Critical Mass and Carfree day in Brussels

What a weekend for cyclists. Friday evening and the regular Brussels Critical mass was held one week early to coincide with mobility week. Around 80 cyclists sprouted up at the Porte de Namur and reclaimed the streets of Brussels for an hour or two. This month there was a practical theme to create a DIY cycle lane. Recently the Major of the city decided that the cycle lane along the main boulevard through central Brussels was a menace to traffic and even encouraged cyclist to get in the way of honest car driving citizens. What to do when that Major takes away the cycle path. A simple question, you get together with your friends and paint it back again. Getting rid of the cycle hating Major will probably be the next step but that’s another action.

Brussels is a city of contradictions and for Saturday lunch time the city invited cyclists for a sumptuous nosh up. Anyone who was a cyclist was welcome to help themselves. A wonderful feast for non vegetarian wine lovers and the deserts were out of this world. Not so good on the cycle lanes but the free food almost makes up for it.

Sunday was the carfree day and it really was carfree in the whole city, not just one or two streets. It’s hard to describe the difference banishing the cars can make to a city. Brussels, if only for one day became a place for people. Swarms of cyclists filled the streets people on foot could and did move about without risk of being run over by impatient drivers. The sun was shining the air was clean for once and the angry honking of car horns beautifully absent. If only every day could be like this. The street is a place for people, city children need to play and a cup of coffee on a pavement café somehow tastes better when there isn’t traffic roaring by a few feet away. This might just be my opinion but the people of Brussels did seem to agree with me, well at least the ones who still remember how to move about without a car.

Also for mobility week the Brussels based environmental group, Auto-nomie presented an environmentally friendly car, truly an environmentally friendly car. Zero emissions is a thing of the past, this car has negative emissions. If you care about the planet but still want a car that turns heads this is the model for you and the conversion is cheap and easy. Take out the engine replace is with a few wheelbarrows full of good quality soil and plant your favorite fruits and vegetables. Cruising through the streets of Brussels in a customized car like no other is the way to go. When your friends get tired of pushing what better way of revitalizing them than a tasty car grown strawberry. The car was on display in central Brussels all last week.