a crowd of nearly 100 critical massers (1) set off from bank with the usual police outriders and a couple of vans following on behind at about 9 am this morning. the crowd included a small mobile samba band (2). they rode through the city and headed east along the commercial road (3), managing to reclaim the whole of the eastbound carriageway with little interference from the police. there was a carnival atmosphere and plenty of space for stunts (4)(5). as well as the samba (which was admittedly quite scrappy at times, but full of good intent) the was a mobile sound system providing the entertainment and informing the locals of the purpose of the ride (6). among the riders were some zombies (7), which must have been a bit scary for schoolboy 'charlie' (8) who was riding with the cops on work experience.

at the canning town roundabout, the procession noticed someone being stopped and searched by police (9), so the samba band surrounded the cop van after circling the roundabout. as the mass was split, this caused serious disruption at the roundabout while police waited for the protesters to group together again.

next, the ride went through some local back streets (10), and leaflets were handed out, and people came out to dance along to the sounds and in general give the crowd a good reception. as price regent dlr came into view, the extent of the police operation came into view, with many cops on the bridge, but the real concentration was of course at custom house, which was one of the main entrances to excel itself, and directly opposite the hotel where many delegates were staying. here, for the first time, cops got a bit lairy, forcing the mass onto one side of the road (11), sometimes with pointless and unnecessary force. the station itself was crawling with cops and surveillance.

with the mass stationary and hemmed in (12), the samba band got into full swing, and delegates were shamed as they entered the station from the hotel, and protesters being ejected from within were cheered. motley characters in the 'designated protest zone' provided light relief (13).

after a while, the mass moved out from its cordon and went to the local 'garden cafe' for refreshments and nutrition. big up the people who ran this caf (14), part of a christian mission and providing excellent food on a donation basis all day - and all with a great vibe and a smile, and an excellent window dressing (15).

suitably refreshed, the mass set off again, but they came across a police block at the silvertown way (16). it turned out the reason for this was because several protesters were locked on to a concrete and metal weight in the silvertown road at the start of the flyover, and police were trying to release them with angle grinder equipment (17).

after some negotiation, police allowed the riders through on the basis that they keep moving (18), but they stopped for a while in solidarity with the locked on protesters (19), the samba band played it loud, and the police had a hard time and started pushing and shoving to try and clear the road (20).

in the next report, follow the ride through the square dancing on the bridge, banner flying outside the excel centre, and a swim in the royal albert dock!!