You’ve gotta love the local anarcho-cyclist Critical Mass contingent. They’re now optimistically describing their last effort in Bristol back in May as “a lovely, social ride around Bristol”. Although they do go on to say:
“There was a near police riot at the end of the ride however, after the police failed to cite two reckless drivers who ran into the back tires of two cyclists.”
Now while stuff like pissing off commuters, throwing bricks at coppers, demanding the impossible and starting small riots in the city centre seems like a perfectly proper way for Bristol’s student population to be carrying on, you have to wonder whether the adjectives “lovely” and “social” really fit the bill here.
Anyway if you fancy it, the latest Bristol Critical Mass is on Friday, meeting at the City Centre fountains at 5:30pm, leaving at 6.00pm.
Mardy fucker! 😀
Where did “throwing bricks at coppers” come from. anyway? I’ve been on hundreds of critical mass rides and I’ve never seen anything like that happen…
For anyone who was on the ride in May, it WAS lovely and social, and a welcome respite from the daily traffic nightmare that grips Bristol–people chatting away and having a nice evening ride– that is until two drivers became violent and drove into the back of the mass on St. Augustine’s Parade, damaging two bicycles but thankfully sparing their riders any physical damage. A woman bystander was outraged and sat on the hood of one of the cars so the driver couldn’t get away. The police responded, and instead of citing the drivers for causing a collision, they let them go without charge and started harassing the cyclists with horses, ten police cars, and riot vans.
Kind of ironic in Bristol, which prides itself on being so green, that a bunch of people using a healthy, carbon-free, and non-polluting vehicle seemingly can’t even ride peacefully around town without being physically threatened, and attacked by drivers and then the police.
Why is it such a big deal to put up with a monthly bicycle parade? Is it that it threatens the status quo of our streets remaining dangerous, polluted, channels of carbon emissions?
Anyway, drivers cause far more delay and frustration and danger to each other than is caused by a brief rolling bicycle celebration once every month.
Get on yer bikes this friday!
Come on, bristolblogger what kind of bike do you ride?