One person was arrested after the mass today... the cops surrounded us in elephant, started being aggressive and arrested one person...

We were just arriving in elephant and castle and the coppers sent at least 4 police cars to welcome us at the elephant roundabout.

After one round of the roundabout we all stopped in the green area and we had a 1 min commemoration about one cyclist killed in the roundabout.

soon after the police come and surround us ... there are about 15/20 cops... one person probably pissing on the grass has been told off by the police...

the person reply with bad words... he does not speak english well... being from netherland...

end of the story police start getting violent, other people try to help... coppers take him away...

THERE WERE NO REASON TO COME AND HARASS PEOPLE DOWN AT THE END OF THE MASS WHEN WE WERE JUST HAVING GOOD TIME AND BEING PEACEFUL>>> ONCE AGAINST THE POLICE MANAGED TO INSTIGATE VIOLENCE AND REPRESS PEOPLE FREEDOM TO CYCLE...

Coppers F.O.

a masser....

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Not that bad?

been there yesterday, drinking beer in the middle of the roundabout. there were some cops, but looking quite chilled. no violence at all. and the arrested guy... looks like he was asking for that.

inphase

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Not sure about last night !!!!! Yes I enjoyed it but I've had far better rides.

I'll tell it from my angle and I hope others put me right !

Slow start 7.20 before I crossed Waterloo Bridge and I was at the front I tried to get a count at the underpass but the mass was far too streched out hence cars and buses mixing in the mass (This is were I worry ) the corking as always was excellent, but as the weather was great there was a lot of new comers who may not be as aware as you need to be.

my view is we move as a mass and keep as a mass safety in numbers and all that.

I saw three crushed wheels 1 infront of a copper who I thought handled it well ?The my wifes pregnant so I thought it'll be ok to run a cyclist over story didn't work, another incident with a cabby who got wound up and started to turn violent but others moved in and he thought twice about it. you might be sitting there thinking good ! but the fact is he shouldn't have been able to filter into the mass in the first place and when he saw a gap he just floored it in a blind panic very very close to other riders.

Back to the wheel crushings we must all take extra care near the corked spots yes it good fun but a crushed wheel is about 13" away from a cruhed rider and nobody wants to see that. When I pass a corked junction I try and ride as close to the corkers as I can so people can see why theres a hold up and if we keep moving they all kow it's only a matter of time before we all pass simple yes ?????

Now to the Elephant if you announce 30 minutes before where your going and what you intend to do over a PA yes you might expect a welcome party when you get there. The community police were told to move everyone off the road "for their own safety" but the real police Knew this wouldn't happen. At this point I was at the entrace to the island space and again I thought the real police handled it well moving three cars to protect riders stopped on the road (corking ) there was another incident with a guy in a grey hoody and a bottle of wine but only threats no arrest, and to be honest if he was arrested well i'd have to say he deserved it.

More hanging around and no riding that seemed to be the order of the night to me, and again if you announce on a PA this is a good place to have a P*SS yes you might get attention from the law they don't all wear that nice blue uniform and wear those big hats you know.

I know it's nice to keep in touch with whats going on, but is the open mike and PA thing one step away from organisation??? for me a couple of sound systems playing music thats good.

All that said it's only my view and i'll still be back next month and to leave you on a good note! The Very Nice lady who sells (not for profit) The "One Less Car" safety vests tells me she's going to list them on ebay under critical mass london

I welcome all your views lets try and keep the London Critical Mass The Very Best, and if poss. be everything to everybody or as close as we can

Yours in Sport.