First CM I've been on for nearly two years. Weather was too nice not too. V

good natured on the whole, loved the purple sound system guy, great tunes.

Saw a bit of aggro on Park Lane near the back of the ride, some *** and his

chave girlfriend got out the car and the girl pushed another girl on a bike a

couple of times. Police went over to have a word and it was all defused.

Then wat happened on Picadilly shortly after? Everyone stopped, occupied both

sides of the road (grrr, never liked this) and there was a red met police car

right in the thick of it.

I abandoned the ride at Trafalgar Square, normal bike is out of action so stuck

on a Boris bike last night, and didn't fancy incurring the hourly rate shooting

up.

Going till 11 though judging by the map - that's fab! Even 'back in the day'

can't remember staying out that late.

Will definitely not be leaving it so long next time. Might even try and

persist when it gets cold ;)

Brock

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> First CM I've been on for nearly two years. Weather was too nice not too. V

> good natured on the whole, loved the purple sound system guy, great tunes.

>

> Saw a bit of aggro on Park Lane near the back of the ride, some *** and his

> chave girlfriend got out the car and the girl pushed another girl on a bike a

> couple of times. Police went over to have a word and it was all defused.

Not quite. The woman who was pushed off her bike (@Laura_Scott on

Twitter) tried to report the assault to the cops present, they ignored

her request. When people demanded the cops' collar numbers they

refused and *ran* back to their car. The photos I took of both cars

can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63618030@N05/

Rikki from Indymedia says he filmed this incident (@indyrikki on Twitter)*

> Then wat happened on Picadilly shortly after? Everyone stopped, occupied both

> sides of the road (grrr, never liked this) and there was a red met police car

> right in the thick of it.

I got to this one just before the cops got back in their car, I

photographed one of them & got both their collar numbers. I spoke to a

witness a few minutes after the event & he described what he saw: A

cyclist was on the wrong side of the road so one of the cops (D122 I

assume) 'bodyslammed' him to the ground and then continued to hit him

as he lay there. The witness was very upset and likened it to the

Rodney King beating of 1991.

The other cop's number was D740. They are with the Diplomatic

Protection Group & their car number was BX09 ATU. D122's name tag was

partially visible under his stab vest & read 'TABLE NBULL' which I'm

guessing means Constable Turnbull. I also noticed he had a

semi-automatic pistol on his belt..

I'll put the photos from this incident online shortly, use the same

link as before..

HTH

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it was all far too aggressive, towards the end it got horribly dangerous with

people strung out down the road. I felt sick with worry with car drivers and

riders wound up and cars charging at riders. It was horrible. The end of the

ride can be terribly dangerous. I never want to be in that situation again, I

still feel sick just sitting here, I thought someone would get killed, it

seemed inevitable with people up ahead sitting ducks to dangerous drivers

breaking through and charging at riders to get out of the way, and those riders

not realising the dangers behind them.

I don't think I can do CM again for a while, too traumatic. But for those of

you who are there at the end, please, stay safe and try to be aware when the

mass has broken down

Hicks

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* i filmed cops ignoring you report assault. witnessed cop calling all cyclists a bunch of "pests", + cop car veering into bikes

Rikki