Last weekend saw Leeds Skyride – a traffic free bike ride around the city centre.
After hearing so much about it over the past few weeks I had to find out what all the fuss was about. So, I slapped on the factor 50, popped on my sensible shoes and joined the hundred’s of people who hot footed it to Victoria Gardens on Sunday.
I am no biking expert – in fact if I’m honest, I’m a bit of a novice. The thing about Skyride is that you don’t have to be a cycling enthusiast, you don’t even have to own your own bike! I rented a bike from the lovely people at Velocampus for free for an hour in order to take part in the ride.
But, before I set off I had a stroll around the all the bike related activities that populated Victoria Gardens…
Jaffa were giving out loads of free oranges on the day to keep all us keen riders refreshed and topped up with our vitamin C.
There was a huge screen showing the Tour De France for those who didn’t fancy taking part in the ride itself. With a café, bike expert station, photo oppurtunities and even a pirate boat bike there was plenty to do before I even set off.
Scrap Leeds had a bunch of delicious crafty bits and pieces so you could decorate your bike. I have to say this was the catalyst of my ever growing desire for a bike with a basket on it! The one on display looked amazing, cue instant bike jealousy. Scrap also provided sewing machines in the marquee so you could customise your free neon yellow Skyride vest for free.
In the East Streets Arts – Julianna’s Bike marquee there was a preview of the Papergirl Leeds exhibition. Papergirl Leeds is a submission led art project, practiced all over the world. Anyone is free to submit their artwork which is exhibited and then distributing to the public on bikes!
Woolgather’s Art Vend’s were there on the day and I couldn’t resist! These are the treasures I got for my £1.
Leeds first hotel on wheels was displayed throughout the day. This project, in conjunction with East Street Arts, was wheelie impressive…
Inside there is enough space to sleep one person and it even features a wash basin. I did wonder if I ask them nicely they might let me try it out one day!
After all that pre-bike excitement I couldn’t wait to start the ride itself. The route took you around the city centre and up to Woodhouse Moor. There was a whole host of activities there too and on such a beautiful sunny day there was a real buzz when I arrived. This also marked the half way point of the ride. WY:Go cycling had a station where the public could get more information about the project and the chance to win a swish mountain bike – who could say no to a free swish mountain bike?
One of the things I really loved about Skyride was the positive attitude that was apparent throughout the day. It was great to see people of all expertise levels and ages getting on their bikes and enjoying the traffic free city. It would be fantastic to see this happen more often than once a year and heard various other Skyrider’s express the same thought…
My next stop was the Leeds Uni campus where there was a pedal powered smoothie maker! I’m not sure I’ll be seeing them in kitchens across the UK in the near future but the entertainment factor was brilliant.
I will hold my hands up and say that Skyride has got me hooked. As you may have seen in my previous post about Skyride, I haven’t been on a bike in over 4 years and never expected to enjoy the event as much as I did. I am on the quest for a bike of my own as we speak and cannot wait to go to the next one.
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If, like me, you want to find other rides to take part in around Leeds then visit Leeds Cycling Campaigns list of Easy Rides.