Traffic Chaos Trafalger Square - Wednesday Mornings
Comments
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I think I may have seen part one of these protests a few weeks ago. What might be helpful is if those protesting wore something/had a flag or whatever to indicate what the protest is about. Had I not read this thread I would have been clueless. The only info to be seen was a guy with "if you can read this then the b*tch fell off* written on the back of his hi-viz tabard. Charming, and does nothing for your cause. [/i]0
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LOL yes that was one of ours, there was also probably a bike with a flag. Most of the riders are in matching vests and/or have flyers to hand out to people that indicate any wish to engage with us. Normally the pushbikes seem to just wish to rush through and are concentrating on not hitting something.0
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gordon861 wrote:Almost any form of protest inconviences someone not directly related to the cause, I don't think there has ever been a sucessful campaign that hasn't.
The M25 demo is a big demo to show that we can get serious numbers if people feel enough about it, and it'll be an ecuse to ride along in a large group without getting broken up by traffic lights for a change.
The demo has been mentioned elsewhere and the press do know about it, if they choose not to publicise it we can't force them. We want to get publicity for our court case against Westminster next week, this should get it.
Just as long as you're ok then?
On the whole Westminster bike parking issue. The borough contains A LOT of sites considered sensitive to terrorism. The police can and will remove bikes if they are deemed a security risk. The IRA have been known to use bikes with bombs.0 -
rml380z wrote:s1lko wrote:The IRA have been known to use bikes with bombs.
That's not true; one bomb left in a bike pannier, but no bike bombs.
Don't say that, you can't let the truth stand in front of a chance to scare people with a good terror story. It helps scare people into line.
Anyways we did our M25 run yesterday, no official figures yet but good times were had by all. Good reaction from most of the car drivers, we had people that weren't on the ride waving and taking pictures as we came through. The sight of the Dartford bridge as we crossed, all lanes and about half of the length of the bridge, was amazing.
Here's a few videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KIfyiMiKA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_zu49siSW8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djndIUIOJ38
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxurLEBz5qs
And a bunch of photos:
http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad22 ... y%20Round/
And a write up : http://ukfrancebikers.com/2010/06/20/th ... rking-tax/0 -
Hey, guys, I saw you on TV the other day, in the news. I didn't catch the whole segment, but I caught the bit that annoyed me the most: drivers giving their opinion!! Why did the TV network (can't remember if it was BBC or ITV) asked drivers' opinions? This issue has NOTHING TO DO WITH DRIVERS!! So what did TV viewers see? A group of motoryclists staging a demo and the drivers saying they are all a niusance, while not even mentoning the tax in question.
And this, my fellow cyclists, goes to show how biased the media is AGAINST ANYTHING THAT IS NOT A CAR!!!! :x0 -
MadammeMarie wrote:Hey, guys, I saw you on TV the other day, in the news. I didn't catch the whole segment, but I caught the bit that annoyed me the most: drivers giving their opinion!! Why did the TV network (can't remember if it was BBC or ITV) asked drivers' opinions? This issue has NOTHING TO DO WITH DRIVERS!! So what did TV viewers see? A group of motoryclists staging a demo and the drivers saying they are all a niusance, while not even mentoning the tax in question.
And this, my fellow cyclists, goes to show how biased the media is AGAINST ANYTHING THAT IS NOT A CAR!!!! :x
you are spot on right, the issue has nothing to do with car drivers except the selfish self serving motorcyclists are delaying them and victimising the motorists as they are to scared to target those whom they have an issue with. It is effectively 2ndary picketing which in employment situations is illegalWant to know the Spen666 behind the posts?
Then read MY BLOG @ http://www.pebennett.com
Twittering @spen_6660 -
spen666 wrote:MadammeMarie wrote:Hey, guys, I saw you on TV the other day, in the news. I didn't catch the whole segment, but I caught the bit that annoyed me the most: drivers giving their opinion!! Why did the TV network (can't remember if it was BBC or ITV) asked drivers' opinions? This issue has NOTHING TO DO WITH DRIVERS!! So what did TV viewers see? A group of motoryclists staging a demo and the drivers saying they are all a niusance, while not even mentoning the tax in question.
And this, my fellow cyclists, goes to show how biased the media is AGAINST ANYTHING THAT IS NOT A CAR!!!! :x
you are spot on right, the issue has nothing to do with car drivers except the selfish self serving motorcyclists are delaying them and victimising the motorists as they are to scared to target those whom they have an issue with. It is effectively 2ndary picketing which in employment situations is illegal
but you take part in Critical Mass? :?0 -
This is good. Maybe the motorcyclists will finally comprehend that, despite p*ssing off a load of completely innocent road users, they're completely failing to communicate their actual complaint.MadammeMarie wrote:This issue has NOTHING TO DO WITH DRIVERS!! So what did TV viewers see? A group of motoryclists staging a demo and the drivers saying they are all a niusance, while not even mentoning the tax in question.
If the real aim of these protests is to get a message across, this communication failure might encourage them to stop messing up other people's journeys and find a more effective way of achieving their goal.
There again, I suspect that the real reason most riders are attending is because they have small man parts, and want to show how big and powerful they are by stopping the traffic; if this is the case, expect the protests to continue (and ultimately morph into a sort of motorised critical mass)...Pannier, 120rpm.0 -
LOL someone always has to start with the insults, oh well.
When we are doing the regular Trafalger Square demos we hand out a lot of flyers and try to engage with as many people as possible to explain what we are about.
We have had a number of people contact us after keying words into Google to try and find who we are, try motorcycle protest that seems to find us pretty easily.
Some people keep complaining that we are hitting the wrong people and that we should be aiming directly to WCC instead. Well we do hit WCC, we blockaded their Town Hall the other week for about 30mins until the police asked us to leave. I'm also waiting for anyone to give me an example of any protest/demo that didn't inconvience some of the general public that actually achieved anything, the all have to cause disruption else no one notices.
From the reactions of most of the public we saw on Saturday I think we pissed off very few people, we had no trouble on the M25 and on the way back into London on the A40 we had crowds waving as we passed.0 -
gordon861 wrote:From the reactions of most of the public we saw on Saturday I think we pissed off very few people, we had no trouble on the M25 and on the way back into London on the A40 we had crowds waving as we passed.
Do you have any reason to believe that those cheery waves were an endorsement of your campaign?0 -
TGOTB wrote:This is good. Maybe the motorcyclists will finally comprehend that, despite p*ssing off a load of completely innocent road users, they're completely failing to communicate their actual complaint.
No, it's not good to have a completely biased media!0 -
Porgy wrote:spen666 wrote:MadammeMarie wrote:Hey, guys, I saw you on TV the other day, in the news. I didn't catch the whole segment, but I caught the bit that annoyed me the most: drivers giving their opinion!! Why did the TV network (can't remember if it was BBC or ITV) asked drivers' opinions? This issue has NOTHING TO DO WITH DRIVERS!! So what did TV viewers see? A group of motoryclists staging a demo and the drivers saying they are all a niusance, while not even mentoning the tax in question.
And this, my fellow cyclists, goes to show how biased the media is AGAINST ANYTHING THAT IS NOT A CAR!!!! :x
you are spot on right, the issue has nothing to do with car drivers except the selfish self serving motorcyclists are delaying them and victimising the motorists as they are to scared to target those whom they have an issue with. It is effectively 2ndary picketing which in employment situations is illegal
but you take part in Critical Mass? :?
Erm except at Critical Mass, I am out riding my bike with friends, I'm not protesting about anything. My purpose of going to CM was to meet friends, have a ride round London before going for a meal.Want to know the Spen666 behind the posts?
Then read MY BLOG @ http://www.pebennett.com
Twittering @spen_6660 -
gordon861 wrote:From the reactions of most of the public we saw on Saturday I think we pissed off very few people, we had no trouble on the M25 and on the way back into London on the A40 we had crowds waving as we passed.
You should try some 'listen again' services for local radio stations if you think that's the case.0 -
Detailed links to relevant broadcasts would be very much apprieciated if you have them?
Me blindly searching for local radio stations that I haven't heard of and listening to 6hrs of broadcasts would be a near impossible task.
Did you hear one, or were you just assuming that they must have existed?
Which ones did you hear?
What was said?
And no I don't know if the people waving on the way into London agreed with our campaign or not. Who knows they might just happen to wave at any group of people that go past them just because they like smiling and waving.0 -
The thing is, do you really expect your M25 stunt to help your cause? If so, by what mechanism? If it's not going to help your cause (and personally, I can't see how it will) then you're just wasting everyone's time.gordon861 wrote:Some people keep complaining that we are hitting the wrong people and that we should be aiming directly to WCC instead. Well we do hit WCC, we blockaded their Town Hall the other week for about 30mins until the police asked us to leave. I'm also waiting for anyone to give me an example of any protest/demo that didn't inconvience some of the general public that actually achieved anything, the all have to cause disruption else no one notices.
If you want to make some sort of impact, why not get off your beloved motorbikes and march through London with placards? At least Joe Public will then have a clear idea what you're complaining about...
And if you want an example of a more directed protest, look at the (legal) anti-hunt protests. They were clearly effective, in that they achieved a lot of publicity, legislation was passed, and almost no-one was inconvenienced except the hunters.
Your M25 protest inconvenienced random members of the public but had no impact whatsoever on WCC, partly because no part of the M25 goes anywhere near Westminster; you might aswell have gone and blocked the M6...Pannier, 120rpm.0 -
Well, Heart in Essex had a caller describing a 'big gang of motorbikers doing some kind of go-slow' and saying that it 'seemed like they were deliberately holding everyone up'. This was not well-received by Heart's listeners.
I posted a warning about it on facebook, and as a result couple of friends told me about a similar chat on Kiss FM, and BBC Essex.
No mention was made of your 'cause'. A job well done there, then. :roll:0 -
Think I might have been caught up in some of it on my way up to the Peaks for some riding.
Yes, it made me entirely compassionate to your cause, and no I didn't spend the entire time cursing you for being selfish and inconsiderate.0 -
The M25 did a few things
1. It did get us publicity in more of the national motorcycle press which meant we reached other bikers that were unaware of what was going on and now are more likely to turn up to next Wednesdays event.
2. It helped raise funds for the legal challange taking place this week.
3. It was a massive show of numbers to WCC and any other council of what we could bring to their front door if pushed.
4. It was a good day out, I spoke to a number of riders that said that they had wanted to do a full lap of the M25 sometime and this was a good excuse.
As I have said, we do talk to people when we get a chance and explain what we are doing. Everyone seems hung up on the "only a pound" bit at the start but when they think ahead they agree that it is very unlikely to stay a pound for long, and the best time to fight it is now.
We have done what we can to get the word out to the press about what is happening and when, the BBC even sent a reporter and cameraman down to the Ace. But anyone wanting to work out what's going on shouldn't find it hard with Google etc and half a brain.
BTW : There is already talk about doing it the same time next year and make it a regular event. It'd make the weekend a real Two-Wheelers weekend, us on the Saturday and the London to Brighton on the Sunday.
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gordon861 wrote:4. It was a good day out, I spoke to a number of riders that said that they had wanted to do a full lap of the M25 sometime and this was a good excuse.
Right, so basically you decided you wanted to have a bit of a pleasure cruise, and didn't care about inconveniencing other people?0 -
gordon861 wrote:BTW : There is already talk about doing it the same time next year and make it a regular event. It'd make the weekend a real Two-Wheelers weekend, us on the Saturday and the London to Brighton on the Sunday.
Don't you think it's rather unfair to combine your ridiculous 'protest' with a charity cycle ride?0 -
Aidy wrote:gordon861 wrote:4. It was a good day out, I spoke to a number of riders that said that they had wanted to do a full lap of the M25 sometime and this was a good excuse.
Right, so basically you decided you wanted to have a bit of a pleasure cruise, and didn't care about inconveniencing other people?
I'm sorry is it not the right of every Englishman (and women(and visitors to these shores)) to go out and enjoy this Green and Pleasant Land whenever the wish strikes us and the sun is out (for a change)?
What other excuse for cycling/walking/driving/riding down any road in the UK do you need other than "I wanted to"?
Can people caught up in the chaos that surrounds the London to Brighton cycle ride also say that cyclists don't "care about inconveniencing other people" as well?
We did a ride, we enjoyed it, we gave the press warnings about what was to happen, the media never bothered to tell anyone ... tough.
BTW - The Essex police were very good in helping us get the parade moving again and their support on the day. In fact I saw a number of them smiling as well so they might even have enjoyed it. And they had the info about the event on their website.0 -
gordon861 wrote:Aidy wrote:gordon861 wrote:4. It was a good day out, I spoke to a number of riders that said that they had wanted to do a full lap of the M25 sometime and this was a good excuse.
Right, so basically you decided you wanted to have a bit of a pleasure cruise, and didn't care about inconveniencing other people?
I'm sorry is it not the right of every Englishman (and women(and visitors to these shores)) to go out and enjoy this Green and Pleasant Land whenever the wish strikes us and the sun is out (for a change)?
What other excuse for cycling/walking/driving/riding down any road in the UK do you need other than "I wanted to"?
Can people caught up in the chaos that surrounds the London to Brighton cycle ride also say that cyclists don't "care about inconveniencing other people" as well?
We did a ride, we enjoyed it, we gave the press warnings about what was to happen, the media never bothered to tell anyone ... tough.
BTW - The Essex police were very good in helping us get the parade moving again and their support on the day. In fact I saw a number of them smiling as well so they might even have enjoyed it. And they had the info about the event on their website.
I'd have had no objection whatsoever to you all doing a lap of the M25 at 70mph, not deliberately holding people up at 40mph.
Don't give us the whole 'is this not what it means to be English' rubbish.
And the Essex police are not necessarily a representative sample of the Essex public.
ETA: L2B - for charity, massively publicised, pre-warned by police/AA. I don't mind being held up on country lanes for a good cause, and if bikes could do the speed limit I'm sure they would. Maybe that's why bicycles aren't allowed on the M25...0 -
I get angry about this a lot.
Yes people have rights/freedoms to do a lot of things.
They all seem to conveniently forget that they have a responsibility to excercise them with consideration for others.0 -
Aidy wrote:gordon861 wrote:I'm sorry is it not the right of every Englishman (and women(and visitors to these shores)) to go out and enjoy this Green and Pleasant Land whenever the wish strikes us and the sun is out (for a change)?
At the expense of other people's enjoyment?
this is a red herring imo - people going about their legal business often interferes with others' enjoyment - it's a fact of life that we'll never get around. Demonstrations are no different - someone will always be inconvenienced or annoyed by it. C'est la vie.0 -
Gordon,
Fully behind you on this matter, and for those who believes this has nothing to do with cyclists you could not be more wrong as we will be next.
Motorcycles occupy at most a quarter of the area of a car and because they tend not to be sat there idling for hours in a jam; don't pollute as much, as the only weight they are pushing is that if the bike and it's rider. Noise yes granted but being as most car drivers refuse to acknowledge anything on two wheels the louder the better (you think those large Soundz air horns are less polluting then please feel free to argue).
As for those that riagn into radio shows I imagine that they all drive cars that must be unimpeded as they have really important jobs to get to on a weekend.+++++++++++++++++++++
we are the proud, the few, Descendents.
Panama - finally putting a nail in the economic theory of the trickle down effect.0 -
spen666 wrote:Porgy wrote:spen666 wrote:MadammeMarie wrote:Hey, guys, I saw you on TV the other day, in the news. I didn't catch the whole segment, but I caught the bit that annoyed me the most: drivers giving their opinion!! Why did the TV network (can't remember if it was BBC or ITV) asked drivers' opinions? This issue has NOTHING TO DO WITH DRIVERS!! So what did TV viewers see? A group of motoryclists staging a demo and the drivers saying they are all a niusance, while not even mentoning the tax in question.
And this, my fellow cyclists, goes to show how biased the media is AGAINST ANYTHING THAT IS NOT A CAR!!!! :x
you are spot on right, the issue has nothing to do with car drivers except the selfish self serving motorcyclists are delaying them and victimising the motorists as they are to scared to target those whom they have an issue with. It is effectively 2ndary picketing which in employment situations is illegal
but you take part in Critical Mass? :?
Erm except at Critical Mass, I am out riding my bike with friends, I'm not protesting about anything. My purpose of going to CM was to meet friends, have a ride round London before going for a meal.
Oh yeah - and incidentally holding up the west end traffic and annoying a lot of motorists. Don't forget I'm a veteran of CM from the 90s when it meant something.0
