A Personal Message to Critical Mass.

[shouldbeinbed]

what about people who cycle with cm just because they feel safe in the bunch? there are people who only cycle in manchester city centre with cm because motons make it too dangerous at other times. cm is neither political nor antagonistic. it is simply a bunch of riders who like to cycle together. no more than that. it takes approx 5 minutes to pass. it doesn't go past the same roads and clog them up. why is ok for motons to kill cyclists every day but not to wait 5 minutes for a happy bunch to pass? i don't belong to a club and ride mostly solo. club rides are weekly sometimes twice weekly. why are club riders 3 or 3 abreast acceptable but 300 riders once a month are not? i think critical mass is good way for one voice to have the power of many. it is quite simple, motons stop killing cyclists every day and then there would be no need for cm. tbh i am amazed that all cyclists don't support cm. the fact that motons get upset just proves that there is still a point to make. why is it acceptable for people to come on here and brag about bashing cars or having road rage incidents but cm is disgraceful behaviour? double standards i think. cm is to show strength amongst cyclists and show we have the right to stay alive.

HMM, Is this really the reason for CM's? a protest about the right to life?

you also give away your prejudice quite clearly with the derogatory Motons sweeping generalisation.

I'm much the same as you, Manchester cyclist, daily commuter, invariably solo and not a club member/runner. but this is as far as the agreement goes I'm afraid. Motorists in Manchester are IME pretty good, there's one or two bad roads Oldham Road scares the c**p out of me however I'm travelling, and the inevitable knuckle draggers that will shout abuse at anything not them. Manchester city centre is a relative haven of safe and decent cycling with generally wide enough and courteous roads right into the centre, I've never in 20 years had a problem, altercation or bad moment on Deansgate, around Piccadilly, commuting the Oxford Road corridor when I lived actually in Manchester. Oldham to Old Trafford for years right through Hulme and Rusholme, for the miles I've ridden the grief I've had is minimal and I can honestly say I've only ever felt genuinely uncomfortable or frightened on my bike a couple of times.

300 people repeatedly cycling in a very compact city centre that doesn't have a lot of alternate options for motors passing through it as opposed to Club runs that go to different places on different runs, avoid urban areas at rush hour and are a far more linear and fast paced. How many abreast do the CM's ride if 2 or 3 on a club run is worthy of your criticism?

I'm also dubious that cyclists are killed by motorists every day, you make it out to be carnage on the roads and one death is one death too many but it isn't the motorised slaughter you're implying.

lastly if these people that are too scared to be cycling outside of a critical mass (dubious on this one, people cycling so infrequently are hardly going to be that motivated for cycling reasons to attend a CM) aren't really doing themselves any favours hiding in an artificially created and unusual bunch situation rather than expanding their horizons and gaining the skills and confidence to participate in proper cycling more than once a month.

CM isn't a movement that will engineer political change on cycling, nor is it a good training ground for frightened cyclists. At best it's a pointless self indulgent whimsy, at worst it is a counterproductive event that has the potential to irritate and inconvenience the local councillors and business interests that we need to have on side to bring about better cycling facilities in the city and a better attitude to biking by employers (C2W participation, a green policy that is more than lip service, investment in bike friendly infrastructure outside and inside the workplace) none of which will happen if they see a bunch of people making a deliberately planned and organised nuisance of themselves, and its not just for 5 minutes, but for the entire duration of the CM. it may take 5 mins to pass one spot but then you're onto another spot and so on, its a constant flow of interruption.

 

[theboytaylor]

This quote straight from the Critical Mass London website (I have no idea if all Critical Masses subscribe to the same ethos, by the way):
"Who Are We and What Are Our Aims?

We are not sure, opinions seem to differ. There are probably as many aims of CM as there are participants. Each individual comes there with his or her own idea of what it's about, and the sum of this makes up the Mass. We have no organisers and no planned routes."

This for me is the problem. It all seems very confused. I found another link to a pdf for DIY fliers that say "We're not blocking the traffic, we ARE the traffic". Travelling slowly en masse at rush hour is, admittedly, a key characteristic of London traffic, but I don't think CM are actually getting over a message of coexistence with other forms of transport.

To me, it all seems a bit whingey and student-y (I have been a whingey student in my time, so can spot a whingey student-y demo fairly well).

 

[downfader]

I think its reasonably clear from history what the CM is about - poor road conditions, infrastucture and bad road usage and intimidating behaviour of drivers. Saying they have no purpose negates why many have riden along and does them a disservice imo.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

HMM, Is this really the reason for CM's? a protest about the right to life?

you also give away your prejudice quite clearly with the derogatory Motons sweeping generalisation.

I'm much the same as you, Manchester cyclist, daily commuter, invariably solo and not a club member/runner. but this is as far as the agreement goes I'm afraid. Motorists in Manchester are IME pretty good, there's one or two bad roads Oldham Road scares the c**p out of me however I'm travelling, and the inevitable knuckle draggers that will shout abuse at anything not them. Manchester city centre is a relative haven of safe and decent cycling with generally wide enough and courteous roads right into the centre, I've never in 20 years had a problem, altercation or bad moment on Deansgate, around Piccadilly, commuting the Oxford Road corridor when I lived actually in Manchester. Oldham to Old Trafford for years right through Hulme and Rusholme, for the miles I've ridden the grief I've had is minimal and I can honestly say I've only ever felt genuinely uncomfortable or frightened on my bike a couple of times.

300 people repeatedly cycling in a very compact city centre that doesn't have a lot of alternate options for motors passing through it as opposed to Club runs that go to different places on different runs, avoid urban areas at rush hour and are a far more linear and fast paced. How many abreast do the CM's ride if 2 or 3 on a club run is worthy of your criticism?

I'm also dubious that cyclists are killed by motorists every day, you make it out to be carnage on the roads and one death is one death too many but it isn't the motorised slaughter you're implying.

lastly if these people that are too scared to be cycling outside of a critical mass (dubious on this one, people cycling so infrequently are hardly going to be that motivated for cycling reasons to attend a CM) aren't really doing themselves any favours hiding in an artificially created and unusual bunch situation rather than expanding their horizons and gaining the skills and confidence to participate in proper cycling more than once a month.

CM isn't a movement that will engineer political change on cycling, nor is it a good training ground for frightened cyclists. At best it's a pointless self indulgent whimsy, at worst it is a counterproductive event that has the potential to irritate and inconvenience the local councillors and business interests that we need to have on side to bring about better cycling facilities in the city and a better attitude to biking by employers (C2W participation, a green policy that is more than lip service, investment in bike friendly infrastructure outside and inside the workplace) none of which will happen if they see a bunch of people making a deliberately planned and organised nuisance of themselves, and its not just for 5 minutes, but for the entire duration of the CM. it may take 5 mins to pass one spot but then you're onto another spot and so on, its a constant flow of interruption.

okay, firstly, i am speaking about the worldwide phenomenon known as cm. there is carnage on the roads worldwide and cyclists get killed daily. a quick youtube search fetches up loads of helmet cam incidents and only a very small percentage of cyclists wear them. when was the last time you saw a child cycling manchester city centre? why not? because any sensible parent would not let there child cycle in a busy centre. is this right? should a child be safe cycling on any city roads? should the elderly be safe on roads? yes they should! why should a group of cyclists not have the right to 'protest'? because we don't pay ved or smell? what about religious parades? what about funeral car processions? what about when the wagons were stopping the country? oh but that was ok as it was supported by motons. why is the cm a nuisance? i was not criticising club runs, i was asking why is that group of regular cyclists ok but the cm, another group of cyclists, is not? why was the blenheim palace outing ok but cm is not? why do people call cm particitents stupid smelly hippy druggy crazy loons. i'm not and tbh i have never seen anything of that ilk on any cm i have been on nor have i seen any on youtube videos of worldwide cm's. the cm's i have been on have not gone round and round a compact city centre. i usually follows an outward spiral and visits many parts of the outer city districts i would never have seen without cm. i see children with parents on cm, where are they when not in the cm? where is the dog in bakfiets when not on cm?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

If you wrote in paragraphs and used capital letters at the start of sentences your arguments would be easier to follow and your posts easier to read. You may well have some good points to make but I'm afraid I get two or three lines in and my eyes begin to ache, and I skip the rest. This is not a pointless and pedantic "grammar nazi" post, I'm genuinely making the point that your posts could be much easier to read and you might reach a few more people. Although I confess I'm not a CM sympathiser.

 

[tdr1nka]

CM grew from a simple and peaceful idea but changed for the worse after the 1994 Criminal Justice act revision and put CM in the same catagory as a tree protest, et al.
It also attracted more trouble makers.

I stopped going after a friend of mine had his bike driven at(albeit slowly)and hit with a car after the driver became enraged by the actions of other cyclists on the ride.

I agree with demonstrations, even those without a planned route or authorisation()but when there is no discernable point or message it remains clumsy and random which has the potential to get out of hand.
Hence I've long since called it Critical Mess.

 

[BentMikey]

Well I rather enjoy CM. It's often a lovely social and slow ride out with many friends, and it's delightful to be able to ride and know that almost no driver will dare to barge into and push cyclists around. For once you get to feel like the streets belong to cyclists, if only for a little while.

Some people behave badly, but so what? Some car drivers behave badly too. Do you see anyone criticising the whole lot of car CM as "a bunch of tossers"? Of course not.

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.

Yeah, thanks. I'm aware of what happened in London. It was nothing, NOTHING, like the NYC smackdown.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

If you wrote in paragraphs and used capital letters at the start of sentences your arguments would be easier to follow and your posts easier to read. You may well have some good points to make but I'm afraid I get two or three lines in and my eyes begin to ache, and I skip the rest. This is not a pointless and pedantic "grammar nazi" post, I'm genuinely making the point that your posts could be much easier to read and you might reach a few more people. Although I confess I'm not a CM sympathiser.

irony, ever heard of it? Please check your own English language grammar. Perhaps, I was being the knuckle dragging idiot that all Critical Mass participants are and (no comma) it went over your head.

 

[BentMikey]

To be frank, I didn't read it either for the same reasons. And I did think Rhythm Thief did his best to say that very nicely.

 

[tdr1nka]

I remember a beautiful Summer evening in the early 90's, 300 cyclists with Regent's Street to themselves...... but that was when the Police marshalled the ride and the overall atmosphere was very friendly.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I think its reasonably clear from history what the CM is about - poor road conditions, infrastucture and bad road usage and intimidating behaviour of drivers. Saying they have no purpose negates why many have riden along and does them a disservice imo.

Ok, so what has actually changed for the better of cycling because of Critical Mass?

There's any number of moans here and on other forums every day about all of these things from cities that have a CM.

That's not a disservice & is not negating anything anyone has done, it's simply stating a fact

Whatever their hoped impact is, they don't seem to be achieving it by getting in the way en-masse and hoping people will be intruigued enough to go home an Google why they've been held up, rather than go home just thinking they're 'awkward bolshy tw*ts on bikes' (quote from a colleague)


In my opinion that it's not the effective campaign tool the CM'ers would like to think it is. Direct face to face communication with the movers and shakers is and always has been the way to effect change or at the very least put our opinions across in the most effective manner.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

irony, ever heard of it? Please check your own English language grammar. Perhaps, I was being the knuckle dragging idiot that all Critical Mass participants are and (no comma) it went over your head.

It's a bloody peculiar way to make a point, if that's what you were doing . But that post was much easier to read, I didn't feel like I was having to do the work you couldn't be bothered to do when you wrote it.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

To be frank, I didn't read it either for the same reasons. And I did think Rhythm Thief did his best to say that very nicely.

Cheers, dude. I'm glad it wasn't just me.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

okay, firstly, i am speaking about the worldwide phenomenon known as cm. there is carnage on the roads worldwide and cyclists get killed daily. a quick youtube search fetches up loads of helmet cam incidents and only a very small percentage of cyclists wear them. when was the last time you saw a child cycling manchester city centre? why not? because any sensible parent would not let there child cycle in a busy centre. is this right? should a child be safe cycling on any city roads? should the elderly be safe on roads? yes they should! why should a group of cyclists not have the right to 'protest'? because we don't pay ved or smell? what about religious parades? what about funeral car processions? what about when the wagons were stopping the country? oh but that was ok as it was supported by motons. why is the cm a nuisance? i was not criticising club runs, i was asking why is that group of regular cyclists ok but the cm, another group of cyclists, is not? why was the blenheim palace outing ok but cm is not? why do people call cm particitents stupid smelly hippy druggy crazy loons. i'm not and tbh i have never seen anything of that ilk on any cm i have been on nor have i seen any on youtube videos of worldwide cm's. the cm's i have been on have not gone round and round a compact city centre. i usually follows an outward spiral and visits many parts of the outer city districts i would never have seen without cm. i see children with parents on cm, where are they when not in the cm? where is the dog in bakfiets when not on cm?

I agree with RT about your prose style, it is genuinely hard to read, it is like being shouted at by someone that can breathe through their ears and doesn't need to take a break. but here goes:

I take my children into the city centre if there is a need to go and I'm not intending to buy anything bulky but TBH its not really a leisure destination for a parent and child ride in the same way the local park or a trip to Dovestones is. That is why you dont see many kids in the city centre I'd argue - it is a business and commercial centre not a trip out.
You kind of make that point by saying that the CM takes you to central places that you'd not otherwise see - why wouldn't you see them? maybe because they're not stereotypical leisure ride destinations that are popular (esp with parents).

My dogs are greyhounds, they're a bit big to get on the bike with me or they would do - I give them a good run out by cycling with them though.

Repeatedly as in every CM ride is in the city centre not that you go round and round in circles on each one- I did say that club runs go to different places, apologies if that wasn't clear enough, I thought it was.

I don't know that any of the other 'events' you quote are any more acceptable or supported - have you got proof that the "motons" accept and support them?

Funeral processions is rather an over reaction of an example isn't it, get real - they're a necessary and longstanding part of daily life, they are short and to the point journeys necessary as part of a wider ceremony that can't really occur at 3am when its nice and quiet out there. They are not a choice thing that have been deliberately organised and peopled to get in the way, nor can I ever remember seeing the city centre held up by one.

You don't like being called nasty names but repeatedly refer to car drivers as "Motons". Pots and kettles spring to mind, rapildly followed by 'oh grow up'

Why do motorists, peds, other cyclists on occasions call each other nasty names (gynaecological slang usually)? If I'm called or call someone a rude name its not usually intended as a literal description, its a lazy shorthand insult to/from someone unknown.

CM's as a worldwide phenomenon for change. words fail me. sure they happen across the world but are isolated events pertinent solely to their own cities, if they had any sort of world impact they be addressed at a world level. they aren't.
I will update my question from my previous post - where are the universal positive changes effected by the worldwide phenomenon?

 

[MajorMantra]

Well I rather enjoy CM. It's often a lovely social and slow ride out with many friends, and it's delightful to be able to ride and know that almost no driver will dare to barge into and push cyclists around. For once you get to feel like the streets belong to cyclists, if only for a little while.

Thing is, they don't, they belong to all of us. Why should we expect motorists to respect us if, when given the opportunity, we behave as arrogantly (albeit not as dangerously) as the worst of them do?

Matthew