Critical mass

[shouldbeinbed]

The Manchester one is one Friday each month at rush hour. Deliberately impeding people simply wanting to get home for the weekend. Last time I checked, that wasn't chapter 1 of how to win friends and influence people. Its not my idea of productive.

Had a long argument with someone about the Newcastle one (Friday evening rush hour in and around Haymarket - a major bus & metro interchange so lots of public transport and walking disrupted too as well as being a central junction point for an awful lot of motor traffic going out of the town. They were determined to pass it off simply as a social ride with friends but refused to explain why a social ride needed to be on the busiest, smelliest roads in town at at the height of the evening rush hour before the weekend and obstructing not just private motor vehicle users?

 

[Sandra6]

Here they ride on a Tuesday at 6pm, not sure what the traffic is like as I'm never in town at that time.
I don't know why they chose a Tuesday as I thought the point was everyone rode on the same day across the world?
It does seem to defeat the object -which I thought was to raise the profile of cycling - by getting up the noses of motorists.

 

[xpc316e]

I find it most encouraging that most people seem not to have been fooled by the thin disguise of Critical Mass, but have seen it for what it really is: a bunch of idiots who love winding up other road users.

 

[Smokin Joe]

We might all be cyclists, but I'm not that sort of cyclist. While I wouldn't wish anyone to drive a truck straight through the lot of them, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if someone did.

 

[Glow worm]

I think they're pretty dumb too and wouldn't want to participate.

Don't forget though, there is a critical mass every day on our roads of course- drivers doing piffling little journeys clogging our roads twice a day and impeding the rest of us!

 

[Sandra6]

I didn't go. I went for a ride along the river instead.

 

[AndyRM]

Collection of absolute bellends. To be avoided.

 

[subaqua]

We might all be cyclists, but I'm not that sort of cyclist. While I wouldn't wish anyone to drive a truck straight through the lot of them, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if someone did.

somebody did , OK not a truck but a car
View: http://youtu.be/a_HWw8ifZcY


have done one in London, and its true that if the nobbers weren't there it would be better.

the big ride on 28th April was far better than CM

 

[stewie griffin]

That's a very disturbing video.
The outcome http://www.theurbancountry.com/2011/04/brazil-critical-mass-updateinterview.html

 

[Accy cyclist]

"

In late February, we covered the​

​

terrible Brazil Critical Mass mow-down​

, where a driver of a Volkswagen Golf indiscriminately plowed through dozens of people on bicycles participating in a Critical Mass ride.​

By some miracle nobody was killed in this incident, but at least 17 people were hit by the Volkswagen as the man accelerated through the bicyclists. It wasn’t until several days after we first posted our article before it was finally covered by the international mainstream media.​

Close to two months have now passed since this incident occurred. Ricardo José Neis was indicted on 17 counts of attempted murder on March 18th, and was incarcerated on March 31st while he awaits trial".​

​

​

Just makes you hate horrible motorists even more. I also have a black VW Golf, i hope we don't become targeted! Seriously though, I reckon there are many over here who'd like to do what he did if they thought they'd get away with it.​

 

[Chris S]

There one in Birmingham on the first Friday of each month:
http://www.birminghamcyclist.com/events/july-critical-mass-1