Yesterday's Campaign Against Climate Change critical mass started from Lincoln's Inn Fields mid-morning and followed a convoluted route around central London (High Holborn, Shaftesbury Avenue, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Parliament Square, Horseferry Road, Millbank, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Victoria Station, Park Lane). There were three stops en route: Outside Greenergy, 198 High Holborn – for an agrofuels protest organised by Biofuelswatch. Outside E.On 100 Pall Mall – for a speaker on NO NEW COAL. Outside the Department of Transport – for two speakers on sustainable transport. It ended in Grosvenor Square, to connect with the main Campaign Against Climate Change march.
The critical mass was organised with the friendly assistance of the Metropolitan Police, who obligingly blocked off roads to let the ride proceed. I assume this unusual collusion was related to the fact that the route had been worked out in advance with the Met's co-operation.
It was an exhilarating and empowering ride, in sunshine, under a blue sky.
(Below) First stop, 198 High Holborn.
(Below) Shaftesbury Avenue
(Below) Revolutionary Green...
(Below) Next stop 100 Pall Mall.
(Below) The police cyclists who led the critical mass.
(Below) Coming into Parliament Square from Whitehall.
(Below) Next stop, the Department of Transport.
(Below) Two snaps of Roger Geffen, Campaigns and Policy Manager of the Cyclists Touring Club, making a speech outside the Department of Transport. Find out more about Roger's campaigning here.
(Below) This is the man who wrote about the widespread denial of the significance of climate change, which I quoted yesterday. The legendary transport visionary, Dr Mayer Hillman. He is pointing with his thumb at the evil empire behind him. There’s a Guardian profile of him here and his own website here.
(Below) A poet recited a very funny and entertaining poem about car culture.
(Below) Millbank. You can just see the front of the ride in the distance.
(Below) Vauxhall Bridge Road
(Below) Back to the future... Turning in from Park Lane towards Grosvenor Square.
