riders elsewhere were caught and arrested by New York City Police along the way. Several riders were taken down after passing MSG, dozens more were arrested at the Lincoln Tunnel. When asked about the arrests, Stephanie Law of Richmond said, "I think (the arrests were) ridiculous because no one was doing anything malicious and there wasn't any violence from the bike-riders." She also described the tense mood as the ride wound down and thinned out. "By the end you could feel some cab drivers getting vicious. I saw one cab driver push a girl off her bike and lots of sexual harassment of women riders. " Video of the evening being processed by the Indymedia Center right now shows the regrettably predictable violent nature of the arrests. Caught on tape are images of protesters being thrown off their bicycles, heads beaten into the asphalt, then cuffed with plastic flexi-cuffs. Pedestrians milling about also unfortunately fell victim to the cops, getting pulled off the street and arrested too. The latest reports put the total amount of arrested riders and bystanders at 250 people.