Kidical Mass Reading
We had a very sunny ride today, which was part of the Community Festival at the Reading University campus. There were about 40 of us at the beginning, but we recruited a few more on the way and ended up being 50. We also had a surprise guest you may well recognise on the pictures!
Save the dates for our next Kidical Mass events, in Reading and Wokingham. No need to book: just turn up and enjoy a safe, family-friendly, joyful ride with us.
Circular ride from the Maiden Erlegh Nature Reserve (Beech Lane) as part of the Earley Green Fair
Circular ride from the Reading Cycle Festival on Christchurch Meadow
Circular ride from Tutu’s in Palmer Park (RG6 1LF)
Circular ride from Stables Café (RG2 9QT)
Circular ride from the Reading Cycling Festival, with around 90 happy riders — probably our most popular ride so far!
How many bikes can you count?
I’ve got a couple of bikes. For a long time I used to ride a Charge fixed gear bike I bought on eBay, but as my commute has changed (and my fitness has declined!) and includes more hills I’ve invested in a geared touring bike.
When the kids were very little I used a Burley Bee cycle chariot and a front seat to take them both to nursery, but as they’ve got older and we live near their school I no longer have that set up. It’s a shame as they used to enjoy the journey and it was very satisfying cycling pass the cars going nowhere in the rush hour traffic jam on the Reading road, and the slightly unorthodox set up was always a talking point with parents in the car park.
I use a bike to commute to work and for local journeys. As both myself and my wife work, this allows us to only own one car, which is a big plus given that we don’t have any off road parking at home.
The kids cycle, although we live within a short walk of their school and so don’t need the bikes on a day-to-day basis.
I started cycle commuting (and subsequently got more into cycling) when I moved to Reading in 2010 and have been a member of the Reading cycle campaign (RCC) since then. A few years later we moved to Wokingham and I got involved with the Wokingham Active Travel Campaign (WATCH).
It was at a RCC meeting that I heard Kat talk about Kidical Mass and how she wanted to set it up locally, I was really impressed with her drive and enthusiasm and the idea of Kidical Mass, as a way of getting a broader cross section of people (beyond the Lycra MAMILs) out on bikes and so got her details. I helped marshal some of the early Reading rides and really enjoyed the fun and support that can sometimes be absent at cycling events (not all!) I have attended in the past.
WATCH had been looking for a cycle event we could put on in Wokingham and after chatting with Kat, we agreed that we would run a Wokingham ride every other month under the Reading (and Wokingham) Kidical Mass umbrella.
I am one of the organisers of the Wokingham KM events and try and help out with many of the Reading events as I can get to.
Ride in the Reading Campus, for the University of Reading community festival – very well attended with 50 people at the start, and no rain!
