Critical Miss or Critical Mass

[EdBike]

Copenhagenize.com - Building Better Bicycle Cultures: Critical Miss or Critical Mass?

Another great article on Copenhagenize. In short, its saying don't highlight the differences between you and non-cyclists (or e-cyclists). I think if a whole bunch of us cycled through London in suits on a Monday morning rush hour, it could have generate some serious press.

 

[Mussels]

For London I think both Critical mass and that website are wrong. Bikes have loads of exposure and Critical mass will just make people think bike riders are militant nutters. If you've never seen critical mass in London it's not always a nice place to be and I certainly won't be supportng it.

The website may have been right 10 years ago but now I don't agree at all.

Mr Motorist in the morning traffic might think, "Hmm. I could ride my bike to work, too..."

He won't, however, see himself reflected in the image. He'll see a member of an often militant sub-culture. He'll see somebody he would normally label as an 'environmentalist' - not a positive label in many cultures. He'll see a person wearing an unofficial uniform - Mr Motorist has nothing in his closet that even closely resembles the gear on the cyclist - and he'll see a bike so far removed from any bike he has ever owned.

He'll realise that in order to ride his bike he would have to infiltrate a sub-culture populated by individuals very unlike himself. He would have to invest in gear and clothes. Worst of all, Mr Motorist would find himself 'making a statement' by riding.

Mr Motorist, like most people, doesn't want to make a statement. He just wants to live his life, not climb onto a platform and become a visible statement-maker. He knows the environment is an important issue. He knows the facts. But he is just Joe Average and always will be. He just thinks riding his bike to work would be nice, healthy and quicker than driving. But the idea is quickly dropped.

 

[Alex728]

I thought the poster on the blog was making much the same point as Mussels..

TBH there isn't much justification for CM in London today, where it genuinely seems to be much easier to cycle than ever before - I've heard this comment from people up here who commute to London and who would normally be used to far quieter roads.

the problem with protests and activism (I am supportive of them when done sensibly) is they are often hijacked by people who have a long-term beef with the Old Bill, mostly because they take/sell drugs or drink in the street or shoplift or are in gangs, and the cops tend to arrest them for those activities!

People however need to know when to stop, and accept that the rest of society can't be dictated to by single issue campaigns.

BTW NL and DK started their pro-cycling work in the 1970s when I was born and it involved a significant amount of hard work and financial investment by elected Councils rather than short term activism, and even then the Netherlands is trying to stop a resurgence of car culture amongst young people (those of young Ed's age) - particularly those in the working classes as even there bikes as seen as for "nerdy college kids"

 

[Mussels]

I thought the poster on the blog was making much the same point as Mussels..

I missed that, must learn to read properly.

I thought Ed was proposing the opposite and encouraging a demonstration.

 

[EdBike]

Demonstration makes it sound like 1980's miners strikes. I was more thinking a bunch of us in Hyde Park with electric bikes, open for the public to try out? Perhaps a stand supported by BEBA with some info? Summer. Free BBQ. Appealing to anyone?

Didn't anticipate that druggies would wreck such events, but there we go...

 

[Alex728]

Didn't anticipate that druggies would wreck such events, but there we go...

things like the old style Critical Mass or Reclaim the Streets (or the current students protests) much more confrontational against the authorities and attract these types..

What you propose is more like a trade / sales demonstration (which unfortunately would mean the Council would most probably insist on some sort of charge, unless maybe you got TfL's support). That said I think that doing this in London is preaching to the choir - in the capital there is already considerable awareness and use of both conventional push bikes and ebikes.

I would suggest looking further afield, places like Reading, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich, i.e large towns/cities but not as dense as London where people often ride longer distances as commuters..