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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ― While cyclists grind gears through San Francisco, city accountants run the numbers. It's severe budget crunching time and city leaders say they want everybody to pay their share fair for special events -- for example, the Valentine's Day pillow fight, which costs the city nearly $20,000 to clean up.

But there's no crackdown on Critical Mass. The last Friday evening of every month, hundreds of bicycles converge on San Francisco. It's been many things for many different people. Some people do it for fun and others for exercise. For me, it's a great way to see the city. I rode with critical mass last month. And what I saw was more than a thousand riders enjoying a party atmosphere -- blocking traffic, running red lights -- for several hours, while expressing a strong commitment to their cause: to increase visibility of cyclists and to increase awareness that bikes are part of the transportation system.

I also saw tempers flare among non-riders. There were honking horns, a bit of swearing, and the occasional middle finger raised.

Riders and police tell me critical mass has calmed down considerably. Two years ago, a Redwood City woman claimed cyclists surrounded her car and busted out the back window. But those incidences are now rare, at least in San Francisco.

Critical Mass has spread to more than 300 cities around the world since it started in San Francisco in 1992, and there are still occasional outbursts of violence. Last year, an NYPD officer decided to send his own message with his forearm, throwing into the path of a cyclist. That officer was suspended.

But riders sometimes appreciate the presence of law enforcement.

"We don't particularly want them, but it's nice," one rider tells me. "I have seen the police step in for motorists trying to run us over."

Back in 1997, then-mayor Willie Brown famously tried to stop Critical Mass by threatening to arrest all the riders. But that backfired, sending more bicyclists into the street in protest. Since then, the event appears to be politically untouchable.

Riders pay no permit fees and nothing for the police protection of 24 motorcycle cops. In fact, they pay nothing at all, because "they" have no organization.

Here's an estimate of what critical mass would have to pay if they followed the rules: an event permit would be $1000. For a permit once a month, that's $12,000 for the year. Required portable bathrooms are another $500 each time, or $6,000 for the year. Add a $1000 cleaning deposit twelve times too, so $12,000 a year. And then there's police protection. For 20 officers, it's more than $112,000 a year, and another $13,000 for two sergeants.

That's a grand total of $155,060 -- tax dollars never recovered.

But one of Critical Mass's biggest supporters, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, says they're not getting a pass.

"Any kind of traffic enforcement, especially when it's mobile and rotating like that, costs the city money for a police escort," Mirkarimi says. "So the police department needs to provide us their budget to determine if that is an applicable use."

The police chief authorizes the overtime for all those extra officers.

But Chief Heather Fong says, "It's not for us to say that they go up under the budget microscope because they're not applying for a permit. They're an unorganized group, so they say."

David Campos is a newly elected supervisor. I pointed out that in an age of service and budget cuts, still nobody is talking about charging Critical Mass.

"Well, without prejudging anything," Campos said thoughtfully, "Everything has to be on the table. I think Critical Mass is included. I think that's something we need to look at. I think everything has to be on the table. Doesn't necessarily mean we're going to act on it."

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