Best planned anarchistic protest: Critical Mass
Cyclists rule—at least they do on the last Friday of every month. Started in San Francisco in 1992 with 48 riders ad hocking their opposition to urban automobile use, the boisterous and celebratory event has spread worldwide and taken on, in some minds, the ramifications of an anti-establishment social revolution. This flusters police from London to Budapest to Chicago because, unlike traditional demonstrators, Critical Massers do not stick to confined spaces; they don’t even plan their routes.
Michael W. Parenteau

Best alcohol innovation that doesn't taste like urine: Micro brews
Although Americans have brewed beer for centuries, the past 25 years have seen an upswing in small, local beers, often called boutique brews. Led by California companies such as Anchor Steam, there are 366 registered micro breweries in the country.

IMPACT:

In the early 1980s, the mountain bike went from an offbeat pastime for Marin County hippies to more than 40 percent of the bicycle market. Ushering in an era of "extreme sports," mountain bikes helped change the way Americans view athletics. Outdoor sports was no longer just a distraction for the intrepid young. We adopted a "sports-for-life" ethos, according to Gary Fisher, who credits the change to a motley group of off-road racers on the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais in the late seventies. Along with hydration bladders, uncomfortable spandex, and concussions, mountain bikes and extreme sports have been on the rise ever since.

EUREKA MOMENT:

Fisher remembers: "Everybody that we took out on a ride came back with these big wide eyes saying 'I’ve got to get one of these things.'"

Courtesy of Charlie Kelley

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