Dave5N
Über Member
- Location
- Outside The Little Nibble
tdr1nka said:
for real?
Incident at May Birmingham critical mass
- Thread starter User
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for real?
tdr1nka
Taking the biscuit
- Location
- SE London, Bandit Country
Yeah, I think so.
I'd personally prefer CM to be less 'anarchic' and confrontational but IMO the use of personal vehicles in city centers is whats causing all the stress, traffic jams and pollution, something that cyclists rarely contribute to.
If a collective of cyclists try and show the other side of the story, at the end of the day where's the harm in that compared to that done by some selfrightous car owners, every day?
I'd personally prefer CM to be less 'anarchic' and confrontational but IMO the use of personal vehicles in city centers is whats causing all the stress, traffic jams and pollution, something that cyclists rarely contribute to.
If a collective of cyclists try and show the other side of the story, at the end of the day where's the harm in that compared to that done by some selfrightous car owners, every day?
Rhythm Thief
Legendary Member
- Location
- Ross on Wye
My problem with it was that the safest way to ride in traffic is the exact opposite of how the Wolverhampton lot were doing it. I'd have been more impressed if we'd tried to match the speed of the traffic as closely as possible while riding defensively and maintaining our road space, rather than just wobbling around the ring road in a big sub - 5mph bunch.
girofan
New Member
- Location
- Oswestry Shropshire
yenrod said:
"Block the highway and we'll injure you," seems to be the message. And CSO's will report back that you should be fined for damaging the car.
Dave5N
Über Member
- Location
- Outside The Little Nibble
To mass, critically.
andyfromotley
New Member
- Location
- Otley, west yorks
could i just point out that i didnt see any car hit any bike. how that wheel got bent goodness only knows but that video doesnt tell us.
Under what right and powers did those cyclists detain the driver and his passenger?
interesting.
Under what right and powers did those cyclists detain the driver and his passenger?
interesting.
tdr1nka
Taking the biscuit
- Location
- SE London, Bandit Country
The prob with CM is that it is a wonderful idea that unfortunately can degenerate into car baiting.
Cyclists have enough to contend with on the roads with idiot drivers without enraging them any further, which is sadly what CM tends to do.
A peleton of happy cyclists using the road en mass once a month should be no more of an inconvenience than an lost 18 wheeler doing a 26 point turn to turn round and go back the way it came.
But the truth is that urban car drivers are already wound up enough with each other holding up the roads let alone giving these idiots cart blanche to kick out at cyclists in general.
Cyclists have enough to contend with on the roads with idiot drivers without enraging them any further, which is sadly what CM tends to do.
A peleton of happy cyclists using the road en mass once a month should be no more of an inconvenience than an lost 18 wheeler doing a 26 point turn to turn round and go back the way it came.
But the truth is that urban car drivers are already wound up enough with each other holding up the roads let alone giving these idiots cart blanche to kick out at cyclists in general.
I tend to agree with tdr1nka.
Ironically, one of the problems with a lot of CM rides is that they don't actually attract a "critical mass" of cyclists, as would appear to have been the case in Birmingham. This means that they fail to make an impression on the public or politicians, and easily descend into baiting car drivers.
The original CM events in London did attract peleton size groups of riders and made an impact by virtue of their size.
Ironically, one of the problems with a lot of CM rides is that they don't actually attract a "critical mass" of cyclists, as would appear to have been the case in Birmingham. This means that they fail to make an impression on the public or politicians, and easily descend into baiting car drivers.
The original CM events in London did attract peleton size groups of riders and made an impact by virtue of their size.
jonesy
Guru
I went to some of the early critical masses in Birmingham- 1994? ish. We had over a hundred at some of them, in the summer. It worked very well on the city centre streets, where there are a lot of pedestrians and where cycling could easily be a more popular mode of transport. Where it went wrong was when people started leading the 'mass' onto roads where we wouldn't expect or want to ride, which terrified some of the inexperienced cyclists who had been encouraged to come along for a group ride round the city centre; and sparked unnecessary confrontation with drivers, especially when the hot-heads started coming along with the intention of causing obstruction and starting trouble.
However, I've had no involvement for over 10 years since I left Brum, so don't know what it is like these days.
However, I've had no involvement for over 10 years since I left Brum, so don't know what it is like these days.
