Winchester Mass Cycle Ride - Joyous event that highlights real issues

I had the pleasure of joining Winchester’s biggest-ever mass cycle ride over the weekend – with a record turnout of more than 400 people.

Although, among the sea of cyclists it felt like thousands.

I joined the ride bright and early at 9am in Colden Common where people were grabbing themselves a bacon bap from the Willow Tree Coffee Pod at the recreation ground, just around the corner from my house.

Ready to go at Colden Common Recreation Ground (Image: Adele Bouchard)

I love cycling, I’m not very good and have a childhood history of spectacular falls – with a tendency to forget where the brakes were – but I still love it.

READ MORE: Cycle Winchester: Record turnout for mass ride event

I asked my mum to join – partly because she also loves to cycle but also sneakily because my bike is kept at my parent’s house in the New Forest as I have nowhere to keep it where I live.

The atmosphere was immediately electric when we set off, with a group of inline roller skaters leading the way and marshalling the route.

The inline skaters (Image: Adele Bouchard)

I felt safe among the masses but couldn’t help thinking how terrifying it would be as a bit of a nervous cyclist to do the journey alone, without people stopping the traffic.

The Colden Common group was coordinated by Tony Higginson, organiser of the Twyford and Colden Common and Cycle Bus, which helps children cycle to school safely.

City councillor Sue Cook was a bundle of energy throughout, sporting her grandson’s dinosaur helmet and a green neon bike courtesy of Hurrecane eBikes.

SEE ALSO: Winchester Railway Station labelled as bike theft hot spot

Props go to Tony who flawlessly linked us up with the Twyford group, who emerged in front of us from the Bugle Inn before we went down towards the next set of traffic lights and left onto Finches Lane.

My attempt at a cycling selfie (Image: Adele Bouchard)

After that, the route got a lot more peaceful as we moved away from the busy road and onto a country track through Twyford until it was time to come back onto the main road again for the scariest part of all at Hockley Link.

Residents are petitioning for the speed limit to be lowered along this stretch of the B3335 so a cycle lane can be installed and I can see why.

The danger of the road is the only thing that puts me off of what otherwise was a very doable commute into Winchester.

READ ALSO: Twyford groups petition for lower speed limits and safer cycle routes

But once we were over the M3 slip road and onto tracks again – it was a beautiful ride past The Handlebar Café and into the city.

How good was the Winchester Mass Cycle Ride on Saturday?

Here are the Twyford and Colden Common groups (myself included) ready to parade around the city centre.#BetterByBike @CycleWin @CycleBusNetwork pic.twitter.com/vPdvQfbjtZ

— Adele Bouchard (@adele_bouchard) October 3, 2023

More than 100 people took part from Twyford and Colden Common so it was already bikes as far as the eye could see. But when we stopped at the Everyman Cinema the group doubled in size as we joined more cyclists for the final parade around the city centre.

Record turnout for this year's ride (Image: Adele Bouchard)

At North Walls, another cycle bus organiser was handing out signs to wear with phrases such as ‘better by bike’.

We made a couple of loops around the city centre which felt like victory laps with people cheering by the King Alfred Statue and outside Wetherspoons.

No matter where you were you could hear the upbeat music of at least one speaker, which the inline skater and some of the cyclists with trailers were carrying.

At the finish at Abbey Gardens (Image: Adele Bouchard)

Surprisingly, we received very little annoyance from drivers along the way and people instead beeped us on and gave us a wave.

Around 420 people completed the ride, finishing at Abbey Gardens where it felt like a mini festival with a host of stalls, refreshments and competitions.

It was wonderful to see such a mix of people all come together and get on their bikes. Congratulations to Cycle Winchester which put together such a great event. I will ride again.