LCC - Space for cycling protest Mon 2nd Sept (London)
Comments
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Was a good protest, big turnout, barely any professional protesters. Now lets see what parliament says...0
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Only saw one obvious 'rent-a-mob' protester who was apparent since he was the only eejit in a mask, with a permanent marker and who was cycling outside the stewards. He scribbled on the back of one of the mobile sound systems - not a cycling message but a random 'freedom and joy for all' type affair. I'd have been narked if it had been mine.
Have a great pic of two older folks on a tandem talking to a couple with a baby and a toddler in Dutch style bikes... really summed up what it was all about.0 -
Gallywomack wrote:Absolutely rubbish.
Worse than L2B for overcrowding, spent most of the time queuing and couldn't get any sustained speed up at all.
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Jonny_Trousers wrote:Gallywomack wrote:Absolutely rubbish.
Worse than L2B for overcrowding, spent most of the time queuing and couldn't get any sustained speed up at all.
+1 :P0 -
Twas a bit slow wasn't it. There were lots of jokes being made such as "I'm going home if we don't slow down" and "you didn't say that there would be hills". I was at the front, we were trying to keep it at 2-3mph, any faster and the front would've caught up with the back. Big up to the ride leader Spencer, he was the guy with the tiny megaphone who somehow managed to get 5000ish people organised and who thanked every car/taxi/bus/police officer we passed for their help and patience.
The police were great, really looked out for all the cyclists and generally did an amazing job of corking all the roads.
It was a heartwarming event. Lots of very different people, some very old, some very young, not too many beards, lots of regular people, a few lycraists (including me) - just a regular cross section of the population who happen to ride bikes. Although we did tie up two bridges simultaneously for a while, the actual ride was over pretty quickly, so shouldn't have pissed off too many motorists. A lot of motorists voiced their support and waved to us as we passed, most people we passed were smiling at the sight of so many bikes. It was very different to the time I went on a Critical Mass ride. I'd say it was a great success.
Oh, and I reckon there were more than 30% women. Lots of lovely looking ones to boot. If I wasn't happily married I'd have royally abused my Ride Marshal pseudo position of authority. :twisted:0 -
Aye, a good event, well organised and good fun in spite of the slow average
My only slight misgiving was that when one or two drivers who were stuck there did have a moan, the only response they got was jeering. Not that reasoned discussion would necessarily be worthwhile with peed off WVM, but from my perspective it was about demanding improvements to road design, not fostering a sense of antipathy between cyclists and other road users. I thought a bit more of a 'sorry about this, but we feel it's an important issue...' response would have been more appropriate.
That said, I could have tried to say something at the time and didn't, so little point whinging about it on here! TBH, none of it was overly aggressive or bitter on either side, just felt it was slightly unfortunate.
Anyway, I saw on the news that the commons debate wasn't exactly packing them in
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Glad to hear it went well. As a result of it, as I sat there in my Lycra with my bike parked up behind me, I had to listen to one colleague banging on about cyclists not paying taxes to support the road infrastructure they want, and another saying that segregated cycle lanes at roundabouts would be a waste of money as cyclists will only take the quickest line, even if that means riding the roundabout backwards. Sigh*. Hopefully I managed to set them both straight.
I'm not sure what the LCC are proposing these days, but I'm not a big fan of the idea of Dutch style segregated cycle lanes. London is not Holland and we are not Dutch. I just don't see it working here, but I could be wrong. Our safety does need to be taken seriously, however, and we do deserve to have money spent on cyclist friendly infrastructure.0 -
Just caught the remains of the traffic jam as I didn't get out of work until twenty past seven, but it sounds like it went well. Sounds like the parliamentary debate was fairly constructive as well, although what will come of it remains to be seen. Particularly liked the dig at Eric Pickles "cycling elite" comment by Ben Bradshaw.1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
rjsterry wrote:Particularly liked the dig at Eric Pickles "cycling elite" comment by Ben Bradshaw.Ben Bradshaw MP wrote:I do not know whether his animus towards cycling is a result of some deep Freudian consciousness that he is probably the Cabinet member who would benefit the most from cycling’s health-giving and girth-narrowing magic, but his comments are signally unhelpful and they should not go unchallenged if the Government are really serious about cycling.0
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bails87 wrote:rjsterry wrote:Particularly liked the dig at Eric Pickles "cycling elite" comment by Ben Bradshaw.Ben Bradshaw MP wrote:I do not know whether his animus towards cycling is a result of some deep Freudian consciousness that he is probably the Cabinet member who would benefit the most from cycling’s health-giving and girth-narrowing magic, but his comments are signally unhelpful and they should not go unchallenged if the Government are really serious about cycling.
here is someone I would vote for."If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."
PX Kaffenback 2 = Work Horse
B-Twin Alur 700 = Sundays and Hills0 -
Yikes - one of my colleagues has just spotted me in the Standard! Thankfully not doing anything illegal like D-locking myself to the railings!
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/5 ... 95545.html0 -
Applespider wrote:Yikes - one of my colleagues has just spotted me in the Standard! Thankfully not doing anything illegal like D-locking myself to the railings!
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/5 ... 95545.html
And heres me, bottom right with the LCC bib and black helmet:
Gallywomack wrote:I thought a bit more of a 'sorry about this, but we feel it's an important issue...' response would have been more appropriate.
As I said, at the front we were saying "thank you for your patience" etc to everyone we passed. I did go back along the line a couple of times and told a couple of people to behave themselves, but was fighting a losing battle!!!
Having said that, the worst offenders for being aggressive to the motorists were (some of) the Police!!! But thats their job I guess 0 -
Oh No,
I started to read some of the comments..."If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."
PX Kaffenback 2 = Work Horse
B-Twin Alur 700 = Sundays and Hills0 -
rubertoe wrote:Oh No,
I started to read some of the comments...
Never, ever, do this.
Is what I tell myself everytime I start reading them...0 -
Applespider wrote:Yikes - one of my colleagues has just spotted me in the Standard! Thankfully not doing anything illegal like D-locking myself to the railings!
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/5 ... 95545.html
:shock: I know John Hartley mentioned in the article as he supports harlequins as do I, no idea he had had an accident. Hope he makes a full recovery,--
Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/50
