Hey everyone,
Some of you may be interested in coming along to the critical mass bridge ride this friday. It starts at North Hyde Park at the Archibald Fountain. I know that alot of people diss critical mass in the cycling community because it is seen as an wacky fridge group, but its basic agenda is to support cycling as an everyday means of transport. Last year the Daily Telegraph (Terrorgraph) ran a campaign against CM... what they failed to mention was that it was an official protest ride that was given a police escort.
http://www.woj.com.au/2007/03/05/critic ... udication/
Anyway, the harbour bridge ride is one of the best rides you can do. (Cheaper than the Tour de Cadel!) Check out some photos from last years ride: http://www.bikesarefun.org/ridephotos.html
Its a short ride over to North Sydney where we head over to the Noodle Markets.
Critical Mass - Bridge Ride - Friday 5:30pm
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Simon Llewellyn
- Posts: 1532
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- Location: Tempe Velodrome
I was really interested in coming but I"ll be at the track world cup....
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mikesbytes
- Posts: 6991
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I gave up my long hair hippy protest days when I cut my hair off, last Thursday.
What for? to be another weight weenie?
btw: are any of you going to the Bike Film Festival?
I went last year and it was heaps of fun. A really diverse look at the world of bikes. If you come on Saturday night I'll be your bike valet parking officer.
Gossh... there is so much bike stuff on this weekend.
btw: are any of you going to the Bike Film Festival?
I went last year and it was heaps of fun. A really diverse look at the world of bikes. If you come on Saturday night I'll be your bike valet parking officer.
Gossh... there is so much bike stuff on this weekend.
Hi, I've done this before, it pisses motorists off, is fun. The Police mountain bike escorts maintain order 
, the bridge is excellent, everyone stops and lifts their big above heads. This guy had a large sound system on his bike an played the same song over and over: Joni Mitchell's "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot" - it was great.
Can't make it this time.
I'm heading up country tonight, so not riding this weekend.
, the bridge is excellent, everyone stops and lifts their big above heads. This guy had a large sound system on his bike an played the same song over and over: Joni Mitchell's "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot" - it was great. Can't make it this time.
I'm heading up country tonight, so not riding this weekend.
hey so far im totally against this ride, can any one explain to me how it is supposed to work?
i think it would be much more useful for dullwich hill to participate in a petition to stop people slowing down the traffic on the harbour bridge on friday afternoons!!
i think it would be much more useful for dullwich hill to participate in a petition to stop people slowing down the traffic on the harbour bridge on friday afternoons!!
I won't be signing any petition.
Cars rule the bridge 364 days a year (and every other road in this city) . Last year we even lost one road/ 'break down' lane on the M2 so a private infrastructure company could make more money all for the good of easing traffic congestion. The critical mass ride a fun way of reminding people that bikes belong and that motorists need to be more considerate of how we share the road. On friday we crossed the bridge in 15mins. We were recognised by the police as an official protest ride and there were no problems. I don't think its much of a big deal when you consider how many cyclists are killed or injured because so many motorists drive like idiots in the rush to beat the traffic.
But hey, everyones entitled to their opinion.
Cars rule the bridge 364 days a year (and every other road in this city) . Last year we even lost one road/ 'break down' lane on the M2 so a private infrastructure company could make more money all for the good of easing traffic congestion. The critical mass ride a fun way of reminding people that bikes belong and that motorists need to be more considerate of how we share the road. On friday we crossed the bridge in 15mins. We were recognised by the police as an official protest ride and there were no problems. I don't think its much of a big deal when you consider how many cyclists are killed or injured because so many motorists drive like idiots in the rush to beat the traffic.
But hey, everyones entitled to their opinion.
Last edited by Adrian E on 04 Dec 2007, 10:02, edited 1 time in total.
That's not quite right. There's a dedicated bike path on the Harbour Br year round with no cars.Cars rule the bridge 364 days a year...
I wouldn't call a a concrete footpath that has been narrowed to the point where 2 cyclists travelling in opposite direction cannot pass each other, where a security guard freely lets pedestrians cross, and where I need to climb nearly eighty steps in cycling shoes a "dedicated" laneway...
That's called cyclocross. It's just what we all enjoy!...where I need to climb nearly eighty steps in cycling shoes a "dedicated" laneway...
I guess the main issue here is this:
Do critical mass rides promote our cause (cycling) or do they harm it? Do these rides garner support among the general population for our cause or do they not (or do the opposite).
I personally have no idea.
Do critical mass rides promote our cause (cycling) or do they harm it? Do these rides garner support among the general population for our cause or do they not (or do the opposite).
I personally have no idea.
you can ride on the bridge for BNSW spring cycle. It's the season for car diver agro. I went on the ride once, it may have an adverse effect on drivers.. - don't want to provoke them further from their auto shells. Melb and Cbr have nice bike paths...
(BTW - lol, that is a dam slippery / step entry exit and Nth Sydney.
(BTW - lol, that is a dam slippery / step entry exit and Nth Sydney.
That's why I wear MTB shoes.BTW - lol, that is a dam slippery / step entry exit and Nth Sydney.
Personally I think there are far better ways to get the message across than delaying Fri afternoon peak hour traffic. In any case, looking at all the photos, it looked to be a bunch of riders with too much time on their hands wanting to clown around on the bridge on a busy Fri afternoon than a proper protest ride. Where are the messages? For a passing motorist being significantly delayed on his/her home coming (kids waiting to see mum and dad after a long work week), the only thought would be a very negative one. From an environmental point of view, the slowing of traffic would just add more pollutants in the air. What's the point?
I went. It's difficult to hold a placard when you've got both hands on the bars but I certainly heard plenty of bystanders asking what the ride was about and being informed of what was happening and why.
To get to the starting point in Hyde Park from home in Marrickville I rode up Broadway and then along Pitt Street. I was quite late and by the time I crossed onto Elizabeth Street all 3 lanes of traffic had ground to a halt. "*censored*", I thought, "it's already started". But I was wrong. The ride didn't start for another 10 mins or so. The traffic was gridlocked because each person locked away in their car had "nothing better to do" than sit there as they have done and will very likely continue to do every morning and every evening for every day of their working lives.
Friday afternoon peak hour traffic does just fine delaying itself, and unlike the vast majority of its constituents I made an educated, prioritised choice to become a part of it and try and carve myself and others on bikes a space to if not thrive then at least survive. I haven't seen the pictures you've seen Weiyun, but I don't think I was the only person there who'd made that choice.
Matt
To get to the starting point in Hyde Park from home in Marrickville I rode up Broadway and then along Pitt Street. I was quite late and by the time I crossed onto Elizabeth Street all 3 lanes of traffic had ground to a halt. "*censored*", I thought, "it's already started". But I was wrong. The ride didn't start for another 10 mins or so. The traffic was gridlocked because each person locked away in their car had "nothing better to do" than sit there as they have done and will very likely continue to do every morning and every evening for every day of their working lives.
Friday afternoon peak hour traffic does just fine delaying itself, and unlike the vast majority of its constituents I made an educated, prioritised choice to become a part of it and try and carve myself and others on bikes a space to if not thrive then at least survive. I haven't seen the pictures you've seen Weiyun, but I don't think I was the only person there who'd made that choice.
Matt
The photos are in the link in the first post.
http://www.bikesarefun.org/ridephotos.html
The issue isn't exactly an issue of whether one is entitled to protest, but the appropriate time to protest. Police escort is just a recognition of one's right to protest but no more. Given the amount of controversy over CM with the cycling community, clearly this isn't a consensus way to put one's message across. A good and effective protest is one that can turn people to your side. One that affects 50% positively and the other 50% negatively is one protest that's effect neutral.
http://www.bikesarefun.org/ridephotos.html
The issue isn't exactly an issue of whether one is entitled to protest, but the appropriate time to protest. Police escort is just a recognition of one's right to protest but no more. Given the amount of controversy over CM with the cycling community, clearly this isn't a consensus way to put one's message across. A good and effective protest is one that can turn people to your side. One that affects 50% positively and the other 50% negatively is one protest that's effect neutral.
Protests are always difficult to pin down as to whether they are effective. It is a bit hard to have a control to work out what would have happened if it hadn't happened.
On the whole, I think that the idea of Critical Mass is a good one, whether they achieve their goals is a different matter.
At the end of the day, it does raise the awareness of cycling as an alternative form of transport. When you consider that most governments (at all levels) aren't prepared to invest in cycling infrastructure because "no one will use it", and most people aren't prepared to commute to work, or anywhere else "because there is no cycling infrastructure".
Then in this case, it does work, it points out to motorists that cycling is an alternative to driving, and it encourages governments to put more infrastructure in place.
The funny thing is that most motorists actually call for the same thing that many cyclists want to see, us not on the road. By causing issues like this, motorists inadvertently ask for cycling infrastructure.
At the end of the day, all this ride did (in the short term) was delay some motorists on Friday night, but of all the Critical Mass Rides that occur, this is usually the one that I hear about. I heard it on the ABC Radio News the next day as the NRMA was complaining about it.
As Matt pointed out, the traffic was doing a pretty good job of going nowhere without the cyclists help. This morning, I rode up Grand Parade and onto General Holmes Drive. It was backed up from about Monterey to up beyond the Airport Tunnel, all this without a cycle protest group. But at the end, I was one of the few who was actually moving in the traffic.
James
On the whole, I think that the idea of Critical Mass is a good one, whether they achieve their goals is a different matter.
At the end of the day, it does raise the awareness of cycling as an alternative form of transport. When you consider that most governments (at all levels) aren't prepared to invest in cycling infrastructure because "no one will use it", and most people aren't prepared to commute to work, or anywhere else "because there is no cycling infrastructure".
Then in this case, it does work, it points out to motorists that cycling is an alternative to driving, and it encourages governments to put more infrastructure in place.
The funny thing is that most motorists actually call for the same thing that many cyclists want to see, us not on the road. By causing issues like this, motorists inadvertently ask for cycling infrastructure.
At the end of the day, all this ride did (in the short term) was delay some motorists on Friday night, but of all the Critical Mass Rides that occur, this is usually the one that I hear about. I heard it on the ABC Radio News the next day as the NRMA was complaining about it.
As Matt pointed out, the traffic was doing a pretty good job of going nowhere without the cyclists help. This morning, I rode up Grand Parade and onto General Holmes Drive. It was backed up from about Monterey to up beyond the Airport Tunnel, all this without a cycle protest group. But at the end, I was one of the few who was actually moving in the traffic.
James
A few bikes zooming past grid-locked cars is much more effective in incentivising the motorists for the switch with no negative effect. Blocking a lane for a finite time period is just asking to get flamed.This morning, I rode up Grand Parade and onto General Holmes Drive. It was backed up from about Monterey to up beyond the Airport Tunnel, all this without a cycle protest group. But at the end, I was one of the few who was actually moving in the traffic.
I know a way we can all be friends
http://www.micheldebroin.org/projects/spc/video.html
http://www.micheldebroin.org/projects/spc/video.html
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Eugen Schilter
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I was in one of the first CM rides some ten years ago and since have often wondered what I was doing then. However ten years is a long time of shutting up and maybe it is time to make a point again. I think I will be in on Friday.
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Eugen Schilter
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It was last Friday and apparently big participation.
ok..
if critical mass has helped bring about this, then ill shut up and stop paying them out.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/ ... 96705.html
if critical mass has helped bring about this, then ill shut up and stop paying them out.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/ ... 96705.html
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mikesbytes
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Based on where its suppose to go, I think it would get a lot of Bike traffic and not much pedestrian traffic.
30m is a lot for 2k, but its impact would be highly significant, as it would link the harbor bridge cycleway with the Artarmon cycleway whille cutting out a considerable amount of the hill climbing. It would probably reduce the average bike commuters time by 10 minutes.
30m is a lot for 2k, but its impact would be highly significant, as it would link the harbor bridge cycleway with the Artarmon cycleway whille cutting out a considerable amount of the hill climbing. It would probably reduce the average bike commuters time by 10 minutes.
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