Winchester Mass Cycle 2023

Prologue

Last weekend (30^th September) saw the seventh annual Mass Cycle in Winchester.  It was organised by Cycle Winchester, a community group that campaigns to make Winchester better by bike.  And, let’s be honest, Winchester is currently not particularly cycle-friendly.

This was most definitely NOT a protest demonstration.  There was no laying down of bikes to block the roads; there was no padlocking of cyclists to bollards.  The purposes were to promote the joy of cycling, to provide a safe opportunity for less-proficient cyclists to brave the centre of Winchester, and to show the city and county councils how many people might switch to bicycles if only the infrastructure were there.

“We should take part” said Mrs Chippy, when she heard about it.
“But we’d have to Cycle to Winchester and back”
“Yes, that’s fine”
“But you’ve never cycled that far!”

So we went. And, in fact, the cycle to Winchester wasn’t a long ride – more of a concatenation of several shorter rides.

The Ride

First we cycled to the Allbrook scout hut, where we met up with a colleague of Mrs Chippy.  From there to Colden Common Community Centre where two more cyclists joined us – one of whom, it transpired, was a fellow (but relatively new) Eastleigh parkrunner.

With only five cyclists, we were beginning to wonder whether this wasn’t going to be the grand procession that we had been led to believe.

Undaunted, we set off for the next rendezvous point: Colden Common Recreation Ground.  When we reached the car park we knew we were in the right place.  It was full of cyclists, of all ages and abilities.  There were a lot of families – with youngest children on child seats or in trailers, and older (but still young) siblings on their own small bikes.  And there was a stall selling coffee and bacon rolls.  Next time, we will go straight there!

We soon set off on the ride to Winchester.  The group was corralled for safety, with younger cyclists kept towards the edge of the road.  Marshals on rollerblades kept us together, and went ahead to control traffic at junctions.  This was a really clever idea – it was obvious who the marshals were, as they were the ones who were not cycling!

At Twyford we were joined by another contingent, before making our way along some backways through the village.  I didn’t know about this route, but will definitely use it again, as it avoids the slow hill coming up from the traffic lights.

After Hockley Junction we used the shared cycle and pedestrian path to the city centre.  We congregated at the Everyman Cinema, along with groups who had come from Badger Farm and Highcliffe.  Then it was time for the Mass Cycle – two circuits of the city centre, ending in Abbey Gardens.  En-route we were joined by the final two groups, from Harestock and Kings Worthy respectively.

One participant told us he had been going for his usual Saturday morning ride when he saw the mass of cyclists heading in the opposite direction, so decided to turn round and join them!

Over 400 cyclists took part – plus two bike-based PCSOs who helped control the traffic flow at major junctions.  It was such a great carnival atmosphere, with music and happiness.  Disruption to traffic was kept to a minimum – I have seen worse in Winchester on a Saturday morning.  And we got a great round of applause as we passed Wetherspoons.

Cycle Paths (or not)

On the way home, we took the route through Otterbourne.  And here is where the lack of cycling infrastructure shows.  There is a great cycle path from the city centre along the old railway line and over the Hockley viaduct (there’s also the wonderful Handlebar Café at Garnier Road where we stopped for coffee and cake).  This path takes you across the motorway link road by the Badger Farm / St Cross roundabout.  And then ends.  Just at the point where the road gets narrow and fast.  What’s happened there?

Cycling through Otterbourne, I was pleased to see a cycle path eventually reappear on the path to my left.  This cycle path lasted for all of 30 yards before dropping back onto the road again.  What’s the point of that?  It wasn’t until the bottom of Otterbourne Hill that we got a proper cycle path again.

The Otterbourne Hill cycle path continues to Chandlers Ford, where it unceremoniously stops a little way before Thornden School.  Again, I think we need a bit of joined-up thinking here.  “Hmm, we need to encourage pupils to cycle to school so we’ll build a cycle path that doesn’t quite reach the school”.

However, cycle path or not, cycling through Otterbourne is still preferable to the Highbridge Road route we had take on our way to Winchester.  The winding roads and double white lines were completely ignored by fast-driving motorists in their rush to overtake us.

To be fair, Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford are reasonably well served with cycle routes.  I can cycle quite a long way around the area – reaching as far as Southampton and Romsey – and stay on cycle paths nearly all the way.  It’s just when I want to head north it all gets a bit complicated.

But all is not lost.  Look what appeared in Winchester over the weekend.  Coincidence?

Epilogue

It was, indeed, Mrs Chippy’s longest cycle ride (over 30 km).  And she is already suggesting some more rides – “how about cycling round the Isle of Wight”.

[unless otherwise stated, all photos in this post are credited to the author]