The First Cannes Critical Mass took place on Friday, June 25, 2004.
In addition to the hard core cyclists we had the obligatory
protest/boycott/demonstrators (P/B/Ds) in attendance. The French have never seen
a protest they
felt the need to miss for anything short of a hot meal.
We had about 40 riders who met at the beach across from the Carlton Hotel
(used in "To Catch a Thief" with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly) and made our way
along the lower Corniche to Beaulieu-s-M before circling back to Mougins for a
nice welcome of food and well needed refreshments curtesy of the people at the
Musee of the Automobilist.
The museum is a tribute to the early automobilists who brought prosperity and
jobs to the region by allowing more people to enjoy the benefits of the area.
We are in discussion with them to dedicate some space to those cyclists who
also contributed to the job creation and growth. We will get our wish within 12
months I suspect.
It's funny but I found no animosity between cyclists and motorists at all for
the most part. Most seemed perplexed and even amused that there would be any
animosity at all. This leads me to belief that there are only a very few
people who feel the need to spew hate towards those who use other methods of
transportation than what they themselves would choose. The driver who
"deliberately"
runs a cyclist off the road, though very very serious, is of the same mindset
as the cyclist who "hates" cars and feels the need to take out his/her
frustration by inflicting damaging on other people's property. Both of those
groups
are in such a minority that many feel that they should just be regarded as
merely an insignificant deviation from the mainstream and very little else.
Although their actions are of course both dangerous and serious, no one takes
either of those viewpoints with anything other than amusement.
The so called "hatred" of cyclists and the so called "hatred" of motorists
just never materialized until I posed the question, and is certainly not the
norm in this region of the world. Then again "people in America seem to hate
everything, that is why you have guns and start wars" I was told. "It begins at
the cradle, it is your culture." I don't necessarily agree but it is something I
have never thought about to be honest.
One rider did voice the opinion that people should not have the choice of
what car they drove but he was a lone voice who was quickly dismissed as a "Bebe
Petain." Referring, I assume, to Marshal Petain who wanted power over everyone
else and sold out his own countrymen when he collaborated with the Germans
during W.W.II to obtain that power. Undoubtedly this dude will rise to the top
of his National Front party of which he proudly displayed his "button."
On that subject, French politics rivals Chicago for it's amusement value. No
one understood the big deal about Jack Ryan's little "escapade" (with Seven of
Nine !!!) while in Paris anymore than they understood the fuss about Clinton
getting some young intern to blow him while his family was in the other room.
"If his wife and daughter didn't care enough to do anything about it why
should anyone else in your country?" The constant cries of sexual "harassment"
that
is heard all over the USA when someone does something so terrible, like put
up a girlie calendar, is unknown here. And "cat calls" are considered a form of
flattery rather than a form of disrespect. "Why would anyone not want to be
considered attractive to another human" said my friend Sabine, a young student
film maker whose political views make Michael Moore's seem to the right of
Darth Vader's. She was confused, and I offered no explanation of American
behaviour other than people see it as a method of getting a few dollars without
actually working for it. "So being offended is a lucrative business in America,
I
shall move there." I was told.
All P/B/Ds in Europe have the usual and customary anti-American contingent
(part of it is the 35 hour work week that gives people a lot of free time to
engage in those types of activities and part of it is the desire to meet
dateable
members of the opposite sex). Our P/B/Ds consisted of about 15 members from
Le Pens National Front party that joined us with signs that said "GET THE US
OUT OF IRAQ," and "NO HELP FOR MUSLIMS" A spirited discussion broke out when
some of us American Anglos were confronted with the question as to why the US
wants to help those people by building schools, getting rid of a dictator, etc.
"After all, he never killed an American, who cares if he gassed and raped his
own people, you are not the policeman of the world?" Someone even produced an
article about Steppenwolf theater's boss supporting the Iraqi's by encouraging
the arts. "Do your Arts have so much money that they can afford to give it to
other countries?" I said that sentiment in America is changing and people are
fed up with our tax dollars being used to help others and that with a little
luck we should have a Presidential change come November. They seemed pleased.
The anti-Muslim feeling in France is VERY strong (not as strong as the anti
Jewish feeling or anti-African feeling though) and most feel that the US
encourages the Muslims to "rise up" (their words not mine) by creating an
environment
of acceptance for their "radical hate filled beliefs" (again, their words, not
mine). Another question that was posed was "why do you want Muslim women to
drive, there are too many people on the road as it is, let them walk and their
husbands will be happy and maybe not make car bombs," "Since many of them do
not work they would spend their time driving around, why would you want that?"
The people I met from Le Pens party seem to welcome John Kerry as the next
President as he would "get you out of Iraq." "ANYONE BUT BUSH" signs were
prevalent. Funny, I have never seen an anti-Chirac or anti-Schroeder sign in the
US.
People quickly changed the subject when I mentioned THAT minor point, or when
I pointed out about how the French blew up that greenpeace yacht Warrior or
that they letting 12,000 of their own citizens die in last August's heat wave
while everyone was having fun on holiday. They didn't seem to want to discuss
THOSE subjects.... ROFLMAO.
It's funny but I can't make myself understood when trying to order a simple
meal but when it comes to anti-American views everyone suddenly develops the
Queens English as their mother tongue. LOL. I kind of dismiss the anti American
sentiment as more or less a fad or a hobby for most people rather than an
informed viewpoint. They may "say" they don't like our culture but they sure buy
our clothes, food, cars, entertainment, technology, cinema, and just about
every other thing else we can ship to them. Sort of like all the non conformists
dressing alike in identical jeans and black shirts. Cute and amusing but little
else from a practical aspect.
We read with interest the comments on the Supreme Court's ruling about giving
ones name and I have to agree that it's no big deal compared to Europe.... in
France, everyone must carry their proof of residency papers and if you're an
immigrant you must also carry you Passport, VISA, Carte Grist, Drivers
License, and a host of other documents at ALL times too. If you don't have them
you
may go directly to jail, no passing go, no stopping for a baguette. You guys in
the USA have no idea how lucky you have it. France is not exactly a Police
State (that's Monaco 10 km away... or Spain in the other direction) but it's
close. You can see why they just stepped aside and held the doors open as the
Nazi's waltzed in 60 or so years ago. They crave order, at any cost.
Spurred on by the discussions and comments on this list a few of us are
forming an "Immigrants Rights Congress" to put pressure on the Socialists to
give
greater rights to us Anglo's. Our first demand would be for them to provide
translators to anyone who has any dealing with any government employee in any
capacity. The next demand would be to have all official paperwork and all road
signs bilingual (French-English). Someone naively asked "who is going to pay for
this?" I replied "the French taxpayers of course." We were in general
agreement that this was a good idea as long as someone else pays, just like in
America.
In any event it will highlight the plight of non citizens and hopefully
embarrass the powers that be into taking action. Then again, these are people
who
set off nuclear weapons at will and blow up boats without any concern as to
what the rest of the world thinks so we may not be too successful, at first....
The US is viewed as at the forefront of turning every action that someone
does into a victim "rights" issue that demands that the victim be paid vast sums
of money to feel better, so a few of us had the idea to import that quality
for our own use and self benefit. Someone (moi) suggested that old Chicago motto
"Where's Mine" to be the rallying call.
So ... all-in-all the first official ride was a success with cyclists
representing both a strong immigrant presence and a strong nationalist presence.
Everyone respected, though not necessarily agreed with, the other viewpoints
present and there was no animosity towards Asians, blacks, coloured, gays,
straights, rollerbladers, motorists, Catholics, Jews, Hindu's, the poor, the
rich, or
even Segways for that matter - LOL, etc. We were all bound together by the
common love of cycling. The radicals from the right, the radicals from the left,
the middle of the roaders, Socialists, Nationalists, Communists, etc. all rode
together as brothers and sisters, even people who are only children... There
was a moment of peace when we all started the ride that lasted until almost
midnight. There is a lot of tolerance for those who drive and a lot of tolerance
for those who cycle by people doing the other. Everyone seems to be of the
opinion that respect must be given in order to be received and that people
should not go out of their way to antagonize others. The general opinion is that
life is too short to expend energy hating others or their choices. There are
exceptions of course, the radicals in the far right and the radicals in the far
left would give a run for the money to the Bush haters and Clinton haters in
the USA but, thankfully, those people didn't infect our ride. Occasionally those
people have access to a microphone and PA system and the media comes out and
provides them with some air time so they too can have their 15 minutes. I
guess it comes from being in such a densely populated area where everyone HAS to
get along or the whole damn region will implode.
A BIG thanks to the many many people on this list who provided encouragement
and map ideas to get this inaugural ride off the ground. I have great respect
for those who go through the trouble of making maps and route planning. I
really didn't realize how much work this would be.
Next ride will be at the end of September as everyone embarks on holiday
during August and they'll most likely leave the last Friday in July and not
return
until the last Sunday in August so attendance might be non existent.
Cheers and Thanks to All who Helped

Duncan

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