April critical mass

i attended mass for the first time in a good months last night. I took a break from the event after the stupid move of riding down the mancunian way a while back. Having seen the mailings and this thread i had hopped that perhaps things had moved forwards, unfortunately it seems not.

Can anybody here explain to me how blocking pavements, trams and buses does anything in the slightest to advance the cause of cycling? How does riding down the road on a mobile phone or swigging booze from a can in your bottle holder promote us a a group deserved of being taken seriously by local planners, politicians or even motorists? I've seen groups of riders harp on about irresponsible motorists and then proceed to commit exactly the same crime themselves - hypocrisy destroys our credibility!

i lasted 5 minutes of the ride last night. I gave up as we crossed mosley st, blocking the tram and contrary to the earlier discussions pedestrians too. I stopped a little further down the road and talked to a couple of passes by. None of them could understand what was going on or how anybody on the ride really thought it would help their cause. Most people are not anti bike, they may have their own personal barriers to using them, but even in worst case scenario you can usually sell it to them on freeing up parking spaces.

My stance in life is that people should be free to do what they want, so long as it does not harm others. My fear now is that the mass has reached a point where it is actually doing more harm than good, creating animosity from pedestrians and metal box owners alike. I remain a committed cyclist and will gladly work on events such as the mural painting which i know won us a huge number of friends and supporters. I just can't condone the behaviour i'm seeing with critical mass any more.

+1