Critical Mass: officially legal!

Three years back, at a London Critical Mass which I attended, the Met gave out some nasty little leaflets informing us that what we were doing was illegal. Apparently, Critical Mass constituted a procession, and since the organisers didn't inform the police of the approximate number of attendees and the route the procession was going to take, we were doing something illegal. Now, this was pretty flawed logic in the first place. In point of fact, if they were right, only the organisers were doing something illegal. The fact that CM has no organisers and no route had apparently also passed the author of the leaflet by.

Still, it made us nervous. There have been too many cases of conflicts between the police and the Mass. New York has a particularly nasty record, including a couple of cases of mass arrests. We didn't want to see our fun and positive ride turned into a tense standoff with police. I'd have been tempted to leave their claims unanswered to underline their stupidity, but somebody stepped up to the mark and a friendly action commenced.

Friendly actions are meant to prove a point of law one way or another amicably and without damages. The judgement is by long custom considered final. The judgement came down in our favour - it was a procession, but it had been running so long that it was now customary. The Met threw their toys out of the pram, hired the best silk money can buy, and appealed. This was, to say the least, rather unsporting.

Now, years later, we have an even better judgement in our favour. The House of Lords have handed down a judgement that not only is the London mass customary, but anybody starting a similar event around the country is acting within the law. The Met were slapped for trying to force a 'draconian' reading onto an old law.

I'll be raising a glass on Friday evening :D

BBC Article
Full judgement

November Ride Report

November was the first ride to start fully in the dark and numbers looked good.

The soundsystem was already there. A kids trailer packed with speakers. Then the second soundsystem turned up. It was party time......

We headed out and over the flyover to Duke Street. People really noticed us, as the music filled the streets. We successfully created a small, momentary space on a Liverpool road, which was sociable, safe for cyclists and carfree.



On duke street a CCTV van stopped for a gander as we went past, bemused as to whether we were doing anything wrong. Shortly after, the lead sounsystem suffered a Justin Timberlake moment, but the mass pulled together and saw it through. It did however get a passing bus driver dancing in his cab, opening his doors to join in.

Also there was a guy on a wobble bike. This bike hinges in the normal way with the forks, but has a 2nd hinge underthe seat. This leads to some amazing manouvres.



After the mass we stood around and chatted, tried to ride the wobble bike (with varied success), and compared soudsystem specs. Many headed of to the Punk fundraiser at the social centre.

Next Mass is on Friday December 12th, usual place and time. It's the critmass edition, everyone must bring some tinsle and I'm sure there'll be many flasks of mulled wine around.

Critical Mass Tomorrow!

Well, after a lot of time and effort, the new sound system is built. She's a beauty: the trailer base is built entirely out of reclaimed materials and using only human-powered tools. The sound system itself is made from Doug's cabs and the battery and amp from Matt's hifi trailer. We got her working for the first time in the Next to Nowhere social centre a couple of weeks ago, and after a couple of teething problems with the towing arm she's all sorted. We took her for a ride round the park the other evening, to the bemusement of the taxi drivers and joggers, but we haven't tested her in earnest in the city centre.

Bring lights and wrap up warm, and we'll have a party on wheels!

Make some NOISE!

Last months Mass was great fun in Liverpool. We had numbers, flashy lights, a good vibe, corking, apres-event and a few pissed off drivers (not intentional, just incidental). But we did lack some noise. I for one need to get a bell for my bike. It was actually supplied with one, but I took it off, thinking that bells weren't cool. How wrong could I be..............

So next month, lets make some noise!! Bring whistles, bells, hooters and horns, tambourines and sitars. Also remember your hi-vis and flashy lights, lets make this a real carnival on wheels, which can't be ignored or pushed into the gutter and lets inspire people to join the Light Side of the force.


LCM SOUNDSYSTEM

To help us on our way next month the LCM Soundsystem MkII will be unvieled, to inject some carnival beats. The only problem is that it ain't ready yet! We plan to be transpanting the Batteries and 12V Amp from the original LCM Soundsystem, wired up to new, more powerful speakers. The main challenge will be making this into a stable towable system.

If you can help out please email disrail@gmail.com for more info.

We will be holding two work days on Saturday 25th Oct and Sat 1st of November.....

October Ride Report

Octobers mass was great fun. There was a good turnout, with many new faces and old. The numbers really helped this month. The response from drivers was much more respectful and the Mass had a real presence on the road.


At one point, there was one hire cab driver that allowed the whole mass to manouvre in front of him as we changed lane to turn right, the massers waved and thanked him, and there was no bad feeling. Some other people were doing an excellent job corking aswell, allowing the mass to pass through junctions safely. See Liverpool Indymedia for more photos.

After , the film "We are Traffic" was shown in the Liverpool Social Centre, after much tea and delicious vegan soup.

Numbers have been looking good recently. Please make an effort to get out to the next one 14th November, and tell your friends.

Also, join the facebook group by searching for "Critical Mass Liverpool".

Cycling with Liverpool's Students

The Liverpool University Guild has a true cycling advocate as president this year (Danielle Grufferty), and there are big aims with TravelWise and the City Council to get as many students on bikes as possible. For more info see page 11 the first Cycle Liverpool Magazine here

Armed with two bikes, a bike rack, clamp, and no breakfast, Phil and I attended the Liverpool University Freshers Fair this Sunday. It was a great success and we had a good response with over 150 students signing for interest in the Cycling Society. Throughout the day we also got through a huge box of Liverpool Cycle Maps, handed out many fliers for Thursday's Bicycle Fair (see previous post), advertsied the free cycling lessons offered by Cycling Solutions and also promoted Critical Mass. After 6 hours of being on our feet and talking non stop we were knackered.



The Cycling Society at the University is in it's first year, and aims to be a social society, encouraging the uptake of cycling amongst students and providing information and support to all cyclists around the university. The initial aims are to have regular social cycle rides aswell as planning other events, such as a trip to Mancheter Velodrome, camping / bunkhouse weekends in the Peaks or Wales and possibly campaigning. The inaugral year will see the society shaped by it's members and will hopefully grow in the future.

Cycling in Liverpool on the rise

The Olympics has been a great source of inspiration it seems for many people. I'm sure I'm seeing twice the number of cyclists on Liverpool's roads. Perhaps it's just that the weather is getting better...........

Last Monday saw a "Ride-In" event at the Static gallery in Roscoe street showing short films, reflecting on city life, space and how we interact with it. Over 40 cyclists turned up for the free showing in the gallery / bar. Later on we set off en mass for a magical moonlit ride down to the Pier head through the city centre.

I have also heard from other sources that some other large art spaces in Liverpool are interested in cycling and cycling events. There's no doubt about it, cycling seems to be having a very healthy resurgence, and I'll be interested to see how it moves on in the next year.

I heard recently that if there were significantly more cyclists on Liverpool roads, the the number of accidents involving cyclists would not rise by much if at all. The more we use our bikes and are visible to drivers, there more they will watch out for us. Checkout the amazing awareness test at www.dothetest.co.uk and please send the link to as many people as you know! Also come to Critical Mass and enjoy the amazing security that comes from riding in a large group. See this post for more info.


NEWS NEWS NEWS

Coming up soon is a Cycling Fair at Liverpool University Guild on Thursday 2nd Oct, 10pm til 4pm. I have heard that there'll be a number of local bike sellers there, so it should be worth a look. If you're on Facebook see the event at http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=27190878987&ref=ts

A week later, on Friday 10th is the next Critical Mass, followed by a Critical Mass film night at 7pm at Next To Nowhere See here for more information.

And finally, for your daily musing pleasure, I've recently found Dilbert on 2 wheels. Yehuda Moon comic gives you a daily cycling related strips, a thought for the day about our interaction in society as Cyclists. See www.yehudamoon.com