Join The Cycling Revolution! (but which one?)

The first time i joined Critical Mass was probably back in 2003 in Manchester, UK. I remember  its exciting times when 150 cyclists joined and its quiet times when the attendance was 3 people (a ginger boy who fancied my ex, his silent best friend who became an extrovert once on the internet) and I; usually those critical mass rides were under the Mancunian clouds. Despite the uneasiness, of such situations I always felt critical mass was an important part of the cycling revolution. An autonomous group that "celebrates" and "promotes" the bike and acknowledges the need for change; the car culture and some drivers' "ownership" of the roads was and still is something i dislike. But I also felt that to truly incorporate the bicycle in cities, the "mainstream" had to embrace it, and i have been unsure whether critical mass could always reach the mainstream.

On Friday 30th July 2010,  the same evening as the July London Critical Mass, cyclist (and London Mayor) Boris launched the Cycle Hire scheme, which i think will make cycling a more mainstream activity: we have suit-wearing mayor and chic celebrities, and hire bike docks taking over the city! The great thing about London's Cycle Hire is that it hasn't been done half-heartedly: 400 docking stations and 6,000 cycles is impressive. 

...but something leaves a bitter taste! Boris's self-branded "cycling revolution" comes with a Barclays  branding, and as you can see in the photo below people have already responded to the Barclays branding (click photo)

Barclays has also managed to paint the city in Barclays blue as the Cycle Highways are also sponsored by Barclays. Blogger London Cyclist highlights the Barclays take over: "The £25 million Barclays paid will give them branding on the bicycles, maintenance support vehicles and on the uniforms of maintenance staff. As well as on all marketing and communications."

So, maybe this is not the Cycling Revolution we were expecting...rather another corporate win despite their unethical record...

"Barclays is listed as the company most heavily embroiled in weapons manufacture and trading"  John Hilary (War On Want's executive director)

(Thank you Mordecai for the photo above)

Critical Mass 25th June 2010, London

People and their bicycles gathered at Southbank for critical mass; lovely warm afternoon, the occassional cheer and whistle adding to the anticipation of a friendly ride.

The ride headed north over Waterloo bridge, through The  strand, and  passed by Parliament square to wave to the people at the Democracy Village: the atmosphere was positive and buzzing as the cyclists cheered the campers on who  are still there after 2 months; the campers returned the cheers and the critical mass headed to visit Buckingham palace waving to the Queen.

During critical mass, some aggressive taxi drivers screamed and rammed at cyclists going by, despite critical mass being simply some people on bicycles...


Things went stressful, when police vans surrounded the mass just by Herbal Hill; seconds before they arrived, a police van dropped a policeman who started running through the cyclists- when the police man ran out of stamina, he stopped and within seconds the 30 vans appeared.  No one was hurt during that.

I had a brief conversation with one of the policemen:
Me: What happened? what's all this about?
PM (policeman): When one of our men is in danger we come out.
Me: who's in danger what happened?
PM: well, if one of us is hurt we come out.
Me: one of you got hurt? how?
PM: [no reply]
Me: well i hope your friend is OK
PM: thanks have a good weekend
Me: Have a good weekend too
At this time a young man added: What happened is, a cyclist got hit by a taxi driver but of course the police is letting the taxi driver off and is after the cyclist.

The police stayed surrounding the mass for some time, and the road was blocked. They then asked the cyclists to start riding again and the mass ended up at The Foundry  which is being squatted after the council closed it  to make way for a brand new “art hotel”.

 REPORTS ON JUNE'S CRITICAL MASS:
"One arrest with loads of cops and several drivers trying to physically intimidate corkers by nosing into them with horns blazing. "

"drivers deliberately ramming cyclists. I saw one woman cyclist knocked to the ground by a taxi. but the police don't seem at all interested in such things."

More pics here .

Critical Mass London: "Someone please tell me why there are 1000s of people on push bikes riding around london?!" (twitter)

"commemorating the cyclists killed by HGVs" 

"celebrating the bicycle"

"it's our party" 

"cos it's Friday"

The reasons why more than 600 people joined critical mass on 26th March 2010 differed and the atmosphere reflected this fluctuating from a big party celebration (3rd birthday of the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed forum) to thoughtful silence.  I usually join critical mass to have a ride with friendly people, make the bicycle more "visible", and simply to enjoy the city. Last night though, the main reason that took me to critical mass was to  to pay respect to the 3 cyclists, Professor David Vilaseca-Perez, Muhammad “Haris” Ahmed, and Shivon Watson, who were killed (February / March) by HGVs.  

Lorries seem to be a primary source of cyclists' deaths in London as statistics show that 69% of London's cyclist deaths last year were indeed caused by lorries. In 2008 this figure was 88% and with figures so high it makes me wonder why London still has in place the London Lorry Control Scheme (LLCS) which forces lorries to enter the city during the peak commuting hours. If the scheme was truly put in place to protect the people from noise pollution  then it makes no sense why it is not reviewed since it looks like it has contributed to a lorry rush that has caused the lives of commuters on bicycles. See the blogs by * Moving Target Zine * ibikelondon  * the Bike Show podcast *

Last night's critical mass of 600+ people, was with no police escort, and ran smoothly. The majority of pedestrians and drivers looked cheerfully at the sight of the cyclists; some joined in with a dance and a wave to the sounds of the sound system and the ones who were told about the deaths of the cyclists by HGVs expessed their "approval" to the ride and similar views on how ridiculously dangerous cycling in London is.

The critical mass had the occasional aggressive driver, including a lorry driver (the irony!) who decided to overtake 600+ cyclists by speeding in the counter flow lane...His behavior can only be described as murderous. And before you readers say it is understandable that the driver got annoyed, i must point out that the mass was actually flowing in good speed.  And this is when attitudes must change into respect for people; respect for people who choose to ride the humble bicycle.  

Links

Bike Ride for 3 London Cyclists killed by HGVs
Critical Mass London

Cyclist Deaths in London and HGV: Call for Action

Cyclists killed by HGV this year

Professor David Vilaseca-Perez, 46 from South Bank (February 2010)

Muhammad “Haris” Ahmed, 21, a 4th year Medical student (March 2010)

Shivon Watson, 28 years old, a designer and musician from Bow  (March 2010)
Another woman dies on 14th April 2010








In 2009, 69% of cyclists' deaths were caused by HGVs/lorries, yet we see no action from our cyclist Mayor to look at the London Lorry Control Scheme and re-assess, or increase the budget on road safety.






London Lorry Control Scheme (LLCS)


The LLCS restricts the movement of HGVs in London at night and weekends. It aims to limit noise pollution in residential areas and restrictions apply between:

21:00 to 07:00, Monday to Saturday
13:00 Saturdays to 07:00 Monday


which means that HGV are forced to go through the city during peak hours;






There have been huge efforts from cycling communities around raising cyclists' safety awareness: never EVER ride on the inside or outside of a lorry if there is a chance it may make a turn; a lorry to turn left will most possibly bear right to be able to then make a left. Keep clear from them, and if you are waiting in front of them at the lights, leave some distance so they can see you: make eye contact to make sure the driver has also seen you. I sometimes raise my hand to signal i am there - most drivers signal back and smile, then i know they have seen me. There are cycling courses for adults to raise road safety awareness. There are ghost bikes all over the city to remind us of the cyclists' deaths.









But these are still not enough: It does not just take a cyclist to be aware of the dangers - it takes educating the drivers, removing this ridiculous cyclist Vs driver war (see my previous blog entry) and reconsidering the London Lorry Control Scheme.






TAKE ACTION: JOIN THE CRITICAL MASS


Friday the 26th March from 6.00PM.


The London Mass meets at 6.00pm on the last Friday of every month on the South Bank under Waterloo Bridge, by the National Film Theatre.















This video below was on the news a couple of days ago - the guy driving the HGV had no idea he was dragging the car in front... just like when the HGVs driving in London have no idea they are driving over cyclists.(photo above taken from the Real Cycling blog)

Critical Mass January 2010

Finishing work late, meant to catch the fellow cyclists we had to race it down to Waterloo bridge from Muswell Hill in record time. The air was crisp and cold - the kind of cold you wish there was some kind of woolly nose hat. The ride to the Critical Mass meeting point was very pleasant.  I was slightly worried, though due to the combination of massive traffic once we reached euston road plus my cycling companion wearing no helmet.

We reached Southbank at 6:40 ish, and were glad to see that critical mass was still there, with bike lights flashing, a sound system and Dave the poet on his amazingly decorated bike machine. We joined the mass, waved at Jason's familiar smiley face and scanned the area to see if any more Velocity /velo lovers were around. At around  7 the mass headed off for the monthly ride in London city.

It was quite soon that the group got divided due to some aggressive drivers, but the splinter soon rejoined near Westminster. That's when the bigger group went round the intersection  a few times to give the chance to the "splinter" to rejoin. Once this happened, there was a joyful horn blowing, a cheer and soon after the joyful bike-lifts! hooray for bicycles! these critical mass cyclists always manage to put a smile on my face!

A big big thank you to the cyclists corking*. They seemed polite and the ride felt so secure - the cars did not really have to wait for ages and the guys corking really ensured a smooth and safe flow for us. There was one thing, though that really disappointed me and this was the taxi drivers. One in particular driving the opposite direction - he speeded up, slightly getting in the other lane where critical mass was heading; he stuck his head out of the window shouting out "you bunch of losers!". Of course he did not stop to further develop his point, but drove like a maniac contra-flow. Now, why he thinks we are a bunch of losers i am not sure - we were cycling, getting our bodies fit, enjoying the city at night, helped each other because we had a common love of cycling. To add to my disappointment a row of taxis overtook us and to be honest i had a moment thinking "is this a set up of taxi Vs bikes" as on the quiet road by the park the only vehicles you could see were bicycles and taxis: one side bikes, the other taxis. The drivers though just shouted some abuse, did some threatening mindless driving and then raced away.

Today, i saw a message from a fellow critical mass cyclist giving the number plate of an aggressive driver (http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/text/report29-01-2010.html) and i really hope this attitude from taxi drivers ends!

*Corking - Corking is a tactic used to prevent traffic from entering the path of the cyclists.

november critical mass

So this was our first London critical mass and it was awesome! corking worked out well, everyone was smiley and we got to enjoy the city with no car traffic... of course there was the usual shitty taxi driver, but the good attitude of the cyclist kept us out of trouble! hooray!