To take the kids to Critical Mass

[StunningCunt]

Anyone been before? It's at 6pm on July 27th, and looks like it could be quite entertaining, was thinking of cycling into London with the kids and then joining in.

Day of opening ceremony, possible zil lane protests (cyclists banned from the lanes, which is fucking disgusting), presumably some fatcats and corporate types will be (trying) to get to Stratford from their swanky Mayfair 5* hotels.

Kids are 5 and 10. I've got a big/Dutch-style bike so they both go on my bike.

[StunningCunt]

Just to clarify it's basically a rolling road block of slow moving cyclists. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass

[LentillyFart]

Can you explain the point of it before I decide?

[RubyFakeNails]

I don't really understand the point of it?

[NameGames]

Which city? I've been in San Francisco years ago. There weren't many children but the atmosphere was pleasant. Tended to dissolve into several splinter groups after a while and you went along with the people you came with/whoever you had made friends with. Sometimes ended up at the furthest possible point for getting home though :-)

It was generally mellow but occasionally some drivers would get annoyed and start beeping a lot - quite noisy.

[squoosh]

I thought it was a religious ceremony.

[igggi]

I imagine it will be safer than taking them cycling any other day.

[LynetteScavo]

I take it you object corporate types, who stay in swanky hotels.

[StunningCunt]

There is no one point as I understand it.

The courts have ruled that it's held by custom and has no organisers and for that reason the point is what you make of it. I guess the same as going to a Catholic Mass, everyone has their reasons.

I guess (not having been) some people would say to protest about car domination in central London, some about cyclist deaths, some lack of cycle facilities/investments, some because they enjoy having the upper hand over cars for a few hours, some just because it's fun to cycle round in a group with people with boomboxes on their bikes/penny farthings/etc.

For me I am quite pissed off at all the Olympics stuff and would quite like to go and ride in their fatcat lanes, I guess I would start in the morning by cycling to Bushey Park, spend a while there with the kids, then Richmond Park to have a look at the deer, make our way into London in time for 6pm and the start, ride around for a couple of hours and then take the kids to Chinatown for dinner.

[UniS]

I'd be cautious of doing CMass with kids. I rode in a few back in Bristol and Reading a few years back. they were fine until some idiot in a car got wound up and threatening... Didn't happen every time, but when it did it was scary. Riders can end up being squashed together and good bike handling skills are handy.

In London on a weekend when tempers will be frayed, Police presence high and probably low tolerance to nuisance... I'd not take the risk with kids in tow. Fine if I am jostled or decide to break from the party and nip away sharpish, but not so easy to do with smaller passengers to look after on a big heavy noticeable bike.

[ChunkyPickle]

CMass went on once a month when I was in Vancouver, and frankly it wasn't particularly safe for pedestrians on those days as the cyclists seemed to forget that we existed - mind you I read an article in a local magazine that said Vancouver had one of the worst pedestrian safety records in the world, so perhaps it wasn't just the cyclists.

As a cyclist it might be fine, and perhaps in the UK it might be a less militant occasion

[StunningCunt]

Didn't feel like it in the end.

Seems that the police were out to crack some skulls anyway, so probably a good thing. Hundreds of police vans, etc.

www.itv.com/news/story/2012-07-27/arrests-after-critical-mass-cycle-ride-in-london-near-olympic-stadium-stratdford-and-waterloo-bridge/

Bit of an irony with the bikes going on inside they were outside attacking people for riding their bikes.

All the bollocks about unions, CND, etc., in the ceremony, looks pretty stupid with the police outside doing that.

[StunningCunt]

What a smug prick:

[StunningCunt]

[StunningCunt]