Mancester April Critical Mass

Friday's Critical Mass in Manchester was short but sweet.  Around fifty cyclists set of from the library at 6:30 with bells and smiles.  They then cycled round the city for an hour and but soon ended up joining the street party in Hulme.

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The riders on the Critical Mass came for many places.  Carol explained why she was interested in Critical Mass as a way of meeting other friendly cyclists, the perception of a bunch of angry bunch of cyclist was not true and she said that although she wasn't political she liked coming back for the interactions.  The ride also has the benefit of raising the profile of cyclists.  It was her 10th ride and she found out about them from i bike mcr when they came to Green Cholton festival.

Catherine has been on six rides and was enjoying today's.  She said it was important that cyclists had a space on the road where they felt safe and enjoyed themselves.  The Critical Mass rides in Manchester often go on for over two hours which is too long for her after work to stay for the whole ride, she also found out about the ride from i bike mcr.

Merlyn is not able to ride a two-wheeled bike but has recently bought a trike and was really enjoying riding in his first Critical Mass.  A few rides ago a driver was agressive to the cyclists and this only made Merlyn feel that it was more important to come on a ride.  He felt safer riding in a mass of cyclists and said it was important to make cycling fun and a viable alternative.  Getting a trike happened at the same time as becoming more active generally for him, such as joining in foodcycle a project distributing waste food.  He found out about a critical mass from an ally cat race run by i bike mcr.