---->> Sydney Critical Mass turns 10! <<----

[Chrispy]

---->> Sydney Critical Mass turns 10! <<----
5:30pm Friday 29 July

Yes, 10 years since the first bunch of cyclists took to reclaim
the streets of Sydney during Friday peak-hour traffic. Come
and celebrate with us this month as we recreate the original
ride in full dress-up gear!

[where] Hyde Pk Fountain
[contact] Email list: Cmass-sydney@bikesarefun.org Info line:
9990-2911 http://www.bikesarefun.org/

 

[Christo]

You Critical Mass dudes suck! You give all cyclists a bad name with your pointless & ineffectual 'protests' - more like nuisances...

I'm all for the right to protest (www.wheelsofjustice.com.au) but I tend to prefer & respect GOOD protests..

I have no idea why you think annoying motorists & the general public is good for cyclists?

I guess it allows a pack of try-hard-lefties to feel they're doing something political...? IMO....

 

[Cave Dweller]

Wow, Christo, take a chill pill man.

Whats the harm in a group of cyclist riding on the road? Nothing. Its not like they are damaging anything. So a few motorists get held up going home, big whoop de do.

You would probably find most of the "try-hard-lefties" are also part of the protest against McGee.

And whats this

protesters from wheels of justice standing on the road holding up traffic, like, OMG!!111!1, bunch of left wing hippies!!1111!!!! Pull your head in son

 

[Christo]

With all due respect - no I'm not going to 'pull my head in'..

I pointed out it was IMO.

And I can't believe you would post that - let's do a search on all your posts to see if there's anything even vaguely opinionated in them...?

And hey, I didn't swear, I didn't get personal, I just expressed my opinion in a public forum.

And I think protesting over the life of a cyclist is a little different to 'reclaiming the streets'...

Perhaps 'tis you who need to chill?

 

[Cave Dweller]

Dude, critical mass has been around for 10 years trying to draw attention to the plight of riding your bike on roads and the fact it sucks, you get treated like shit and almost killed on a monthly basis.

There wouldn't have even been a wheels of justice had McGee not been given such a light sentance for the death of a fellow cyclist.

They are both trying to acheive the same goal, rights for cyclists

So your saying cyclist's only have a right to protest and block off streets once another cyclist has been killed? Kind of reactive don't you think?

 

[manny24]

yeah right, nothing like continous bad press to promote the sport, nothing like pissing off motorists and polli's to push for better road access etc.

 

[Binaural]

Well, I for one support the Critical Mass rides. I think that holding up traffic for an hour or two occasionally makes the point well that there ain't a lot of bike compatible roads or paths in the city. I used to go to uni at UTS and I've worked on York street (rode everywhere) so I know of what I speak.

Having actually been on two, I'd say the general public is more curious and tolerant than you give them credit for. Most days driving out of the city something holds you up anyway, and especially on the big ones there’s a bit of a carnival atmosphere. I wouldn’t say there is a lefty bias either, except insofar as lefties tend to ride bikes more than righties. Getting run over is a privilege enjoyed by all bikers regardless of political taste, and the wide range of people who show up reflect that. Frankly, it’s the most apolitical mass protest I can recall seeing.

My opinion is that if you want to get the attention of policy makers there's nothing like a show of numbers and grassroots support, given the current bike lobby has exactly zero mainstream political clout. Meek little representations that inconvenience nobody usually impress nobody as well. Go to Europe some day and visit Amsterdam if you’d like to see a (probably impossible) dream of how it could be so very different.

@manny: Continuous bad press? Yeah, CM barely seem to be off the front pages these days, maybe we should try non-violent resistance or self immolation or something.

 

[sxereturn]

I know if you guys held me up for some bullshit reason, I'd be pretty fucking pissed off.

Think of how dangerous holding traffic up can be. What if an ambulance needed to get through, and the time it took for the traffic to break up for it to move along was the difference between life and death?

There's plenty of other ways to protest without inflicting inconvenience upon innocent people.

 

[Binaural]

"Think of how dangerous holding traffic up can be. What if an ambulance needed to get through, and the time it took for the traffic to break up for it to move along was the difference between life and death?"

Sorry, doesn't wash. I rather suspect bikes would block any hypothetical speeding ambulance less than the equivalent of backed up cars. And given a fairly substantial amount of bike riders get hit riding in the city each year by car doors and so forth, you might want to consider trading the life of your hypothetical person for the others that might be saved with better urban planning.

Seriously, I respect your wish not to get delayed getting home once a year, but the status quo for people who want to ride to work, uni, school or whatever is lousy and getting worse. My feeling is that a combination of activist events like CM making sure the issue doesn't go away and bike groups trying to get involved in the urban planning process is most likely to improve things for riders around here.

 

[Squidly Didly]

Hmmmmmmmm. As much as I hate the smaller CM rides that do nothing but piss off traffic and endanger everyone, i'm all for the larger scale rides, wether it be crossing the harbour bridge or just moving through town in a flock of thousands. IMO the smaller rides don't attract enough attention and just annoy the shit out of so many commuters. The larger scale rides however are not only well policed and supported, they have plenty of media coverage which usually sinks any message into the average pleb.

Anyway... I'll be there

 

[Binaural]

yeah, I kinda agree with you there. Once a month is too much, and waters the whole thing down. I've only been on the big end of year ones; they're a lot of fun as well.

 

[Squidly Didly]

yeah, I kinda agree with you there. Once a month is too much, and waters the whole thing down. I've only been on the big end of year ones; they're a lot of fun as well.

The monthly ones are pretty lame. I used to do them on a regular basis while I was couring, but lost interest from both number turnout, and 'accidents' with people. Police support is always welcome, but overall numbers just didn't get the message across to the public.

It was good fun though racing the cops back to their station. Oh memories

 

[Christo]

Hmmm, how's Joe Bloggs going to react when he had to sit on the Citylink for an additional hour due to the CM people holding him up, he's running late & he encounters a cyclist at a roundabout?

Okay, I'd had a crappy day at work yesterday, so I was a little aggro when it came time to post. Apologies to all offended

So your saying cyclist's only have a right to protest and block off streets once another cyclist has been killed? Kind of reactive don't you think?

WTF? That's reactive...

I believe in the right to protest but I believe in smart protests - I don't think anyone involved in CM has thought about how negative the CM concept is to the perception of cyclist to the general public.

Whenever you tell someone you ride, one of the first questions is 'So do you go on those CM rides?' - and it's not 'coz they admire/respect what CM is doing.

IMO CM just re-inforces the image of cyclists as a lunatic fringe to the general public.

But hey - I think an important thing to remember is that when it comes down to it - I'd prefer the company of try-hard-lefty CM people over the general public - we have the love of bicycles in common.

I just think they are INCREDIBLY mis-guided & damaging the image of cyclists everywhere...

 

[Cave Dweller]

I know if you guys held me up for some bullshit reason, I'd be pretty fucking pissed off.

Protesting for equal road rights and a more bike friendly city is a bullshit reason? Mate, come on…….

There's plenty of other ways to protest without inflicting inconvenience upon innocent people.

Like what? Sit in a park with a banner? Please elaborate on these mystical methods of protesting that get your message out without inconveniencing anyone.

Hmmm, how's Joe Bloggs going to react when he had to sit on the Citylink for an additional hour due to the CM people holding him up, he's running late & he encounters a cyclist at a roundabout?

Well, see, in my opinion that is intolerance on the motorists part. What about when the truckies protest against something like being forced to drive for too long, making them take drugs and endanger lives, are they going to try and take out the next truck they see at the round about?

Thats the whole reason that CM exists, it is because of this intolerance of drivers towards bike riders

Maybe they go about it the wrong way sometimes, but after being to Europe and seeing the way bike riders are tread then coming back here is a joke. Bike paths everywhere, Amsterdam it is such a cool place. Bike riders have MORE rights then car drivers, if a car hits a bike then the car driver is at fault no matter what, so car drivers give bike riders plenty of space and everyone is happy. None of this agro that I get every time I try to ride on the road.

My comments about wheels of justice is that the whole reason it exists is because McGee didn't get in shit and everyone wants revenge for the fucker (and rightfully so, i reckon 20 years in the clink should do it). Its reactive to the lack of justice. Not taking anything away from it but once McGee gets whats coming to him what will it exist for? It doesn’t stand for better bike paths or more tolerance from drivers. Revenge is the whole motive for that organisation, that’s why it is called "Wheels of Justice".

In regards to questions about riding, i don't know about you, but i always get asked "So how much did that cost" and "where is the engine" and "Look, it has disc brakes!". I hate those questions.......

 

[Techno Destructo]

Christo, out of curiousity, do you commute regularly by bicycle?

Anyhow, I'll be there FOR SURE.

Even if CM never existed, cyclists would be treated like shit by the average motorist. At least this raises awareness, and it's nice to meet up with like-minded people.

If you ask me, the traffic jams I see EVERY DAY on my commute from Harbord to Newtown seem to be comprised all motor vehicles, and of them, 80% seem to be single occupant vehicles that aren't trade-related (as in, they don't seem to be integral to the person's occupation). Just one person in the car.

So traffic getting slowed down once a month by a bunch of cyclists seems pretty insignificant in comparison to what goes on everyday by motorists...

 

[wombat]

Well, see, in my opinion that is intolerance on the motorists part.

Yes it is, but how is futher increasing their intolerance going to help the cause? It's just going to make individual motorists more pissed off and more intolerant towards cyclists. You can say "but it's their fault" all you like, and while it might be there fault that doesn't change the end result.

The way I see it, a protest is designed to try and effect a change on one of two fronts: public or legislative. A public change is to change the opinion of the general populus; in this case it would be reminding motorists that cyclists have rights too. Legislative change would be attempting to get the authorities to put in place better laws or facilities to make the life of cyclists easier.

Which does critical mass try to do? A large show of numbers is a way to push the government into change, but it's also a good way to piss off the members of the public. So if you're not improving public relations, wouldn't it be better to try and improve the legislative side by maybe more subtle methods? Fight for the changes by going straight to the government. Sure, you might not get as much attention, but if the attention you get only serves to piss off the public then it's not really doing your cause any good, is it?

I definately appluad the motive, and I don't have the answers on how to effect change, but it's hardly my area of expertise.

 

[Christo]

Christo, out of curiousity, do you commute regularly by bicycle?

I do, everyday, rain, hail or shine... I'm a rabid commuter - I hate cars - I have never held a licence let alone a learner's permit & I've made to the ripe old age of 31 without ever needing a car..

My commuting experiences have lead me to believe that cyclists are treated like crap anyway - I just don't think CM helps..

Ride to parliament house, block the pollies carpark entrance with bicycles - just don't mess with Joe Public is how I feel...

I think legislative protests are the way to go - CM does raise awareness - negative awareness (if that makes sense?)...