critical mass

[very-near]

I saw a guy on a mountain bike mouth "you sad c.....s" to his mate as we went past.

It made me laugh, one cyclist, started fussing that car drivers didn't make it better for themselves and were causing congestion by the way they overtook the mass....I just told him I don't think we can talk - considering they overtook and were being patient. Some people on it just fussed too much about things.

I'm not saying I didn't stop in stupid places along with others, but I moved along after we started to get yelled at by Mr Plod.

I think, stopping the traffic to let everyone past does make sense. May as well keep them all together. We got a police escort through Barcelona when there was a group of 60, never mind a group of how ever many hundred....but just stopping and chatting in places is going to aggravate people.

Still had a good time though.

Having said that, I got past all the skaters right at the beginning, so didn't see how it unfolded!

I've not done CM, but have helped marshal some very large m/cycle rallies (6,000 + riders) in the centre of London in conjunction with the police. Keeping the group together is an absolute priority to keep disruption down to a minimum. Even so, moving a group of that size @ 20mph translated into them taking over 20 minutes riding 2 abreast to get past Downing st, with everything else on the road being held back by the police outriders to protect them from impatient drivers who see a gap and floor it through the ranks to gain an extra 20 ft in the next traffic jam.

I think the biggest problem with the notion of CM is the intention to be a bloody nuisance to everyone else. You/I/we don't normally ride at 2mph in traffic, so when the drivers see this happening, it is just interpreted as a deliberate attempt to cause friction.

 

[thomas]

I think the biggest problem with the notion of CM is the intention to be a bloody nuisance to everyone else. You/I/we don't normally ride at 2mph in traffic, so when the drivers see this happening, it is just interpreted as a deliberate attempt to cause friction.

I averaged a speedy 6mph in the mass...and reached a whopping top speed of 16.2mph!!!

 

[Mr Pig]

I suppose it allows some people with an inferiority complex to have an illusion of power once a month.

And piss of car drivers, which really helps to make them more likely to be considerate towards us in future. I don't quite follow the logic in that myself but a big bunch of cyclists think it does, so it must be true.

 

[GrahamG]

how many non-odd people were there?

Most actually - but then riding a bicycle in Bristol is a perfectly ordinary thing to do, unlike other towns I've known!