Reading Cycle Festival gave riders a taste of different wheels
Visitors to the Reading Cycle Festival had an opportunity to try a wide variety of bikes, including unicycles, adaptive bikes and cargo bikes for families.
The festival, held on 25 September at Christchurch Meadows, featured spectacular stunts and plenty of hands-on activities to inspire people to enjoy their bikes even more.
The event was part of the week-long Reading Climate Festival, which features a whole lot of activities encouraging positive action around climate change.
And for the second year running the festival enjoyed the support of the Reading Borough Council, which is working to promote sustainable transport.
Various clubs ended their social rides on the day at the festival, promoting the idea that cycling is an inclusive activity that can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages and abilities.
Two local branches of Kidical Mass, a more family-oriented offshoot of the world-wide Critical Mass cycle movement, arrived as a group of 65 riders at the festival.
“We’re excited that an increasing number of organisations in Reading and Wokingham are coming together to celebrate cycling as something which is both fun and a key to easing the climate crisis,” says Greg Woodford, director of Avanti Cycling, one of the main sponsors of the event.
The first festival was held in 2019. COVID forced the festival to be held online in 2020. The second outdoor festival was held in September last year.
Andy von Glehn
Avanti Cycling Team
Well, what a brilliant event this year! We were lucky to have lovely sunshine which brought out lots of families, cyclists and those who would love to cycle if only it were safer…
Kidical Mass organised a ride to finish at the event, there were tricks performed by stunt riders, a children’s obstacle course and penny farthings plus unicycles to try. Lots of local community, environmental and campaigning groups took part, plus local bike shops, great food and of course plenty of coffee/tea and cakes!!!
We enjoyed a constant flow of visitors to the RCC stand and announced the winners of our Chairman’s Challenge photo competition: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly. See the front page for a full report on the competition.
Avanti Cycling who organise the festival are already planning next year’s event to be held in September 2023. Anyone interested in getting involved please email: Readingcyclefestival@gmail.com And keep an eye on https://readingcyclefestival.co.uk to find out more.
Susan Children
RCC Publicity Coordinator
