It was a beautiful sunny day, although the sun soon disappeared behind the haze, but still it was dry and not too cold.

A huge (possibly almost 500 as I saw someone with armband 477) throng of cyclists were already assembled outside of the Rugby Ralph Lauren shop in Covent Garden, by the time we arrived.

It had been an early start for us, up at the crack of dawn to catch the 7.32 train to St Pancras. Despite all my trouble trying to book cycle reservations, ending up with multiple reservations, it was fairly straight forward in the end, as the train had a guards van. Unfortunately, the guards van was at the opposite end of the train from our seat reservations…

Note to self if we attempt this again, cycling in heels may be easy, but walking the entire length of an inter-city train in them isn’t!

We were just affixing our official registration plates to the bikes, when Mark from i-bike-london turned up. I helped him fix his armband on, before he disappeared off into the crowd to socialise. After the obligatory faffing around for the group photo, shortly after eleven we set off, much to the bemusement of the passing tourists. It has to be said early Saturday morning in Covent Garden isn’t the best choice of venue fro a bike ride, broken glass from Friday night was everywhere. No wonder spare inner tubes were recommended! Whilst it may be an amazing spectacle having so many riders in a confined space, it doesn’t make for easy riding, being more akin to a wobbly slow bicycle race than a leisurely ride.

While the stewards did an excellent job of politely stopping the traffic, we did have a few aggressive drivers that insisted on trying to bulldoze their way through the group.

The ride through Hyde Park Corner was rather hair raising, as was Sloane Square, but we made it safely to the tea stop in Kensington. Here we met up with Mark again,

Lady Velo and @grobelaar,

@scsmith and @samsgromit.

London tea is never great (all that scum is rather off putting), but the cakes were excellent. We just had enough time to admire some of the vintage bikes (I was rather disappointing there weren’t any penny farthings)

and other people’s outfits. Some had gone to a lot off effort and there were some very distinctive combinations.

As we set off for the second leg, I put my camera away. The light was fading as the cloud had rolled in and it was time to enjoy the spectacle. Waving to the crowds isn’t something you get to do everyday. We wove around the back streets of Chelsea and Victoria and took in parts of Pimlico, but apart from recognising odd places here and there I was completely lost! Finally after doing a couple of circuits past the demonstrators outside the Syrian Embassy, we ended up at the Caledonian Club.

Time to put my feet up!

After more tea - or very posh whisky if that’s your thing, the prizes for best moustache, etc were awarded and a special edition Pashley Gov’nor given away.

What’s the collective noun for a group of Gov’nors?

A stop for refreshments. Coffee and cake at St Pancras, before heading home.

My footage from the first part of the ride - including our detour past Horseguards Parade, which wasn’t part of the route!

Some official highlights from the day (with yours truly lurking in that mass of cyclists at the start): 

An “educational” video showing the etiquette for the tweed run:

In the film above is footage of one of the most famous events in the history of the struggle for “Votes for Women”.

What have Suffragettes got to do with Sheffield or bikes you may wonder?

Well, for a start, according to Wikipedia, The Sheffield Female Political Association was the first women’s suffrage organisation in the United Kingdom. The group was founded in February 1851 by several Sheffield women who were also active in the Chartist movement, led by Anne Kent and Anne Knight.

Monday March 8 2010 is International Women’s Day and Sheffield FridayNightRide is celebrating by cycling to locations in Sheffield associated with the struggle for women’s emancipation:

“Friday March 5 2010 6.30 pm
The Women’s Movement in Sheffield
Meet Gates to City Museum, Western Bank for the 12 mile route
Pick up point: Cathedral Square, High St 7.15 pm for the 9.5 mile route

“Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance.” -Susan B. Anthony (1896) US Suffragette

photo Rich Lem

This FridayNightRide is to celebrate International Women’s Day (Monday March 8 2010) by cycling to locations in Sheffield associated with the struggle for women’s emancipation. The main focus is sites to do with the struggle for Votes for Women but it also goes past other relevant sites e.g. the first women’s clinics in Sheffield.
I have put places of interest with some explanation of what happened or what was at the site on the map

Heads up! In total it is 12 miles at a leisurely pace with stops to talk and listen. It is all on roads or metalled trails or paths and should suit any bike.
NB: if you’re on your way and want us to wait or if you can’t make the start and want to join some time then PHONE Mick on the mobile number below.

Route. We head off to Crookesmoor to see

As most of the ride has Edwardian connections the wearing of cycling tweeds and bloomers or somesuch is encouraged or perhaps the colours purple, white and green - the colours of the suffragettes – or green, white and scarlet – the colours of the suffragists.

photo Swindon Local Studies Collection

Background

In the 20 years before WWI the hottest domestic political issue was Votes for Women.

Reasoned and reasonable arguments were felt to be ineffective and the campaign and dissent moved from petitions, rallies and meetings to also encompass disruption, rioting, vandalism and fire-bombings of post boxes. I think the epicentre for this movement in Yorkshire and NE Derbyshire was Sheffield where the youngest Pankhurst, Adela, organised the suffragette movement in the region and led by personal example.
The invention and mass production of bicycles preceded the car by about 25 years. So for 25 years pedestrians, horses (and carts), and bicycles shared the roads. The bicycle was affordable for many and it allowed people to travel much further than they were used to on their own or in groups, to places of their own choice that may well have been inaccessible before. Travelling ‘under one’s own steam’ became a leisure activity as well as a utilitarian activity.
The bike was liberating for men and especially women. Many (mainly male) critics warned of the health dangers of cycling for women (e.g. exercise that was too strenuous and fast for the gentler sex, the hazards of a machine that women would find difficult to control) which also reflected a concern about young men and women cycling off to places together where they could not be seen or supervised and all would be overexcited by the physical exercise and rubbing of the bike saddle – ooh, er, missus!
As side notes it is worth noting that the use of the bicycle (not the introduction of the car) led to the asphalting of roads and cycling caused some changes in fashion, e.g. bloomers were invented so women could cycle more freely and retain their modesty.
What the bike did do for both men and women was literally extend physical and geographical horizons and create the mind-set that one could travel individually and autonomously – and paradoxically that is an essential psychological and cultural mind-set for owning and using a car!
So on your bikes for this one!

Mick
“We have nothing to lose but our chains!”
w: www.sheffieldfridaynightride.org.uk
e: sheffieldfridaynightride@blueyonder.co.uk
tw: @sheffieldfnr
facebook: Sheffield FridayNightRide
t: 079 49 59 67 02

View Sheffield FNR: The Women’s Movement in Sheffield

Sheffield FridayNightRide is a cycle ride around Sheffield. It’s a ride for fun, fresh(ish) air and comradeship. It’s unsupported, it’s about celebrating cycling and celebrating Sheffield. It’s not a demo or a protest. It’s not anti-traffic. Whoever you are, whatever your bike, you’re welcome to join the FridayNightRide.”

Photo by M.J.S