We Biked 2009

So to celebrate the end of 2009 and all that we have achieved in our city this year we had a lovely dinner. We went to the greenhouse in Rusholme, a lovely veggie restaurant....

It was realy nice to eat and spend time with some of the people that helped to make I Bike MCR really fantastic this year and helped to make loads of events and activities that not only enable people to have fun on their bikes but also give them skills and experience to help them making biking a sustainable and practical alternative to using a car. In addition to this the events have also served their most important purpose, and the whole reason I BIke MCR was started, which was to link and introduce people in order to make people that ride bikes in our city feel less alienated.

2009 has been really successful.

We have linked with other local organisations in order to promote their causes such as the revolution alleycat which supported Abundance Manchester, Mule Newspaper, Hulme Community Garden Centre and many more. We also helped out Manchester Committe to Defend Asylum Seekers by oragnising an alleycat where riders bought presents for the childrens christmas party.

We have organised bike rides and events that promote the use of local cycleways such as the Fallowfield Loop and the Trans Penine Trail. We joined up with Platt Fields Park on many occasions to help promote the park and to get more people cycling in it.

We organised two amazing festivals that included a fantastic mixture of fantastic events and activities such as Wild Food Bike Rides to a Polo Tournament that was attended by teams from all over the world!

The festivals also included: Roller Racing, Bike Art Blitz, Mural Painting and Kidical Mass on the Fallowfield Loop, pedal powered parties, Art Ride, Bike MCR Conference, Bike Polo Practices, Magical Mystery Time Trial, Moonlight Ride, Bike Film screening, ladies rides, bike dancing, big bike rides, mountain biking, guerilla gardening rides, alleycat races, fixed gear events, dumpster dive rides, daily student commute rides, Bike History and Landmark Tour of MCR, Bike Art workshops, trips to the velodrome and much more!

Critical Mass, one of our monthly bike rides, averaged an attendance of 200 people! Plus we organised heaps of events for afterwards such as a Halloween Party, a barbeque in the park, a bike art parade of the city, roller racing and band nights.

In addition to the festivals we have had our regular rides and activies which take place weekly and monthly including bike maintenace classes, Ride Like A Grrrl ladies rides, moonlight rides, bicycle polo, bike film nights, road rides, cycle confidence classes.

It's been a fantastic year for bike polo with loads more people playing almost every day during the summer and still twice a week in the depths of winter. Manchester teams have even played and won at a variety of national and international tournaments.

We rode our road bikes up huge hills in Lancashire and Yorkshire, imagining ourselves to be Beryl Cooke or Bernard Hinault and eventually some of us even tackled real tough climbs overseas including the Tourmalet and Ventoux, and some even took part in their first road race!

The Spokes bike dance troupe has continued and the biking ladies have performed at a variety of events including Manchester Comedy Festival and Mad Ferret Festival.

We were even nominated for a Be Proud Award to celebrate all the amazing things we have done over the last 3 years.

In addition to all these achievments one of the biggest ones for me is that so many people have got on board and taken on so much of the resposibility of events and activities this year, which is what I Bike MCR is all about.. It's purpose was initially to simply help create a diverse cycling comunity where people from different wlaks of life and from different cycling backgrounds could meet to share experience, skills and feel less alienated in our car dominted city. I feel that this has really started to happen, even more this year than any other and as Ben stated in a recent email it is so diverse...

"There's alot of odd crusty stuff that happens but dont be put off by that - we are a loose organisation of people trying to promote cycling in whatever form whether youve got dirty dreadlocks and dont like to wash, work in a bank, work in a skateshop, dont work or ride for a living, everyone is welcome as long as they ride a bike. Of course the aim is to get more people into riding bikes and out of their cars, trying to make cycling more accessible and fun and change people's perceptions of riding a bike only being for wierd people in multicoloured lycra." (Ben Blausten)

I Bike MCR was never about one person. It is about everyone being involved and everyone working together to create something truly inclusive, sustainable and a true diverse and dynamic bike community. I am so glad that people have started to take on organising activites and events, realising that I Bike MCR was never a one person or one aim mission. It is simply a community that anyone and everyone can be part of. Recently in a media interview I was asked what the politics of I Bike MCR are. I replied that it was difficult to answer and that really all I could say is that they are as different as all the people involved or participating. I gave the example of me being an anarchist and Ben Blausten being a fan of Thatcher but that we work together on activities with beautiful results. I guess that the idea that it promotes equality and focuses on getting people on bikes is political and in that way we promote the idea that everyone desrves and equal say, which is why in our meetings decisions are made by consensus, giving everyone a chance to speak.

I get so much praise and emails to say thank you from people who have learnt new skills, made new friends or been made aware of a new sport or activity such as bike dancing or bike polo. But all the praise is really for everyone that comes to meetings or participates in events or comes on a ride or sponsors an event or helps me write press releases or helps me carry flyers from one side of the city to another or takes photos or plans a route for a ride....everything you do makes this beautiful thing happen..so, thank you from everyone else!

"Keep up your excellent work in 2010" (Vincent GMCC)

"you're an inspiration" (Viv, Manchester Wheelers)

In 2010 we are planning a whole host of new events including the I Bike MCR Spring Camp where we shall go on holiday in March to ride our bikes and learn new skills. We are working with the Manchester Wheelers to start new road rides for women who want to go a bit faster. We are organising a trip to Alp D'Huez for those that fancy a bit of a challenge. We have bike polo teams entered into the Eurpean and World Polo tournaments. The festivals shall continue to grow and include more and more peoples exciting and inspirational ideas and skills.

If you would like to be invovled please get in touch.

We shall be having our first I Bike MCR meeting of 2010 to chat about events and activities during the year on Tuesday 19th January at 7pm. For more details please email info AT ibikemcr.org.uk

Anyone and everyone is invited to come along and share ideas, skills, time and help to make 2010 the best biking time this city has ever seen!!!

Thank you to everyone that was involved this year..let's do it all again... x x