Situation Critical…?

I’m somewhat at a crossroads regarding this topic my cycling chums and you may not like what you’re about to see. So let me preface this post with an apology if you don’t like what you read.

Critical Mass.

You’d think that I’d be right behind a movement that get cyclists on the road, that advocates more bikes than cars.

Well, quite frankly, I’m not sure that I am.

But before I go on, I should  tell you that I didn’t attend the recent event in Birmingham so am looking at this whole thing from the outside. Some may argue that I can’t or shouldn’t comment on something I haven’t done but if that were the case, we wouldn’t have a free press!

I’ve read some of the articles and watched the videos from the Birmingham event and on the whole, it seemed to pass without incident. However, some were pointing out that during the ride, especially through Digbeth, riders were occupying all three traffic lanes which some thought as “unnecessary” and could have been seen as “confrontational” if tempers amongst motorists had flared. Luckily, the event passed off peacefully.

But that hasn’t always been the case where the Critical Mass events are concerned. Since it was started back in 1992, there have been many conflicts resulting in injuries, arrests of both cyclists and motorists and property damage. And this has happened all over the world from Minneapolis to Minsk, from Long Beach to London.

So is all this negativity that surrounds these events purely because of the way some riders behave? Or is it because the idea of large groups of cyclists riding together simply terrorizes your average motorist? If that’s the case, then the SkyRide has a lot to answer for !

And for those that are tempted to compare the Critical Mass events to the protests in the Netherlands back in the 70’s and 80’s, the message back then was very different. Their message of “Stop de Kindermoord” (Stop The Child Murder) was born out of the ever-increasing amounts of fatalities on Dutch roads. In 1971, deaths by motor vehicles reached record levels, with 3,300 people dead, 500 of whom 
were children. And to put that into some sort of perspective, in 1971, the amount of people killed on roads in Britain –  a country nearly SIX times larger –  was only 7,499. So the Dutch and their politicians came together and the fantastic cycling infrastructure that covers The Netherlands today was born.

So what’s the solution?

Do the Critical Mass events need more organisation? Some may say yes but since it started over 20 years ago, the whole idea has always been that Critical Mass was not an organisation, and thus had no agenda, and never did.

So what is it all for? To evoke change? To cause trouble? To just have a laugh? I still can’t make my mind up whether it’s a good thing or not so maybe I should stand aside at this point and let someone who actually does these sorts of things have their say.

Here is an extract from ccarlsson’s blog SFCriticalMass.org in a post entitled “What is Relevance”

“It’s not something we do to score political points or to gain any particular demands. It’s an expression of life itself, and it is still a chance to taste however fleetingly a brief moment of another way of life, one not dominated by the frenzied rush to and fro from work and home, not reduced to buying and selling, an experience that is valuable for living it, and smelling it, and sharing it… and nothing more.”

I think that it sums it up beautifully…..