Edinburgh Critical Mass Ride May 2024 | @edcriticalmass

Join me on an Edinburgh Critical Mass bike ride, riding to reclaim the streets for safer and better cycling.

Hopefully the song ‘Our Streets’ by Dan Abrahams has been sufficiently muted by my voiceover to avoid a YT copyright strike! I strongly recommend that you check it out on his YT channel where it accompanies a video recorded on an Edinburgh Critical Mass ride about a year ago:

I was brought up in Edinburgh, learnt to cycle on the city’s streets. I cycled to school, cycled with my mates and cycled on errands to earn pocket money that I used to buy bike parts! Back then no-one batted an eyelid at a kid riding a bike. Motor vehicle drivers shared the road and showed respect to all other road users. Today, cars are 25+% bigger, twice the weight and faster. Today’s drivers are impatient, aggressive, self-entitled and want all of the streets for themselves.

I join these rides to protest for a cleaner, healthier and safer future for today’s and tomorrow’s children that they might discover the freedom, independence and enjoyment in the simple act of riding a bike.

well I didn’t ra record an intro to this that was my my mistake I was in too much of a rush so I’m actually on the way back here but uh I’ll put this we slot in at the very beginning uh by way of an introduction I’m on my way into Edinburgh for the May CR Edinburgh critical mass bike ride so uh it’s always a bit of fun a lot of banging music going on so I’m not sure how I’ll get on with YouTube and uh uh copyright issues but we’ll see how it goes so uh stick with me and enjoy the ride thanks Edinburgh critical mass rides every month on the last Saturday of the month uh starting at 2:00 p.m. from middle Meadow Walk in the center of the city I’m just pushing it to get there on time today that hopefully I’ll make it I’m expecting to get there just on two I’m hoping to avoid any YouTube copyright strikes I’ve picked out just one tune from those that are played from the sound the the playlist uh there’s a there’s a sound system leads the ride and there’s usually a second sound system further back down on the ride the tune that’s playing in the background is the one that I’m just keeping going through the through the video it’s a tune that was created specifically for uh a video which was recorded about a year ago with the Edinburgh critical mass ride uh it’s a song called our streets by Dan Abrams and I would uh recommend a good listen to it and a watch of the video so I’m going to put a link to that uh up in the corner and uh in the description down below wasn’t a bad turnout for a Saturday of a bank holiday weekend in Edinburgh and uh unusually the Sun was shining so we headed off from The Meadows down to to cross and then on to Fountain Bridge and heading on down from Fountain Bridge through slateford to Chesser down to S uh s Mains Park where we stopped for a for a breather just a we bit of a a we bit of a chat and just Pleasant time anybody’s welcome to join the ride and bring along your bike doesn’t matter what the bike’s like we go at a slow pace uh I noticed on this ride and I think I’ve seen it in other rides there’s a a mechanic from the bike station uh doing Dr bike setups so no worries if you break down the last few rides I’ve been on there have been leaflets and uh if you can get a hold of a few leaflets and you feel up to hand them out to folk as we pass by or to the driver who we hold up at Junctions to let the mass ride through from s Mains Park we headed back on to towards Koren turning off through the residential streets of ball green to join kisten Road at murrayfield where we uh slowed down the traffic as we pass down through roseburn and along the the route of the city center West East link um towards West End the CC W has only just been uh finished for this part of it it’s taken 10 years to install and it’s not yet fully finished got through to the West End and around Charlotte Square where we passed the front door of but house the official residence of the first minister of Scotland before heading back down to princes Street and Lan road back up to tol cross then a long Melville Drive still handing out leaflets and back into the medows uh where we finish up to a we bit of a party with the tunes so it’s a good ride today and uh if you followed it this far thanks for thanks for riding with it I’m down to 1% battery I think so this may go beep any second now uh I was in such a rush this morning that I completely forgot to record an intro and then I forgot to record an outro and then when I did get there uh and at the end of the ride too I forgot to record the the sort of announcements at the start and end of the critical mass ride um which is a bit of a bummer cuz that puts some context into what I was doing today but uh i’ hopefully recorded some of the ride and uh got some something I just left it too late to ride into Edinburgh from Livingston and uh I’d reckoned I had enough time to take the van into the englon park and ride and uh riding from there and I only just made it I think I got there it started the The Ride started at 2 and I got there at 1 minute past 2 so uh yeah that was it so I’ve uh stopped in gu park on the way home uh train going past um I’ve maybe got another 15 20 minutes to to get back to the van uh so I thought I’d just make a we mention here um but it’s been a good day I’ve enjoyed the ride uh a lot of fun a lot of uh chat a lot of uh banging music and uh another protest raised in Edinburgh for uh better cycling facilities and streets for cycling so if you’ve followed the the video which I haven’t yet edit eded or even know what’s there to be edited if you followed it to the very end thanks for riding with me and uh ride with me again lost and living [Music] [Music] to [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]