A Personal Message to Critical Mass.

[BentMikey]

Exactly - that doesn't happen much with the critical mass of cars around. When it's bike CM, then the cars can still use the road, but they have to wait instead of barging through and past. It robs their ability to intimidate.

 

[Debian]

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

+1

 

[thomas]

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.

If they had a purpose then there would be a load of legal things which would stop them

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.

Paragraphs are easy. Seriously. Please put some in!!!

 

[hackbike 666]

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'

Hang on,when I use the moton term it's not meant in a nasty way from me and I didn't think it was an insult.

 

[downfader]

I always considered "moton" to be a generalistic merging of "motorist" and "moron"

To me its always been too generic. I wont use it because I dont consider all drivers to be morons. Its the motoring equivilent of "lycra lout" imo.

 

[661-Pete]

Well! Shame really that a thread like this brings out the most sanctimonious, the most patronizing, the most dog-eat-dog attitudes of cyclist-against-cyclist!

I'm not sure whether the epithet of 'hairy Neanderthal' applies to me, although I don't see why I should take it as an insult. I have a lot of respect for the much-maligned Neanderthals, what I know of them, from what more recent anthropological studies have revealed. And I am certainly hairy. Indeed, a lot of us are hairy, if we aren't alopecia-sufferers.

Enough of that. I'm not going to join in sermonizing, saying 'do this' or 'do that' or 'go to CM' or 'don't go to CM'... Just relate some of my own thoughts and observations. I used to think of CM as a gathering of cyclists: indeed for me it became a sort of social thing, with joining several others for a meal after an hour or two of it. But alas! the social bit of it is now behind me, as far as I am concerned. And it looks a lot more like a demonstration than a gathering. Let me describe my last turn-out, back in 2008. I was on my own; I was actually in London for another reason, I didn't go specially for CM; I just found the time to pass by the mustering-place under Waterloo Bridge.

I lasted all of five minutes on the ride. Somewhere south of the river (can't exactly remember where) there was a group surrounding a cabbie, bullying and threatening the driver. I didn't see what the driver had done, but I didn't see any signs of injuries or damage. No, they may have had a good reason but they were hassling and taunting (and maybe frightening) this driver, spoiling for a punch-up.

I stopped and watched this little scene from a distance for all of - maybe - ten seconds. Then I made my mind up. I turned my bike around, crossed over to the other side of the road, and pedalled my way the hell out of there.

I haven't been to a CM since. I'm not likely to, not now.

So: as I said I don't want to sermonise. I don't even want to speculate, on whether I was right or wrong in my decision. But I'm open to others' ideas.

 

[ttcycle]

Now this is an interesting topic -

Reading the posts has been intriguing as it has demonstrated the political compass that many are led by. To say CM isn't political is very naieve.

I have been on a few - the circling the same spots for a while really irritate me to no end and I often wait those out - I agree there can be counterproductive elements and in terms of creating change for cycling it's limited as the aims are disparate and fractured, however this is the anarchistic direction it has taken - perhaps its weak point. There are a few on the rides that are particularly brainless and can't see the bigger picture but that would be the case in any large gathering. Whoever it was that posted that those of us are being taken advantage through a political means of a few by joining these rides is clearly mistaken. I have a brain and can think for myself. I don't think CM is entirely effective as a campaign tool and does lead to bad feeling as it has no direction or message however, it could have potential if done correctly- yes it is far from that at the moment but it's just disorganised (probably why some like it)

Ok to move this on a bit- if CM isn't the way to do it for those of you in that camp- what are the suggestions? This is where armchair philosophising does not interest me- what can and will you do to create that change? It is all too easy to say oh some guy can do it for me. Change will never happen that way - what is the answer?

To those that think is a good thing -what are the issues with it and how can it be improved?

 

[tdr1nka]

One thing that irks me about the London motorists is that they could remember to make alternative plans for the last Friday of every month.
Ok, we need to recognise those who drive as a trade but it wouldn't really hurt for a lot of London drivers to take the bus, tube, walk or*gasp*cycle, once a month would it?

Were the ride better regulated in it's approach and aims it could well do cycling a wealth of good.

If it went on, say, four routes in rotation, going from central London and heading on a set route planned for north, south, east or west then you could spread the 'disruption'.

That's my point really, to the non cycling majority, as it stands, CM is only seen as a needless disruption and thus offers nothing to promote cycling, which, at the very least, it should be trying to do.

 

[MacB]

I agree with Pete the bullying aspect wouldn't sit well with me but I do get, at least some of, the ideas behind CM. The portrayal of cyclist v motorist, and use of terms like 'moton', really doesn't help. The key elements for me are the ideas around reclaiming town/city centres for everyone not just motorists. I would actually go beyond that to include all population centres, the ability to get in and out of them and to travel between them.

A lot of us are hypocritical though, myself included, we dislike cars invading spaces we would like to use for other things. Yet we think nothing of doing the same to others when we're driving. How many commuting motorists consider the blight they cause on the subburbs they travel through? I certainly didn't until I began cycling and took an active interest in learning more. Yet the same motorists would complain bitterly if their residential road suddenly became popular as a 'rat run'. How many people think nothing of driving to a picturesque destination? the irony seems lost on them.

I had the dubious pleasure of cycling through Guildford today. There are great swathes where traffic levels are enough to make being a pedestrian unpleasant, let alone a non motorist sharing the road. It's also a road setup that I doubt I could have coped with when I first started cycling again. But it's quite a pretty place, in part, and it could be really fantastic without the cars. Big thoroughfares, outdoor eateries, stalls down the middle. Actually most of the ugliness, in most towns, seems to be around provision for motorised vehicles.

 

[tdr1nka]

Amen MacB, amen.

 

[Debian]

Hang on,when I use the moton term it's not meant in a nasty way from me and I didn't think it was an insult.

Of course it's an insulting term. What the hell did you think it was?

Its a combination of MOTorist and morON - it's very insulting and uncalled for and I will not use it. There are, proportionately just as many idiotic cyclists as there are idiotic motorists and it does no good at all to be devisive for no good reason.

 

[tdr1nka]

CYCLONS!!

 

[MajorMantra]

Ok to move this on a bit- if CM isn't the way to do it for those of you in that camp- what are the suggestions? This is where armchair philosophising does not interest me- what can and will you do to create that change? It is all too easy to say oh some guy can do it for me. Change will never happen that way - what is the answer?

You can ride your bike everyday to work, school, uni, the shops or wherever and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

You can join organisations that campaign for cyclists' rights like the CTC, or start your own, or get involved in local politics or try to pressure your MP.

You can participate in rides (be they club runs, charity events or whatever) that don't intentionally set out to piss people off, i.e. almost any one except CM, and behave in a courteous manner to all other road users.

Matthew

 

[ttcycle]

Ok Matthew- which of the above do you think will make the most difference and how will you personally contribute to it?

Thing I'm getting at folks is it's really easy to spout on a online forum/fora where there is no responsibility to take things up - what can each person on here actually do to create that change? Surely the actual idea of a Critical Mass if you look up the purist meaning is that ciritical mass is about higher numbers of cyclists out on the road = better safety and that is the one statistical fact that can be backed up (I don't have a set of stats to hand I'm afraid) and this critical mass can create bottle necks that make people think about points of entry etc - hence the corking idea.

Of course CM is far from this purist ideal.

So what about it folks - what can be done on a large scale to create that change.

Tdr1nka - the planned routes thing is a potential idea but the issue is by planning it then you may have to run them via the Met/City police - in some ways takes the edge off it for some participants and it loses the sense of freedom that attracts many. I'm in agreement with your last line though.

MacB - I think that the aggression vs aggression aspect can sometimes hinder these rides. Well put paragraph.

 

[MajorMantra]

Ok Matthew- which of the above do you think will make the most difference and how will you personally contribute to it?

I think leading by example is the most useful thing that most of us can do. If you have the time and energy to devote to pressuring public bodies and elected officals that's great, but most of us don't.

I don't claim to be a perfect cyclist but I think that anything we can do to rid ourselves of the stereotype of the cyclist as sanctimonious prick has to be good. By participating in events like CM we only serve to reinforce this image.

Matthew