Mass Memorial
| Saturday 29 May, 2004 |
Critical Mass has no central cause to rally around; the monthly Friday night meet under Waterloo Bridge is a random gathering (yeah, right...) of cyclists in the capital bringing their own individual agenda to the leisurely London bike ride.
From the macro to the micro to the dogmatic: Global environmental concerns, better cycling provision in London or simply a ride home with a group of like minded cyclists.
Dip yer bread.
Except that this month Critical Mass found a cause.
London cyclist Vicki McCreery was killed on Blackfriars Bridge earlier this month after being struck down by a five ton bus. Vicki was the victim of a hellish new cycle lane on the Blackfriars and tragically she had predicted only weeks before that the increased danger to cyclists would eventually claim a life.
 The silence was both sorrowful and triumphant |
I didn't know Vicki although I did know what she had to experience on the daily London commute; Vauxhall Cross in particular is another accident waiting to happen with cyclists being force to jump five lanes following a set of traffic lights if they wish to cross the river.
It was therefore a mournful Critical Mass for May after the tenth anniversary celebrations last month. Around 500 cyclists made the slow procession from Waterloo to Blackfriars, joining up for a poignant reflection with Vicki's family and friends.
With the bridge closed down by the Mass, the silence was both sorrowful and triumphant for a Friday night rush hour period
The rest of the ride was always going to be a more restrained affair, although Critical Mass wouldn't feel the same without some feeling of celebration.
Off to St Pauls, back round to Holborn and then down to Trafalgar Square, The Mall and Westminster. 10.9 miles clocked up on my gizmo, although sadly it seemed that ten of these were taken up with an assortment of twatstick cabbies and knobber motorbike riders scrawling up their ugly little faces and not showing much love for the two wheel massive.
One such leather boy ploughed his beast straight into the Mass, leading to an appearance at a Magistrates Court near you very soon. Knobber. Which is exactly why scooters are not welcome on the Mass, as queried on the CM email list by someone who was either extremely naive or just a twat of a troll.
It was a shame that with so much sentiment spread out across this particular Mass, the London Petrol Heads seemed to be up for a ruck. Have we ever had to face this amount of confrontation before?
The Bobbies on Bikes are proving to be our real friends; cycle friendly, able to diffuse a difficult situation and rather decent chaps as well. Maybe it's something to do with the inner calm and healing power of the pedal? Or perhaps it's just that they understand all too well the perils of pedalling around the capital.
Especially so when even cycle lanes are luring you into ever more danger, and sadly death.
(click on thumbs to see large image)
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