Critical Mass! Nottingham pictures...

[Assuming this post doesn't get immediately deleted by the censors]

Critical Mass tries to be a high-profile ambassador for cycling, 'reclaim the streets' and all that. Fair enough, but it's a pity that so few of the participants think it worth wearing a helmet. I doubt strapping a guitar amp to the back of your bike does anything for its centre of gravity and handling either. If you want to promote cycling then why not try and encourage people to do it safely?

Also I'd love to hear an explanation of why riding the wrong way up a one-way street in busy traffic (as seen in the last photo) is such a good idea. What if you'd met another cyclist(s) or motorcyclist legitimately filtering between the stationary traffic in the right direction?

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'm convinced that Critical Mass merely makes people less tolerant towards everyone on two wheels (that includes me BTW) and more likely to behave in an unreasonable way towards cyclists on the roads. It's a shame because CM could be a really positive thing, as it stands it's helping no-one.

Shame.

Confirms what I've always thought about Critical mass

Given that critical mass is a gathering of individuals without organisation, the wearing of helmets and indeed the carrying of soundsystems is the choice of those individuals. There are no meetings or leaders to decide rules for everyone to follow. Therefore, although wearing helmets is clearly the right thing to do, it is not something that can be enforced.

There is much debate as to whether wearing a helmet makes you safer, CTC the UK's natinal CYcling organisation, have a very good policy on this, see:  http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4688.

They say "Several recent reports (including four papers in peer-reviewed medical journals) have found no link between changes in helmet wearing rates and cyclists' safety - and there are even cases where safety seems to have worsened as helmet-wearing increased."

Furthermore, they point out that the more people who cycle, the safer it becomes, so by encouraging people to cycle and showing people its fun, critical mass is doing a really important thing.

> critical mass is doing a really important thing.

By encouraging people to ride the wrong way up one-way streets in busy traffic? Really?

The articles talk about them not being able to find a statistical link.

---> They DO NOT say helmets don't make you safer.
They have NOT been able to prove that.

I had some 2 very bad falls whilst mountain biking and snowboarding. In both cases, i was very, very glad i was wearing a helmet. When you suddenly fly through the air and land on your head, believe me you take about a minute to recover your senses. Then you look at your helmet and you are very glad it wasn't your head.

I personally go with common sense rather than trusting what some bean-counter in an office has written based on looking at numbers. If someone is willing to put their life on the line because some under qualified statitician says its ok, then thats just an example of natural selection in action.

Likewise, riding the wrong way up a oneway street. That kinda thing is going to get someone hurt.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/11/healthandwellbeing.transport

Some interesting points here. Make up your own mind, I guess. Surely we're after a society where you get to decide yourself, not have rules and regulations dictated to you.

For me the whole point of going on a critical mass isn't about cycling and the pro's of not using cars....it's about stopping cars from polluting my daughters oxygen supply. f**k cars, i don't give a s**t if the traffic stops. and i dont wear a lid because its car drivers that present most of the risk, not my fellow cyclists, so if the cars stop, i dont need a lid.........we should take back the roads from climate criminals, that's my two pennies worth. cheers.

p.s. i censored myself because i didn't want my comment to get lifted.......

no cycle path in last picture either :(