Cycling in the CBD is a novel way of navigating and experiencing the heart of the city. And thanks to a great initiative by progressive riders, it has become a regular lunchtime city-centre event.
IT'S a way of making people, especially those in cars, realise that there are more affordable, healthy and equitable ways of moving around our city. It’s also a fun way of introducing people to cycling if they’ve never considered it before or are nervous about cycling in heavy city-centre traffic. Welcome to the Red Sock Friday City Centre Cycle initiative.
Held every second Friday at lunchtime, the event sees people – avid, experienced and novice cyclists – gather under The Arch for Arch monument at the bottom of Government Avenue next to St George’s Cathedral at 11h00, armed with their bicycles, a lot of energy, good cheer – and a pair of red socks.
The group, marshalled by experienced cyclists, then sets off on a leisurely 5 km-cycle to the V&A Waterfront and back, using bike lanes and experiencing the all-too-familiar city streets through the “lens” of a bicycle rider.
Organiser Ben Etherington, Sustainable Energy Assistant at the City of Cape Town’s Energy and Climate Change Directorate, says the cycle is done in a big group “to make car-drivers wake up to the fact that the streets are meant to be shared responsibly” and because “there’s safety in numbers”.
Lunchtime cycling in the Central City
INTEGRATED MOBILITY OPTIONS
The event is the brainchild of Tiffany Chalmers and Julia Munroe, who were City of Cape Town Environmental Management interns. They dreamed it up in September 2018, mainly to draw attention to Transport Month, which raises awareness of the important role of transport in the economy and invites participation from civil society.
At the time, in an interview in the CCID’s quarterly newspaper, City Views, Julia explained that they were motivated by the fact that integrated mobility options needed to be given greater consideration. “With Capetonians spending a lot of their time every year sitting in traffic and many South Africans spending a substantial amount of their income on transport, alternative, integrated mobility options like cycling need to be given greater consideration. And initiatives like City Centre Cycle bring us one step closer to realising a Cape Town cycling culture that enables a cleaner, more affordable transport for all.”
Unfortunately, after Tiffany and Julia's tenure as interns ended, the initiative also ground to a halt. But, with Transport Month looming once again, in 2019 Ben collaborated with Cape Town cycling advocates and revived it. Says Ben: “I’ve been really lucky to work with a great team on these Friday cycles. Kirsten Wilkins (Urban Designer and cyclist) has been an utter champion in ensuring the logistics, safety and all-round fun of the rides. Thamar Houliston (Community Chest Unogwaja Challenge Project Manager) has brought a valuable communication and publicity element. Rebecca Campbell and Mzikhona Mgedle from Open Streets Cape Town have supported in a bunch of ways from marshalling to ensuring that each ride has a soundtrack and, of course, none of this would have been doable without the amazing generosity of the Pedal Power Association, with Jannis Jaggers steering things from their side.”
Kirsten says the event is a collective effort by cycling organisations, volunteers and City and Provincial officials who love cycling and want to promote it. “That has been the biggest success in my mind. It’s a collective and social effort that recognises that cars are not the solution to mobility, people collaborating is. And we all wear red socks as this is what connects us,” she says.
FANCY A RIDE?
The beauty of these rides is that everyone can join, even if they don’t own a bicycle. Thanks to the Pedal Power Association, which supplied bicycles for those who do not have their own, anyone from teetering beginners to seasoned commuters can participate. So, just like Ben, you can go from novice-to-expert in no time at all. “I had never really cycled for any reason until I went on a Friday cycle,” he confesses. Pretty quickly he realised it was “a very refreshing way of seeing Cape Town”.
Kirsten, on the other hand, is an experienced cyclist who will this year also be part of a team of 25 riders cycling from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg to compete in the Comrades Marathon.
Looking into 2020, Kirsten says: “We are encouraging bicycle riders around the metro to organise their own Friday lunchtime rides. The idea of a Friday Cycle is just that: getting some folks together and use Friday lunchtime to exercise and see your neighbourhood in a new way. The City Centre location will continue to be the ‘flagship ride’, but this is how we see the movement expanding.”
Rook Cycles
EXPLORING THE CBD LANDSCAPE
The good news is that the cycling movement is expanding. For example, CBD retailer Rook Cycles hosts free group rides every Thursday night (weather permitting).
Says Rook Cycles co-founder Luke Godfrey: “The Thursday Night Rides started when we formed the business in 2017. It was just me and Lee, and we’d go ride every Thursday to blow off some steam. Eventually, customers asked to join and it snowballed from there. Anyone is welcome to join. And we don’t make any bucks off it, it’s genuinely because we love riding our bikes in the city.”
While Luke is a strong advocate for cycling, he does admit that there are challenges to cycling in the CBD. He explains: “Our motorists and pedestrians aren’t totally ready to respect the inner-city cyclist. The cycle lane on Adderley Street is a total mess. Cars and taxis fail to check their mirrors before turning and more often than not, the Bree Street cycle lane is blocked up with cars double parking. We’ve got a way to go before cyclists are really acknowledged as road users.”
That said, he encourages cycling and believes “our city is an excellent urban landscape to explore by bicycle”. “You’ll never know it until you’re zooming down Wale Street. And around the bend onto Adderley, you get just the right amount of green lights to keep the speed all the way to the Foreshore and into the Waterfront. There are endless circuits to cut through and you can get creative with your inner-city commute.
“Buy a bike, any bike and ride more. You’ll see how everything is closer. Your commute is more fun, and you’ll feel better, faster and fitter.”
- For more information about the Red Sock Friday City Centre Cycle initiative and how to get involved, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/310381169858352/, check out Thursday Night Rides at Rook Cycles (295 Long Street) at 18h30 or start your own group ride.
IMAGES: Red Sock Friday City Centre Cycle, Rook Cycles