Critical Mass' bigger brother, Sternfahrt 2011

This past weekend was the annual Sternfahrt bike rally to promote bike awareness on the streets of Berlin (and protest highway expansion). I've ridden in the Critical Mass in Vancouver and it felt big but this was big. The rally had 19 starting points all over the city and as they wound there way along the route they slowly joined together to make one huge train.

This was the view in either direction as far as you can see.

  At one point (above) we came to a halt. I couldn't see why until we got closer to the problem. In the far distance is an over pass for the Autobahn and we were feeding onto it. Unfortunately the on ramp was very narrow so it bottlenecked. The organizers and the police had shut down the highway for bikes to use for a few kilometers. The best part was the tunnel.

The signs are looking good for this ride.

  Amazing sight to see thousands of riders gliding down half of a 6 lane highway tunnel.

Solid bikes in front and behind.

The ultimate goal for all the bikes was Tiergarten and the Brandenburg gate. Loads of vendors, music, drinks etc. It was perfect weather and the crowd was huge. The official count of the number of participants was 150,000. Not too shabby.
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Andy