As this is my first time attending Critical Mass, I had no idea what to expect apart from riding 20 km at night time with a half hour break 10 km's into the ride. As we arrived I was surprised to see how festive this event was; people were dressed up in crazy outfits, lights were wrapped around people's bikes, and there was music blaring in the background.
My friends and I prepared our bikes and put green paint on each other. As I didn't have anything that looked the part of Critical Mass, my friend Matt was kind enough to give me lights to wrap around me, making me look like a bright Christmas tree and thus a part of the festivity. Matt went all out for this event by attaching a massive South African flag with blue lights along the flag pole to his bike as well as having blue lights wrapped all over his bike. Lars was creative in a different manner by wearing an afro wig with lights under his bike helmet and also having lights all over his bike whereas Jenny attached her little mascot chameleon, Pablo, to the front of her bike. The rest of the gang had glow sticks attached to anything they could. After kitting ourselves out for this event, we ride to where the air horn keeps blowing every five or so minutes as it is the meeting point for Critical Mass.
As we approach the corner of DeBeer and Juta Streets where everyone has gathered, I am overwhelmed by how high-spirited Critical Mass really is; bikes, helmets, bike wheels, even the wheel spokes were lit-up by various coloured lights and glow sticks. Hundreds of people of all ages including children have attended this free bike ride. The clock hits 19.15 and we all take off, all trying our best to avoid hitting each other as we are all very close to each other. As this is an unofficial group ride, the city's roads were not closed but to keep us all safe, there were marshals riding ahead, beside us and behind us on their motorbikes, directing the bike and car traffic.
The streets are well lit from the street lights as well as by all the lights from our group. As we turn the corner, we all start getting space to ride freely as we have all determined our own riding pace. I haven't ridden a bike in years so I wobble at lot in the beginning, almost taking out fellow innocent riders due to my terrible steering but I eventually get into it and then weave in and out of the group whilst racing Matt and my other friend Seb.
If I strayed from my group of friends by being a speed junkie, it was always easy to find them again due to Matt having a huge lit-up flag which one can see from a mile away. By cycling next to or behind Matt most of the time, spectators and cyclists cheer as they see the flag fly past them whilst I am blinded by the flag hitting my face a lot of the time and thus causing near cycling accidents. While we ride, we are cheered on by people on the streets who are either clapping, wooing, or cheering for us. To add to this amazing vibe, two people had speakers attached to their small bike trailers so we had music the whole way through the ride.
As we ride along, I passed some teenagers who were showing off their mad skills by riding on only their back wheels a lot of the way which was fun to watch! My legs began to get numb from racing uphill and downhill most of the time, and am relieved to see the cyclists ahead of us stop on the side of the road as we hit the halfway point so that we can grab a bite to eat or visit the various bars surrounding us.
After resting our tired legs and having a few refreshing drinks, we all get onto our bikes, ride around the corner and see what is ahead of us; a long distance incline. Seb and I stick together through this torturous ordeal and use Mat, who is ahead of us, as a motivation to catch up to. What created a challenge was how my bike gears got stuck on the hardest level which thus made me weave along the road from exhaustion, hitting the poor cyclists near me. Although it was a challenge, fellow cyclists saw my struggling and cheered for me as they rode past me which motivated me to get up this intense incline.
We cycled along the Nelson Mandela bridge which was the last landmark on this ride and finale kilometer to the end of this wonderful ride. What I really liked about Critical Mass is how we all stopped now and then to make sure we were still all together and that we haven't lost anyone along the way. The best part of this ride is how we got to see various landmarks and the lit-up buildings in the CBD at night time which was really a beautiful sight. Although Johannesburg is known to be unsafe, this experience was fantastic as we didn't have to worry about the safety aspect due to being in a big group of people and the Marshals looked out for us regarding the cars on the roads.
Overall Critical Mass is definitely a worthwhile experience and I recommend it to anyone who can ride a bike. Those who do not own bikes can hire them (details on are the Critical Mass Facebook page) which gives everyone an opportunity to join this wonderful event.
Extra Information:
The Critical Mass is a movement of which aims to raise awareness about the viability of bicycles as a form of transport with how cyclists have a right to share public space safely and how there is a need for cycling infrastructure.
Critical Mass Joburg aims to bring people back into the city, and to have fun in a group on wheels. This group moves at a comfortable pace and are not separated for safety reasons. As this is a big group, the cyclists ride on the left side of the road, giving cars an opportunity to pass us without anyone being hit and to avoid traffic jams.
To check out the images, visit DO IT NOW Magazine
No comments:
Post a Comment