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Critical Mass 26th July 2013

spliff

spliff

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The last Friday of the month is here already
I'm assuming (hoping) there'll be a hefty turnout tonight partly due to the clement weather conditions but also sadly of course because of the recent cycling deaths and the LCC demonstrations that followed.

See you there.

6.30pm outside the NFT SouthBank
 
absolutely loads of cyclists out tonight for this, i enjoyed myself muchly, although too much aggression from loony drivers to be put up with, and i have to say a couple of the critical mass people were similarly unhelpful.

but the sight of something like a 1,000 cyclists being taken in, as we crossed bridges, cruised through underpasses and took in the evening air on the boulevards of central london, was simply magnificent.
 
someone in a BMW drove at speed through a load of cyclists. One woman run over. Bikes damaged. Other fuckwits in cars driving at the ride too. This vid misses the start, but you can see the BMW in question



There's some horrible stuff on the Critical Mss London facebook page - people being bumped off their bikes by cars, someone being hit with a baseball bat wielded by an annoyed moped rider, cab drivers shouting "fuck off you fucking fat cunt" at people :(:mad::(:(

Levels of agression on the roads in London are unbelievable
 
Brixton Hatter said:
someone in a BMW drove at speed through a load of cyclists. One woman run over. Bikes damaged. Other fuckwits in cars driving at the ride too. This vid misses the start, but you can see the BMW in question



There's some horrible stuff on the Critical Mss London facebook page - people being bumped off their bikes by cars, someone being hit with a baseball bat wielded by an annoyed moped rider, cab drivers shouting "fuck off you fucking fat cunt" at people :(:mad::(:(

Levels of agression on the roads in London are unbelievable
Click to expand...


I'm very upset by this. Wasn't on the mass as i was at a festival.

I'm a bit emotionally jaded so i'll until i calm down a bit before saying my bit.
 
I am a London taxi driver and occasionally come into contact with Critical Mass on Friday evenings although I have never called anyone a fucking fat cunt.

My main impression of the riders is their total contempt for other road users and the level of hate directed towards us. The females generally aren't as bad as the males. On 26th July I was held up as I was waiting to turn from Horse Guards Rd into the Mall. Fortunately my passengers didn't seem that bothered and I was quite happy to wait for a bit (although I felt obliged to turn the meter off!)

One of the passing cyclists told me he hoped I'd been waiting a long time, while others took turns to stop in front of my bonnet, not deigning to recognise my existence.

I also think it's pretty cynical to try and link Critical Mass to the deaths of cyclists in London. I just wish the responsible end of cycling would be brave enough to say something critical about Critical Mass.
 
I don't go on the mass any more because of its confrontational atmosphere. It only antagonises other road users - pedestrians, public transport and motorists alike. I ride my bike every day and there are more and more people sharing my route every day. To me, that is a more effective way of promoting cycling because it's a regular everyday event, not a "surprise" rolling roadblock.
 
indeed. riding your bike well and in accordance with the law and not making a nuisance out of yourself for shits and giggles is a far better way of promoting cycling.

it is also worth pointing out that pretty much every day is critical mass for cars, moreso come rush hour.

i also fail to understand the privileges afforded the pampered black cab trade. they seldom carry more than a single extra passenger, they pollute heavily, contribute massively to the traffic volume, especially when not carrying a fare and they are simply not economically viable for the vast majority of londoners who aren't rich tourists and people on expense accounts. They aren't even the most time efficient way of getting around town.

Not having a pop at the drivers - most of them are perfectly agreeable.
 
If it took place in a car-oriented town, then I think it might be more desirable as a means of protest. But the majority of traffic in central london on a Friday night is there because it has to be - buses, taxis (but with pissflaps' caveat) and trade vehicles. They won't stop driving their vehicles because of the mass, and neither will they get on bicycles.

I've seen the mass described as an example of what the streets could be like if everybody cycled. But I've been to cities where everybody cycles, and they don't behave like the mass.
 
Crispy said:
If it took place in a car-oriented town, then I think it might be more desirable as a means of protest. But the majority of traffic in central london on a Friday night is there because it has to be - buses, taxis (but with pissflaps' caveat) and trade vehicles. They won't stop driving their vehicles because of the mass, and neither will they get on bicycles.

I've seen the mass described as an example of what the streets could be like if everybody cycled. But I've been to cities where everybody cycles, and they don't behave like the mass.
Click to expand...
Most of the traffic is held up for about 5 minutes at most, it's hardly an inconvenience in the bigger scheme of things, and if CM participants are a feisty bunch, its because of the continual untrammeled aggression of motorists at the frustration of their perceived right of way over everyone else. Having said that, I did see one dickhead cycling down the Strand yelling obscenities at the traffic, mainly black cabs, in the opposite lane.
 
I've only been on one CM. Never again - too much aggression, too stressful. I think it's counterproductive. It makes enemies and doesn't achieve anything positive. At various times I've been a cyclist, car driver and motorcycle messenger in London. I take the view that we all need to cooperate and share the road. There will never be enough road space in London for any of us to do as we please. These days, with the congestion charge, the high cost of motoring, the shortage of parking etc very few drivers are in central London for fun. Most are driving for a living, especially in the daytime. They work together amazingly well and show each other a lot of courtesy. CM just marginalises cyclists, making them the enemy of everyone else. If we cyclists want drivers to be more considerate we should take a different approach - maybe riding around with "I OBEY RED LIGHTS" in big letters on our backs. I reckon that would achieve 100 times more than CM ever will.
 
^ i'm with you halfway - the notion that cyclists are collectively responsible for one another is bonkers. obey lights because it's the law, not because you want to prove a point. that sort of reasoning also plays to the 'cyclists must obey the rules before they get any money spent on infrastructure or modal share' bollocks that you see bandied about by the pro-motoring lobby.
 
But if we did obey the rules, and got some recognition for it, it would cut the motoring lobby off at the knees.
 
possibly - most debates about cycling provision get shut down the second someone from the other team shouts 'well cyclists RLJ!' - from there on in it just turns into a 'well you do this that and the other!' handbag fight rather than taking the discussion the direction of exploring why cyclists RLJ.

You'll never stop cyclists RLJing, at least not until the less competent cyclists feel safe on the roads. The motoring lobby aren't really interested in sharing the roads at all - they think of them as their property and nothing anyone can say or do will change that. What we need is an equally powerful and co-ordinated pro-cycling lobby that doesn't resort to childish horseshit like CM or supporting divisive, poorly conceived and executed wastes of taxpayers money like the pissing nicewaycode (i'm looking at you CTC, you fucking witless traitors) to get its point across.
 
Frumious B. said:
But if we did obey the rules, and got some recognition for it, it would cut the motoring lobby off at the knees.
Click to expand...
I used to think exactly this, but have now come to believe that it's an argument that is similar to stockholm syndrome or domestic abuse.

"If I'm nice, maybe he'll stop beating me!"

The problem is not individuals and their personal relationships, it's systematic and is about power relations. I obey the law and am a considerate rider because I'm polite and it lessens the chances of an individual driver taking it out on me as an individual during a single event. But I no longer believe that such behaviour in aggregate will alter the safety or popularity of cycling in London. The physical and political infrastructure required to truly promote cycling over other forms of transport can only be built by political power.

It's not like "do unto others" has no merit, but it's not really the biggest stick in the fight.
 
Crispy said:
The physical and political infrastructure required to truly promote cycling over other forms of transport can only be built by political power.
Click to expand...

Oh, and simply by cycling. The more of us there are, the less we are ignored.
 
Bedgewick3 said:
I also think it's pretty cynical to try and link Critical Mass to the deaths of cyclists in London. I just wish the responsible end of cycling would be brave enough to say something critical about Critical Mass.
Click to expand...

I agree, there's congestion and the narrow streets of London town but many of the accidents are the result of wild lorry drivers who normally are out of town by the time critical mass happens. If critical mass is direct action then surely there comes a point where the 'action' is a bit futile. I'm not surprised by the reaction of other road users. It's been going since about 1995. Transport policy was very different then.

The LCC one a few weeks back in Aldgate was loads better. Short and to the point with a defined agenda.

The ride last year to the Olympic Park was proof of how non-strategic and clueless it's getting.
 
you can't really accuse CM of being non-strategic and clueless - that's kinda the point of the whole wretched affair.
 
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