Critical Mass - February '09

who was the guy on the bob jackson last night with the 72 tooth chainring and 25 tooth rear last night ( well they must have been those sizes at least
that drive train looked crazy
i've only ever seen anything like that on those rih massively geared bikes used to ride round behind the triumph motorbikes on the track

I saw that guy, the chain ring was insane.

I nearly fell off looking at that gearing! insane

Did meet a few new people, nice ride, good weather, good turn out

who was the guy on the bob jackson last night with the 72 tooth chainring and 25 tooth rear last night ( well they must have been those sizes at least
that drive train looked crazy
i've only ever seen anything like that on those rih massively geared bikes used to ride round behind the triumph motorbikes on the track

Might have been phasergunalex. He's just posted a bike with those credentials in current projects. Can't remember if it was a BJ though...

Wasn't Alex, it was an older gent and this chain ring looked like it might clip the road if he cornered too hard.

Pretty sure the frame was red.

i went and had a good time, however i'm really not sure how well it promotes cyclists/bikes. it just seemed to infuriate everyone else.

Yeah, i kinda thought that as well. Especially when holding up buses full of people trying to get home so they can go out on their friday night. One thing holding up cars/taxis, but holding up buses isn't what it's about IMO.

Yeah, i kinda thought that as well. Especially when holding up buses full of people trying to get home so they can go out on their friday night. One thing holding up cars/taxis, but holding up buses isn't what it's about IMO.

well just the whole thing in general. i appreciate the cause and i think in theory its a beautiful idea but just seeing how fucking mental some of the people were getting in their cars and a pedestrian grabbed my flatmate by westminster. do you think the next time these people see a cyclist they're going to be sympathetic? i also don't think it helps that some people use it as some sort of liberal hard on.
it was the first time i've been and like i said i had a great time but, i dunno, i just felt it didn't paint cycling in a particularly glorious light.

Sure people got hold up, but really it is not like they were delayed more than the traffic generally caused, maybe some of the people will realise that if they cycle they will be alot quicker, able to avoid such delays.
However, the only reason i really go tho is that i enjoy it, people can bring their motives to the fray, but at the end of the day it is just great fun (if a bit slow).
Regarding the annoyance of other road users, i think (as i believe others have said) that cm should be in full tweed ftw!

I loved the rave in the middle of oxford circus!
that flashmob at waterloo looked pretty fun as well

I think cyclist general get bad deal on the road, and well its just a bit fun pay back really. And to all the people get held up by cm i hope they see that it is just a peaceful protest. And if just one person gets the point then i think its worth it.
I was my first cm yesterday and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Should do it on a Saturday or a Sunday. Less traffic and no one can claim to be doing anything too important.

It doesn't matter about holding up traffic. Like was mentioned above, they'd be in a jam anyway whether the mass is there or not.
And people will fucking moan at anything. When I was on that massive anti-war march a few years back, people were moaning then -'blah blah you're making me late blah blah etc' 'war? where?'
All I can say to people like that is fuck off. If you can't handle crowds and traffic jams then move to the sahara and shut up.

Yeah maybe your right. How about Critical Mass on Monday 7am to 10am.

was my first cm yesterday, really enjoyed it, good vibes riding with so many people.

i can sort of see how people might have got annoyed at oxford circus (despite it being a lot of fun for us), but i can't see how people who get annoyed when they're waiting to cross the road, you're think that it'd be pretty cool if you were just walking along and you stumbled upon a big event like that.

here's a photo of the oxford circus hold up, had a good view from my perch

Was my first CM since '07. Probs won't go on it again for a while.. it's too slow, if nothing else. And the reason for it is a bit questionable, I think. I like it because it's fun to ride around with loads of friends, but I really don't give a shit about any of the politics behind it, and in fact it gets in the way of me having fun.

But it was good to see a few new faces from UAL.

Adam - i forgot to ask on the ride - what is with the mental angle of your bullhorns?! Try levelling them out, it'll offer you so many more riding positions, and it'll help you skid, too, as you can push your weight further forward.

Yeah Adam, fix your death bars.

Yeah adam, they're pretty much vertical.

you could almost use them as drops.

i thinkm the whole point of critical mass is to get over a positive cycling message
i would say 95% of reactions from people are postive when we cycle by
the 5% are the tits in the cars who as has already stated above would be in jams on a friday night anyhow
i don't mind the speed of the ride ... it's good to get a chance to meet old friends and chat while travelling at 5mph ... most civilised in my mind
the cars get inconvienced for about 10 mins 20 mins max tough once a month for 10 mins doesn't exactly mean cycling are provoking anger / deliberately going out there looking for trouble it's 10 mins for goodness sake get over it
it's a worthy cause / a great laugh / lots of fun / good music / nice bikes and only for 1-2hrs a month
whats not to like

speaking of good music, the guy freestyling over the top of one of the soundsystems was so epic

I'm regretting not going, as usual. I like CM. Next month.

On one hand you can say that you held people up and feel sorry for them since they were innocent bystanders, but on the other hand you can also say, CM needs to be more pro-active in increasing non-cyclists awareness.

Non-Londoners can be forgiven, but also forgotten. London dwellers should really by now remember what day Critical Mass is, and time budget for it. If you didn't ride a bike and had to get home in a hurry on the night of Critical Mass, would you:

A. Drive your car anyway and hope you miss it?
B. Drive your car anyway, get stuck and then shout about it?
C. Get the bus and risk getting stuck?
D. Get the tube?
E. RIDE A BIKE?

I think E is the ideal situation, but common sense dictates at least D. People who get pissed off by Critical Mass clearly aren't the cleverest of folk.

I went to critical mass on fri, only stayed for 30min or so as I had to be somewhere. I enjoyed myself as always, It's nice just to be out on the streets with loads of cyclists.
However, there are a fair few people whose only aim seems to be to piss off car/bus/taxi drivers and they always ruin the vibe for me somewhat.

i thinkm the whole point of critical mass is to get over a positive cycling message
i would say 95% of reactions from people are postive when we cycle by
the 5% are the tits in the cars who as has already stated above would be in jams on a friday night anyhow
i don't mind the speed of the ride ... it's good to get a chance to meet old friends and chat while travelling at 5mph ... most civilised in my mind
the cars get inconvienced for about 10 mins 20 mins max tough once a month for 10 mins doesn't exactly mean cycling are provoking anger / deliberately going out there looking for trouble it's 10 mins for goodness sake get over it
it's a worthy cause / a great laugh / lots of fun / good music / nice bikes and only for 1-2hrs a month
whats not to like

Julian, I agree with you on most points, but I've been stuck on a bus held up by a critical mass, and it added an hour onto my journey, not 10 or 20 mins. (was stuck on whitehall heading towards parliament square). I'd say the number of people who get pissed off by CM is far more than the people enjoying it. In fact, I think the only people who enjoy it are those who take part.

it's one day a month for fucks sake, for a couple of hours