London Freewheel

A packed day today, as straight after the service at St Andrew's this morning, a group of Lewisham Greens went to take part in the London Freewheel, the largest mass public bike ride ever in London. We cycled to Peckham Rye Park which was the south-east 'hub' or meeting place, then cycled on in a group to central London, where approximately 8 miles of roads were closed to traffic for six hours and 30,000 or so cyclists made the most of the opportunity to cycle around London without any cars in the way. A great atmosphere, very enjoyable and I hope it will become an annual event. Personally I'd like to see a slightly longer route closed to motorised traffic next year, and perhaps until 6pm instead of just until 4pm.

London Freewheel was made possible thanks to a London Assembly Green Group budget amendment and Green Assembly member Jenny Jones (the Mayor's green travel advisor) played a key role in making the project happen.

Oh, and it was sponsored by Hovis, who gave riders free sandwiches when they got to the Mall. Apparently Hovis sponsored the last mass London bike and were keen to do so again. The last one was in, er 1916 . . . let's hope this becomes a regular fixture on the London calendar from now on. It's a great way to promote cycling and help less experienced cyclists gain a bit of confidence in cycling around central London.
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Lots of great photos on flickr.

UPDATE 27th September: Great video of Freewheel ride by Shasha and Mike from Croydon Greens on YouTube.