Entry tags:

bicycle, commute, musing

Mass Critique
I've just returned from my first Critical Mass ride, across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, in the company of several hundred other cyclists. The entourage included several bikes towing stereos on trailers, five NSW Police officers - on bikes, in uniform, and presumably on duty - and a number of primary schoolers on their little BMX bikes.

Still, I'm not sure I'm clear on the point of Critical Mass.

I was waiting at the lights in North Sydney, with the rest of the Mass dispersing and the police cars that escorted us across the bridge still sitting with their lights flashing. Two preschoolers, standing waiting at the pedestrian crossing, were wondering out loud why there were so many bikes and police cars. "I think they want more bike paths," said their mum. "There are parts of the city that don't have bike paths, and they want to be able to ride there."

"It's more about making people aware that bikes are allowed on the road, too, just like other vehicles," I interjected, fishing for a better off-the-cuff explanation based on my limited understanding of the philosophy behind this organised coincidence. "There you go," said she to the kids, though I didn't hear their response because the lights changed.

But is it about making cyclists visible, or is it about having fun? Because I'm not sure that the two are compatible for all values of having fun. Zooming along the tunnel onto the bridge, whooping with joy at the experience, cheerfully ringing your bicycle bell as you roll down Macquarie Street - these are visible, and these are fun. Standing on the top tube of your bike in the midst of a pack of inequally experienced cyclists, in the view of the motorists waiting on the other side of the road, may be fun but I can't help thinking it does a lot to reinforce the negative stereotypes of "those damned irresponsible cyclists".

Or maybe I'm just turning into a cranky old woman.

Edited to add:
The Daily Telegraph are being their usual inflammatory selves about the matter. I think that's me in the foreground of the photo they used.