Bike Worcester 2024 review of the things!

2024 is nearly gone, and I can already see 2025 hiding behind the curtains, so it’s time for the Bike Worcester end of year bumper round up of the things; things we’ve been up to, things that have happened, and things that have changed in the world of active travel in the Faithful City.

January

2024 kicked off with the Love the Arbo ride, a group of riders of all ages decorated their bikes and set off in fading light for a trundle around the Arboretum in Worcester. January also meant a visit to the Magistrates’ Court for yours truly, as a witness in a case of driving without due care and attention. A presentation to St John’s Cycle Club about road danger led to a heart warming encounter, which was then balanced by a conversation at the end of the January Critical Mass ride. We also headed out in the cold with a bicycle mounted gritter to spread salt on the canal towpath.

February

February saw families brave the cold at a fantastic Kidical Mass ride which finished with a cardboard construction session at the Arches, visits to the Repair Café to join the team to assist with bike repairs, and attendance at various City and County Council meetings, which included the meeting where Worcester’s first pump track was given approval.

March

One of the highlights of the year was the Worcester Women Cycle campaign, coinciding with International Women’s Day, where Bike Worcester members collected the stories of 120 women who use bikes in and around Worcester, providing a fantastic resource which showcases the diverse ways cycling enriches lives and empowers women in our community, at the same time as highlighting challenges and the need for improved infrastructure. This culminated with a HUGE Critical Mass ride in March, led out by many of the those who shared their stories. Share with Care signs were installed on the route linking the Arches to Crowngate, past the entrance to the Hive, legitimising this already well used route for people riding bikes, and .providing an off road link from the riverside to the city centre. Finally March saw the end of the Public Space Protection Order prohibiting a number of activities in Worcester, including dangerous cycling; in practice it provided no additional protections but at the same time highlighted Worcester as an anti cycling city. Good riddance. We also made an appearance on Midlands Today following our blog highlighting the increasing periods where the riverside footway / cycleways are flooded.

April

We continued with some good work in the background, culminating in blogs highlighting risk caused by illegal driving, notably reviewing County Council traffic survey data highlighting speeding, the development of an interactive map, and a review of Road Traffic Collision (RTC) data for the city. We also attended a screening of the fantastic film Chasing the Sun at Malvern Theatres, with our Rob sitting on the Q&A panel, with a delightful cycle home in the dark.

May

The City Council elections were upon us, and despite our best efforts to inform local parties and candidates about proactive travel policies that could improve the city, the manifestos were somewhat lacking in ambition. The Critical Mass ride in May coincided with the national Safe Streets Now campaign, calling for safer streets for all users.

June

The Running Out of Time relay visited the city, just one stop on the journey from Ben Nevis to Big Ben, and provided a great excuse to carry the baton and for a long bike ride from Reading to Worcester. June also saw the Beryl Bike hire scheme launched in the city, and almost as momentous, the first Bike Worcester podcast episode was aired!

July

The end of the school year, and the first time I’ve mentioned Bike Buses! The best way to summarise the success is to watch the end of year compilation video. Also a General Election, and another review of manifestos. Meh. The Kidical Mass ride ended at Diglis Island for a fantastic event run by the Canal and River Trust, and we had our first Bike Recycling flash sale at Crowngate Shopping Centre.

August

August saw Bike Worcester attend a number of summer fetes, and a regular spot at Hope Church’s the Base (supported by Worcester BID) to do a bit of bike fettling, along with various meetings with Active Travel England, Cycling UK, Road Crime Reporters Network, and contributing to Worcester City Council meetings. Plus a load of lovely bike rides. Following the receipt of a grant from Worcestershire County Council Health and Wellbeing fund, we also got busy over the summer assembling a number of Bike Bus starter kits so they can be rolled out across the County, including speakers, banners, branded vests, stickers, and Bike Bus stop signs; please get in touch if you’re interested in setting one up.

September

September brought the Worcester City Run to the city, with each race led out by Bike Worcester volunteers ringing bells and making sure the the course was clear and spectators were suitably hyped, September also provided us with the 40th consecutive monthly Critical Mass bike ride around the city, and we had a big cake. Yum. Perhaps the biggest news in September was County Council Cabinet Member for Highways Marc Bayliss, in response to a question by Alan Amos, advised that the city centre TROs that prohibit cycling (and interestingly mobility scooters) would be reviewed; the question is when?

October

Having acquired a time lapse camera we deployed it at Foregate Street, as we’d had a number of reports of taxi drivers over ranking, and having the knock on effect of cars then crossing into the bus / cycle lane. The surprising result was the camera showing over 300 instances of this occurring; watch this space for further developments. We attended a couple of Parish Council meetings, and the Earth Wise event at Worcester Cathedral.

November

November saw the opening of the city’s first pump track in Battenhall Park which has been incredibly popular and a huge success (if you’ve used the track please complete the Bike Worcester survey here). Our guide for new users and parents is here. We also continued planning for the World Bike Bus Summit being hosted by Worcester in April 2025, with the confirmation of several key note speakers, with confirmed venues at the Hive, the Arena and the Guildhall.

December

After years of planning and a price tag of upwards of £16 million Kepax Bridge opened with a whimper, and despite concerns raised about connectivity and onward routes, nowt has been done (the riverside footpath to the North remains closed), and the much mentioned Figure of Eight walk ride remains [Ed. be diplomatic] errr, challenging (I wonder if Marc Bayliss or Simon Geraghty have tried to walk or cycle it yet?). Bike Worcester member Hannah Cooper was announced as being on Cycling UK’s list of 100 Women in Cycling for 2024. The final Worcestershire Active Travel Stakeholder Group meeting of the year brought some good news that a further dozen or so barriers would be removed on cycleways in the the city.

So there we have it, another year flies by. Not mentioned of course is all the things that happen every week / month regardless, so 2024 also includes hundreds of Bike Buses now running at half of Worcester’s primary schools, hundreds of volunteer hours at our bike recycling in association with Crowngate Shopping Centre, a 12 Critical Mass ride, 6 Kidical Mass rides, a load of adult Bikeability sessions, we’ve reviewed and replied to an abundance of consultations and planning documents, attended tonnes of meetings, written emails and made phone calls, we’ve blogged, vlogged and podcasted aplenty, and consumed bucket loads of cake and coffee at Fred’s, All in all we’ve had a whole lot of fun getting around on bicycles.

A huge thank you to everyone who has given their time to Bike Worcester to help further our cause, to enable and encourage more people to use a bike as a mode of transport in the city. Here’s to a fantabulous 2025.