Pretoria Critical Mass ride - Friday 28th of March

[MONS]

Great pics - next time will def stay longer for a kuier! Totally enjoyed the ride and so did loads more! Thanks again - wwas a great vibe and enjoyed the route! See you all end of the month!

[Evan Andreou]

Looks great. Couple of friends who were there said a lot of people felt rocks for red traffic lights and apparently a number of kids were all over the place and nearly caused a few incidents.

 

This is a great initiative, the guys who are getting it off the ground in Pta need to be commended and supported, but we as participants are at risk of being our own worst enemies with the way we behave on the road

[skidd]

Looks great. Couple of friends who were there said a lot of people felt rocks for red traffic lights and apparently a number of kids were all over the place and nearly caused a few incidents.

 

This is a great initiative, the guys who are getting it off the ground in Pta need to be commended and supported, but we as participants are at risk of being our own worst enemies with the way we behave on the road

You cannot stop for red lights in a CM ride, it's more dangerous because it splits the group. And it undermines the point of the ride. The mass must stay together at all times. For safety and to make an impact

[Evan Andreou]

 

You cannot stop for red lights in a CM ride, it's more dangerous because it splits the group. And it undermines the point of the ride. The mass must stay together at all times. For safety and to make an impact

 

Dude

You use the road, you obey the rules

[RooiWillie]

Looks great. Couple of friends who were there said a lot of people felt rocks for red traffic lights and apparently a number of kids were all over the place and nearly caused a few incidents.

 

This is a great initiative, the guys who are getting it off the ground in Pta need to be commended and supported, but we as participants are at risk of being our own worst enemies with the way we behave on the road

The kids were a handful... But that is kids for you... They do not understand the term "Casual Ride"... There were breakaways and chase groups the whole time.

You cannot stop for red lights in a CM ride, it's more dangerous because it splits the group. And it undermines the point of the ride. The mass must stay together at all times. For safety and to make an impact

Dude

You use the road, you obey the rules

AGREED!

 

Also, there were a few chaps taking it too easy... The group needs to stay together, whilst obeying the rules of the road. Having a sip of water and battling to clip in at a green robot at the expense of splitting the group up, is just plain silly. And the there were others just not keeping left at the university. Really now. We want to make friends and raise awareness...

 

But other than that, it went very well! It was a perfect night for riding. We will definitely be there next time around!

[Q_here]

The group did have a few kids in the group. There were a few youngsters racing up and down in the group that might have caused a few hiccups but nothing too bad. I did see a few other kids’ riding with their parents and well done to them for getting out there.

As for the red lights, every light we went though there were people stopping traffic. This only happened if the group did not make it across in the green light period. The first traffic light was done in bits and pieces but this caused the group to split into almost 3 bits. So form there everybody pitch in and helped at the lights! The lights were a good way to get the group bunched up again.

you cannot and should not control the group too much, we tried getting everyone to keep left but you will still find that people kind do what they want!! I think like the CM rides goes the participants will become more accustomed to riding in a group and not stand have a water break while the light is green or leave a big gap and so forth!

There will be bumps and bruises but at the end of the day you are responsible for your own safety and those of your kids!!

[skidd]

Dude

You use the road, you obey the rules

Not on critical Mass you don't

[RooiWillie]

Not on critical Mass you don't

 

You obey the rules, otherwise you can tell me how a meet of flesh and steel goes down...

 

For the red lights, if it is deemed safe to cross, you can cross, as far as the marshals go, they can help to stop traffic. Even some of the other cyclists can help to stop the cars. But as per my previous pointy, the guys need to be a little faster out the blocks at the Traffic lights, and leave the water / drink sipping for where it is possible to have your sip without interrupting the others around you. That way all can cross, and we do not piss of the Cars too much...

[skidd]

You obey the rules, otherwise you can tell me how a meet of flesh and steel goes down...

 

For the red lights, if it is deemed safe to cross, you can cross, as far as the marshals go, they can help to stop traffic. Even some of the other cyclists can help to stop the cars. But as per my previous pointy, the guys need to be a little faster out the blocks at the Traffic lights, and leave the water / drink sipping for where it is possible to have your sip without interrupting the others around you. That way all can cross, and we do not piss of the Cars too much...

In joburg we had about 2000 people. Unless the integrity of the group is maintained, it is dangerous. Whether there are 100 or 1000 riders. We had problems further back in the group when people stopped to let cars in, because then you have a mass of bikes with cars in between. The lead riders stop for red lights. When the light changes and it is safe, the mass moves through, until the last rider is across the intersection. Marshals block off the intersection. It's called corking. It has to happen or it's dangerous.

The rules of the road aslo require cyclists to ride in single file? Did you guys do that? i doubt it?

[GTRacing]

nit picking... why is there CM. to make people aware of cycling and cyclists. to reduce our dependence on cars.

[Evan Andreou]

 

Not on critical Mass you don't

 

Good luck with that

[Wyatt Earp]

What I find the most interesting about Critical Mass is the group of cyclists who think it's about them.

Critical Mass is not for the hardcore cyclists out there who pee in their pants about people not wearing helmets and traffic offenses.

 

It's a celebration of two wheels for the masses, it's bringing an element to bicycles that the South African cycling community have forgotten about, and that's the pleasure of being on a bicycle and feeling the freedom and the wind in your face.

 

It's a celebration of the City and ultimately a celebration between the mass and the people who dwell within the city itself.

 

I recall a hub ride from Grand Central where the group did not stop at robots, where the TB marshals brought traffic to a halt for that "little insignificant" group who rode that day.

What makes this any different ?

 

Even the police helped us with the traffic at one stage.

[Anine]

keep in mind what the original goal is of a CM ride. in its very essence it's a protest ride, reclaiming the streets. It's not a race, nor is it just purely a social ride.

it has a 'decentralised' and 'disorganised' structure. Nobody is the organiser or the leader. it takes place without a formal route or sanction. So corking is traditionally used to maintain the cohesion of the group. Yes, it might be in contravention of the traffic regulations, but if you participate in the CM you should be aware of this fact and do so of your own choosing.

[RooiWillie]

What I find the most interesting about Critical Mass is the group of cyclists who think it's about them.

Critical Mass is not for the hardcore cyclists out there who pee in their pants about people not wearing helmets and traffic offenses.

 

It's a celebration of two wheels for the masses, it's bringing an element to bicycles that the South African cycling community have forgotten about, and that's the pleasure of being on a bicycle and feeling the freedom and the wind in your face.

 

It's a celebration of the City and ultimately a celebration between the mass and the people who dwell within the city itself.

 

I recall a hub ride from Grand Central where the group did not stop at robots, where the TB marshals brought traffic to a halt for that "little insignificant" group who rode that day.

What makes this any different ?

 

Even the police helped us with the traffic at one stage.

 

Oh agreed!

 

But one cannot condone stupidity. I feel you just need to know the rules and why they are there... If you want to ride without a helmet, so be it. I am just saying that you will get hurt without it... Hell, I took off my gloves as they were in the way with the camera.

 

Also, the CM is about safety in numbers, so Skidd has a point. But we should work together, and apply some common courtesy doing it, otherwise we will piss off more motorists...

[Danger Dassie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass

 

 

Corking

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Corkingflyer.jpg/220px-Corkingflyer.jpg

http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.20wmf10/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png

Detail from the November 20, 1992 flyer by Joel Pomerantz which introduced the concept of corking

Because Critical Mass takes place without an official route or sanction, participants in some cities have sometimes practiced a tactic known as "corking" in order to maintain the cohesion of the group. This tactic consists of a few riders blocking traffic from side roads so that the mass can freely proceed through red lights without interruption. Corking allows the mass to engage in a variety of activities, such as forming a cyclone, lifting their bikes in a tradition known as a "Bike Lift" (in Chicago this is referred to as a Chicago hold-up), or to perform a "die-in" where riders lie on the ground with their bikes to symbolise cyclist deaths and injuries caused by automobiles, very popular in Montreal. The "Corks" sometimes take advantage of their time corking to distribute fliers.

The practice of corking roads in order to pass through red lights as a group is in contravention of traffic laws in some jurisdictions and is sometimes criticized to be contrary to Critical Mass' claim that "we are traffic", since ordinary traffic does not have the right to go through intersections once the traffic signal has changed to red^[20]. However, groups of cyclists are allowed to pass signals as a group at least in Germany and Austria.^[21][22] In Britain the London Critical Mass has been defined as a procession in 2008 Law Lords ruling and therefore if the front of the procession goes through a green light then the rest can legally ignored traffic signals in following the rest of the procession. Corking has sometimes led to hostility between motorists and riders, even erupting into violence and arrests of motorists and cyclists alike during Critical Mass rides.^[23]

[_Daemon_]

Been in two minds about coming to CM pretoria, after watching this thread for a while. IMHO, cm is not for racers who, attack and create chase groups...if you want that go join a velo ride on a saterday morning. However I think in SA not stopping at robots are a bit stupid, and causing more problems with cyclists than helping with "protesting", lots and lots of idiots out on the roads that would love to hit a cyclist, also...that time of the night, lots of drunk drivers. Then the rangers/TB keeping cyclists safe is great, but think about it like this if you where not a cyclist and your in your car and some guy on a motorbike blocks the intersection for a couple of cyclists to come through, how would you feel? I think it's doing more harm than good.

 

Have fun at CM, but obey the road rules.