Over 400 people took the streets in yesterday’s sunshine as part of Manchester’s first ever Kidical Mass bike ride. Gathering in St Peter’s Square before setting off towards Whitworth Park for a picnic, the atmosphere was a joyful, colourful celebration of children on bikes.
The event was organised by parents from across the city region who want to see streets made safer and more accessible for riding bikes, especially for kids.
Layla Siebert, one of the organisers of the ride said “It’s been amazing seeing so many kids enjoying cycling on the roads in our city, emphasising what’s often missing from our streets: kids independently and safely getting around – and we’ve had so much fun doing it!”
“The fact that so many people have joined this ride shows how much demand there is for families wanting to get about by bike. We know that it’s good for us, it’s good for our communities and it’s good for the planet. But at the moment it isn’t always safe or possible because of the lack of joined up cycling infrastructure. We’d love to see more places across the region made accessible to all different types of bikes.”
Sarah Rowe added, “Seeing so many children riding together is a real reminder of the joy and freedom there is in riding a bike. And we know that we need more people cycling if we are going to meet our goals as a city to be cleaner, greener and fairer. We hope our leaders will hear the call that streets that are safe for kids to use are better for everyone.”
The organisers plan more Kidical Mass rides in the future, follow @kidicalmassmcr on twitter or Kidical Mass Manchester on Facebook to stay in touch.
