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

http://jagjag.org/criticalmass/images/map.jpg?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104960296816133613920.00044bfd7c3e96111af03&ll=51.507941,-0.115442&spn=0.018537,0.038881&z=15%3E

^that's a map of the meeting point off a nonforum website that also says this:

"Find the Ride!
Those who arrive late for the start, or get separated from the ride, can try out a new idea this Friday 29th. If they bookmark their smartphones with http://find.ldncriticalmass.co.uk they can track the ride as it happens."

so i'm planning on going, but after the cricket finishes, so i'm not gonna catch the start. got same problem as you about finding it.

Ok, i've added that to my phone's bookmarks. If you can't get it to work (and assuming I can, and I'm there before you) feel free to give me a bell on | oh seven seven 8 7 oh 2 nine 6 five too |

Also, cricket? I thought we were all hardcore bikers n' that?

cheers PMing my number.

also CM thread 9 pages. cricket thread 43 pages. brrraaapp!

anyone doing this? if good weather i'll probably be down

I'm in, geared though if i can't get some tyres tomorrow.

i might be in and then rolling to brockley/peckham payday pints

that works for me. if weather is rubbish might just head to PP ^

Might hit this up too

Think I'm going to pop along to this and see what its all about, looking forward to it.

scratch that. im going straight to PP. Critical mass is too mainstream nowadays

I'll be there.

Ooo, singspeed, sorry for not replying to your PM, completely passed my mind. About that mini camera thing, do you reckon you could bring one to CM so i can pick it up from you? Cheers.

Sure man, I have a few in my bag right now.

See you there!

A number of Southwark Cyclists are quite rightly expressing huge frustration about planning decisions being made which affect Blackfriars and London Bridge so some of us will be participating in CM this week by way of protest.

Here's why exactly:

Blackfriars - despite thousands of petitions, the vote of the entire London Assembly, the Mayor commenting something needs to be done, TfL is going ahead with its original plan. The building work starts on Saturday.

If Jenny Jones is right, that means no cycle lanes, extra traffic lanes, none of the even tiny and hard fought for gains people thought they had won for cycling.

London Bridge - Network Rail is simply culling the route to Bermondsey. That's it. It's gone. One week for the folk in Southwark to try and get a protest registered with the Council.

So what's the rationale for doing CM? This is what one member has said to me today:

"It boils down to this. We've been terribly polite. We've talked to the politicians. We've won over every one of the political parties. It's taken months and months. And nothing is going to change. If anything, TfL is even less inclined to do things that might London a city that isn't car-sick.

I'm not prone to protest. But I've had enough of TfL and its behaviour. I've tried the political approach. And I think TfL has just stuck two fingers up at the politicians as well as me.

Blackfriars isn't just about the bridge. It's about how I feel TfL ignores cycling all across London. But the Bridge itself is a focal point. And from Monday morning, you can start to say hullo to a new motorway in the middle of town."

For more background: http://bit.ly/nMPvAE

I hope as many people as possible might consider joining.

Trying to get flatmate to stay in for BT man so I can join tomorrow's ride.
Any Londoners who care about the erosion of cyclist's rights to the road: COME!

In addition to tomorrow night's Blackfriars-special Critical Mass, there will be a Monday morning commute flash ride as well.

Details here: http://ibikelondon.blogspot.com/2011/07/last-stand-in-battle-for-blackfriars.html

meet on the south side of Blackfriars Bridge outside the Doggett's Pub at 8.15AM

this'll be my first CM and also my first
proper meet with like-minded people :) ill be there on a purple raleigh reynolds 501 fixie conversion (im the one with dreadlocks) and my two mates; one on a red create track bike and another on a '78 raleigh single speed conversion. say "hi" if you see us and i hope its a great turn out!

Things have evolved overnight.

There's now an LCC-led ride over the bridge. Congregate for 6pm departure from south side of Blackfriars Bridge. If you want to join the Critical Mass, you can do so afterwards. I've put more details here http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2011/07/bulldozers-move-in-on-saturday-this.html

I'll be at the LCC ride.

I think the issue with Boris is that he doesn't seem to intervene with TfL in the slightest and has allowed TfL to hire roads people who seem to think cycling is an anachronism. It's not a class issue. It's an issue about why the Mayor won't tell his transport people to focus on cycling properly. That's all this comes down to. The Mayor doesn't see us as a vote winner, essentially.

Great analysis by Christian Wolmar out today:

"Boris’s failure to understand how to turn London into a cycle friendly city with a range of measures – listed in the latest edition of London Cyclist – means that the cycle hire scheme will not achieve its full potential, and nor will London begin to see the levels of cycling common in large cities abroad."

Why have we got two rides for one important issue?
Surely it would be better to combine them? Is it in part due to LCC not wanting to be directly associated with Critical Mass?
Just seems to me like the collective voice might be louder if everyone cycled together.

maybe CM should just mob up earlier? wish i could come along!

Gerhard at LCC says:

Hi Alex,

Critical Mass doesn’t get enough notice. The tweet about two separate rides was a bit unfortunate because yes we want to do it together. The idea is to start earlier and then join CM so it is really one event.

Cheers

Gerhard

The monday morning ride needs to go past tfl offices...

The monday morning ride needs to go past tfl offices...

which would also be very convenient for me as I work opposite...