On Saturday 24th May, 28 riders took part in a leisure ride around the London Borough of Hillingdon. The event was organised by local cyclists as part of the London Cycling Campaign’s London Cycling Festival.
Riders were seen off by Hillingdon Mayor, Councillor Philip Corthorne, leaving Manor Farm Ruislip at just after 10AM on a cloudy but dry morning. The route took in a variety of local sights including Swakeleys Park, The Battle of Britain Bunker, Brunel University, Little Britain Lake, Stockley Country Park, Barra Hall Park, The Polish War Memorial and Highgrove Woods.
The group was made up of riders of a variety of ages and experiences. For one of the riders, Steve from Northwood Hills, it was his first ride in many years: “I started out as a fairly unconfident participant having cycled once in the last 10 years. But I felt in safe hands despite a few intimidating roads and hairy junction crossings”. One of the aims of the ride was to showcase the range of different types of cycling provision in the borough. These included dedicated off road cycle lanes, gravel paths and quieter roads. A ride leader and marshalls trained by London Cycling Campaign were able to safely escort the riders around the route.
Several members of the group commented on how much they enjoyed being out in the many green spaces in the borough and discovering new areas. Joan, one of the more experienced riders, commented that “Swakeleys Park was lovely. Unless you were near it you wouldn’t even know it existed. It was safe, and the first part of the ride there were cycle lanes. I didn’t know the bit behind the Uxbridge leisure centre, didn’t know that existed”. Amy from Eastcote, who completed the entire circuit with her young son also said it was a “lovely route, it’s nice and green, safe, been really good!”. Gill from Pinner also agreed: “It was lovely to see things you never actually noticed: Hillingdon House, I’d never seen that before. Just to come and do a nice route around the backstreets of our area it was lovely, really enjoyable”.
A common theme was the lack of cohesion in cycling provision within the borough. Michael from Hayes said that it was “nice to know there are still some nice green areas around here. Some of the routes could be more cycle friendly, crossing roads and stuff”. Hardeep from Ickenham was of a similar mind: “Off road places have been really good, along the canal, smaller roads and parks where there has been no traffic. It would be nice to have some proper cycle lanes rather than joining the road. You can’t put them everywhere but a number of places they suddenly just merge into the road, for example in Ickenham near West Ruislip station”.
Another place that proved to be tricky was Cowley Road, which was difficult to cross safely. This was particularly frustrating as it was the only way to access the Grand Union Canal towpath, which is currently being refurbished by Hillingdon Council to make it more accessible for walking and cycling. A lack of safe routes to get onto and off the towpath undermine prospects for a significantly improved experience for cyclists and pedestrians.
The overall experience was one of enjoyment with a hope for improvement. Chris, who completed the circuit with his 11 year old daughter, put it best when he said, “The basics are there! In Ickenham we are better off than a lot of parts of the borough, we’ve got some half decent segregated areas but still we’re not anywhere near that tipping point where people choose to take their bike into the village centre. Some of that is interest, but some of it is ingrained in our society, it’s a longer term issue. The more people are out on bikes, the more people see people on bikes and think ‘maybe I can do that’”.
The group returned to Manor Farm slightly later than scheduled, with a puncture ending one rider’s participation a few kilometres from the end of the ride. The others completed the 30 KM circuit shortly after 2PM. Impressive going when the group ranged from aged 10 to well into the 70s. The aim is to make this a regular event, so please keep a look out for the next date, likely to be in September.
If you would like to join Cycling Hillingdon, a voluntary, resident-led group that promotes cycling within the London Borough of Hillingdon please contact hello@cyclinghillingdon.uk
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