2014-05-17 - Space for Cycling Big Ride

Come and join the London Cycling Campaign on Saturday 17th May for the Space for Cycling Big Ride. LCC want as many people out on the streets of London to call for safe space for cycling across the capital as we all try and raise the profile of cycling as the local elections approach.

The route is motor traffic-free and family friendly so suitable for all ages - something the streets of London should be for cycling.

Start: 12 noon Park Lane (arrive from 11am)
Rally: from 1pm Victoria Embankment (near Temple Tube Station)
End: 2pm

You can sign up for updates about the ride from the LCC website. Would be great to see a large LFGSS contingent

I wanted to give this another plug and I hope the 'family friendly' text doesn't put you off. We all have friends and family we'd love to see feel more comfortable cycling around London. I've lost count of the number of people I know who simply feel its too dangerous to cycle around the city (even if I personally love the sensation of filtering through long lines of traffic). By pushing the cyclists agenda in the local elections we are likely to see better provision for ourselves and those close to us who we'd like to see on a bike.

That being said, the ride should also be a fun time and the more the merrier...

I'll probably be down for the ride but it's a bit short isn't it ?

I'll tip my hat to you all as we cross paths (Picadilly/St James)
#tweedride

The ride is not likely to be one where you get a sweat on, but is a valuable opportunity to get our voices heard upstairs

Jack Thurston interviews Ashok Sinha, chief executive of the London Cycling Campaign about the Space for Cycling campaign and the Big Ride

http://thebikeshow.net/space-for-cycling-the-big-campaign/

Thanks to the LCC for organising this so it clashes with the Tweed Run.
It's not going to be easy convincing drivers we're holding up that we're not a protest group and that they should wait patiently when they've just been delayed and re routed by thousands of those hi viz helmeted Lycra wearing types they read about in the Daily Mail.

Not sure if actually serious^

Going to miss this ride as I'm working. Have taken my nipper on critical mass recently and we had a blast, I would encourage anyone cycling with kids to have a go.

Hoping not serious...there's a local election coming up and having it close (but not too close) to the voting date is important. I like to think that if you live and drive around London, you need to expect the occasional hold up (not a one horse town)

Protest ride trumps fashion ride any day of the week.

I'm in for this, going to do the feeder ride from Burgess Park beforehand.

Hoping not serious...there's a local election coming up and having it close (but not too close) to the voting date is important. I like to think that if you live and drive around London, you need to expect the occasional hold up (not a one horse town)

Not serious, don't worry. I was going to say something about not cycling in special clothes but that would probably have given the game away.

The resulting lack of traffic might actually be very helpful getting all the riders safely around the Westminster area, and of course the Tweed Run is raising funds for the LCC this year.

I don't actually think the big ride will make any difference to voting though. With a ride so tied to a political campaign you're preaching to the converted. If it was the Skyride it might be different.

Now about this one horse...

I don't actually think the big ride will make any difference to voting though. With a ride so tied to a political campaign you're preaching to the converted. If it was the Skyride it might be different.

By bringing a large amount of people together, you can potentially create media coverage which can be used to extend the reach of the LCC's message. It can also be a way of getting people more engaged with the area of better cycling infrastructure.

I can definitely see your point about Skyride although my suspicion is that the organisers would steer well clear of anything that was too overtly political (sponsors want warm fuzzies rather than calls for better infrastructure).

With a ride so tied to a political campaign you're preaching to the converted.

In addition to what Gustav says, sometimes its nice for the converted to come together en masse and just enjoy being with each other in a large, positive group. It doesnt happen too often.

Was going to do the feeder ride but leaving kingston at 9.15 for a 1pm start is way too early

Worth a bump, particularly in light of the tragic fatality that happened on Tuesday...

Yeah, Looks like fun.

And if you did, what did you think about it?

I went along...rather different from the average forum ride but important in terms of raising the profile of cycling in the city (and associated infrastructure). Also good to see cycling represented in many different forms (cargo bikes, families etc)

I was somewhat disappointed I must admit. I expected there to be a bit more noise (the promo literature did say "bring the noise") but it was all very mild-mannered, well behaved and, ultimately, quiet.

Although I agree that it helps raise the profile of cycling (to some degree, at least) nonetheless the phrase "damp squib" springs to mind, which is a big shame.

I was somewhat disappointed I must admit. I expected there to be a bit more noise (the promo literature did say "bring the noise") but it was all very mild-mannered, well behaved and, ultimately, quiet.

Sounds like normal British people to me :-)

I couldn't make it as I was at a wedding that weekend, what was the turnout like? Were there a lot of people? The promo literature from the last one had a sea of cyclists, was this similar?

I bumped into the ride near Angel first, then in Bloomsbury and somewhere else after that. Didn't join, as I had things to do. tbh I was expecting a lot more people. Everything looked very civilized.

It was a very 'english' protest ride: designed to cause as little fuss as possible. Keeping every ped crossing open was unnecessary and as an attempt to get people to notice it wasn't aggressive enough.

5000 people for a non Mayoral local election is hardly doing badly...

I couldn't make it unfortunalety. I did see a few of the tweed riders about though!