By Paul

So, you’re running late and won’t make South Bank before CM sets off, how do you find us?

there’s the Glympse smartphone app. http://glympse.com/

How it works

Some riders use the app to broadcast their position while on the ride.

Anyone else, even without the app, can check where the ride is, or if the ride splits up, hopefully we’ll have Glympse app users on both sides to help bring everyone back together again.

I want to find the mass, what do I need to do?

– go to www.glympse.com/!criticalmasslondon on your phone’s browser. This will show the current position of the riders and direction they’re heading in. You don’t need to install the app to find the mass

– alternately from in the app, go to ‘groups’, and add “!criticalmasslondon” to track within the app

Great! So how can I help?

– the more riders broadcasting their location the easier it is to find the mass, especially when its strung out over a long distance, or in case any of those broadcasting can’t make it one night, or need to leave early.

– to broadcast your location, you’ll need to install the app.

Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glympse.android.glympse

Iphone http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=330316698&mt=8

Windows Phone http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/glympse/ec418e52-b788-e011-986b-78e7d1fa76f8

Blackberry http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/17002

– then at the start of the ride, select “share a glympse with a group” and type in “!criticalmasslondon” for the group name.

FAQ

– this tracking stuff is pretty freaky. I don’t want people following me home

When you start sharing you set for how long you share your location for. After that it turns off. You can also manually disable it if you leave early.

– isn’t this making it easier for the police/TFL to monitor us?

Maybe a tiny bit easier. In reality though, as per the BBC documentary on roads recently, the guys in TFL use a massive network of CCTV cameras to track our position and ‘clean up’ the traffic after we pass through. They have a much better idea of where we are than we do

– So having GPS on constantly and broadcasting your position, that’s got to be a battery killer right?

Yes, unfortunately so. The app does drain your battery if you’re broadcasting. Even if you can only broadcast for an hour or so, it still helps us keep together and be found though! Otherwise, carry a spare battery or a portable battery charger (handy for so many things, available for about £20 on amazon) Also if you’re using a tracking app anyway to map your route, then also using Glympse probably won’t make too much difference to your battery.

– I don’t have a smartphone

ANY phone with an internet browser can use glympse to find the mass. You only need the app if you want to help by sharing your position. Just go to www.glympse.com/!criticalmasslondon on any device with internet access.

– I just don’t like this way of doing it. Is there any other way of finding the mass?

We’ve tried encouraging people to manually post updates on twitter of where we are, but its a bit fiddly stopping to type out tweets every few minutes. But twitter can be a handy backup for finding CM. Search for “cyclists near:london” and if you’re lucky there’ll be tweets or photos from bystanders saying things like “I’ve just seen 1000 cyclists go down Marylebone road, whats going on?”

does it work on PC browswers too

yes, will work on PC browsers too try it now: http://www.glympse.com/!criticalmasslondon