November 30, 2007
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Critical Mass Harbour Bridge ride!
I've been out a lot this month (what a surprise... I used to be the one who never goes anywhere xD), but this has to be the biggest event in November. It's Critical Mass's annual ride across the Sydney Harbour Bridge... on the road! Now, I cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge regularly, but of course I normally ride on the cycleway on the side. How exciting to ride on the main road instead!
I'm so glad that there wasn't any rain during the trip. It actually
rained a little when I headed out to the city earlier today, but the
weather was fine by the time I got to Hyde Park. I actually arrived
early, and a random person (without a bike) asked me where I came
from. Is that a
standard greeting here? I mean, I would consider that an odd thing to suddenly say to a stranger.Anyway, the person went away and soon I saw other cyclists.
The trip started with everyone gathering around the Archibald Fountain. It's great to see so many people with their bikes!
Someone has a really impressive bike there. Look at the bubbles coming from the back! (That's an interesting use for a bubble blower...) I wonder how many photos he posed for today.
At events like this, it always seems as if everyone else knows someone there and I'm the only one who doesn't know anyone else. Well, it's a good chance to make new friends. Yay for braided hair!
That's nice, a pink skirt with a pink bike to match!
Now, off we go through the city... We started by circling around the fountain a few times before leaving Hyde Park. I thought we were just going to head straight for the bridge, but soon it was pretty obvious that we were going south. Many others asked why we were going that way, and someone said "because it's fun". Well, I agree! How often do we get to ride through the city in a whole crowd? We didn't even have to stop at red lights! We didn't have to be afraid of the car drivers who told us to get off the road! In fact, many of the participants told the car drivers to get off the road. xD I can't speak for anyone else, but I've had enough of car drivers telling me to get off the road! (I especially hate the ones who do so while on the other side of the road.) What a perfect opportunity to get even... xD
The main aim of this trip was to ride across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and after a tour around the city, here we are, heading towards the bridge.
Here's a view of the bridge itself from the bridge. I couldn't see them at the time, but there were some bridge climbers up there. I joined in when everyone else waved at them anyway. Well, aren't they lucky, a once-a-year special view! xD
Well, I'm pretty sure this is meant to make people look (maybe to taunt the car drivers?), but whatever the reason is, it's interesting to see everyone lifting up their bikes. YAY for our bikes!
After stopping on the bridge to randomly lift up our bikes and wave at people, we continued to the other side of the bridge, and there we were at North Sydney, going up Pacific Highway. What a familiar place! The slope that I normally struggle to climb was much easier today. We then turned towards our destination at Miller Street. Someone decided to stop to taunt the car drivers. xD It must be a bad day for those who were driving through the city or North Sydney today!
We have finally reached our destination at Civic Park, North Sydney. What a nice trip!
