Lights Up! Disco on Wheels
As the nights draw in and the temperature drops, many are quick to abandon their bikes, especially women and minorities for whom safety becomes a significant concern. However, there are many reasons to layer up and keep riding. To highlight this, a plan was hatched by powerhouse team Belinda and Anna (both ex Bike Right instructors) for a mass ride-out through Manchester City Centre – Lights Up! Disco on Wheels.
Over 140 people turned out to take part, some coming alone, others as part of clubs and groups, all dripping with colourful clothing and lights to bring a proper celebration to the streets!
Celia from the BR admin team, and instructors Sumayra and Naz were core parts of the 30-strong ride safety team, supporting the group by keeping everyone together, chanting, bike dancing, vibing and generally looking after everyone. They were joined by several participants from our recent Ride Leader training at Bike Right, taking over 100 people on their first ever led ride!
I brought up the rear in a three-woman team of mechanics including instructor Marina and one other, both graduates of our City & Guilds Mechanic Training programme.
The atmosphere on the ride was electric and felt like a festival as people watched us pass from their doorsteps, cheering and whooping as we passed. It was awesome to watch as we did a loop of the park to see the full length of brightly lit up cycles rolling through. Almost all the drivers we encountered defied all our expectations by waiting patiently for us to pass through and were curious to find out what we were doing and why. We even got a few supportive beeps!
The ride culminated in a celebration at Withington Baths where MMU students had put together an exhibition around diversity in cycling and sports, and Platt MUD kitchen laid out a delicious spread for hungry riders to warm up and chat to a diverse range of participants.
There were visitors from as far away as Glasgow who had come down to see whether they could take the blueprint for the event and do something similar in their city.
The event was a fantastic celebration of Manchester’s cycling community, and this and the 3 mass cycle events that preceded it were recently recognised with a win at the Manchester Sports Awards in the special European Capital of Cycling category! Such great fun and a privilege to be a part of, I can’t wait for the next one, so see you there?
December 2024