Critcal Mass happening in Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Galway!

[eoin lawless]

Critcal Mass happening in Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Galway!
(Did I miss anywhere? If there's not one near you why not start one?)

(For same article with photo http://www.indymedia.ie/article/94578 )

It is impossible to give credit to one place, one time, one person for the starting of any social movement, as it takes the ideas, energy and enthusiasm of countless people to reach a 'Critical Mass', but San Francisco, September 1992, certainly marked itself clearly on the map as a launch-pad for the Critical Mass movement, going on from there to spread throughout the world to all nine(?) corners of the globe and taking place in an estimated 325 cities. Now after seventeen years it is still growing and currently takes place in four cities around Ireland (that we know of?).

In true DIY style Critical Mass co-incidentally returned to the streets of Belfast and Dublin simultaneously on Friday the 25th of September last after being sorely missed by many for a long time. To their credit Cork and Galway have been keeping it going many years now (albeit in an on-off fashion).

Belfast: Zombie Critical Mass: Albert Clock Belfast @ 6.30pm Friday 30th of October (generally last Friday of every month, but possibly moved forward a week in December as last Friday is 25th)

Cork: daunt square @ 6pm on the last Friday of every month (unconfirmed for this month, but this is the usual meet place and time)

Dublin: Leaves St Stephens Green Fusiliers Arch entrance (top of Grafton Street) @6pm on the last Friday of every month (except December) Fancy Dress is always encouraged, but spooky fancy dress especially encouraged for Halloween this Friday.

Galway: Colours Street Theatre presents: Halloween Parade Starting top of Shop Street @ 8pm on Saturday 31st October Finishing at Spanish Arch. Critical Mass invites people to follow behind the parade on their bikes in fancy dress.

What's It About?

Critical Mass is about cyclists coming together to celebrate a healthy, environmentally friendly and fun way of getting around. It is about trying to raise awareness and respect for safety amongst pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. It is about promoting cycling as a great mode of transport and source of fun, and trying to encourage more people to think about cycling.It is about safe cycling and how traveling in numbers offers some protection from the dangers of careless and sometimes angry motorists. It is about forcing motorists to take note of cyclists by asserting our rights to the road in the hope we will gain more respect for our safety, but not about going out of our way just to piss them off, making cyclist/motorist relations worse, and thus making the roads more dangerous when we are again undoubtedly cycling alone,not in 'mass'. It is about demonstrating how many people are willing to come together to assert our rights, stand up for our safety, commemorate the victims of poor traffic planning and driving and showing what we can achieve when we do come together and support each other. It doesn't require a lot of organising and it doesn't require much work (in fact it should be quite the opposite, with everyone in my experience really enjoying it), but it does need a little bit of commitment from people to spread the word, show up most of the time and send a friend in your place when you can't make it, to continue to build the Critical Mass and keep it alive.

What's It Like

Generally Critical Mass happens on the last Friday of every month, but of course that can change from place to place. It is usually as simple as agreeing a meeting place, like a well known landmark, a time, like 6pm to give people a chance to come from work. Then all there is left to do, is let people know its happening by word of mouth and a bit of leafleting for the slightly more organised. Once that much is done and the people show up, it then becomes whatever the people make it.
It has a very different flavor from city to city; there's a big variety in size, respect of traffic laws (or lack thereof), interaction with motorists, and intervention by police. So if you want to know more about Critical Mass, you'll really need to find out what your local ride is like.
Some people bring music. Some people dress up. Sometimes there is a route planned and sometimes there is not. Quite often there is a carnival type atmosphere, which adds to the fun and the visual impact for spectators.
All people on wheels not propelled by motor should feel free to join in, even if your on two feet and ya think ya can keep up, there's no reason why you should miss out on the fun.


The Story Behind the Name

The name "Critical Mass" is taken from Ted White's 1992 documentary film about bicycling, "Return of the Scorcher". In the film, George Bliss describes a typical scene in China, where cyclists often cannot cross intersections because there is automobile cross-traffic and no traffic lights. Slowly, more and more cyclists amass waiting to cross the road, and when there is a sufficient number of them -- a critical mass, as Bliss called it -- they are able to all move together with the force of their numbers to make cross traffic yield while they cross the road.

Critical Mass is a great starting point for asserting our rights, but it is just that, a starting point. More must be done if we are truly hoping to achieve better recognition for cyclists.

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass, http://critical-mass.info/,

PS I feel it's important to note some of the other places where Critical Mass built up momentum. Firstly, I found out that there were similar type cycles happening in Stockholm in the seventies. China, obviously where there is a necessity for cyclist to build up a critical mass just to cross intersections. A suggestion that similar cycles were starting to happen, before or at the same time as the one in San Francisco and of course credit to every single individual who has taken part in any of the Critical Mass' which have happened and continue to happen.