Yesterday the streets of Guildford and Redhill were alive with crowds of children celebrating the joy of cycling and highlighting the need for more safe cycle routes in Surrey.
Over 300 people of all ages took part in Guildford and 280 in Redhill, from babies in trailers to grandparents on e-bikes. Despite the damp weather, it was a vibrant sight as some donned royal fancy dress to mark the King’s coronation, while others had decorated their bikes.
For May Lee, Guildford, it was her first time joining a mass ride and she loved the experience. “It was our first time participating in this kind of event. I was so happy and excited and felt the unity! Me and my son really enjoyed it! Thanks for organizing it.”
Kseniia, 36, from Guildford, saw the town in a different way after the event. “It is often said that taking care of the environment and reducing pollution are important. However, after attending this family-friendly cycling event, it became clear that Stoke Park was the only safe place to cycle with kids. We would love to have the same freedom of movement with our daughter in the city as we did at the event. To encourage more people to cycle and reduce pollution, safe cycling infrastructure and roads are urgently needed.”
Victoria Hazael, Guildford, said “I hope that this shows those who have the power to improve the town centre that there are hundreds of families who would like to cycle safely with their children on Guildford’s roads. Please build us the infrastructure to keep our children safe and healthy and improve air quality too!”
These were the first Kidical Mass rides in Surrey, joining a global movement of over 500 rides taking place this weekend in towns and cities worldwide.
The vision of Kidical Mass is that all children and young people should be able to safely and independently use cycling as a mode of travel.
In Surrey, that can often be difficult because of the high volumes of motor traffic and lack of connected cycling routes. According to Cycling UK, 66% of people who don’t cycle are put off by ‘fear of traffic’, showing the need for more separated routes.
Local parent Chloe Sutcliffe explains why she felt motivated to organise the first Kidical Mass ride in Guildford to draw attention to the issue: “As a family we really want to get away from relying on our car for short local journeys such as the school run, but currently most of the roads around Guildford just don’t feel safe enough for our children to cycle on. We want the kids to experience the simple joy of being able to get from A to B using their own pedal power. It would be amazing if there was safer cycling provision so they could bike around locally without feeling afraid.”
Sophie Gordon, campaigns officer at Cycling UK, also joined the ride. She said: “We found it tricky to put the route together as there are so many busy roads in Guildford, which illustrates why we need to make it easier to get across town on a bike. It’s encouraging to see that Surrey County Council’s latest transport strategy puts more emphasis on active travel, and we hope that rides like these will demonstrate the demand from local families for measures to increase cycling and walking. It was brilliant to see several councillors attending the ride to show their support, and we hope they will back that up with positive action.”
Local councillors Matt Furniss, George Potter and recently elected Howard Smith attended. George valiantly jogged alongside those on two wheels and said:
“I was impressed and delighted by the huge turnout at Kidical Mass. It was so inspiring to see so many children, and their parents, participating in the event. It’s very clear that there is a real and growing demand to make our streets safer for cyclists, and I think it’s important that local councillors do everything we can to support that demand and to work with the county council to push for the necessary changes.”
Matt Furniss, Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Transport, Infrastructure and Growth, joined the route at several points on foot said:
“It was fantastic to see so many parents and children out on their bikes at the weekend for a ride around Guildford. It is important that we provide safe cycling routes for children and cyclists to travel around our towns sustainably. We are committed to improving cycling training through our Bikeability programme available for all school children across Surrey and providing dedicated cycling routes to improve road safety for all users.”
Kidical Mass Guildford would like to thank the drivers who waited patiently and offered smiles and waves of encouragement to the little legs pedalling hard.
Many participants eagerly asked when the next mass ride would be, and there are hopes to organise another one for the next international Kidical Mass weekend in September.
Photos of the event can be viewed here.
Tom Sutcliffe