Sit back, close your eyes and imagine a thousand people cycling along a central London street... filling the street... there aren't any cars... the noise of the traffic is drowned out by music, whistles, bike bells and people having conversations while cycling together.
Now imagine you are riding along with these people, you don't need to worry about cars driving too close! Or getting across the junction in time! the mass of cyclists surrounding you for as far as you can see are moving very slowly snaking through the city together as one, the traffic lights change to red but the cars stay where they are and let you pass, the mass of bikes are moving together.
You have time to look around, you notice things you have never made time to see, you meet people you might have never met, you are now a part of Central London Critical Mass.
On the same day this is happening in cities all over the world from Delhi to Tokyo, from Adelaide to Zurich, from Rio de Janeiro to the three separate rides in San Francisco where the mass is so big they have to split up. There are hundreds of cities with hundreds sometimes thousands of cyclists doing this every month.
San Francisco started it all eleven and a half years ago, London will celebrate ten years of its Critical Mass on April 30th this year and everyone is invited. Bring music, bring cake, bring party poppers, bring party hats most importantly bring friends Critical Mass has survived ten years in London and we should show our appreciation for the way it has enriched our lives and allowed us to enjoy our city from a whole new angle.
Central London Critical Mass starts from the Southbank at Waterloo in front of the National Film Theatre under Waterloo Bridge,
On the last Friday of each and every month at around 6pm.
The next few rides:
Friday March 26th 2004
Friday April 30th 2004 Tenth anniversary of Critical Mass in London.
Friday May 28th 2004
Friday June 25th 2004
A map of the starting point:
http://cmlondon.enrager.net/when&where/map.htm
A website about Central London Critical Mass:
http://cmlondon.enrager.net/