Categories
People

The people behind KM — Kat

What is your current family bike setup?

I have a trailer for wet and cold days, or longer trips and a bike seat on the back of my other bike.

My partner doesn’t really cycle unless with me, so all of our toddler’s set ups are on my bike because he doesn’t feel comfortable enough unless at Kidical Mass rides.

How does cycling fit into your life?

I don’t drive so cycling is my main mode of transport. I don’t cycle for the sake of cycling only very often, more as a way to get to A,B,C and D. But during maternity leave, those commutes would be about 100 miles a week to all our baby classes and seeing friends.

Why did you get involved in Kidical Mass?

I started organising Kidical Masses because my cycling changed: I could no longer weave between traffic in the way I could, B and our trailer were part of traffic. Some junctions we couldn’t fit down the cycle lane to get the stop box.

We’d spent 2 months in hospital when he was born, and I was determined we wouldn’t spend another day there because lack of decent infrastructure put us in unnecessary danger from people driving metal boxes recklessly.

My son deserves a planet that is habitable, he deserves clean air and a healthy and fit Mum. Cycling achieves all of that but feeling unsafe stops so many people from using it as their main form of transport. Kidical Mass helps raise awareness of the need for safe infrastructure which will benefit everyone.

What is your role in Kidical Mass?

I’m one of the organisers and can often be found marshalling a ride while my partner takes our son, and feels safe doing so because I’m there protecting them from people in cars.

Categories
Ride

March 2023 ride

We were very lucky with the weather on today’s ride! It rained the day before, and it rained one hour later… Despite that, about 40 of us showed up, and we enjoyed a nice ride around Wokingham, with many kids wearing big smiles.

A small incident occurred near the end: a pedal fell off from a young girl’s bike! But she pedalled on, and finished under a round of applauses from the rest of the group. She was extremely proud to have shown resilience!

Oh, and this week, we also had a very nice article in Wokingham.today with an interview from Kat explaining the goals and ideas of our Kidical Mass rides.

See you in the next one, and ride safely! 🚲