A mass bicycle ride scheduled today through parts of the city has police appealing for patience and adherence to the laws of the road.

Critical Mass, a monthly bicycle ride involving a loosely knit group of bicyclists, will stage another group ride beginning at 5 p.m. at the state Capitol.

One day last month about 50 riders cruised through town and Waikiki, sometimes blocking all lanes. At a news conference yesterday at the Capitol, Police Maj. Clayton Saito asked bicyclists and motorists to respect one another.

"We support their intent," Saito said, referring to the Critical Mass bicyclists. "But we're asking them to do it in a lawful, safe way. Then of course, to the motorists that may get caught up in the traffic, we're asking them to be patient and also to be respectful of the bicyclists that may be involved."

Police will monitor today's ride and will assign more officers to it, including its bicycle unit, he said. If necessary, police will cite violators — motorists as well as bicyclists — Saito said.

Bicyclists are required to obey all traffic laws, including riding single file at the right-hand edge of the road, Saito said.

Critical Mass formed about 15 years ago in San Francisco and has spread throughout the world.

According to the Web site for Honolulu Critical Mass, it has no leader or centralized organization, and its monthly rides are intended to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists' right to the road.

Information about the rides is spread by word of mouth and via the Web site.

Critical Mass is credited with bringing attention to bicyclists' issues. But even some other bicyclists don't like the group's tactics, and Critical Mass rides have sometimes resulted in confrontations with law enforcement.

During a ride in August 2004 in New York City, police arrested 250 bicyclists out of a total of about 5,000 participating, according to the Critical Mass Web site.

Some riders try to tie up traffic and are confrontational with motorists but that is not the point of the rides, according to the site.

"Those who want to play juvenile games are encouraged to stay at home instead," the site said.

Duane Franklin, assistant manager for The Bike Factory in Honolulu, said Critical Mass rides underscore the plight of bicyclists.

"What it really comes down to is trying to take back the road because we're not getting the respect that we feel we deserve," Franklin said, adding that he supports more bike lanes, education and more efforts toward getting people out of automobiles and onto bikes.

No one could say how long the rides have taken place in Honolulu but they are done on a monthly basis and up to 50 bicyclists have participated at a time, said Franklin, who has taken part in some of the rides.

"Last time they did one it pretty much got ugly," he said. "It should be people getting together and riding and having a good time and letting cars know that we have a right to be on the road."

An incident during the last ride resulted in an accusation that a police officer tackled a bike rider to the ground in front of the police station when the bicyclists had blocked all lanes on Beretania Street. But a police investigation showed that the officer had tripped and a rider ran into him, sending the officer and rider to the ground, Saito said.

Police have enlisted the help of the Hawaii Bicycling League to contact the group but it has failed, said Mitchell Nakagawa, league executive director.

"HBL supports the intent and the concept presented by Critical Mass," Nakagawa said. "It's been a very useful tool in other cities around the nation (but) we support advocating for these concepts through the legal framework of the rules of the road and also with respect for the other motorists and pedestrians."

Nakagawa said some members of HBL have participated in Critical Mass and he respects their right to do that, but the organization does not condone the rides.

Still, he said he does understand the frustration bikers have over the slow progress to ensure their safety and increase routes for people who want to use the alternative transportation.

The city Bicycling Plan is reviewed every 10 years and only then are projects prioritized or developed, Nakagawa said. From May 13 to 15 the city will host community workshops to update the plan.

"The next big push and the purpose of the next master bicycling plan is to integrate the feeder routes and bicycle routes into the (mass) transit," he said.