Critical Mass in Birmingham

At the last critical mass 'us lot' seemed to be the dominant force so it moved a bit faster than the excrutiating/embarassing crawl. I felt it was a decent compromise, as it might be unfair to some people to charge ahead.

There is as much of 'us lot' as there is of the FOE-critical mass-slowriding-core. We could get together for brief group rides around the city if we wanted where we could ride faster if we wanted. These rides could potentially coincide with polo.

Or as pistaboy suggested, change it up. If you want it to be more fun, come on a joke bike or in fancy dress. Volunteer to get sound system out and bring tunes ( as MikeD is self-admittedly a fair weather cyclist)

Critical Mass this Friday, 2nd of April.

I'll be there on Friday.

Will reserve judgement until then but will go with an open mind.

Maybe asked before... how come it isn't last Fri of the month to tie in with the rest of the worlds cities?

@rhb: would it make any difference?

lol, of course not. but it does mean the jet-setters amongst us can get to more than one per month. paris, san fran....the choice is yours ;)

lol doesn't mean lot's of love :s

difference to what?

I assume he means "would it make any difference what day it is on as long as there is a Brum representation at a Critical Mass event".

@rhb what oGaZm said
@oGaZm:so u havent been before

no, not yet. and apologies if I sounded like a dick in my last post.

I've been stuck behind it once a few months ago on the way to the Blues and wondered what was going on. I'm sick and tired of the cycle lanes in Brum and hoped I could help raise awareness. is it worth going? I'm not normally keen on demo's etc but the state of the roads is pretty shocking in places.

I'm also angry about the quality of driving, the amount people drive, drivers' lack of awareness of cyclists, sharing of bus lanes with buses (who's idea was that) and the fact that I rode from Cologne to Amsterdam without EVER riding on the road - it was proper, designated cycle paths for 260miles!! They even have their own signage and lights ffs!

I assume he means "would it make any difference what day it is on as long as there is a Brum representation at a Critical Mass event".

Dunno.

What was the thinking originally behind holding it on a different date to (almost) everyone else?

not sure. there's a Facespaz page though if you wanted to check. there seem to be lot's of Manchester connections with some of them so maybe they wanted to attend both....

i'm going to walk out on a brittle and flimsy limb and say i don't understand the point.
...
i propose either speeding up and properly dominating a lane of traffic (as a car would), or making it more of a party atmosphere so at least some of the motorists can get along with it...

Um, the point is hard to pin down as it is whatever point the consensus of the riders showing up feel like making.
As to the second point, I'd paraphrase Rob Newman and say "don't wine about it, otherwise you'll be in charge of fixing it".
I used to show up regularly for years, back when making 10 riders was a record turnout. I mostly don't show up because I don't have the time to get in from south birmingham. The last couple rides I went on were good. The soundstation on a trailer is good, but slows things down. I would rather a faster pace, but that would mean dropping slower riders - do they not have a right to ride?
The solution is to have 100 riders show up, which would happen if everyone showed up on the same ride - BUT that won't happen - I know I won't be there (not for disgruntled reasons, but I have a mini-belgian to look after now, which takes up all my time).

Hey guys, Igor approached me outside the Vic a week or so ago about CM. I had a blue and white Raleigh frame, trying to lock it up whilst desperately needing a wee so sorry if I was rude! In Amsterdam for next CM but really want to come to the next one with flags from the bike foundry I work for and my female cyclists blog!!

I did make CM in the end! whoop. If anyone has any photos I can put on the blog, would appreciate it! cheers.

^^^Whats your female cyclists blog called? Link?

does it start at 6 pm? or am?

femmepedale.blogspot.com
sorry I shouldn't say female cyclists blog...its for all kinds of cyclists but as women ourselves we're trying to encourage more women to ride!

^ good stuff. Give Rachel, Hannah and Yvonne at Sustrans Birmingham office a shout if you want a few more riders on your side. I'll send Rach a link to your blog tomorrow.

That would be great cheers!

That would be great cheers!

No worries, sounds a good project - good luck with it.

Resurrect!

I'm on a mission to drive CM numbers sky high this year.
Support your scene, join the ride!

Location: St Philip’s Cathedral, (Pigeon Park)
Day: First Friday of every month
Time: 17.30-6.00 meet then ride.

Couple of us are going straight from work, hopefully ms and void too. It is what you make it!

Can't do this month I'm afraid, due to a welsh invasion of friends.