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Date and time: Sunday, 28 May 2023 09:15 – 16:00 BST

Start point: Chestnuts Park Cafe – 300 St Ann’s Road London N15 5RP

Join our feeder ride from Chestnuts Park cafe at 09:15 for a safely 7-mile marshalled ride to join the London FreeCycle ride taking place in Central London.

We will ride via Cycleway 1 (C1, formerly CS1) to Bank (Cornhill), from where riders can enjoy an 8-mile car-free route around central London.

You are welcome to ride back with us at 3pm from Cornhill to Chestnuts, or make your own way home by bike or train.

Please note that the feeder rides from Haringey and back are suitable for more confident riders, able to ride a total distance of around 20 miles. For the feeder rides, please have at least one adult accompanying every two children.

The FreeCycle route passes some of London’s most famous landmarks, including St Paul’s Cathedral, Somerset House, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament.

This year’s event will also include two Festival Zones, located at Bank and St Paul’s, where riders can stop for mechanical help, food and drink and enjoy activities such as music, games and face painting! 

For the ride back to Chestnuts Park, we will gather at Cornhill near Bank Station at 3pm and ride back to Chestnuts Park.

Please ensure that your bikes are in good condition, with pumped-up tyres, and that you have sufficient drinks and snacks to keep energy levels up. If, after registering, you find that you are unable to come, please cancel your place so that others can come.

General Information

Below is the basic information we think you need to know before joining the cycle ride. If there’s something you’d like to know that isn’t covered here, get in touch (haringey@lcc.org.uk).

How easy is the ride?

The ride is at a leisurely pace. We will proceed at the pace of the slowest riders, who we will encourage to be near the front of the group.

Accompanied sensible children, who are able to ride 20 miles in total, are welcome – please stay with them throughout and alert a marshal immediately if you become separated. We will definitely be on roads with other traffic, so please keep on the right hand side of your children. Please note it is therefore NOT suitable for very young or unaccompanied children under 18.

What should I wear?

We’re happy for you to wear whatever you want. However we do recommend you bring a waterproof jacket, gloves and any other clothing/sunscreen suitable for the weather on the day. If you want to wear a helmet or a hi-viz jacket that’s fine too but we don’t insist on either.

Is my bike suitable?

This ride is suitable for a range of cycles. If you are in doubt about the suitability or roadworthiness of your cycle, there are a number of cycle shops in Haringey that can assist you.

What should I bring?

Basic equipment you may wish to consider bringing on the ride:

• a spare inner tube to fit your bike
• a bike pump and tools that fit your bike
• lights if there is a possibility of them being needed
• drinks and snacks
• suncream
• a lock

What do ride leaders do?

All our rides are led by a ride leader who will try to, where possible, keep groups together and try to ride at the pace of the slowest. Ride leaders are experienced Haringey Cycling Campaign members. They are qualified mechanics, first aiders, and cycling instructors.

Ride leaders are responsible for planning the route and directions during the ride.

Our ride leaders are supported by several marshals who help keep the group together and help the group pass through junctions. You’ll always find a marshal at the back of the group, making sure no one gets left behind.

Individual riders must take responsibility for:

• checking the information given for the ride, so that you can judge that you are capable of completing the ride
• informing the ride leader if they have any medical conditions that are important for the ride leader to know about
• providing the ride leader with their phone number and details of an emergency contact
• the road-worthiness of their bike
• their own personal safety on the road
• complying with the highway code
• carrying enough refreshments
• the safety of any children with them
• listening to, and following, ride leader and marshal instructions.
• informing the ride leader if they wish to leave the ride (so we don’t end up looking for you)
• any loss or damage caused (e.g. scratching the paint on a parked car) *

* If you are an LCC member, your membership includes third party insurance which would cover this. We strongly recommend all cyclists have some sort of third party insurance cover. We’d recommend joining the London Cycling Campaign as the best organisation for leisure and utility riders in London.

Please do not turn up to this event if you are displaying symptoms of Covid-19.

Join us on this short (2 mile) family-friendly community walk + wheel + cycle ride from Lordship Rec skatepark+BMX area to Markfield Park

Date and time: Sun, 30 April 2023, 11:00 – 13:00 BST

Start point: Location Lordship Rec Skateboard+BMX area by the Shell Theatre Freedom Road London N17 6HG

This is a safely marshalled group walk and wheel and cycle ride for everyone, including families with children. We will set off from Lordship Recreation ground skatepark + BMX area (by the Shell Theatre) through St Ann’s to Markfield Park N15 6UL.

We will proceed slowly and you are welcome to join on foot, scooter, balance bike, mobility scooter, wheelchair or cycle.

We’ll finish by the cafe in Markfield Park, where the Beam Engine Museum will be open. Markfield Park sits beside the River Lea where the Moselle River flows into it – a convenient point to take the towpath north or south and explore the river, after our ride.

This event is organised by Haringey Cycling Campaign, together with Haringey Living Streets, to enable people of all ages to explore enjoyable ways of getting around Haringey.

This is the third in our series of events on the last Sunday of the month. Look out for our next one on Sun 30 April!

General Information, particularly if attending by bike

Below is the basic information we think you need to know before joining the cycle ride. If there’s something you’d like to know that isn’t covered here, get in touch (haringey@lcc.org.uk).

How easy is the ride?

This is an easy 2 mile ride at a leisurely pace, which should be suitable for less experienced riders. We will proceed at the pace of the slowest riders, so we encourage families with younger riders to be near the front of the ride.

Accompanied sensible children are welcome – please stay with them throughout and alert a marshal immediately if you become separated. The cycle ride will take place on roads that may have other traffic, so please keep on the right hand side of your children. Please note it is therefore NOT suitable for very young or unaccompanied children. As much of this ride as possible takes place in parks and on newly quietened roads.

What should I wear?

We’re happy for you to wear whatever you want. However we do recommend you bring a waterproof jacket, gloves and any other clothing/sunscreen suitable for the weather on the day. If you want to wear a helmet or a hi-viz jacket that’s fine too but we don’t insist on either.

Is my bike suitable?

This ride is suitable for a range of cycles. If you are in doubt about the suitability or roadworthiness of your cycle, there are a number of cycle shops in Haringey that can assist you.

What should I bring?

Basic equipment you may wish to consider bringing on the ride:

• a spare inner tube to fit your bike
• a bike pump and tools that fit your bike
• lights if there is a possibility of them being needed
• drinks and snacks
• a lock

What do ride leaders do?

All our rides are led by a ride leader who will try to, where possible, keep groups together and try to ride at the pace of the slowest. Ride leaders are experienced Haringey Cycling Campaign and Enfield Cycling Campaign members. They are qualified mechanics, first aiders, and cycling instructors.

Ride leaders are responsible for planning the route and directions during the ride.

Our ride leaders are supported by several marshals who help keep the group together and help the group pass through junctions. You’ll always find a marshal at the back of the group, making sure no one gets left behind.

Individual riders must take responsibility for:

• checking the information given for the ride, so that you can judge that you are capable of completing the ride
• informing the ride leader if they have any medical conditions that are important for the ride leader to know about
• providing the ride leader with their phone number and details of an emergency contact
• the road-worthiness of their bike
• their own personal safety on the road
• complying with the highway code
• carrying enough refreshments
• the safety of any children with them
• listening to, and following, ride leader and marshal instructions.
• informing the ride leader if they wish to leave the ride (so we don’t end up looking for you)
• any loss or damage caused (e.g. scratching the paint on a parked car) *

* If you are an LCC member, your membership includes third party insurance which would cover this. We strongly recommend all cyclists have some sort of third party insurance cover. We’d recommend joining the London Cycling Campaign as the best organisation for leisure and utility riders in London.

Please do not turn up to this event if you are displaying symptoms of Covid-19.

Book free cycle training for adults and children here.

Photo credit for banner photo: Asimina Giagoudaki

In our mass-motorised world, cyclists are typically marginalized, both physically and culturally. In the popular mind, we are a tribe, sharing characters and outlooks and bearing a grudge against motorists. Our ride on 26 February, the third of our family rides, challenged that view – not with hostility but with happiness.

It wasn’t difficult to get into the happy spirit: blue skies and sunbeams always lift the biker’s heart. With babies in carriers, walkers guiding tots on balance bikes and big kids bowling along, all adjusting to a communal pace, there was a compelling atmosphere of cooperation that contrasted with the competition we feel on most urban roads.

But notable too was the accommodating behaviour of the motorists. Perhaps it was the sight of oldies alongside infants, novices with veterans, serious cyclists with fair-weather ones. Maybe it was the confidence motorists drew from those pedalling being so visible, for we were many and multi-coloured, a conspicuous caravan of travellers, with no risk of collision.

So it was mutually liberating: motorists didn’t feel apprehensive, cyclists didn’t feel threatened. Parents had brought kids, kids had brought friends, friends had brought fluffy toys and together we were a formidable but friendly presence. 

Non-cyclists often need to change their perception of cycling: it’s not a sport, typically it’s a means of transport as indispensable as any form of travel. But on days like 26 February it’s just for leisure – a pleasure to be treasured in such clement weather among such good company.

As we pedalled out of Lordship Rec and through Tottenham, there was no question of motorists overlooking us or, as they often do, consigning us to the gutter. Add to that the conspicuous safety of the parks, cycle lanes and LTNs we used on the carefully curated route and it meant those pedalling and those driving were altogether free of fear of conflict.

Wheelspin by wheelspin a statement was being made; the physical revolutions of those wheels were a tangible illustration of the active travel revolution we are all aiming for.

To quote the book title of veteran cycle campaigner Carlton Reid, ‘The roads were not built for cars’. Rides like this by ordinary people on an ordinary day will demonstrate that to everyone. Then, with stresses reduced and pollutants diluted, we can all breathe a little easier. Phew.