London Critical Mass Cyclist Has Brilliant Idea

It's astounding in it's simplicity, perhaps lacking a little in efficiency, but it was his idea and he's proud of it.

Coppers with shooters in a BMW X5 try to leave. Cyclist jams bike under front of car. Coppers drive off crushing bike.

Are we outraged or amused?

a reply to: Kester
The cyclist was very literally "obstructing police officers in the course of their duty".
The outcome could be called a summary penalty.

Good.. The twat deserved it for doing something so stupid.. he should also have been locked up..

I have no sympathy for the guy for thinking that might accomplish something.

Such a waste of a perfectly good bike, too.

The cop did run a red light on camera, though.

a reply to: gator2001

All the kids on bikes were jumping the lights too.

There is a core of bikers who give the wider community a bad name.

Serves them right. Yet, when one gets knocked off his bike because he's riding like a buffoon everyone else is to blame.

a reply to: Kester

i am wondering :

1 - what were they hoping to achieve ?

2 - what happened in the edit break ?

a reply to: Kester

What is the context of this event? I'm not from the UK so what is critical mass ? Why we're these people and the police clashing in the first place ?

a reply to: Joecanada11

WHAT'S IS ALL ABOUT?
Critical Mass is often described as an 'unorganised coincidence'. It happens when a lot of cyclists happen to be in the same place at the same time and decide to cycle the same way together for a while

WHAT'S THE PURPOSE?
"Everyday, all over the world, people are resisting the problem culture of the car by getting on their bikes and riding, instead of driving.

Critical Mass is a celebration of the alternatives to cars, pollution, accidents and the loss of public spaces and freedoms.

Not an organisation or group, but an idea or tactic, Critical Mass allows people to reclaim cities with their bikes, just by getting together and out-numbering the cars on the road"

WHAT HAPPENS ON A CRITICAL MASS?
Each one is different and they follow no set route, with the direction being spontaneously chosen as people cycle along. Anyone is free to join or leave the ride as it pedals along.

www.urban75.com...

It's worldwide. You'll find one near you here. criticalmass.wikia.com...

How you behave when you get there is up to you. I fully support the aim, but deliberately blocking a strangers journey is almost certain to lead to conflict. Once the conflict has been actively created, the more retarded elements start shrieking about how unfair it all is. I find it very similar to climbers who fall off cliffs. Does gravity really need testing? Do we really have to block a strangers journey? Knowing nothing about the urgency of that journey.

My personal answer to what is critical mass.
A way for bored, spoilt brats to gain power through victim status under the banner of environmentalism.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

One of the stated aims is to reduce road collisions. That's why he stuffed his bike under the car.

I'll see what I can find out about the edit break.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Not sure about the edit break yet, but here at 00:29 you'll see a water bottle being thrown after the car. It's only a water bottle, but to a hyper-vigilant mind it could be acid or something flammable. Throwing water and drinks is another typical way to gain victim status if the reaction is apparently disproportionate.



2:09 I think we can all see the truth here. I'm surprised he posted this. Look at the way that 'inferior' pedestrian is treated while trying to cross, and the lights are red for the cyclist.

a reply to: paraphi

From my personal experience as a bicycle commuter it's more than a core, unfortunately.

I have my camera in my rucksack facing backwards. That way it's still with me if I get off. If something happens in front I had the opportunity to anticipate it. But what comes from behind is largely unknown.

I have video of one driver on a country road early in the morning. As he came into sight he was further out in the road. Then his eyes lit up and he steered in for a very close pass. Other drivers simply drive as if you don't exist, no matter how much hi vis gear and bright lights you have. Flashing lights are very obvious, but they do trigger rage in some drivers.

On my old commute there was a long stretch of cycle path alongside a main road. The vast majority of the lycra and expensive bike crowd use the road, sometimes with a lorry and a whole string of traffic backed up behind them. Other cyclists who use the cycle path agree that these cyclists enrage motorists, some of whom then deliberately endanger our lives on the roads.

Cyclists who behave like many of those seen in these videos are partly responsible for the deaths of other innocent cyclists through deliberate enragement of motorists.

a reply to: Kester
I live in the deep sticks and absolutely no probs with cyclists - even the lycra-clad kind. I drag myself to London two, or three days a week to work and find urban cyclists have problems. There is a small minority who are just obnoxious, including to pedestrians - like not stopping at zebra crossings, jumping red lights etc. This cycling unpredictability is dangerous to pedestrians and the cyclist. It also tars the wider cycling community who are mostly sensible.

The OP just demonstrates some of the people who are part of the problem. If a pedestrian was crossing the road due to cars stopped at a red light when these cyclists were speeding on, then there would have been the chance of being knocked over by one of these twats.

a reply to: paraphi

A fixie rider shot past in front of me while I was crossing the road recently. All other traffic had stopped at the lights. He looked a bit scared and could easily have hit the car facing us if there had been a slippery patch on the road. His choice to risk a high speed manoeuvre after passing a red light endangered others. But I expect his risk assessment included only himself.

I feel this is the core of the problem. Cyclists who endanger pedestrians clearly have an anti-social attitude which one might guess permeates their lives.

a reply to: Kester

hey - thanks for that new link - however it only serves to confuse the issue

questions raised [ in my mind ]

1 - from 00:00.40 ~ 00:01.50 what was the guy doing ?

the reason i ask - is he talks to no one - is talked to by no one [ unless he has an earpeice feed from radio or phone ]

yet - he arrives at the scene - need no breifing and imediatly - and un-prompted joins the " chase "

he finaly talks to another person at :

00:02.50 [ an appology for riding acros the path of a pedestrian ]

with the onlyrelevant utterance regarding the incident being :

00:02.54 when someone asks " where it go " presumably refereing to the police vehicle [ i cannot actually tell who said this ]

our " hero " then returns to the incident scene where he still needs to ask no questions - nor recieve any explaination

clear as mud

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Very suspicious lack of videos, considering the number of cameras that were most likely present and aimed at the action,

The description under the second video states

. . . driver barges its way into a group of cyclists . . .

Yet the witness account he links in the next sentence says the police heavy-handedly grabbed one cyclist and gave him an earful of advice. The ride stopped for five to ten minutes and the angry cyclists then tried to stop the car from leaving. No mention of barging in, just barging out. twitter.com...

They'd all benefit from studying this. www.abovetopsecret.com... Staying out of trouble is much easier if you lose the ego.


At 00:18 in the first video the copper tells the cyclist he can't do whatever he wants just because there's hundreds of them. A reply comes from another cyclist saying "Yes we can!" There's the problem.

A good bit of advice I was given.

You're free to do whatever you want.
You just have to live with the consequences.