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.
We had a very nice ride in Caversham today. We picked a circular route this time, to make it easier to organise. Well done to all the 40 people who joined!
The weather was quite wet in the morning (as in: pouring rain ⛆⛆). Despite that, there were about 25 of us to enjoy a relatively dry ride in Wokingham.
More news soon, but first here are a few pictures!
We had a lovely ride in freezing temperature, but with a wonderful sunshine and an unexpected guest! Santa is definitely not too old to ride a bike… but he still enjoyed leading the ride carried in a cargo bike.
Kidical Mass was back in Wokingham this weekend, with over 50 young and old riders on all manner of cycles enjoying the extraordinary weather for a short cycle around some of the town’s roads.
Kidical Mass is a fun, family activity with a serious message: highlighting the need to make our roads safe for people of all ages to travel by bike – to school, to work and for fun. These group rides give everyone the chance to ride on the roads in company and safety, with the help of adult guides.
As normal, the drivers and others we met on our way were delightful, with any short inconvenience outweighed by the pleasure of seeing so many kids having fun.
We were delighted to be accompanied by Wokingham Town Mayor Maria Gee. After the event Mayor Gee said:
Cycling in a mixed friendly group really helps with road confidence. It was wonderful to see families and friends cycling together and children able to ride on the road in safety.
Kids want the freedom and fun that comes from getting around by bike, but many of the places they want to go involve roads with heavy and fast moving traffic and hazardous junctions. The next generation care deeply about living sustainable lives and it’s more important than ever that we create the space for them to do so.
Kidical Mass rides are running monthly between Reading and Wokingham. Join us for the next one!
Today’s Kidical Mass ride went from Palmer Park to Forbury Gardens and was attended by about 40 people.
The ride proceeded down the Kennett towpath accompanied by the music of bike bells, children’s chatter and ‘I Want to Ride My Bicycle’ by Queen.
Many thanks to the marshals who helped us to make the ride a safe and relaxed experience for all involved. It was lovely to see the smiles on the faces of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers as we passed by.
After the ride participants mingled and ate cake and the children rode their bikes together and decorated the ground with pavement chalk.
Sunday 25th September was both the Reading Cycle Festival and a Europewide Action Weekend for Kidical Mass. So of course Kidical Mass Reading and Kidical Mass Wokingham joined forces, and around 65 people rode together to the Reading Cycling Festival.
Our rides are family friendly and fun and help adults and children to build connections with other enthusiastic cyclists. We also give young cyclists the opportunity to build road confidence, by giving them a safe marshalled environment to practice in. We are very grateful to the volunteer marshals who gave up their time to make this possible.
Children and teenagers need and deserve cycling infrastructure that allows them to navigate safely. Cities that offer spaces that are safe for children are good for everyone. There is a lot of work to be done in this regard in Reading and Wokingham, but there is increasingly a political will to make improvements. We were delighted that Councillor Carol Jewel joined the ranks of councillors who have ridden with us to see first hand the issues at play.
On arrival at the Reading Cycling Festival our young riders enjoyed watching Urban Display’s stunt riders, and many of them had a go at the mini obstacle course.
If you want to add your voice to ours (and have fun with us!) then please join us for our next ride on Saturday 8th October, meeting at 11am by Tutus in Palmer Park. All are welcome.
Wokingham’s first Kidical Mass was held on Saturday 13th August. The ride took in a mile and a half around some of the town centre’s streets, and young and old enjoyed the spirit of riding together and chatting along the way. At the end, ice lollies and cycling games were enjoyed by all in Elms Field.
We are delighted with how the ride went. Kidical Mass is about fun and freedom for kids and families on bikes, but with a serious message about how safe our streets are at other times. The few drivers we met along the way were wonderful, giving plenty of room for everyone and enjoying the spectacle of kids riding freely on the roads accompanied by the wonderful Earley Panda 🐼.
Local support for the event has been tremendous, with so many people who weren’t able to make Saturday due to holidays or the heat asking when we’ll be back.
Our next ride is on Sunday 25th September, with a ride from Woodley to Palmer Park to meet up with Reading Kidical Mass as a part of the global Kidical Mass event. We’re planning to be back in Wokingham town in October.
Saturday 16 July, 11:30 — Meeting at Green Park in Reading, Lime Square, RG2 6UG, finishing at Water Meadows for picnic, play and cake!
We had the pleasure to see Rachel Eden, the Mayor of Reading, who joined us for the picnic. It was pretty hot, so the water pistols at the end were very welcome… 🔫 🔫 🔫
