Move over: a Metropolitan police officer at a Critical Mass ride in London, 2005. Photograph: Andrew Stuart/AFP.
Critical Mass is more than a coincidence of cyclists travelling in the same direction. It is a little cultural gem in London life which has its place alongside Banksy’s graffiti and Brian Haw’s hats. It is one of those mixed up expressions of dissent, fun and celebration which doesn’t fit with the usual definitions of political protest. OK, it’s also untidy and slightly chaotic at times, but London was born that way. That is why the police are having such trouble controlling the event and I suspect it also explains why they are clearly determined to try.
For over a decade cyclists have gathered near the National Theatre at Waterloo for a once a month procession through central London’s congested streets, nearly always with a small and unobtrusive police escort. Sometimes during cold & wet winter evenings there are less than a hundred cyclists, sometimes in the warmth of summer there are several thousand. This evening the turn out will be huge as the appeal court judges have decided by a two to one majority that Critical Mass does come within the provisions of the Public Order Act and that gives the police their chance to nab the organisers – their only problem being that there aren’t any. The legal defence for Critical Mass is both its lack of identified leaders and the attitude that this is a procession of legitimate road users rather than a militant brandishing of bicycle clips. The police should be no more able to arrest cyclists for using the road, than they would arrest commuters for crowding on board the train at London Bridge station.
Critical Mass is also fun, especially on a sunny evening. That is why I would urge every one who can to come and join me from around 6pm onwards on the South Bank, near the National Theatre. I have no idea where I will be going, but I hope it involves wandering past New Scotland Yard so that I can give the Met Police commissioner a wave. I also have no idea how long it will take – after all how long is a piece of leaderless, meandering string?
Having just celebrated its 13th birthday, Critical Mass can just about justify its claim to be a modern London tradition. It started in the days of the anti-roads protests, when planners still assumed that the car was king and the solution to congestion was another lane of tarmac. Back then there was no London government and cycling was categorised as one of those dangerous, urban hobbies fit only for eccentrics and rebels. It is an image, and for many cyclists an internalised mind set, which we are still struggling to escape. I have to admit that when Critical Mass takes a diversion to the spot where yet another cyclist has been killed under the wheels of a lorry, it is hard to remember that cycling is twice as safe as it was in the 90s. In fact the true meaning of the phrase “critical mass” is reaching that Amsterdam moment, when cycling becomes such a normal part of our life, work and leisure that drivers have to recognise the existence of the bike and cyclists can claim their fair share of the road. The theory is that if we reach that critical mass then the roads will become safer. For example, in London we now have an 83% increase in cycling, but the number of people injured on their bikes has actually gone down.
The London gathering is part of a worldwide movement of several hundred similar rides. Some are bigger, some more organised and some face an even heavier police presence. One ride was recently charged by police on horses and people arrested on the basis that they didn’t stick to the cycle lane provided. Thankfully we aren’t going to have any of that nonsense in London as I have had a chat with the officer in charge of policing the event and he tells me that the policing will be “happy go lucky” as usual.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign is when the rides have taken a major diversion to become part of a larger international circuit of big official rides. These have built up over many years, attracted commercial sponsorship and official blessing. From New York to Cape Town these mass participation rides have become a new way of celebrating cycling. As much as I’m looking forward to the Tour de France hitting London, I think that the Berlin Star ride with its 80,000 ordinary participants is the real future for celebrating cycling in London. Berlin has built up this annual event over many years and is the biggest by far of the mass rides. People of all ages and social backgrounds converge on central Berlin for the day from all the tips of a giant star of different routes.
This September London will hopefully take the first big step in creating our own version of Berlin Star ride. London’s very own mass bike ride will be shifting gear and going down that path of being bigger, commercially attractive and officially backed. We are hoping it will inspire all the leisure riders, family groups and occasional cyclists to get the bikes out of the basement and join us for the day. It will be a different crowd to Critical Mass, but I’m hoping that the more experienced London cyclists will provide escort for the day as tens of thousands converge on central London. So please do join me on the last Friday of the month if you can and if not, then look out for news of the day this September when cycling really does take over London.
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