Beirut Critical Mass Bike Rides

October 28, 2009 · Filed under Activism, Bike · Tagged Amsterdam, Beirut, Bike, Canada, Critical Mass, Cycling, Lebanon, Park, Sanayeh, Seattle, Sustainable, Transportation, الدراجة الهوائية

Critical Mass bike rides take place monthly in cities around the world. They are free mass participatory events, with no leaders or fixed agendas. However, the broad aim is to celebrate cycling and sustainable transport, and to give cyclists safety in numbers. The Critical Mass Beirut, Lebanon take place on the last Saturday of every month, The first of which will be this Saturday October 31st. Meeting point in Sanayeh Park at 12pm. Credits: Picture

Sanayeh Park, in Beirut, Lebanon

Update: Success! The 1st Critical Mass started with 3 people, 4 other joined later, for a total of 7 bikers. Hopefully, this number will be increased tenfold after a few months 2 newspapers were there to cover the event: The Dailystar:

Salloum said he had recently traveled to Amsterdam and Seattle, where he was impressed by the provisions made for cyclists. Measures such as separate traffic lights and dedicated bike-only streets created an environment which encouraged people to commute by bicycle. Large municipal parks allow space for people to cycle without any danger from traffic, a problem Salloum sees as the biggest threat to cyclists in Beirut.

… and As-Safir:

الدراجة الهوائية توحد الجميع هنا. رغم أن العدد لا يزال قليلاً. يتحدث الشاب عن الفكرة قائلاً: «اقتبستها من المجموعات التي تعيد تكرارها كل عام في كندا، وفي أميركا. وقررت تجربتها هنا في بيروت، معتبراً الأمر تحدياً. الناس هنا يحبون هذا الأمر، لكنهم يهابونه».

Update March 29, 2010 NowLebanon

…the number of participants is rising – last weekend brought in 25 riders as opposed to October’s run, which drew seven participants in spite of rainfall. “I have no doubt we will soon reach the hundreds, and who knows, maybe one day, we’ll hit a 1,000,” he says, pointing to examples in other cities where participants reached well into the thousands…

Update: Pictures from Facebook:

Biking in Seattle… and in Beirut. Can you see any difference?