When we read a piece by Mikael Colville-Andersen on Critical Mass on the Cycleliciousness blog we just had to ask if he would let us reprint it in the pages of cc. Fortunately for us he said yes.

Let's get one thing straight. While we're not banner-waving activists, we think activism is fantastic. We're all for it, especially the activism towards creating bike culture like we have in Copenhagen in other cities in the world.

We just feel the need to play devil's advocate regarding the Critical Mass movement.

It's a brilliant concept. Democratic to the core. Celebrations, even. Even if there are only a couple of dozen cyclists. Although we would love to ride in Budapest, with tens of thousands of other bikes. That would be a rush.

We also think that movements like the Naked Bike Ride protests tackle important issues with humour.

We despise the exaggerated crackdowns by police in various cities, but we're not too thrilled about those participatnts who are aggressive towards motorists. Democracy becomes anarchy. We don't fancy much the elitist attitude of many in the environmental activist movement either. Those who look down their nose at motorists.

We figure that the point of Critical Mass is to profile the need for bike culture and all the enviromental plusses inherent in it. A good thing. Therefore one of the primary goals is to get more people to ride their bikes. For whatever reason: sustainability, oil-dependence reduction, better health for fellow citizens.

If so, does Critical Mass work? We don't know. 15 years on and are there any cities that have made massive gains towards a bike culture similar to many European cities?