London Freewheel

Ken Livingstone may not be perfect, but he does seem to be pretty committed to encouraging the use of sustainable transport in London. On Sunday Embankment and several other major London roads were closed to motor traffic for the London Freewheel.

The marketing and website were very cheesy, and my initial thoughts were that it was going to be a half hearted attempt at pretending to do something about London transport. However, it turned out to be quite good fun. The organisers were expecting around 30,000 people, but well over 40,000 turned out to ride or skate slowly along the streets of London.

The route itself was quite short and limited, but it appears to have succeeded in its primary aim- loads of unexperienced cyclists turned out from all over London, guided by volunteers from the London Cycling Campaign, and with any luck many will have seen how practical cycling can be and will hopefully continue.

More photos.