
A crowd of approximately a thousand riders assembled on the southbank, and rode to the junction of New Oxford St and Bloomsbury Street in the west end, via Blackfriars Bridge, Farringdon Road and Holborn. Regular riders circulated leaflets asking people to come for the installation of a white memorial bike, where 24 year old Jamal Yahya Pratley was killed by a van driver in April.

At the location some of Jamal’s friends painted the bike white, and his family laid flowers, as CM riders let off red smoke distress flares to the applause of the crowd. Jamal’s father then addressed the crowd, thanking them for the gesture and advising people to be careful when riding around the area as it was not safe for cyclists.

The ride then moved off after twenty minutes or so towards Trafalgar Square, and down the Mall, then heading south towards Clapham Common. Corking was very good, and the ride stayed completely together the entire evening, with no filtering and only the occasional car managing to sneak out of a driveway or side road into the middle of the mass. These were dealt with in a calm but firm way and were made to wait until riders had passed them safely.

The ride then stopped at the skate park area in Clapham Common where some cargo bicycle sound systems joined up together and played music with a DJ for about an hour. Other smaller sound systems were dotted around the common playing music, as people relaxed after the ride and lay on the grass. People drifted off but there were still maybe two to three hundred riders left, as the music finished up and the ride headed back in towards central.

The ride finished up back at the BFI and again the sound systems joined up and played music under Waterloo Bridge to a small but lively crowd, with the mini after party going until about 1:30am. Security from the south bank attended but did not close it down.

This was one of the largest CM rides in the last four years since Covid lockdown regulations were eased, probably the biggest apart from the 30th anniversary ride in April 2024. Numbers swell in the summer generally, but there were many newcomers who had come along after seeing it in the news from the Silvertown tunnel ride last month. It was a great ride and a fantastic, inclusive experience for anyone who had come along for the first time.












