Kidical Mass Reading

For February’s ride, we ventured North of the river in Reading. Or rather, from my perspective, I did not venture South of the river (Caversham is our home turf). The weather looked fairly ominous, so we were delighted that 38 riders turned up at Hills Meadow for the ride.

We cycle as our primary form of transport, but actually our kids don’t get to ride their own bikes much except through the local park. This, of course, is one of the reasons that they LOVE the Kidical Mass rides – they get to ride safely on the roads with their friends at a pace that’s comfortable for them. The smiles on their faces are the main reason we keep coming back month after month to do the rides.

The other reason that we organise the rides is to campaign for and raise awareness of the need for better cycling infrastructure. The lack of infrastructure was really driven home to us as we were trying to plan a route through Caversham that – with the marshals help – could be made safe for the children.

Star Road and Briants Avenue are both a nightmare for cyclists. There are cars parked such that there is only one usable lane, but it is still two lane traffic. Even if you wait for a gap in oncoming traffic to go past parked cars, in the time it takes to cycle through the narrower bit a car can come round the corner and decide they are going to drive towards you, pushing you into the door zone of the parked cars. We realised that there is no bicycle route which is safe for children to use to access the Amersham Road estate, a point I have now raised with one of the relevant councillors.

In the end, we took the ride along Hills Meadow, through a few quiet roads and then briefly across Gosbrook Road (our wonderful marshals ensured the children could turn safely on and off it) before swinging up to South View Avenue, through Westfield Park and back onto Gosbrook Road (again very briefly) before passing through the back roads back to the river. We received many waves and smiles from passers by – everyone seemed to enjoy the sight of children out on the road. We look forward to the day when it can safely happen more frequently!

On that note, the council is considering opening up the tunnel under the station to cyclists, which will remove a major pinch point when planning routes that are safe for children (there are only so many places you can cross the railway, and most of them are decidedly cycling unfriendly). If you’re reading this before 23rd February when the consultation closes, go and show some love for the proposal!

After the ride there was again cake (Steffi baked madeleines!) and the kids played together on the meadow and in the park. I saw quite a few adults sharing local cycling tips and test riding each other’s bikes – we have quite a wide range of experience and bicycles on the rides, so its a really useful place to discuss options if you’re considering switching some of your regular journeys to bicycles.

Outside of the rides, Kidical Mass has been invited to participate in CAST and Kat has attended several meetings. We aim to give the next generation a voice and raise the need for cycling infrastructure that suits ALL road users. We are grateful to everyone who has ever attended one of our rides, because you help amplify that message. Do join us in March in Wokingham, or in April in Reading.

Our Kidical Mass rides are very kid-centric in terms of route, pace and goals. The route is always relatively short (2 miles / 3 km) and the pace is slow enough for the littlest of riders. The aim is to build kid’s confidence, create space for friendships and campaign for cycling infrastructure that is safe for them. Though, on that last point, we could (and do) argue that safe infrastructure benefits everyone.

None of this would be possible without our brilliant marshals. They seem to very much enjoy the children’s rides, but they’re definitely capable of going further and faster. So we invited them to come and join us with their bikes lit up appropriately for a Glow Ride

We planned a route that mostly ran along the roads. This turned out to be an unexpectedly useful thing as it was freezing, and only the on-road bike paths that run alongside the main car routes are gritted. Reading Council are far from unique in taking this approach, but if they want more residents to consider walking and cycling as a viable alternative to driving, they need to make sure that the main bike and pedestrian routes are just as reliable as the car routes all year round. Yes, I’m looking at you, corner of Christchurch bridge that stays frozen for hours longer than anything else and catches so many people unawares.

It was delightful riding through town with a group of bike geeks and noticing the things everyone got excited by.

Ooo look there’s a bike box at a traffic light and there isn’t a car waiting in it!

The segregated bike lane on Shinfield Road is really coming on! Can’t wait to use it.

Have you been to Kung Fu Kitchen? You really must, the food is excellent and there’s bike parking just outside.

I also noticed that, though we weren’t actively blocking traffic, we ended up with a queue of cars behind us at times (many thanks to those drivers who had the patience not to try and pass when it wasn’t safe to do so). The fact of the matter is that Reading desperately needs a well maintained network of segregated bike infrastructure. Having this would benefit all road users, and I’m including drivers in that. Enabling people to switch to bikes for short journeys will result in clearer roads and would be good for the planet on which we all rely for our existence.

The ride finished at the Bel and Dragon where we found a suitable corner to raise a glass to the successes of Kidical Mass Reading and Wokingham this year. Then we got straight down to the business of planning for next year. Wokingham’s next ride will be at 2pm on Sat 14th Jan, starting from Elms Field. The next ride in Reading will be a circular route from Hills Meadow at 2pm on Sat 11th Feb. With the nearby car park, we’re hoping this will be more accessible to families who are nervous about cycling to or from a start or end point. Do come and join us, and bring your friends and family!

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Santa’s a busy man in December, so we had to plan well in advance to secure his attendance at Reading’s Kidical Mass Ride. Crucial, of course, was what method of transport would be appropriate for him — it had to be bike related.

Our own esteemed Kat Heath (of 100 Women in Cycling fame) made the opening suggestion that he should be riding on a sleigh pulled by a team of six cyclists wearing reindeer antlers. The rest of the planning team, who are blessed with a little less ambition, but a smidgeon more common sense, shot that right down on safety grounds. Can you imagine the tangle we would have got into crossing London Road?

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When one of our families pointed out that their Urban Arrow box bike can safely carry an adult, it was the perfect solution. We consulted with Santa and he was keen — after all if it’s good enough for our children then it’s good enough for him. R(e)i(n)de(e)r Balthi even wore antlers and a red nose as he captained the bike.

10th December fell at the start of the very cold snap we’ve been having, and it was bitterly cold. Nevertheless there were a fair few families there and our wonderful marshals came out regardless. Many of us use bikes as our primary form of transport so we were fully equipped with layers of clothes and heavy duty gloves. If you ever have questions like how to keep a baby’s ears warm on a bike (elephant hoods worked for us), do ask!

For the first time ever as we approached London Road I was worried that drivers were getting impatient waiting for the kids to cross as a group.  However, they were only honking and waving at Santa, which is allowed.  Throughout the whole ride we got a positively delightful reaction from onlookers.

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On arrival at Forbury Gardens Santa handed out Kidical Mass bike bells, and our wonderful bakers handed out Christmas cookies. There were bells leftover (I’m saying nothing about the cookies) so Santa left them with us — we’ll bring them to future rides so let us know if you missed out. My three year old was extremely excited to fit his official Kidical Mass bell to his balance bike when we got home. I’m not sure our neighbours have been quite as pleased.

Our kids were also very pleased to see their Grandfather who came along for the biscuits and tea in Forbury Gardens. Sadly he just missed seeing Santa, but he was very pleased to hear from them all about how much they’d enjoyed the ride.

ON SAFETY AND SETUPS

Keeping the rides safe is the thing we spend most time on when planning. Most importantly, we just don’t want anyone to get hurt, but it would also set back all of our goals if they did.

It would raise the wrong kind of awareness of cycling issues. It would not increase confidence in our child (or adult!) attendees. And, though a community can be bonded together by a traumatic event, that’s really not what we’re going for.

Maps, marshals and messages are the three key legs of our safety strategy.

1. Maps, because we can’t have a safe ride without having a safe route and a plan. We ride the proposed route making notes on where the difficult junctions are so that know where we need to position our –
2. Marshals. We are so grateful to have a growing pool of marshals who position themselves (at junctions and when riding) to ensure that children are kept clear of hazards. We make sure they know where they need to be with –
3. Messages. We circulate the marked up map ahead of time and hold a briefing just before the ride. We maintain headset communication between the ride organiser and the front and back of the ride, so that we can keep the group together and safe.

October’s ride was a big success – the weather was beautiful, people came (40 of them!) on a variety of bikes (including our first recumbent trikes!) and we all arrived safely and together at Forbury Gardens.

For me, a highlight of the day was watching the children play and the adults mingle after the ride. Our three year old does not yet have the speed or stamina to ride the route, but we brought his balance bike with us and he was delighted to be able to whizz around the gardens with the bigger children.

He also offered his little bike to a one year old to have a go. Many adults also test rode each others bikes. It was great seeing the knowledge sharing of how we all make it work between families with children of different ages.

Please come and join us for our next rides! We’ll be in Wokingham on 12th November or in Reading on 10th December. We’d love to see you, as a rider or a marshal, or even just to meet you at the end of the ride.