Streets reclaimed again.

How come this meets with official approval and Critical Mass does not?
Something to do with commercial sponsorship perhaps? BTW is this a
customarily held procession, ordinary procession or merely a cycle
ride?

"Cyclists ride in car-free London

Tens of thousands of cyclists rode in central London, which was closed
to traffic for the day, as part of an annual cycling event.

The 15km route began at Buckingham Palace and went through Victoria
Embankment up to Tower Hill, covering the Square Mile.

The British Cycling event began in 2007 as the London Freewheel and is
now called the Mayor of London's Skyride.

Mayor Boris Johnson and actress Kelly Brook set the cyclists off.

Olympic medallist Sir Chris Hoy and TV presenter Gethin Jones also
hopped on to their bikes for the event.

Similar events have been held in Manchester, Glasgow, Leicester and
Hounslow, west London..."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8265363.stm

I couldn't help laughing at this understatement.

""The single biggest deterrent to people getting on their bikes is
that they feel nervous.""

When of course what they really fear is being killed by errant
drivers.

--
Critical Mass London
http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk
"Whose streets? Our streets".

Doug wrote:
How come this meets with official approval and Critical Mass does not?
Something to do with commercial sponsorship perhaps? BTW is this a
customarily held procession, ordinary procession or merely a cycle
ride?

It was previously notified and agreed with the relevant parties who then
notified the general public, Doug. It was a positive measure to persuade
people to use bicycles. I didn't see anything in the report about commercial
sponsorship.

CM is the complete antithesis of this and so attracts complaints and
hostility.

BTW - Doug, did you take the opportunity to go for a ride on roads with no
cars?

Doug wrote:
How come this meets with official approval and Critical Mass does not?
Something to do with commercial sponsorship perhaps? BTW is this a
customarily held procession, ordinary procession or merely a cycle
ride?

"Cyclists ride in car-free London

Tens of thousands of cyclists rode in central London, which was closed
to traffic for the day, as part of an annual cycling event.

The 15km route began at Buckingham Palace and went through Victoria
Embankment up to Tower Hill, covering the Square Mile.

The British Cycling event began in 2007 as the London Freewheel and is
now called the Mayor of London's Skyride.

Mayor Boris Johnson and actress Kelly Brook set the cyclists off.

Olympic medallist Sir Chris Hoy and TV presenter Gethin Jones also
hopped on to their bikes for the event.

Similar events have been held in Manchester, Glasgow, Leicester and
Hounslow, west London..."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8265363.stm

I couldn't help laughing at this understatement.

""The single biggest deterrent to people getting on their bikes is
that they feel nervous.""

When of course what they really fear is being killed by errant
drivers.

--
Critical Mass London
http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk
"Whose streets? Our streets".


Lets see, I think you will find that this event (why does it have to be
a procession?) had been planned, with all relevant authorities consulted.
The route was decided, the police informed & it was published in advance.
I doubt if any of the riders 'corked' roads or intentionally got in the
way of other road users.

--

Tony Dragon

"Doug" wrote

[snip]

..stm

I couldn't help laughing at this understatement.

""The single biggest deterrent to people getting on their bikes is
that they feel nervous.""

When of course what they really fear is being killed by errant
drivers.

Indeed. Some people are afraid of heights, some people are afraid of
spiders, some people are afraid of flying

The airline industry runs courses to cure people of fear of flying,
and now you can take courses too, often free, to overcome fear of
cycling.

The difference is that there is no lobby to terrorise people out of
flying, but there is to terrorise people out of cycling.

It's the madder end of the militant motorists who are the core of
those who try to terrorise people out of cycling, but with any such
campaign it's best to get people apparently neutral, or even on the
other side, to state your case.

Stalin supposedly used to call such people "poleznye idioty" - useful
idiots.

Whether Doug is one of those I couldn't possibly comment, although I
do not think he is actually in the pay of the motoring lobby

Jeremy Parker

Doug wrote:
How come this meets with official approval and Critical Mass does not?
Organisers?
Organisation?
Pre publicity?
Stated route?
Non confrontational?
You weren't there?
Family event?
Held on a Sunday?

Do I have to go on?

On Sep 21, 6:24*pm, Marc wrote:
Doug wrote:
How come this meets with official approval and Critical Mass does not?

Organisers?
Organisation?
Pre publicity?
Stated route?
Non confrontational?
You weren't there?
Family event?
Held on a Sunday?

Do I have to go on?

If you want Doug to understand, yes.


PeterG

On 21 Sep, 08:55, Tony Dragon wrote:
Doug wrote:
How come this meets with official approval and Critical Mass does not?
Something to do with commercial sponsorship perhaps? BTW is this a
customarily held procession, ordinary procession or merely a cycle
ride?

"Cyclists ride in car-free London

Tens of thousands of cyclists rode in central London, which was closed
to traffic for the day, as part of an annual cycling event.

The 15km route began at Buckingham Palace and went through Victoria
Embankment up to Tower Hill, covering the Square Mile.

The British Cycling event began in 2007 as the London Freewheel and is
now called the Mayor of London's Skyride.

Mayor Boris Johnson and actress Kelly Brook set the cyclists off.

Olympic medallist Sir Chris Hoy and TV presenter Gethin Jones also
hopped on to their bikes for the event.

Similar events have been held in Manchester, Glasgow, Leicester and
Hounslow, west London..."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8265363.stm

I couldn't help laughing at this understatement.

""The single biggest deterrent to people getting on their bikes is
that they feel nervous.""

When of course what they really fear is being killed by errant
drivers.


Lets see, I think you will find that this event (why does it have to be
a procession?) had been planned, with all relevant authorities consulted.
The route was decided, the police informed & it was published in advance.
I doubt if any of the riders 'corked' roads or intentionally got in the
way of other road users.

Well as the roads were specially closed for the event they didn't need
to cork and there was nothing to get in the way of.

Since CM has been regularly held once a month for 15 years and is now
deemed in law a 'customarily held procession', why don't the
authorities close roads and publicise Critical Mass in much the same
way? Let me guess, any event which is not 'authorised' will always be
given short shrift, particularly if it lacks commercial sponsorship.

How come you are not bleating about 'drivers being prevented from
going about their lawful business' by Skyride?

BTW Brim as well, the name should give you a clue as to the commercial
sponsorship. You do seem to have a lot of reading problems lately
don't you.

--
Critical Mass London
http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk
"More bikes, fewer cars!".

Doug wrote:
On 21 Sep, 08:55, Tony Dragon wrote:
Lets see, I think you will find that this event (why does it have to
be a procession?) had been planned, with all relevant authorities
consulted. The route was decided, the police informed & it was
published in advance. I doubt if any of the riders 'corked' roads or
intentionally got in the way of other road users.

Well as the roads were specially closed for the event they didn't need
to cork and there was nothing to get in the way of.

Since CM has been regularly held once a month for 15 years and is now
deemed in law a 'customarily held procession', why don't the
authorities close roads and publicise Critical Mass in much the same
way? Let me guess, any event which is not 'authorised' will always be
given short shrift, particularly if it lacks commercial sponsorship.

How about the simple fact that the CM organisers won't co-operate with the
authorities and notify them of the intended route Doug? Oh, hang on. There
are no organisers are there so it can't be organised so you don't get the
benefits of being organised, one of which is possibly a route closed to
other vehicles.

No organisation means no co-operation means no benefits. What a bugger eh,
Doug?

How come you are not bleating about 'drivers being prevented from
going about their lawful business' by Skyride?

BTW Brim as well, the name should give you a clue as to the commercial
sponsorship. You do seem to have a lot of reading problems lately
don't you.

No, but you do. I said, "in the report". You haven't answered my question
about whether or not you took the opportunity to ride on car free streets
Doug.

Doug wrote:
On 21 Sep, 08:55, Tony Dragon wrote:
Doug wrote:
How come this meets with official approval and Critical Mass does not?
Something to do with commercial sponsorship perhaps? BTW is this a
customarily held procession, ordinary procession or merely a cycle
ride?
"Cyclists ride in car-free London
Tens of thousands of cyclists rode in central London, which was closed
to traffic for the day, as part of an annual cycling event.
The 15km route began at Buckingham Palace and went through Victoria
Embankment up to Tower Hill, covering the Square Mile.
The British Cycling event began in 2007 as the London Freewheel and is
now called the Mayor of London's Skyride.
Mayor Boris Johnson and actress Kelly Brook set the cyclists off.
Olympic medallist Sir Chris Hoy and TV presenter Gethin Jones also
hopped on to their bikes for the event.
Similar events have been held in Manchester, Glasgow, Leicester and
Hounslow, west London..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8265363.stm
I couldn't help laughing at this understatement.
""The single biggest deterrent to people getting on their bikes is
that they feel nervous.""
When of course what they really fear is being killed by errant
drivers.

Lets see, I think you will find that this event (why does it have to be
a procession?) had been planned, with all relevant authorities consulted.
The route was decided, the police informed & it was published in advance.
I doubt if any of the riders 'corked' roads or intentionally got in the
way of other road users.

Well as the roads were specially closed for the event they didn't need
to cork and there was nothing to get in the way of.

You might like to think how that could be useful to CM


Since CM has been regularly held once a month for 15 years and is now
deemed in law a 'customarily held procession', why don't the
authorities close roads and publicise Critical Mass in much the same
way?

Because you have not asked them. or have you?

Let me guess, any event which is not 'authorised' will always be
given short shrift, particularly if it lacks commercial sponsorship.

How come you are not bleating about 'drivers being prevented from
going about their lawful business' by Skyride?

Why should I?


BTW Brim as well, the name should give you a clue as to the commercial
sponsorship. You do seem to have a lot of reading problems lately
don't you.

--
Critical Mass London
http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk
"More bikes, fewer cars!".


--

Tony Dragon

On 22 Sep, 08:29, Doug wrote:

Since CM has been regularly held once a month for 15 years and is now
deemed in law a 'customarily held procession', why don't the
authorities close roads and publicise Critical Mass in much the same
way?

How could they close the roads even if they were willing to when there
is no planned route?

--
Dave...