Critical Mass :: 11th Birthday Ride (Nov 24)

[valuetime]

precisely the kind of attitude that enrages drivers and in turn, cyclists. no one owns the road. what you're saying is like getting bent way out of shape when you see a tram, or a couple of buses. and it's not like the quality of driving in this town commands any sort of respect.

but, like everything, it works both ways. the other week i was walking to my car in gridlock on brunswick st when this cyclist came from behind my line of sight at about 40km/h. i almost opened my door into this woman who braked and muttered "ya cunt" before riding off. i told her to watch where the fuck she was going. honestly, just because there's a white line with a little bicycle painted on it, doesn't mean you can bomb a hill like fucking evel knievel...

[lynt]

True, I was almost run over by a cyclist on Chapel St the other day. It was a red light and I was crossing the road after the green man said it was cool. He continued to ride through the red light. He just missed me, and then he apologised prefusely.

[Polecat]

I saw Lucas go past on Friday's ride while I was having my dinner on Lygon St. The people around me were all very interested in why all the riders were there, and the riders all seemed to be very happy and enjoying their evening cruise.

[ctoafn_DMZ]

Cyclists pay taxes, too, you know.

Yeah but they are the same taxes the same car drivers pay as well. I reckon that people that pay the thousands of dollars premium running a car over buying and running a bike should be given first priority to the roads IMO

[mrj]

Cyclists pay taxes, too, you know.

Yeah but they are the same taxes the same car drivers pay as well. I reckon that people that pay the thousands of dollars premium running a car over buying and running a bike should be given first priority to the roads IMO

See Valuetimes statement for why this argument doesn't make sense.

[lucas]

I find it really rude how a bunch of people like Crticial Mass can hi-jack the road from roadusers who pay registration and a stupid amount of taxes when they fill up their car. In my eyes, they are only doing it to be a pain to all other road users.

Actually, petrol/oil is way too cheap. I think I've posted this before, but consider the following:

It's hard to find.
It's hard to refine.
It's non-renewable.
It's bad for your car.
It's bad for the environment.
It's bad for your health.
Many thousands of deaths of have been caused as a result of oil conflict.
Yet, this stuff is still cheaper than milk?

Alternative transportation and sustainable living is really important and needs as much attention as it can get. The delay that Critical Mass causes to traffic is actually really minimal if you consider how clogged the CBD would be if all the participants drove their cars to work instead.

Negfore you jump on me, in a perfect world, everyone would ride a bike (or drive cars that do not pollute the atmosphere, but this is not always possible. PT is most areas is non existant or if its there, rubbish. And if you are like a lot of people, who want to purchase their own property (or keep rent cheap) and are forced to live out in some 'woop woop' suburb which is too far to ride to and from work - cause this property boom has pretty much forced them too - driving a car is the only option.

Driving a car is definitely not the only option for most people. Cars have become a culture in our city and for a lot of people that drive to work each day there actually are other -reasonable- forms of transport they could use.

Poor planning and facilities are probably to blame if you don't have PT within a reasonable distance to you. And this is one of the things that Critical Mass is trying to raise awareness for.

Getting a stupidly large bunch of people together and causing mayhen for people simply trying to get home is disrespectful and rude. Its the people in the cars paying for the roads and infrastructure through their taxes. Its not their fault there are not enough bike lanes or whatever people do the critical mass for. Its the government and bullying the general public into believing your beliefs by inconviencing them is somewhat questionable, dont you think?

It's not -just- about bike lanes. Perhaps you should find out what Critical Mass is about (first post in this thread will give you some ideas)? Again, if you feel inconvenienced by Critical Mass you should consider what the traffic would be like in the city if the participants drove a car to work instead.

Demonstrating in the streets is not something that's unique to Critical Mass. All sorts of protest and lobby groups bring attention to their cause by occupying the streets for much a much longer time than Critical Mass does.

And as has been pointed out before, cyclists pay taxes too. Cars pay a premium because of the damage drivers are causing to the environment and themselves. Seems logical to me.

And I'm not gunna even get started on the stupid cyclists who nearly meet the front of my car driving to work along the beach every morning. Although I will say one thing. Why do all those wankers that ride down by the beach wear full lycra bike riding gear. None of them probably ride professionally but do they like to think they do if they wear the clothing??? Old men and lycra do not mix....................

I presume you're talking about Beach Road. For the record these cyclists are a minority and almost none of them attend Critical Mass. In their defense bicycles -are- traffic too and they have as much right to the road as you do. The fact that they wear clothes that you don't find visually pleasing is not their fault.