mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
I've done Norwich's Critical Mass a couple of times since 2017, despite it being 45 miles away with iffy transport links. It's rather different to the old ones IMO in that it's a bit of a party, usually with several soundsystems along the group, not out for confrontation and basically obeying the traffic laws except that the group behaves as (a) long vehicle(s), so those at the front do stop for red lights (even the advisory ones) but once the front of the train has pulled out into the junction, the rest just keep on going unless a split has occurred. That's almost forced on it by shoot anti-cycle-route signal timings in the city centre that are set to only allow half a dozen cyclists out every two minutes (while cars get green for the rest of it even though they can't cross because of jams).
The inner city traffic is screwed anyway, so the cycle ride doesn't add to it much. Apart from a few key links, Norwich's ride actually uses the pedalways because it would be too slow and stressful filtering through motor jams otherwise! It all finishes with a big bike carousel around the bandstand in Chapelfield Gardens
I think the point of it is to show/remind those motorists sitting in jams mostly all alone that there is a faster and funner way to get around the city at rush hour. So, "to prove they can" but not in the way @Phaeton means.
The inner city traffic is screwed anyway, so the cycle ride doesn't add to it much. Apart from a few key links, Norwich's ride actually uses the pedalways because it would be too slow and stressful filtering through motor jams otherwise! It all finishes with a big bike carousel around the bandstand in Chapelfield Gardens
I think the point of it is to show/remind those motorists sitting in jams mostly all alone that there is a faster and funner way to get around the city at rush hour. So, "to prove they can" but not in the way @Phaeton means.
