Critical Mass, the communal bike ride club/society/gang/thing, returns with its monthly outing this evening. And this time there’s a theme: ‘Dress in outrageous 80s clobber or as your fave goonie for a crazy fancy dress ride around our city.’

The ride begins at 6pm outside the Central Library (I caught it heading down Princess Street shortly after last month) and, in a show of solidarity, apparently hundreds of synchronised events will take place around the world.

Here’s a reminder of why Critical Mass exists:

It’s for anyone that rides a bike;
It’s a celebration of getting round the city without polluting it;
It’s about every journey being an adventure instead of just sitting on a
boring bus or in a stressful car;
It’s about cyclists riding together to demand more respect from other road
users;
It’s a way to meet other cyclistas

See their Myspace for more information. And I’ve got more bike-related shenanigans to follow…

Taking the idea behind the Cow Parade and running - or driving - with it, the UK’s first Art Car Parade comes to Manchester in September:

Artists from all over the country have been specially commissioned by Walk the Plank to transform vehicles into mobile artworks, and create an exciting new kind of festival never before seen in the UK.

The UK’s first Art Car Parade will take place in Manchester on Saturday 8th September 2007, followed by the UK’s first Illuminated Art Car Parade in Blackpool for the Festival of Light, part of the Illuminations on Sunday 21st October.

Vehicles will be decorated, sculpted, adorned, illuminated or bejewelled to create “Transports of Delight” in the shape of cars, trucks, bikes and pedal-powered contraptions.

What’s more, the organisers are asking the public to get involved by submitting their own Art Car ideas - see the guidelines here. Winners in four categories - metamorphosis, makeover, Kyoto and people’s choice - will claim �4,000 of prize money.

This one pretty much speaks for itself:

Naked Bike Ride 2007 Manchester

June 8 at 7pm we will be riding naked to protest oil dependency.

We will meet at 6pm at The basement, 24 Lever street, then ride naked through the streets of manchester.

Hope to see you Bare!

Meg Fenwick
Manchester Naked Bike Ride Coordinator

Full details available on World Naked Bike Ride’s Manchester wiki entry. You can also watch a documentary about the event on YouTube and see a few photos of what to expect on June 8 [not quite safe for work].

So I managed to get my hands on a copy of Time Out’s new Manchester Shortlist guide. It’s a 200-page, 4×6.5 paperback, to be published on 5 April. Retail price is �6.99 but Amazon is already listing it for �5.59.

It’s a great product and a refreshingly detailed read. The three ‘itinerary’ features - Manchester: A Secret History, Manchester in… one hour/an afternoon/24 hours, and a Manchester Music Tour - are particularly interesting.

I’ve noticed a couple of typos (inevitable in a book of this size) and a tiny editorial faux pas: the Shopping section, edited by Rags To Bitches‘ Flic Everett, features - you guessed it - Rags To Bitches as its main image. Minor points, really.

Elsewhere, Arts & Leisure Editor Susie Stubbs is formerly of All Saints No Sinners magazine and Sights & Museums Editor Rob Haynes may or may not be Goldblade’s drummer. As predicted, the production team and even Editorial Director Ruth Jarvis are based in London.

I hear Time Out thinks the Shortlist has a shelflife of two years, though they expect to be reissuing it in 12 months. Have a read and let me know what you think.

One of the most popular items on the BBC News site today is a listing of the top 20 hidden tourist gems in the UK.

Filling the Manchester quota is the Mersey Valley, as recommended by Steve Mansfield:

Less than five miles from the centre of Manchester and intertwined with the southern stretch of the M60 orbital motorway, the Mersey Valley is a glorious green ribbon where you can go 10 miles without crossing a single road, and is the home to herons, cormorants, salmon and kingfishers. A very large number of Mancunians don’t even know its there - on second thoughts it’s such a glorious haven maybe I should keep quiet about it.

Taking in Chorlton Water Park, Sale Water Park, Urmston Meadows, Millgate Fields and Ivy Green, the area provides plenty of walking routes and hosts other events, such as bike rides.

Visit the official Mersey Valley site for more information, or the visitors centre in Sale Water Park itself. And check out Flickr for lots of beautiful photographs of the area.