One Year of Kidical Mass in Reading
Kidical Mass Reading had its first ride in April 2022. There were only three of us in the organising team, and only one of us had any experience of running rides.
We’d fortuitously found a very enthusiastic group in Reading Cycle Campaign, which was where almost all of our marshals came from on that first ride. Thank you all so much for all your support, then and now.
Now, one year on, we aren’t just one organising team but two. Several lovely people from Wokingham decided that they would set up their own group, and together we ran twelve rides between April 2022 and April 2023.
Kidical Mass exists to help kids have fun on bikes, build links within the cycling community and campaign for safe cycling infrastructure. On that last point we’ve been invited to (and attended) Council consultation meetings.
We were glad to be referenced by Councillors when discussing what needs to be done to make the station tunnel safe for all cyclists.
We have our own website and social media and have been featured in several local papers. Our lead campaigner, Kat Heath, was recently interviewed by BBC Berkshire.
Most importantly, we’ve helped children gain confidence in cycling whilst having fun making friends. I recently consulted with a random child who attends Kidical Mass and lives in my house (our six year old) about which is the best route we’ve run.
He was adamant that it was the ride to Reading Cycle Festival in September last year – he loved the feeling of all of us arriving together, and how excited everyone was to see us.
We’ll definitely be doing something at the Cycle Festival on Sunday 10 September this year, so if you too would like to share that feeling check out our website (www.kidicalmassreading.co.uk) for details of that and other rides.
Hilary Smart
