York Cycle Campaign mass participation ride through city

York Cycle Campaign put on the event which started at Hungate Reading Café and went via York Minster, over Lendal Bridge, past the railway station before heading along Terry Avenue and concluding at Cycle Heaven in Hospital Fields Road.

The timing of today’s participation ride coincides with a period of action under a global alliance known as ‘Kidical Mass’ which states that ‘children and young people should be able to move around safely and independently on foot and by bike.’

Robyn Jankel with members of York Cycle Campaign who marshaled the junctions of the ride through the city (Image: Kevin Glenton) Participants provided colour with their decorated bikes and noise in the ringing of their bicycle bells.

Campaign chair Robyn Jankel said: “York used to be a cycling city, it was branded that way and people assume that it still is.

“But a lot’s changed since the 80s, especially in terms of recognising what’s good cycling infrastructure.

“Then, it was just paint on the road, now it’s segregated lanes, for example.”

She said that the campaign group uses the ‘12-year-old test’ as a barometer for gauging the safety concerns in places where children want to ride their bicycles in the city.

The ride set off from Hungate Reading Café (Image: Kevin Glenton) Robyn said: “We say ‘would you be happy for a 12-year-old to cycle along using the infrastructure that’s there?

“If that’s just paint on a road, it’s not safe.

“If there’s wands, if there’s segregation, then it makes it look safer, which in turn encourages a lot of people to cycle, and there’s safety in numbers, which is self-fulfilling.”

The campaign group said York Civic Trust and City of York Council surveys ‘show that people want to be active travellers, they want to walk, and cycle.’

Participants at the start of today's ride (Image: Kevin Glenton) Robyn said: “They just don’t feel safe enough to do it and they don’t see it happening.

“Cycling is one of those things that when you see more people doing it, you realise you can do it too, it’s safe and it’s a genuine alternative.

“With today’s ride, we really wanted to show that cycling is accessible and convenient, but above all safe and it should be very safe for children and people who are ‘anti-cycling’ should think, ‘it’s for the future, it’s our children, they’re the people that we want to be able to cycle here in York.”