Last night the police committed a surprising u-turn in their approach to dealing with Glasgow Critical Mass. The Mass has previously been accompanied by cycle officers "to ensure the safety of the cyclists" however there has been no police presence since last September. This changed dramatically with the April Critical Mass; the 50-70 cyclists were tailed by a police van for the majority of the ride with the police stopping some of the riders at the front of the mass and warning them not to continue else they may face charges. In the midst of the cycle run, while the Mass dutifully waited at a red light, the two officers (A303 and A628) made their way to the front of the mass and selected three cyclists, apparently at random. It should be noted that these three were not the cyclists spoken to by the police earlier. These arbitrarily chosen cyclists have been charged with "Cycling without due consideration for other road users" under section 29 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act (exact wording: If a person rides a cycle on a road without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road, he is guilty of an offence.In this section "road" includes a bridleway). They were informed that a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal for further consideration. Watch this space.