Photo: @martynschmoll/Twitter.

Multitudes of Vancouver locals showed up for the Critical Mass bike ride on May 26 to object the removal of the Stanley Park bike lane.

Hundreds of Vancouver locals showed up for a bike ride to object to the removal of the Stanley Park bike lane Friday.

Critical Mass bike rides take place on the last Friday of every month and the May 26 event saw a large turnout.

Earlier this week, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation office was vandalized with cyclist graffiti that poked fun at the divisive temporary bike lane, which was installed along Stanley Park Drive in 2021 to allow social distancing between cyclists and other park-goers.

Vancouverites who support the bike lane have previously organized protests to keep it in place.  

Despite local outcry, the Park Board voted on Feb. 13 to return most of Stanley Park Drive to pre-pandemic two-lane vehicle traffic, which means removing the bike lane almost entirely.

"We are outraged, upset, and completely disillusioned," says Critical Mass in an email. "[Critical Mass] is the only means for cyclists and proponents of alternative transportation and less car access in the city to support their wishes for a greener [and] cleaner city."  

"We are not blocking traffic; we are traffic!"

The Friday evening bike ride saw a "couple hundred people" including families, kids, and pups, said one attendee on Twitter.

The group was also addressed by Park Board Commissioner Thomas Digby before they set off.

The Critical Mass ride was seen taking up more space on the road than the designated lanes for cyclists as they travelled to Stanley Park to ride the now removed bike lane.