Back to index of Nerve 14 - Summer 2009

Critical Mass

By Chris Helm

Critical Mass is a movement that happens in over three hundred cities throughout the world. It has been going properly since 1992. Basically it involves a bunch of people getting together and going for a cycle through the town or city streets. In Liverpool, Critical Mass takes place on the second Friday of each month at 6pm. It starts and finishes at the Chinese Arch and goes wherever the participants spontaneously decide.

For such a well-established movement, I think the aims of Critical Mass are quite vague, but this isn’t a bad thing. Critical Mass can be a chance for people who enjoy cycling to enjoy cycling. It can be just a social occasion. For many people though, Critical Mass is political. It is there to highlight how cars have been put before people in our cities. Public transport has been underfunded and cyclists and pedestrians have been pretty much ignored.

Last year the Liverpool Critical Mass started up again after a short break. The organisers were determined to make it a success, and it now takes place every month regardless of rain, snow, freezing temperatures or the whole of Liverpool City Centre being dug up.

There is a hardcore of about twenty cyclists of all ages. Often we’re complemented by a sound system. I think everyone gets a buzz from the music. At Xmas we all dressed up in Santa outfits, which seemed to go down very well with passers-by and particularly with the revellers spilling out of the pubs.

Generally the reaction to the Critical Mass has been positive. The police have left us alone and the public have mostly found us amusing or bemusing. There is the odd motorist (particularly taxi drivers) who hopes we fall off or calls us wankers, but generally the people of Liverpool are tolerant.

Sometimes we have to ‘cork’ an intersection, in other words we block it off to make sure that we don’t become dispersed. Even when we do this, the majority of motorists are fine.

Occasionally we have blocked the road. Mostly, however, we have decided not to do this, as we feel that antagonising drivers is not going to help us get our message across.

Cycling in Liverpool is a dangerous business. There are not many cycle lanes and cars are often driven recklessly or aggressively. Critical Mass is an opportunity to turn the tables. I am sure many drivers would switch to more sustainable means of transport if they were safe, affordable and convenient.

Apparently Critical Mass is also a rhizomal xerocracy (but I did read this on Wikipedia, so it could be cobblers).

Liverpool's Critical Mass In the Middle of May

By Paul Littler faz-tv

Critical Mass is a freewheeling, free for all, bicycling event, where the participants pedal, en masse, around a route, chosen by themselves, at a time which suits them. The idea is to demonstrate the right to cycle, and to remind the four wheelers that two wheelers have just as much right to the road as they do.

It all began in 1992, when the American bicycle evangelist, Ted White, made a film called 'Return of the Scorcher.' The film's narrater, George Bliss, was describing what your average Chinese cyclist encounters in cities, where there are no traffic lights, where cyclists have to wait at intersections for enough of them to gather, to form what he described as, a 'critical mass,' before they could collectively force the traffic to yield, allowing them to forge their way across the junction.

In September 1992, the first 'Critical Mass' bicycling event was launched in San Francisco. 48 cyclists turned out. The event went on to gain mass popularity, and within a year, more than 500 riders were to be seen, charging down the San Franciscan highway, bells a-rattling, demonstrating their right to bike. The event has since spread around the world and is now verging on becoming truly massive in many of the major cities around the planet.

I joined the Liverpool contingent of the mass, to film their monthly outing around the city last Friday night. We set off at 6.30 pm from the Chinese Arch. We did a circular route which took us down Dale Street past the Town Hall. We headed for the Albert Dock and from there back up past Novas, then back to the arch. The majority of car dwellers were tolerant and happy to see the novel sight of more than 20 bikers, riding in loose formation along the highway. The majority gave way and exercised a commendable degree of patience.

There were one or two road-ragers who got a bee in their bonnet about it. They roared by, doing an impression of a beserker behind the glass, but apart from those poor, anguished souls, the rest of the road-users were relaxed.

I'd say that a good time was had by all and there were no accidents, no need for the police to intervene or follow the event. I expect that the number of Liverpudlian participants will steadily increase, and I predict that within 18 months there will be more than a hundred taking part on each outing, especially during the summer months. So if you are a dedicated biker, why not give it a go?

The Liverpool Critical Mass group are to be found in Facebook. They meet at the Chinese Arch, at the entrance to Chinatown at 6pm every second Friday of the month. The next event will be on the 12th of June 2009. Be there, or be square. ('Liverpool's Critical Mass in the Middle of May' film will soon be released on Facebook and You Tube).

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