Critical Mass - why?

vermooten

I don't get it - what's the purpose? To piss off car drivers even more for no apparent reason? Please explain, my mind is open.

redddraggon

It's just a bunch of hippies isn't it - on hybrids and fixies?

It's the whole protesting for protesting's sake.........damn hippies.......

davelakers

Crusties, lentil eaters and lesbians!!

AKA, Rent-A-Mob!!

They have feck all else to do with their time but be a pubic, sorry, public nuisance!!!

synchronicity

All of the above!

If they ever bothered to get really organised with a TRUE avocacy campaign, maybe they'd have got somewhere by now. But no.

Crapaud

This is a bolt out of the blue, Vermooten. Has something happened for you to bring it up?

As I understand it, CM started with the aim of reminding town planners, local councils etc that we cyclists existed. The feeling was that cyclists were effectively invisible and weren't taken into account when decisions were being made, thus effectively planning us off of the roads. The idea was to have as many cyclists in the one place at the same time to say to the powers that be, "Look! We're here! There're loads of us and your decisions are putting us in danger!", and thereby effecting change. At least that's how I remember it from way back.

That's all fine and dandy and something I could support - in principle, anyway. However, after nearly 2 decades of CM I can't find that it's directly effected any positive change whatsoever.

FWIW I don't think that it has any purpose or relevance anymore. In fact its image as full of leftist, yoghurt knitting, enviromental, anti-motorist, anti-capitalist activists is detrimental to cycling.

Ash_

I participated in a Critical Mass event in Budapest (where I live at the minute) a couple of years ago. It was a massive disappointment - many people were there to actively annoy car drivers.

I think many of the people involved were more interested in protesting about anything vaguely environmental (G8, fair trade coffee, etc., etc.) than they were about being advocates for more people cycling and better town planning for cyclists.

If the many tree-huggers who dragged their rusty bikes out of their cellars for the day once a year actually used them every day, then that'd be a genuine statement about doing something more about cycling.

As has been said before, I just wish all the energy and antagonism of the protest went into something more constructive. Though, on the other hand, I can't think of any better ideas personally, and I suppose I'd rather have Critical Mass than not - if it were to disappear now, then anti-cycling types would use that as propaganda for the decline in popularity of bikes. Maybe.

There is something about the cultural aspect of the 'event' that winds me up too, like it's some sort of semi-secret club for 'urban terrorists'. To the extent that when I see a Critical Mass sticker on someone's bike, I do tend to think 'Tw@t'. Still, at least if I've seen their bike, it does mean they're riding it...

Sickbed

Psychologically, regardless of its original aims, I think it's become a 'getting our own back' thing.... you annoy us every day of the month so we'll annoy you just for the one day. Fair enough really, but probably pointless by now. But I'm still happy to be a left handed whale hugging one eyed black lentillled lesbian muncher on other issues,

BUICK

I REALLY like lentils...

vermooten

Crapaud wrote:

This is a bolt out of the blue, Vermooten. Has something happened for you to bring it up?

I saw the CM in Manchester on Friday eve, they were just pissing off car drivers. Indeed I get fcked off by thoughtless car drivers every day, but I couldn't see the link between changing that and what I saw some of the CM people doing.

Sickbed wrote:

Psychologically, regardless of its original aims, I think it's become a 'getting our own back' thing.... you annoy us every day of the month so we'll annoy you just for the one day. Fair enough really, but probably pointless by now.

I'd say not. A bit like the Israeli govt 'getting its own back' on people who it doesn't like.

Sickbed wrote:

But I'm still happy to be a left handed whale hugging one eyed black lentillled lesbian muncher on other issues,

Me too that's why I started the thread.

DavidBelcher

Agree with Crapaud and Ash's comments about 'protesting for protest's sake' and offering a poor representation of cycling to Joe Public, etc. - my own experience of Critical Mass when I lived in York was that there were there were the CM types who seemed to relish the idea of doing something akin to poking a stick about in a wasps' nest [1], and the 'proper' cyclists - me included - who wouldn't touch the idea with a barge pole, largely because of the negative image it gave cycling and cyclists as a whole.

David

[1] Much the same behaviour as the same old pseudo-politicians who kept popping up on the Students' Union committees at York from one academic year to the next (seemingly unperturbed by the whole business of actually studying) and stirring up trouble with the University authorities just for the sake of it. Indeed, one such muppet once raised the topic of campus-based cyclists possibly participating in a local CM event; I promptly explained to him from a real cyclist's viewpoint why this was A Bad Idea.

chuckcork

Went to one a month ago, won't do so again. The attitude displayed was bad, and they just gave cycling a bad name. I'm doing a long enough commute at 140 miles a week, and intend to keep on doing so, I don't really want to be associated with people who are just out to...do what, in fact?

P!ss of motorists for no reason other than they can? I couldn't see that they achieved anything else really, which from the point of view of those who cycle regularly could be seen as nothing but an own goal.

Mind it didn't help of course that I was there on my road bike, with padded shorts, clip in shoes and all, able to go from 0 to 20 mph in no time at all, travelling at a snails pace instead, and being snidely referred to as "Tour de France" by a girl who was riding a bike with flat tyres....

Ste_S

We should form an anti-CM demonstration. Through and off down the middle of 'em while wearing "Not in my name" jerseys

unclemalc

Ste_S
I'm with you mate. The last thing we need is any more reason for motorists to hate anyone on a bike - I get enough of that minding my own business on the A449... :shock:

Tom Butcher

chuckcork wrote:

instead, and being snidely referred to as "Tour de France" by a girl who was riding a bike with flat tyres....

Sounds promising - it's a start anyway.

DavidBelcher

unclemalc wrote:

Ste_S
I'm with you mate. The last thing we need is any more reason for motorists to hate anyone on a bike - I get enough of that minding my own business on the A449... :shock:

Cycling on the A449? If it's the bit north of W'ton, you're a brave soul! Going southwards towards Himley instead, the bit downhill from Penn is uaully good for getting up a bit of speed!

David

Ambermile

chuckcork wrote:

...a girl who was riding a bike with flat tyres....

Yes, most lentil-eating females seem to be like that...

Arthur :twisted:

pneumatic

Ambermile wrote:

chuckcork wrote:

...a girl who was riding a bike with flat tyres....

Yes, most lentil-eating females seem to be like that...

Arthur :twisted:

Yes, and when you offer them a bit of lubrication and a shot of your pump, they are so rudely ungrateful (in non-violently agressive kind of way).

2wheelzgood

what about going along to CM with a group of non-hippy mates to see what it's like and show that you don't have to be a trouble-maker to show support for cycling in towns?
NB not all hippies are trouble makers and vice versa.

I like lentils am veggie and don't like the outcomes of the g8 most of the time but I wouldn't say I'm a a hippy. "lefty" maybe if you take the negative connotation out of the use of the term!

synchronicity

In line with Ste_S's thinking, I'd like to propose the following name, and at the same time, stipulate some initial guidlines-

New rules for "critical anti-mass":
-your primary objective is to disrupt members of the critical mass cult if you ever encounter them. :twisted:
-the secondary aim ... to actually BEAT all other vehicles in heavy traffic situations, while showing as little human effort as possible.
-you must wear both lycra jersey + shorts
-flat pedals are considered banned equipment
-no riding under 10 m.p.h
-no dreadlocks, marijuana leaf symbls or jamaican flagsº!!
-racks, cane baskets, trailers, flower-power icons -whatever- they just have no place in critical anti-mass.

º no, not even in miniature

Crapaud

chuckcork wrote:

... Mind it didn't help of course that I was there on my road bike, with padded shorts, clip in shoes and all, able to go from 0 to 20 mph in no time at all, travelling at a snails pace instead, and being snidely referred to as "Tour de France" by a girl who was riding a bike with flat tyres....

At the CM I went to I was fully lycra'd up, lid, bins and clipless .... I was viewed with great suspicion by the burd handing out the 'No Oil' thingeys that we were told to hang from our bikes. There was only one other person there who I could clearly identify as a cyclist and not a POB.

Surely a Critical Anti-mass would be where we all go out for a planned ride on our own!

Ste_S wrote:

We should form an anti-CM demonstration. Through and off down the middle of 'em while wearing "Not in my name" jerseys

Perhaps we could merge Heavymental's mediaeval thread and all have rubber lances, then we could 'run 'em through and off down the middle while wearing "Not in my name" jerseys''. It could be called 'It's a Critical Mass Knockout'

DavidBelcher

Crapaud wrote:

At the CM I went to I was fully lycra'd up, lid, bins and clipless .... I was viewed with great suspicion by the burd handing out the 'No Oil' thingeys that we were told to hang from our bikes. There was only one other person there who I could clearly identify as a cyclist and not a POB.

Surely a Critical Anti-mass would be where we all go out for a planned ride on our own!

Ste_S wrote:

We should form an anti-CM demonstration. Through and off down the middle of 'em while wearing "Not in my name" jerseys

Perhaps we could merge Heavymental's mediaeval thread and all have rubber lances, then we could 'run 'em through and off down the middle while wearing "Not in my name" jerseys''. It could be called 'It's a Critical Mass Knockout'

I would view the 'No Oil' protest with great suspicion - it doesn't reflect well on their attitude to bike maintenance
The 'through & off' idea is a great one - as these events often take place around town centres it'd put the 'crit' into Critical Mass! As for the mediaeval theme - chain-mail chaingang, anyone?

David

vermooten

OTOH the people I saw were enjoying themselves on their bikes, so in that itself was good to see.

apreading

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7667183.stm

nwallace

Crapaud wrote:

I would view the 'No Oil' protest with great suspicion - it doesn't reflect well on their attitude to bike maintenance

I presume they all use Latex tubes, Hand Woven Canvas tyres, and Hand Forged Steel frames magically made in furnaces powered by magic as well.

andrewc3142

Not really the prevailing view, but I join in CM in London from time to time if I'm in town on that day. I don't bait car drivers and certainly don't show any signs of aggression to anyone, a bit like almost everyone else that takes part. I'm a veggie, left-leaning, middle-aged accountant generally doing corporate debt restructuring and turnaround stuff, married with 2 kids.

I go on my road bike, which spends the majority of its time with me trying to bust PBs on my commute or at weekends. CM is a pleasant, relaxing way to chill out, especially on a summer Friday evening. There were comments on a commute thread that those taking part can't be "real cyclists" but I'd be happy to dispute that, in a friendly way, on a blast through around the Surrey hills.

I realise that a "bike jam" may annoy some, but so do car jams, people jams at tube stations, roads blocked off for VIP weddings, etc, etc. Such is life, especially in the city and it only holds people up for a short while, unlike most car jams.

And just an observation - the police on bikes are great. Friendly, chatty, only getting annoyed when someone starts being stupid, which is pretty likely to happen when a sizeable group gathers for any purpose, unfortunately.

Big Red S

The London CM has recently become far less about the protest, and more about the gathering.

Tends to meander around the quieter and more congested bits of the city, where it has less of an effect on the traffic than the old ways of blocking major routes.

N4PALM

I've always wondered about going to a CM. But from the things I've heard about the CM rides I do wonder if they do more harm to the cause of real cyclists than good.

Theres one coming up in Bristol at the end of the month.

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boybiker

It just annoys me when witless numpties bang on about saving the planet as if its in any kind of danger from anything that mankind can do to it, it has been around for a stunningly long time before we turned up and it will be around for a stunningly long time after we have gone.
What they actually mean is save my stupid lentil wearing lifestyle.
There was an interesting article about how long humans might be around in a form that it still recognizably human and they say its something like another 2 million years tops.

N4PALM

boybiker wrote:

It just annoys me when witless numpties bang on about saving the planet as if its in any kind of danger from anything that mankind can do to it, it has been around for a stunningly long time before we turned up and it will be around for a stunningly long time after we have gone.
What they actually mean is save my stupid lentil wearing lifestyle.
There was an interesting article about how long humans might be around in a form that it still recognizably human and they say its something like another 2 million years tops.

I think what you are saying is that we can destroy ourselves and make the planet unliveable, but not actually destroy the planet? Well that may be, and with time the planet may become hostpitable again. I fail to see what difference that really means to the Human race and to all of the worlds many lifeforms. For all intents and purposes thats the planet ruined.

Are you advocating continuing on our path of destruction and wipe ourselves out and leave the planet alone?

I'm almost dumbfounded by what you just said really. Ok no one can predict the future. We dont really know what will happen if humans continue on their path of consumption. All current thinking from the evidence gathered leads to the conclusion that we will ruin this planet. This may not happen or we may evolve and adapt and it will all be moot.

Well you and I cannot predict the future. But for the time being I see no harm in giving a damn about our home and the environment in which we live. Hey if you dont give a damn then may you lose all that is dear to you from neglect. I'm going to do all I can to look after what I have got for now, for the future whatever happens.


FYI a lentil is eaten not worn!

andrewc3142

I think he's just trying to wind people up. At least, that's the charitable explanation.