The first ride of 2026 saw about 250 riders brave the wet and cold. It was still raining at 19:30 when the ride left the southbank but it had eased off a bit, and the sound system riders had tarps and plastic sheetings to cover their rigs. A bit of music always lifts the spirits when the weather is shit.

The ride went to Brixton first, to a brand new cycle workshop run by UPCYCLE London. Upcycle had invited CM to come to their new space for some free hot chocolate. upCYCLE is an organisation established by Philip Dobson in June 2020. Inspired by the global Black Lives Matter movement, he felt the need to help young ethnically diverse people in London.

As a person of colour, he was devastated to see the inordinate impact that Covid-19 was having on London’s ethnically diverse community, with young people forced to use public transport, which increases the risk of infection and passing it on to high risk or elderly family members.

He started off simply fixing bikes that were destined for landfill and donating them to charities in London, but after discussions with charities and community leaders he realised that much more was needed to get young people involved in cycling and, more importantly, actually keep them interested.

That’s why he started running Bike Maintenance and Cycle Skills courses at The Remakery in Brixton, where young people can get a refurbished bike for free and learn how to maintain it. Their mission is to address the lack of diversity in London’s cycling community by creating a fun and inclusive environment for young people from ethnic minority groups to share their passion for cycling.

After refuelling with hot chocolate, the ride then headed east towards Peckham / Camberwell, where an electric scooter rider had been killed recently. The rider was also a regular cyclist. The ride stopped briefly by the flowers and candles on Southampton Way before being moved on by the police.

Afterwards the ride went back to the southbank via Elephant and people chatted for a while before dispersing.