Mayday saw the re-launch of critical mass in Caerdydd, around 20 or so cyclists gathered on Sunday afternoon for a procession through town. The atmosphere was one of calm and peace as the largely traffic free Sunday streets chimed with the sounds of cyclists bells.

Critical Mass, for those who haven’t heard of it is a global cyclists protest movement with the intention of highlighting the issue of transport and destructive car culture by flooding the streets with bikes, reminding people of what a car free city could look like. Here in Caerdydd, in common with many UK cities, cyclists suffer from a complete disregard when it comes to street planning and transport provision. Why so is a bit of a mystery, as in terms of the amount of money already spent on the roads it shouldn’t really cost that much to build a proper city wide cycle-route network. Safe cycling routes would open up for many more people access to a cheap, smog-free, healthy and quick way to move around the city, it would also help fulfil our local obligations to reducing global carbon emissions (as transport is the main source of CO2 in this country).

In countries such as Denmark, where cycling is considered integral to transport policy, safe cycle routes have been proven to reduce smog, reduce traffic, and encourage many more people to cycle. So why shouldn’t we follow their example here? Its not rocket science yet as far as I know none of our local politicians or civil servants has the will or the power to see this happen. This is where Critical Mass comes in, by raising our voices (and ringing our bells), we can demonstrate the demand and force the issue onto the agenda, peacefully and pro-actively reclaiming the streets from the automobile (even if it is only for an hour), while having a bit of a laugh at the same time.