For a brief period once a month cyclists cause congestion, unlike cars that do it all the time. Last night was no exception and hundreds of cyclists certainly made their presence felt in Central London. There was much hooting from impatient drivers who seem to think they have more right to the road than cyclists. One taxi driver held his horn on constantly for many minutes during a traffic hold-up. Is that legal?

The riders, and skateboarders too, were greeted with cheers from pedestrians and some even did high-fives with the passing cyclists. A group of children high-five me and I was left with a sticky hand. Ugh! In Piccadilly Circus the ride was met by cheers from many tourists.

One downer though was when a rider was arrested by an enraged cop. Apparently being on the wrong side of the road is now an offence for cyclists but not for cars though. The rider was charged with obstruction and handcuffed for refusing to move while being stationary on the right hand side of the road, along with many others, caused by traffic hold ups at the front and pressure from drivers at the rear.

I managed to video three rammings of cyclists by drivers. The first her rear wheel was trapped by the number plate of the impatient taxi driver who deliberately rammed her. The second was a scooter rider who is seen deliberately making contact with a cyclist's front wheel and the third a motorist who is seen deliberately ramming a cyclist. If I alone saw three there must have been several more in this large Critical Mass.

Towards the end the ride visited the Democracy Village in Parliament Square where it was again cheered and many bikes were held high in response.

 http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/index.html