critical mass report and pics

more than 500 cyclists massed on friday evening in good weather. the ride visited several key locations including commemorations of two lives recently lost.

approaching parliament square

tamil protest

whitehall

downing street

goswell road

corking the police

barbican

bank

the sheer number of cyclists led to both positive and negative effects. it meant that at some stages during the night, the whole road could be occupied and everyone was very safe. however, it also meant that at times, when it was very spread out, people corking had to wait a long long time for everyone to pass, and there were sometimes even gaps. this led to more than usually irate drivers and more incidents of road rage overall.

one of the first locations of note, was a solidarity visit to the tamil protesters on parliament square. with so many bicycles, the mass managed to do what the tamils currently can not (owing to double cage barrier systems and a lot of police). after blocking the square very effectively for a few minutes, the procession moved on up whitehall past downing street, and then via trafalgar square, east towards the city.

at the junction of old street and goswell road, all traffic stopped, and after a one-minute silence in memory of cyclist rebecca goossen (who died earlier this month at this dangerous junction), tributes were made over the sound system.

next, on to the barbican roundabout (for awhile) and then to the bank, where a couple of van loads city of london police joined the cyclists for a while (but they managed to behave in a restrained way and not attack anyone for a change).

south of the river, there was another stop to mark the place another cyclist was recently killed at elephant and castle. there, some police arrived, and after some altercation with one cyclist there was an arrest for a public order offence.

overall, it was a good evening, but if there are lessons to be learnt, i would suggest two things. first, when the mass is so huge, the lead cyclists must try to be aware of how spread out the group is behind them, and more slow-downs and stops would be helpful to keep everyone bunched together. second, people should be aware that corkers may be waiting an awful long time. perhaps offering to take over would be good, and then the initial corkers to catch the front of the group and slow them up if need be.

of course, the mass is a dynamic and autonomous flow, without rules, but i think these ideas are worth bearing in mind to help things along.

 

see also doug's film at http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/428509.html

and critical mass website at http://criticalmasslondon.org.uk

Contact email: rikkiindymedia(At)gmail[dot]com