Category: Ride

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… 🔫 🔫 🔫