A Personal Message to Critical Mass.

[downfader]

You aint helping matters.

Personally I do feel that the emphasis of the demonstration is all wrong. All the CM rally do is wind people up. Its jolly and nice for those partaking in the fun, but those outside the bubble either need to be let in on what things are about, or do not want to partake in matters. Often I'm sure they just want to get home.

I also think the CM wind up the barry boys and the idiots who are looking for an excuse or two. "I drove at him to teach him a lesson" and "I sounded my horn at her until she got out of my way" must run through their minds.

I think there are other ways to protest. If cities and drivers are unhelpful to cyclists and pedestrians then we need to use political means to counter this. In fact I think it would serve more sense if they got a bit sneaky and found the really bad drivers that the Police and Courts keep letting off and kept nicking their wheels, LOL! Atleast then the good drivers would feel some benefit to themselves.

I think CM sympathisers need to start thinking about standing for councillership, get into town planning. Stand for office, as they say. Infiltration is the only way to make change happen. The current CM bubble is exclusive to cyclists, also, pedestrian groups and driver's associations need to be in on the picture and be persuaded to come on side and see that cyclists are not the scary enemy, or hinderance some seem to think.

The CM need someone who supports them who is eloquent and can speak with intellect and wit, someone who can become a public face in the same way Edmund King has with motorists. They need a decent spokesman. Currently everytime I see a CM'er inteviewed on tv they come across as a skunk-head or a dimwit.

 

[Zippy]

I accept your points, perhaps there should be more education about what CM is trying to tell people.

However, some folks need telling more loudly about the elephant in the room before they come round to admitting they see it too.

 

[chap]

You aint helping matters.

Personally I do feel that the emphasis of the demonstration is all wrong. All the CM rally do is wind people up. Its jolly and nice for those partaking in the fun, but those outside the bubble either need to be let in on what things are about, or do not want to partake in matters. Often I'm sure they just want to get home.

I also think the CM wind up the barry boys and the idiots who are looking for an excuse or two. "I drove at him to teach him a lesson" and "I sounded my horn at her until she got out of my way" must run through their minds.

I think there are other ways to protest. If cities and drivers are unhelpful to cyclists and pedestrians then we need to use political means to counter this. In fact I think it would serve more sense if they got a bit sneaky and found the really bad drivers that the Police and Courts keep letting off and kept nicking their wheels, LOL! Atleast then the good drivers would feel some benefit to themselves.

I think CM sympathisers need to start thinking about standing for councillership, get into town planning. Stand for office, as they say. Infiltration is the only way to make change happen. The current CM bubble is exclusive to cyclists, also, pedestrian groups and driver's associations need to be in on the picture and be persuaded to come on side and see that cyclists are not the scary enemy, or hinderance some seem to think.

The CM need someone who supports them who is eloquent and can speak with intellect and wit, someone who can become a public face in the same way Edmund King has with motorists. They need a decent spokesman. Currently everytime I see a CM'er inteviewed on tv they come across as a skunk-head or a dimwit.

Definitly so, although these things attract these types of people. It's the same with most demonstrations, all the spliff smokers, balaclava-clad teens, Parisian students, and lofy Guardian readers come out to play - no doubt some skinny unwashed man with dreadlocks and an undercut will start playing the bongos.

I like the idea of corking, this could be handy if the CM had purpose e.g. impromptu Green waves, although if it started becoming organised then the House of Lords bill would fail and the police would have the opportunity to act.

On a 'BBC documentry' one of the representatives from the LCC got a soundbite in, with regards to the sensible and exacting question of something approximating 'Are cyclists bad'. What he said made sense, which probably explains why it was glossed over with tabloid style investigation. It went something like this:

In a civil society, we have an obligation to look after those who are more vulnerable than ourselves. As such, this extends to the road. The cyclist has a duty to the pedestrian to show consideration and care in their actions. Likewise the Car driver has the same obligation to the cyclist and the pedestrian, as does the Bus and HGV driver to the Car driver, etc.

 

[MajorMantra]

Yep. Witness the reaction to CM in NY. A quote from Bikesnobnyc:

This is another great success for cycling for which we can thank Critical Mass. Just to review, it's always been perfectly legal to ride a bicycle in New York City. Moreover, nobody was really counting how many people were doing it at a single time. Still, a bunch of people decided for some reason that they needed to assert some rights that we already had, and thus Critical Mass was born. This in turn made the authorities question whether we should have those rights in the first place, and unfortunately the answer they came up with is that we shouldn't. So basically, Critical Mass advocated for something that was already legal and in the process made it illegal. This is almost exactly like the "Seinfeld" episode where they get a sitcom pilot offer from NBC and George manages to negotiate their fee down. Nicely done.

What a bunch of idiots.

Matthew

 

[hackbike 666]

I know I won't be going on one as I don't agree with it.

 

[BentMikey]

I don't really have a problem with critical mass, don't have strong feelings either way. I'm just glad that we're able to do this without the dirty and underhand tactics used by officialdom in NYC.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

It's all about anarchy and rebellion. Apparently. They must have really boring jobs I reckon, or perhaps are be utterly disempowered when not on their bikes in a mob. I stopped when I came to the conclusion that CM's antics are essentially a bit of bullying, meaning they reduced themselves to the level of behaviour of the people they seem to perceive to be persecuting them.

 

[hackbike 666]

I saw a clip where a cab was being bullied by at least five cyclists and in my book this isn't right and probably lead to more enemies.

Yes I know cabbies can be a pain in the bum at the best of times but some of the stuff I have seen on those clips doesn't look good.

I had a row with a cab driver about a month ago but at no time did either of us use bad language which is surprising really.We just said our views and we were off.Basically he didn''t like the fact I was blowing the horn at him and he asked me why I did it.I find a lot of time good manners on the road seems to work.I don't see that on critical mass.

 

[chap]

I don't really have a problem with critical mass, don't have strong feelings either way. I'm just glad that we're able to do this without the dirty and underhand tactics used by officialdom in NYC.

• NYC Cycling
• Related article

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

i go on the manchester one. it is good natured. i have never seen any trouble. i meet lovely people, i meet weird (in a nice way) people, i meet people i would never have come across in my normal life. most of all i meet people who have the common interest of cycling. i see fixies, brommies, old raleigh folders, old shoppers, choppers, cruisers, bakfiets complete with an old collie dog chilling, dutch bikes, rat bikes, prestige racing bikes, recumbents, but not seen a unicycle yet. seems i'm not like a lot of people tho, i don't judge till i have tried. it's fun and i get a monthly 100k in by doing it.

 

[chap]

I'm torn. I'd like to go on one, because there are cyclists there and I generally enjoy the company of cyclists (Arch!).

But then, and again, I'm not really into all the blocking the streets stuff that can go on because it doesn't put us in a good light.

Wait for the inevitable launch party for the London Cycle Scheme, the blue streaks (London Super-duper highways), or one of Murdochs goody bag Skyrides. As long as they have Kelly Brook again, I'm happy.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I don't really have a problem with critical mass, don't have strong feelings either way. I'm just glad that we're able to do this without the dirty and underhand tactics used by officialdom in NYC.

For now ...

Having been on one CM, years ago, the impression I came away with was that they weren't doing us any favours at all. We wobbled around the Wolverhampton ring road during Friday afternoon rush hour at under 10 mph, taking up the whole of one lane. The idea was to try and show that there was a need for cycling facilities in Wolverhampton but it seeme dto me that we were showing just what a monstrous pain in the arse cyclists could be when they put their minds to it.

 

[Twenty Inch]

I don't really have a problem with critical mass, don't have strong feelings either way. I'm just glad that we're able to do this without the dirty and underhand tactics used by officialdom in NYC.

Mikey have a look at the link below:

http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/gomm.html

This was a completely counterproductive effort by the Met to close down the public space. Not only did the courts slap it down, it remotivated a lot of people to take part again who had previously been drifting away, and subsequent CM were well-attended.

CM is an opportunity for cyclists to get together once a month and ride around town in company, without feeling in danger or threatened. It also has the effect of underlining that cyclists are traffic too. It won't reach every motorist, but I hope it makes some think about how we have made our public space hostage to a polluting, completely-inappropriate-in-cities form of transport. I've seen motorists being given a hard time, but usually after they have barged their way into the mass and put people in danger. I've seen a few drivers deliberately drive at participants and hit them. In my opinion those drivers were already nutters and CM wouldn't have made them worse. Most people might use the extra few minutes at a roundabout or junction to reflect on whether they need to be burning fossil fuels to move a ton and a half of metal around with only one person in it.

And in any event, protest, demonstration, making one's voice heard is about getting up people's noses. It's empowering and energising. It's a great place to meet people and find out about things. There are plenty of dreadlocked, parisian bongo-drummers there, but there are also plenty of nice, articulate, intelligent people who have come along to have a ride and make a point in a nice fluffy way. Why should we be silent?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

i go on the manchester one. it is good natured. i have never seen any trouble. i meet lovely people, i meet weird (in a nice way) people, i meet people i would never have come across in my normal life. most of all i meet people who have the common interest of cycling. i see fixies, brommies, old raleigh folders, old shoppers, choppers, cruisers, bakfiets complete with an old collie dog chilling, dutch bikes, rat bikes, prestige racing bikes, recumbents, but not seen a unicycle yet. seems i'm not like a lot of people tho, i don't judge till i have tried. it's fun and i get a monthly 100k in by doing it.

intravenous heroin use, blood doping, incest, anabolic steroids, spousal abuse, etc., etc..

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

excuse me?!!!!