Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle, part of the world’s greatest festival of cycling, returns on Saturday 30 July 2016 with an enhanced route and a new Festival Zone on the Southbank.
This year the event, which is part of a festival of cycling led by the Mayor of London’s office, will showcase new areas of the capital. The route will again take in the Strand and Lincoln’s Inn Fields and returns to the Victoria Embankment, taking in a section of the newly opened East-West Cycle Superhighway (CS3).
The eight-mile circuit passes iconic London landmarks including Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Bank of England and again goes south of the river with a loop over Waterloo Bridge, offering stunning views of London. There are a further two miles of Explore Routes through the City of London, allowing riders to meander through the historic streets of the capital. View the route map here.
Seven Festival Zones (up from six last year) offer riders a chance to stop and enjoy a huge range of free bike-based entertainment and to try out many different bike-based activities. Each Festival Zone will have secure cycle parking so participants can leave their bicycles safely to enjoy the fun. The seven Festival Zones are:
• Green Park
• Aldwych
• Lincoln’s Inn Fields
• Guildhall Yard
• Leadenhall Market
• St Paul’s Churchyard
• Southbank (new for 2016)
Centre stage at the new Southbank Festival Zone will be the spectacular Drop and Roll Tour street trials rider show, led by Danny MacAskill, whose breathtaking stunt cycling videos are watched by millions worldwide.
The Festival Zones will feature stunt cyclists, the VeloPark Challenge with a virtual try out of the Olympic Velodrome, a mountain bike course, bike polo, Penny Farthing polo, stunt unicyclists, a pedal-powered juice bar, BMX tryout, a pedal-powered quiz, Cycle Scalextrics, the London Bike Market, a jump box ramp show, cycle cinema, drumming cyclists, a picnic area and much more (full details available here).
Andrei Burton, one of the world’s top stunt cyclists, will star in an International Urban Trials competition that will take centre stage in Green Park. A team of world and national champion trials riders will tackle a series of breathtaking challenges over obstacles and platforms. An image of Andrei Burton on the Coca Cola London Eye is available here.
Green Park will also be the venue for the SuperFinals of the StreetVelodrome competition which is currently underway around the UK.
There will be music and entertainment all along the route too with bands, music bikes, stilt bicycles, stagecoaches and Penny Farthings to entertain the riders. Bike doctors will be on hand in case of any technical problems.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I want to make London a byword for cycling and thousands of people of all ages and abilities will take to two wheels for Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle. It’s a particularly good opportunity for Londoners who would like to cycle, but don’t currently feel comfortable doing so, to build their confidence on a route that takes in some of the most iconic sights of our city.”
“Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle is one of London’s top free days out for all the family,” said Hugh Brasher, Event Director. “It’s an amazing experience to ride through our great city on traffic-free roads and the Festival Zones offer wonderful entertainment for everyone. There’s so much to see and do and later in the day, there’s the chance to watch the world’s best women racing in the Prudential RideLondon Classique and then the fun of the Brompton World Championship Final.”
Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface at Transport for London (TfL), said: “Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle gives everyone the opportunity to experience cycling in the Capital on ten miles of traffic-free roads, opening up our streets to all from total beginners to long-lapsed riders. FreeCycle has inspired more than 150,000 people to cycle more since it began in 2013 – and the best part is we now have new and upgraded segregated Cycle Superhighways to be used once they’ve caught the cycling buzz.”
Free registration for Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle is now open at www.PrudentialRideLondon.co.uk/FreeCycle. Everyone who registers before 15 June will be sent a free tabard and free goody bags will be available for all registrants from the Prudential RideLondon Cycling Show at ExCeL from 28 – 30 July.
The London Cycling Campaign will provide led rides to and from 30 London boroughs, enabling individuals and groups to cycle from home to join the route in the centre of London with return led rides at the end of the day. Full details of registration, times and locations for the led rides will be available in June.
The organisers of the weekend festival of cycling will deliver an extensive community engagement programme with the support of TfL, the London boroughs on the route and Surrey County Council to help residents and businesses along the route plan ahead. This will include pre-awareness campaign posters on the transport network, a series of customer information emails and a leaflet drop in July to 1 million+ residents and businesses along the route. Information on travel disruption and advice will be available on www.tfl.gov.uk/ridelondon. To avoid delays over the event weekend, all drivers are advised to avoid areas near the event routes.
