Coventry ring road turned into giant cycle path for the HSBC ride

[dutchman]

Half of the Coventry ring road closed to traffic for giant cycle ride



One half of the Coventry ring road turned into a massive cycle path this weekend for the HSBC UK City Ride Coventry.

People on racing bikes, mountain bikes, recumbents, folders, tandems and all kinds of other bikes took part in the ride in the city centre on Sunday.

Children rode on bikes or half bikes clamped to their parents’ bikes, on bikes with stabilisers, on child bike seats, on balance bikes and in trailers.

With Broadgate as the main hub, cyclists followed a circuit along one side of the ring road which had been closed to traffic.

Along the way was the bubble hub, where soap bubble machines blew out bubbles and a mini bike track complete with banked turns and a sprint section.

The free bike checks were very popular with people joining long queues to get their machines checked by Halfords technicians.

Disco bikes carrying loud speakers playing pop music joined the riders. And everyone taking part was offered a free horn for some Tour de France style tooting.

Giving the riders a send off at the start of the event was Paralympic champion Helen Scott who won gold in the tandem kilo event at the Rio Olympics.

She was joined by Coventry deputy Lord mayor Coun John Blundell (Con, Wainbody) and Coun Jayne Innes (Lab, Whoberley).

Cheryl Smith who completed the ride with her husband and children said: “The girls really loved it. They are nine and 11. They loved going down the hills and we went through the bubble tunnel and we honked our horns.

“It’s nice to be able to ride away from traffic without having to get four bikes to a water park or somewhere like that.”

Immy Kaur from Birmingham, said: “There was one in Birmingham and we enjoyed it so much we came to this one.

“There are not many events like this in the region and it gives children a chance to experience cycling culture.”

Andy Evans from Coventry said: “They should do this more often and close more local roads. It gets people out of their cars and on to their bikes.”

It’s the first year HSBC has sponsored the event. Previous similar rides were sponsored by media company Sky.