London Flashride 22.02.12 6.15pm The Mall

[gaz]

Organised by Cyclists in the City, Read More >

 

[arallsopp]

Bump for tonight. I'll be there, along with Mice and Martin235.

 

[her_welshness]

Will be there later - looking forward to seeing you all!

 

[ttcycle]

Yes, cross posting with commuting thread but Martin and myself will be there too as well as a few others not on here.

 

[Gooner Mad Dog]

Am there , Arsenal shirt on and all ( duck ) hope rain , posted this on cummuter also guess around 20 on here???

 

[Mice]

Thank you to the Mets' finest and the excellent organisation by the organisers, I think that this evenings cycle ride went really well. The route was great, the rain stayed away and the atmosphere was lovely. And it made BBC London News (from 11.30ish onwards - looking out for arallsopp at 15:20 or so) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cbm0r/BBC_London_News_22_02_2012/

M

 

[arallsopp]

Great to ride with you all. Seemed a very different bunch from the Blackfriars ride. As I said on the night, makes me very glad to know there's so many cyclists in London I *don't* know. At Blackfriars, I realised how small the cycling community really is. Seemed to be faces everywhere I knew.

Did anyone else catch Gaz, btw? No bike, no helmet, no camera strapped to the side of his head, and perpendicular to the floor (rather than laying on it and groaning about going too fast again). I don't know how we're supposed to know who's who.

 

[gaz]

Did anyone else catch Gaz, btw? No bike, no helmet, no camera strapped to the side of his head, and perpendicular to the floor (rather than laying on it and groaning about going too fast again). I don't know how we're supposed to know who's who.

your face when I walked up to you. kind of like. who the hell are you and how do you know me.... Didn't help that I came at you from behind and as you said, without helmet, camera, sun glasses and bicycle, as you are used to seeing me.

I didn't hang around afterwards, I did say hello to a few people, but mostly non-CCers.

 

[dellzeqq]

I'm received an anguished phone call last night. A police officer tells me that his credibility with the force has been shredded by a bunch of countercultural types coming over to him and wishing him well...........

 

[Mice]

I'm received an anguished phone call last night. A police officer tells me that his credibility with the force has been shredded by a bunch of countercultural types coming over to him and wishing him well...........

That's a shame Mr Dellzeqq. And "countercultural"? Cleary they weren't Cycle Chat peeps. That does make up for my name being hollered across Parliament Square by a Bobby-not-on-a-Brompton as Arallsopp, Martin235, Flying Dodo and I rode by. I hope your police officer's reputation makes a speedy recovery!

 

[AnotherEye]

I thoroughly enjoyed the ride & great to be part of such a good turnout.
Having said that; the police kept asking us to bunch up, apart from the H'way code saying keep a 2 second gap between you & the vehicle in front, my fingers ached as they were on the brakes most of the time.
I've been on demonstration (ie. on foot) and I don't remember police asking us to bunch up.

 

[gaz]

I thoroughly enjoyed the ride & great to be part of such a good turnout.
Having said that; the police kept asking us to bunch up, apart from the H'way code saying keep a 2 second gap between you & the vehicle in front, my fingers ached as they were on the brakes most of the time.
I've been on demonstration (ie. on foot) and I don't remember police asking us to bunch up.

When the pack split at parliament square the first time round, several vehicles managed to brake through and where driving dangerously, with the pack bunched up it was hard for people to push into the crowd.

 

[AnotherEye]

When the pack split at parliament square the first time round, several vehicles managed to brake through and where driving dangerously, with the pack bunched up it was hard for people to push into the crowd.

So why didn't the police book them?

 

[dellzeqq]

I thoroughly enjoyed the ride & great to be part of such a good turnout.
Having said that; the police kept asking us to bunch up, apart from the H'way code saying keep a 2 second gap between you & the vehicle in front, my fingers ached as they were on the brakes most of the time.
I've been on demonstration (ie. on foot) and I don't remember police asking us to bunch up.

get over it

 

[AnotherEye]

get over it

I'm over it OK; not a problem!
Nevertheless, if we didn't cycle so close it could be a better experience & encourage people to do it again. Also, spreading out more would mean we could occupy more of the road & have more impact. I guess the police wanted to minimise the distruption!