Go cyclists!

I attended the protest ride over Blackfriar's Bridge tonight with the Critical Mass. I wasn't on the first slow cycle across the bridge with the London Cycling Campaign (LCC). (You may have seen that protest on the news, since that BBC and ITV covered it on their programmes. Clips of it are on ibikelondon's page here.) Instead I waited with Fred by Waterloo Bridge awaiting the Critical Mass. At first there were only one or two cyclists, then more and more began to arrive. Around 7pm, hundreds of LCC cyclists appeared. We joined them and rode to Blackfriars. I was extremely impressed by the Critical Mass cyclists and the way they efficiently and swiftly blocked the oncoming traffic. There were quite a few angry words exchanged, but these vehicles were outnumbered by up to 1,000 cyclists of all ages and abilities, and on all manner of bicycles (I spied two penny farthings and at least two unicyclists). What a buzz!

Once on Blackfriar's, we cycled very slowly across the bridge, making our point. If you missed the reason of the protest, here's what it's about:
- Blackfriar's protest
- Injured cyclist supports 20mph speed limit This was filmed to support the LCC campaign to lobby the London Assembly to keep the 20mph speed limit. This campaign worked, but it seems that the London Assembly can't make TfL change its plans, which is worrying.

There's another go-slow ride across the bridge planned for 8.15 on Monday morning.

After cycling across the bridge, the protest became purely Critical Mass. This gathering of cyclists happens once a month, but I'd never been on one before. I'm now hooked - it was one of the most amazing, fun and empowering experiences I've ever had in London. We followed the joyful procession for three hours cycling north to east London, then through the city, west down Holborn and Oxford Street, and finally down Regent's Street to Piccadilly, where we lifted our bicycles above our heads in celebration of reclaiming the streets.

All the while, our carnival of bicycles (for it felt like a real celebration of pedal power) drew mostly smiles, waves and incredulous looks from the people on pavements, in pubs or looking out of windows. At one point a cyclist with speaker system joined us and we cycled with sounds. We took turns blocking incoming traffic and each time a large junction was blocked successfully, everyone rang their bells and whooped. At the large, horrible-for-cyclists gyratory systems, we relished the freedom by cycling around the roundabout at least three times. If the motorists beeped their horns, we rang our bells and made far more noise than they did. I noticed a police motorbike at one point, but the officer just observed and let us carry on. If emergency vehicles needed to come through, we parted swiftly. If a chancer vehicle tried to break through after the ambulance, that vehicle was impounded immediately by the Critical Mass until all cyclists had passed through safely. The Mass was about 15 minutes' long from first cyclist to last.

I've been converted to the Critical Mass. Onwards to the August meet. I will endeavor to find battery-powered fairy lights for my bicycle or a real sausage dog in a rucksack (yes, I saw his head bobbing about in front of me at one point!)