Critical Mass London: last friday of the month South Bank by National Theatre, 6.30pm

Sorry. Giro.

I wanna come to the critical mass, never been but it seems quite fun. Silly question but, it is today right?

Yep. Arrive at about 630 here.

Who's street?

who's street?

rpm.

Who's street?

Not mine, or I'd get sued for not mending the potholes.

Any SE beers people going tonight?

Saw a shit load passing through St Pauls at precisely 20:06, blocking up the road causing havoc.
About 3 Police Cars were involved as well, thought there may of been an accident...

Kept an eye out for some of you but didn't reconise anyone.

There was a tiny little kid, must of been no older than 7... Must of got excited and wondered off from his parents to join in on the fun, because a nice Police man took him from the ride. I felt sorry for him, must of broke his heart.

Yep. Arrive at about 630 here.

ooo my days.....i must be so dumb. I got to Waterloo bridge at 7.00pm today but i guess u peeps had left.....sob sob :-( man...Im soo dissapointed as ive never joined CM before. Brought some booze and everything....arrrr. looks like I would ave to join u guys next month then.... :-(

You must have just missed it. That was one crazy critical mass. We'll get that bastard in the astra van who was being a james blunt outside downing street next time.

You must have just missed it. That was one crazy critical mass. We'll get that bastard in the astra van who was being a james blunt outside downing street next time.

arr man....sounds fun. I end up jus having a beer at hyde park..... What was the astra van cock doing ?

Just back from my first CM. We scooted off after St Pauls the second time round and headed to the kebab shop on The Cut for a feed.

Incidents:

Very long stop on Fleet St, caused by a taxi, I think.

Group of lads in a Hummer limo getting out and in the face of plenty of riders, then after they got back in, a stranger, not on the ride, started throwing things through the open window and trying
to throw punches. Well done to the guy on the small folder (?) who held him back and stopped things getting worse.

Very aggressive motorbike who pushed into bikes and forced his way through some strong corking then sped off down the road at a ridiculous speed

Arrest of one guy by three cops. Not sure what he was arrested for, just a show of force and an example I think.

Overall, I'm not sure CM is really a force for good. It seems more like a way for lots of cyclists to get some of their frustration out once a month, whether actively or passively, by causing a large amount of disruption to motor vehicle drivers. It doesn't promote cycling in a particularly positive light, and causes lots of people to become pissed off with us.

Yeah, total shit today, we peeled off at china town and went for a feed. No sounds gave it a real shit atmosphere. Don't think i'll bother again.

Incidents:

Very long stop on Fleet St, caused by a taxi, I think.

Group of lads in a Hummer limo getting out and in the face of plenty of riders, then after they got back in, a stranger, not on the ride, started throwing things through the open window and trying
to throw punches. Well done to the guy on the small folder (?) who held him back and stopped things getting worse.

Very aggressive motorbike who pushed into bikes and forced his way through some strong corking then sped off down the road at a ridiculous speed

Arrest of one guy by three cops. Not sure what he was arrested for, just a show of force and an example I think.

Pretty much every CM I've been on has involved some sort of incident similar to the above between participants and motorists / cops / passersby / bus stop people / ambulance unable to get through / angry taxi psycho / etc etc, no matter which city or country I was in.

I dont go any more. London is pretty good for cycling - cycle networks, loads of commuters, a bike to work incentive, a rental scheme coming up - what more does CM want?

Poor old modan, hope you get there next time

Just back from my first CM. We scooted off after St Pauls the second time round and headed to the kebab shop on The Cut for a feed.

Incidents:

Very long stop on Fleet St, caused by a taxi, I think.

Group of lads in a Hummer limo getting out and in the face of plenty of riders, then after they got back in, a stranger, not on the ride, started throwing things through the open window and trying
to throw punches. Well done to the guy on the small folder (?) who held him back and stopped things getting worse.

Very aggressive motorbike who pushed into bikes and forced his way through some strong corking then sped off down the road at a ridiculous speed

Arrest of one guy by three cops. Not sure what he was arrested for, just a show of force and an example I think.

Overall, I'm not sure CM is really a force for good. It seems more like a way for lots of cyclists to get some of their frustration out once a month, whether actively or passively, by causing a large amount of disruption to motor vehicle drivers. It doesn't promote cycling in a particularly positive light, and causes lots of people to become pissed off with us.

This sums it up

It's gone beyond awareness and good cause now

Saw CM roll by Holborn earlier and the thing that caught my eye was that the 'Mass' element seemed to be missing. Strung out all over the place.

Lost of cyclists out on a ride with corking for safety = good.

Deliberately riding slow or holding up traffic with stopping and bike waving = dickmove.

Shame the Mass wasn't good. Sometimes they're awesome. I was on the buses tonight. As I was going back north from Friday drinks, I saw about 40 riders in a crowd at Monument--surely not a remnant of the Mass? It looked more as if someone had organised a night sightseeing ride.

it is definately getting worse
i left as the hummer incident was going on
it now seems to be moving from a pro bike lobby to a bunch of dickheads looking for trouble

how are we supposed to try and get the message of cycling being a good thing across when there are pricks causing aggro with vehicles for no reason

sad really

agree with the last few posts, no carnival atmosphere, just strung out badly and then resulting conflicts, the best bit was just hanging out a the start, so Im not rushing to another one.
and there was no dub either.
most constructive thing would be to get on to the website and just post how its gone awry.

First of all apologies if this seems like a rant.....
I've been going for about seven or eight years now and all of the above comments reflect a trend that seems to have been growing steadily over the last year or so i.e. Critical Mass is being seen by an increasing number of people as an excuse to ride around in a semi pissed up mob looking for an excuse to kick off/spew abuse and no longer anything to do with promoting any of the ideas originally intended by the "Mass"...
..Like several other riders I chatted with on the ride the temptation is to just throw in the towel and say to hell with it all....By doing so the tosser element inherit something that will quickly be run into the ground or policed to the point of being pointess thus leaving Boris Johnson's/Sky TV@s nice shiny cyclists day out to become the public face of cycling and the only people who will ever benefit from that will be the Insurance Companies who ultimately can't wait to find a way to make us take out insurance (why else would they sponsor Boris?)
It is up to the people who genuinely care to take back the situation....only a couple of years ago leaflets were distributed to drivers and pedestrians alike explaining what was going on and why...the group stayed tight so that two or three courageous riders don't find themselves holding up traffic and enduring fifteen minutes of Black Cab invective whilst waiting for small groups of riders to trickle by......and most importantly.....we don't go out to get into fights and seek to isolate those who do
Critical Mass is as good or as bad as we make it....but it IS ours....and we can make it exceptional
£0.002 thoroughly expired

+1. The Mass is self-policing, self-organising. If you want it to be better, take responsibility. Obviously, if you don't care either way, just stay away. But if you want to change it, get down with some mates and help. It can be a superb event if done right.

It's tomorrow people!
Lovely weather for it.

Is anyone up for this tomorrow? I haven't been since the March one, I fancy another one, and it should be a really nice evening for it weather-wise.

yeah i'll be there

Yeah i'll be there - critical mass is awesome :)