Critical Mass...is not helping cycling...

ChrisLS

...watched that Road Rage programme last night-didn't know the Daily Mail were making TV programmes now ...anyway what about that critcal mass lot, they weren't doing cycling any favours...what a shower, they certainly don't represent me. I really felt for the people in the Range Rover when they were surrounded by that bunch of self righteous hippies...

heavymental

On your side Chris. That one prik holding his bike aloft and hollering something... I think the same guy was taking the pss out of the folk in the Landrover... deserved to get run over. And that beardy eejit spouting rubbish poetry from his hippied up recumbent was doing nobody any favours. I was thinking it would have been funny to shout some anti hippy abuse as you sped by on your bike. :twisted: That would have confused them. I was trying to watch it from the perspective of a motorist or non cyclist and decided that it would just cause bad feeling towards cyclists. Most of the cycling representatives looked to be the epitomy of the weirdy beardy apart from that track cycling girl. Her section was good and balanced and highlighted issues and differences between here and abroad.

Crapaud

ChrisLS wrote:

...watched that Road Rage programme last night-didn't know the Daily Mail were making TV programmes now ...anyway what about that critcal mass lot, they weren't doing cycling any favours...what a shower, they certainly don't represent me. I really felt for the people in the Range Rover when they were surrounded by that bunch of self righteous hippies...

I thought the programme was very thought provoking.

I agree about CM; they don't represent me either. In fact, I don't know what they represent or what they hope to achieve. I don't think they know either; there are so many groups taking their politics along that the only thing they've got in common is that they're on bikes (as opposed to being cyclists). Activists first; cyclists second.

CM, to me, seems very antagonistic towards motorists and only re-enforces the 'us and them' mentality, further broadening the divide, and polarising road users.

andyp

Jesus, I've stumbled into the Daily Mail forum by mistake. :evil:

Ste_S

andyp wrote:

Jesus, I've stumbled into the Daily Mail forum by mistake. :evil:

Do you ride on CMs ? If so, why ? Do you think they portray a positive image for cycling ?

Genuinely interested as to why CMs happen.

Crapaud

Ste_S wrote:

andyp wrote:

Jesus, I've stumbled into the Daily Mail forum by mistake. :evil:

Do you ride on CMs ? If so, why ? Do you think they portray a positive image for cycling ?

Genuinely interested as to why CMs happen.

Me too!

beckenham

Crapaud wrote:

Ste_S wrote:

andyp wrote:

Jesus, I've stumbled into the Daily Mail forum by mistake. :evil:

Do you ride on CMs ? If so, why ? Do you think they portray a positive image for cycling ?

Genuinely interested as to why CMs happen.

Me too!

There was a few on them riding into London from Ealing on the London Free Wheel event. I remember one old guy with a whistle who was not just p*ssing off motorists, he was also p*ssing off most of the cyclists. Came across as a power mad pr*tt.

ChrisLS

...will anyone own up to riding CM?

beckenham

ChrisLS wrote:

...will anyone own up to riding CM?

<imagines> tumble weed blowing down an empty steet :?

lateralus

I did - once. I was put off by precisely the sort of attitude described in the other posts. That, and the fact that I prefer to ride at more than 4 mph...

heavymental

I think the idea is good to be fair as it makes a statement about the number of cyclists in London. Although I think they should gather somewhere off the road and then disperse rather than pss everyone off. But as with all these things, the activist element get involved and they want to cause as much aggrevation as possible in the name of their cause.

spen666

Ste_S wrote:

andyp wrote:

Jesus, I've stumbled into the Daily Mail forum by mistake. :evil:

Do you ride on CMs ? If so, why ? Do you think they portray a positive image for cycling ?

Genuinely interested as to why CMs happen.

come and join us- and see for yourself what happens

form your own opinion instead of relying on others views to form it for you

last friday of the months 19:00 sharp at the National film theatre

andyp

I've never ridden on a CM ride but I believe anyone has the right to demonstrate as they see fit.

This country is utterly dominated by the cult of the car and I believe that a once a month demonstration to remind people that there are other road users should be applauded not condemned. Especially by fellow cyclists (which I assume you all are by posting on here).

cee

to be fair, any demonstration with enough people is gonna p*ss off the other people that use the city.

I don't think I saw anything in that segment of the programme that I would not expect to see at any demonstration.

Alain Quay

ChrisLS wrote:

...watched that Road Rage programme last night-didn't know the Daily Mail were making TV programmes now ...anyway what about that critcal mass lot, they weren't doing cycling any favours...what a shower, they certainly don't represent me. I really felt for the people in the Range Rover when they were surrounded by that bunch of self righteous hippies...

Britain's cities are hopeless for cycling. Also, the active minority benefit the apathetic
majority -like you.

Crapaud

spen666 wrote:

come and join us- and see for yourself what happens

form your own opinion instead of relying on others views to form it for you

last friday of the months 19:00 sharp at the National film theatre

Exactly what I did.

I was pretty indifferent to CM, but enjoyed some of the comments and antics that were described on the old forum. I thought it'd be a bit of a wheeze and was persuaded to go to one, albeit in Glasgow. After all, if it was pro-cycling, I was all for it.

I left, after about a mile, angry and disillusioned. The reality was very different to the 'fun cycle ride' that the pro-CMers made it out to be. There's more going on under the facade of a cycle ride / campaign / protest / demo that doesn't have any spokespeople or message (that I can discern, anyway) than meets the eye.

While I wouldn't discourage anyone from going along to see for themself, I would, however, encourage them to look at it with a critical eye and make up their own mind.

robbie the roadie

Couldn't agree more. I looked at attending one once so did some research on the net and the pictures just put me off straight away. What riding round with 'stop the war' posters and blowing whistles has to do with promoting the use of a the bike as a good means of getting to A to B was lost on me

Not so much a campiagn to promote bike use, more using bikes to campiagn on.

vermooten

As far as I can tell, the Critical Mass thing is designed to piss off car-only folk. Not sure what else it's meant to achieve except something along the lines of "we're cyclists and we're here"

Ste_S

spen666 wrote:

Ste_S wrote:

andyp wrote:

Jesus, I've stumbled into the Daily Mail forum by mistake. :evil:

Do you ride on CMs ? If so, why ? Do you think they portray a positive image for cycling ?

Genuinely interested as to why CMs happen.

come and join us- and see for yourself what happens

form your own opinion instead of relying on others views to form it for you

last friday of the months 19:00 sharp at the National film theatre

I'd have to be very committed to an idea to travel down to London for it, and at the moment I'm unsure as to why I'd want to ride on one.

Why do you ride CM's ?

Alain Quay wrote:

Britain's cities are hopeless for cycling. Also, the active minority benefit the apathetic
majority -like you.

In what way do you feel the active minority (CM's and yourself ?) benefit the apathetic majority ?

ricadus

I used to go on the CMs in London - made a nice afterworker ride and would always see old faces from days when I used to do more social rides with local CTC groups. In those days the police were generally helpful and used to use it as a kind of unofficial motorbike escort training.

Then one Christmas I was in town and so went on the December ride and it put me off doing any more. All the "normal" people were away for the holiday period and the ride was full of disenchanted loonies who were intent on some kind of confrontational gesture.

fossyant

The naked cyclists did a better effort - actually riding rather than creating problems....but some of them really should have clothes on...... :?

geoff_ss

The only time I've ever been involved in anything like a CM ride is the CTC procession from York Minster to the Knavesmire during the annual CTC York Rally. That's not too bad and proceeds at a reasonable speed and is generally enjoyed by most people - it doesn't last long either.

I think a more effective way of demonstrating how cyclists help to reduce congestion in towns/cities is if there were a cyclists 'Drive a car to work day', when everyone who normally cycles to work either uses their own car or hires one. The resultant jam might persuade motorists that, difficult though cyclists are, they're easier to pass and occupy less space than a car in front of you.

Geoff

synchronicity

Yeah I've been on a few when I was a teenager. :oops:

And, like all teenegers, even though my thinking was supressed through insuffiicient development of the neocortex, it didn't take long for me to figure out that most riders were hippies attending university. :roll:

There was not enough organisation in the rides that I joined to allow them to do any true cycling advocy stuff. OK, so the conflict sure arrests the attention of local motorists. Well then, make a point with it. Invite the local news channel (and other media) down and explain what it's all in aid of... but then, hippies generally have loads of ideas but zero planning and coordination skills. At least the ones that I've met.

In my opinion, each ride should have a sharp FOCUS.
* Like for example "see how many cyclists can fit in the space of one car", and well, hand out leaflets to that effect.

* Next ride, work out the average speed of commuters and prove that in CBDs, bikes are faster than cars (door to door). And display that on a billboard.

* How much money you can save by not paying parking fees...

* How much CO2 you save by riding instead of driving or even using public transport.

And with this in mind, I think the riding behaviour should reflect the point of the exercise of the participants... hell, they could even charge an entry fee of 1£, and that money could go towards the cause (printing and promotion materials). I think it'd also sort out who is serious about the ride's purpose. :idea:

The worst case was about 10 years ago in Sydney, where they blocked the harbour bridge & the traffic went to a standstill. And then it all backfired, because an ambulance couldn't get through. If there was more organisation, unfortunate things like that wouldn't happen. The only thing that is planned, is the route, and then, only loosely.



I add them to myspace friends only because all cyclists are in a sense friends.

Tourist Tony

I ride CM, and the whole point is that it ISN'T an organised ride, and the route is not planned. It gives me a chance, once a month, to ride round London without being driven at by black cabs and other "professionals"

kmahony

Does it smell?

Ste_S

Tourist Tony wrote:

I ride CM, and the whole point is that it ISN'T an organised ride, and the route is not planned. It gives me a chance, once a month, to ride round London without being driven at by black cabs and other "professionals"

At last, a reson why someone rides on a CM. Can't really argue with that either.

johnnyhotdog

CM is only once a month - car drivers get to do critical mass all day, every day!

dunnnooo

Speaking to a few people on other forums, the reasons people seem to turn up is 1) To ride in london without fear of cars, 2) to have a monster piss-up afterwards. Will probably go along to the next one, to see.

cougie

I dont think car drivers get to do a CM thing really ? And why would they want to pootle round anyway ?

I like the idea of CM - but from what I hear its not really doing what it should. Its cycling purely and simply. Nothing to do with the war, or arms trade etc.

cbj

>>>>>'I dont think car drivers get to do a CM thing really ? And why would they want to pootle round anyway ? '

I think johnnyhotdog's comment is intended to be ironic in that cars get stuck in traffic jams resembling unorganised chaotic critical mass rides in city centres and roads on a daily basis, probably with greater delays as a result too I'd imagine.

girofan

Never been near a CM demo, but critics of this group should remember that the alternatives fail to work.
Mealy-mouth politicians and councillors, plus the odd Hounorable and Lady Bountiful get the publicity they require by latching onto safer cycling initiatives. Then get back into their Jags and p**s off.
Remember, CM wouldn't be needed if cyclists had a voice that wasn't drowned by the transport lobby.
What CM are saying IMO, is if you don't change, we will make you!!!