Critical Mass - April 2007

aidan to be honest i would rather the police were looking for car bombs then riding around pointlessly.i think its a bigger issue then the one implyed by the cm

Then you've drunk too much koolaid.

The police's efforts should be balanced and proportionate across all of their responsibilities that come down to protecting the public and maintaining the peace. Just because there is a terrorist threat are you suggesting that all policing should focus on that and every other role that the police do should suddenly cease?

No. It's dumb isn't it?

Your argument is similar to those who believe that medical advances for cosmetic reasons is repulsive as the resources should be used to fight cancer. As if a plastic surgeon knows anything about cancer! And it's based on the idea that more heads would help, which isn't necessarily true, the right heads help, not the quantity of heads.

And so it is with policing. Just throwing all police on security detail and 'looking for car bombs' is silly. Throw the right number of the right people at it, targeted response. And don't unnecessarily consume resources best deployed elsewhere.

As for letting a bunch of cowardly terrorists change your plans in any way, well they've obviously beaten you then. I'm riding. But I'll be very respectful of any requests from the police to avoid specific areas.

Lets go and have a good ride, changing your behaviour because of perceived threats makes you undeserving of the rights afforded a citizen of a democracy.

my plans hevent been changed due to cowardly terrorist,they've changed because there was a unexploded car bomb found which could have kill loads of people....i dont think it takes a scientist to spot a bomb in a car.
anyway it was somthing that i thought for a second,i think its somthing that should be considered

Leaving now see you at 16:45 ish

Well there ain't no bomb there now, SO get on..

Hey all, look out for this sign and say hello.

yeah terrorism is terrorism when we let it own us, i will ride but with the utmost respect for the police,
i might be late though lol

ps. nice sign

Aidan's a well known rain dodger...
Admit it dude - you've been well rumbled! ;)

I've got to ride to soho for a job at 7ish, should be finished by 8.30 lastest. Which pub you gonna be in?

john snow everyone go to one place, ive been meaning to meat you guys for awhile

lol

Lois Einhorn Aidan's a well known rain dodger...
Admit it dude - you've been well rumbled! ;)

naaa im not,im going back home this weekend so i cant come,i would love to but i cant:(
have a good time y'all

Hope you guys had a safe Critical Mass with all the stuff going on. Chicago's will be starting in 4.5 hours.

i just got back from it - it sort of fizzled out around parliament square for some reason.

I didn't see no big FGSS sign - who was there? (meaning, what were you riding!)

I have the dubious distinction of being the guy who got knocked off his bike when that nutter ran out of the crowds near charing cross road. honestly, it was the last thing i was expecting.

It was peaceful, good-natured, and obviously I detoured at the first chance to reach the pub :)

I was riding the red Serotta road bike.

i was there when that nutter ran out! i was the guy riding in front with the lime green vitus. what were you riding natureboy?

ah so you guys popped off to john snow? i only bumped into dicki at the old street roundabout for a bit. he told me david's riding the serotta and then i lost him.

then i pretty much hung around with the rest till the end when the coppers retired on theobalds road. not long after that before i went to have dinner in the korean next to duke of york i saw a bunch of you speeding down eastward...

hey ed, I remember seeing your vitus! I was on a bright blue Condor (geared).
That guy was certainly a nut - he just came out of nowhere and knocked over about 3 people before the police grabbed him. He totally scratched up my brake lever but that's about it.

well i'm off to some random party now where i can pretend to be younger than i am :-)
we should definitely arrange a pub night soon but i'll need some time to put my new ciocc
together :-)
here's a picture of the frame so you can recognise it when it's done.

yeah i must have seen you then... blue bar tape?
might consider riding geared next CM. was so tight have the get my feet off all the time so annoying. so tight there's not even enough space to track stand properly (well yeah i'm crap).

pub night's tomorrow actually, if you're on the bridges ride... just hope the weather stays still like it did tonight. let it rain during the day as long as it doesn't for the ride!

nice frame!! looking forward to that built up!!

very nice ride and the evening events were awesome too CM did a loop up towards liverpool st old street roundabout covent garden and then like dave went to the jon snow met a few bods sarah from fixedgearlondon house said her flat mates were at a bmx exhibition down near great eastern st so 4 of us went down there how sweet it was, about 40 classic bmx's, old school from the 80's, all absolutely imaculate / mint, chrome polished to mirror finish PK rippers haro freestylers ( saw one just like mine ) skyways cws hutch all in brand new condition few free beers then it all closed up around 11 then it was on to a house party off commercial rd for...... wait for it the new fixed gear sport forget polo forget tricks take up .......... track stand darts yes you heard it here first ....... track stand darts live band few more beers and then home
what a great night thankyou londonfgss

That sounds like just about the best night out on bikes ever.

how did you go in the darts?

arrived to see the last few darts thrown and the last few people falling of trying to throw them !!
the bmx'es were AWESOME made me feel like i was 16 again and in my local bike shop dreaming about what bike i would have if i had the money

if anyone wants more info on the bmx exhibition try here
http://www.fatbmx.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2950

edmundane yeah i must have seen you then... blue bar tape?
ub night's tomorrow actually, if you're on the bridges ride... just hope the weather stays still like it did tonight. let it rain during the day as long as it doesn't for the ride!

nice frame!! looking forward to that built up!!

yup that was me.
looking a bit wet for the bridges ride but I'll probably go to the Brick Lane Cycles party on Sunday. I'm going to hang around Brick Lane all day anyway so I can look for my old bike. I'll be a wreck of caffeine and nicotine by 6 o'clock!

velocity boy It was peaceful, good-natured, and obviously I detoured at the first chance to reach the pub :)

I was riding the red Serotta road bike.

i saw you around smithfields but didn't go up to you thinking - ah - i'll see him again in a min...

Wrongo!

Should have come over and said hi.

dicki very nice ride and the evening events were awesome too CM did a loop up towards liverpool st old street roundabout covent garden and then like dave went to the jon snow met a few bods sarah from fixedgearlondon house said her flat mates were at a bmx exhibition down near great eastern st so 4 of us went down there how sweet it was, about 40 classic bmx's, old school from the 80's, all absolutely imaculate / mint, chrome polished to mirror finish PK rippers haro freestylers ( saw one just like mine ) skyways cws hutch all in brand new condition few free beers then it all closed up around 11 then it was on to a house party off commercial rd for...... wait for it the new fixed gear sport forget polo forget tricks take up .......... track stand darts yes you heard it here first ....... track stand darts live band few more beers and then home
what a great night thankyou londonfgss

Ah that does actually sound fun - me and clare cycled past on the way to get some food - i wondered what it was -
almost went in but i was starving and it appeared to be full of wa... full of the sort of people i'm not so keen on...
The bmxs suspended from the ceiling look cool though i guess.

two words-

FREE BEER

wasn't in the mood to take full advantage of it but a pretty lady handing you a beer and asking for nothing in return was pretty cool.

after a pretty boring mass, the bmx show and trackstanding darts really rescued the night. definitely beats standing on a street corner outside the snow.