Critical Mass Edinburgh
If you are driving in the city centre on Saturday then do not be alarmed if you meet hundreds of cyclists riding together as one group.
They are a friendly bunch, waving and smiling to all drivers – and they love the ones who peep their horns.
It is a good-natured gathering of cyclists calling out for safer cycling, and takes place every last Saturday of the month, meeting at Middle Meadow Walk, and setting off from there on a different route each month. This week it is going to be the Stockbridge Saunter and The Bike Station will be there from 1pm offering some advice on bike maintenance before the start.
There will be loud music adding to the fun for the cyclists and hopefully also the passers by.
Critical Mass is a worldwide movement which began in San Francisco and it is a way of cycling safely through the city’s streets – there is safety in numbers after all. The group will ride as if they are one vehicle – so marshalls hold back other traffic at junctions until all cyclists pass through. But it does not take too long.
The idea is to highlight that some of the people who take part would not normally cycle that route on their own, and is a call to councils and governments that safe infrastructure is needed.
If you would like to join then get on your bike and meet others at Middle Meadow Walk anytime after 1 and then join the ride which will set off at 2pm.
And in case you think it was last week that was Pedal on Parliament which always goes on the shorter route from Chambers Street to Holyrood.
Beltane
If you have a strong enough constitution to get up onto Calton Hill then Sunday night would be a colourful experience for you. There will be glowing bright fires, the pounding of drums, and a cavalcade of characters emerging onto the hill to bring about the end of the long nights. And it all goes on until the early hours of the morning.
Read more here.
Letter from Scotland
In his pithy look back at the week in politics, John Knox casts his eye at what is happening at Holyrood in his Letter from Scotland.
Local Bike Shop Day
It is Local Bike Shop Day on Saturday when you are encouraged to go and visit your local bike whop which sells you your bikes and looks after them for you – and tell them how much you love them.
It is the one day a year when independent bike shops can come together to celebrate their distinctive culture. It follows Record Store Day only last weekend and is of course an idea born in Brooklyn.
It may be a fledgling day here but there should be some social media action. Follow @LBSDayUK on Twitter.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
