From the list http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/cm-london :

Pasted from alternative forum which not all here have access to but some may be interested in :

“Admin note: It’s has been brought to our attention that there has been a couple of incidents of bike thefts, and phones being snatched out of the general public hands on the past couple of Masses.

Whilst theft, as well as crimes of other sorts are “part and parcel of living in a big city”, this is still an upsetting thing to hear about. I shouldn’t have to write this post, but I feel it’s important to inform and change.

For many years, I have been (allegedly) going to Mass. Change happens. Mass is not the same beast as it was, nor shall it remain this way for long either.

No one is responsible for anyone else’s actions but their own on Mass, but as individuals we can make choices that negatively or positively influence the experiences of others. There is safety in numbers, which is why I feel safe coming on Mass throughout my time of doing so.

Report from the list http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/cm-london :

This was my first Mass, and I loved it!
Looking forward to the next one, already blocked on my calendar.
I discovered a few secret London corners, great itinerary.
I would prefer for the group to stay more compact, many people were straddling and got lost, which is a shame.
I’m in two minds about the red-light jumping. I’m ok from a safety/legal perspective, but I don’t want to give “cyclists” a bad name. In terms of advocacy, if someone’s considering taking on cycling and they see us, some may say “cool”, but many others will think, “how dangerous/reckless” etc.In any case, sometimes I got the impression that we were going a bit out of our way to piss motorists off by blocking traffic unnecessarily. It ties back to staying more compact.
Finally, I’d appreciate leaving on time.
Anyway, overall very happy to have joined the group! Oh, and thanks for insisting on not using Facebook, haha!

Itinerary: Southbank, police, Waterloo bridge, Kingsway, High Holborn(?), Trafalgar Square, The Mall, Constitution Hill, Piccadilly, Haymarket(?), Trafalgar Square, police, Strand, Waterloo Bridge, York Road, Leake Street (graffiti tunnel), police, The Cut, Southwark Station, Quietway 14, Southwawrk Bridge, Upper Thames Street, party split Old Billingsgate riverside/Tower of London entrance (maybe more).

Some reports from Face Book

It was a great night for a ride around London.

It seems that some police presence at SouthBank led to a very early start, so there were loads of people looking for mass after it had left.

Police was there right on time for 7pm so everyone made a very quick run. I don’t think a mass ever started so early.

If you want a better report, posts yours to londoncriticalmass@riseup.net or to the list http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/cm-london

Opinions….

Critical Mass was never about blocking the streets but being a part of the streets. The norm is usually to cycle around non stop at a leisurely pace so everyone could stay together.

There was No one Here (South Bank) at 18:36. Empty

Albert & Hick did the mass, Pro forma, a loop of the bridge, across the bridge and back again.

There was one very awkward man waiting for friends who said they would be going on a private ride. And another two people hiding next to the railway line. The usual kind of townies who hide in the middle of the mass.

The locals you’d expect to see weren’t there.

The ‘private ride’ might have set off later. But mass occurred on schedule and in accordance with the law (as it happens).

To add to the info … I was there earlier; at 6.30, with no other takers,
and given it was (I was) chilly, I set off on a solo ride around SE1. Then I
returned to the NFT and – as already reported – then there were two of us.

So there were at least two mini-CMs – a solo and a double [yes, let’s call
that one the “real” one]. And perhaps the other several people still there
when I left again at 7.15, soon after Hickster had headed off, went on some
sort of ride too….

All in all, a rather smaller turn-out than the smallest Christmas Day London CM ride in the past – and that one was with added snow…

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Given it was a dark winter night, and there were continuing restrictions on
people moving around to a normal extent, it was good to see what must have
been more than 100 cyclists around the NFT area. That was the good news.

However … as seems inevitable these days, the ride didn’t move off until
7.30 or later. Frankly, if I’ve been standing around getting chilled for an
hour or more, after an already tiring day, I’m really not up for hanging
around that long to get moving. Since it set off just as I was about to give
up, I joined in – though for less than half an hour. It was mostly uneventful
for the first stretch – and went over the bridge, and headed north up to
Holborn and on northwards.

It was uneventful, that is, except for the number of (mostly young and
male, as it happens) cyclists doing wheelies into oncoming traffic on bikes
with no lights. That also didn’t encourage me to stick with the ride for
long. (Sorry if I sound like Mr grumpy.)

I’d be interested to know what happened subsequently on that ride…

Critical Mass has no leaders and no one is entitled to make any announcement on its behalf. If there ever is any, the correct response to such an announcement would be for people to ignore it and make up their own minds.

We loved the London Critical Mass ride. It’s definitely one for every cyclists calendar!

We left from Waterloo and went around the city. It was great!

If you want a better report, posts yours to londoncriticalmass@riseup.net or to the list http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/cm-london

Critical Mass has no leaders and no one is entitled to make any announcement on its behalf. If there ever is any, the correct response to such an announcement would be for people to ignore it and make up their own minds.

We loved the London Critical Mass ride. It’s definitely one for every cyclists calendar!

We left from Waterloo and went around the city. It was great!

If you want a better report, posts yours to londoncriticalmass@riseup.net or to the list http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/cm-london

Critical Mass has no leaders and no one is entitled to make any announcement on its behalf. If there ever is any, the correct response to such an announcement would be for people to ignore it and make up their own minds.

We loved the London Critical Mass ride. It’s definitely one for every cyclists calendar!

We left from Waterloo and went around the city. It was great!

If you want a better report, posts yours to londoncriticalmass@riseup.net or to the list http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/cm-london