Thousands of Cyclists Join 4th Freedom Ride in Joburg

Some 4,000 people in Johannesburg climbed in the saddle early on Sunday for the fourth annual Freedom Ride Jozi, the organisers said, “celebrating the memory of Nelson Mandela and the freedom to ride around the city”.

The 27-kilometre ride – on which only five minor injuries were reported – was free and part of Freedom Ride’s ongoing aim to get more people to cycle and to reclaim the city by biking there. The route included northern suburbs like Sandton, the area around Johannesburg Zoo, Yeoville and even Hillbrow.

“The leafy suburbs of the north gave way to a rousing welcome in Hillbrow”, the organisers said in a statement after the ride. “Bet there were a few people who didn’t think they would be riding through Hillbrow on a Sunday morning”.

The Freedom Ride was started in 2014 by cycling activists in partnership with the City of Johannesburg. “The concept of the ride is to get the people of Johannesburg onto bicycles and riding the streets of the city”, according to Freedom Ride’s website.

“Our aim is to encourage all South African cities to take on this initiative and promote cycling as a way of transport, connecting communities, and creating greener, unified cities for all.”

Freedom Ride also promotes a programme called Cycle Friday, and it has bike maps on its website suggesting biker-friendlier routes in Johannesburg.

The Sunday event also coincides with the EcoMobility World Festival 2015 taking place in Sandton for the month of October. Sections of the sprawling northern suburb have been temporarily closed to traffic in an effort to get people to use their cars less and opt for public transport or their bicycles or even to walk.

On Friday, as part of the festival, Johannesburg released the ‘Johannesburg Declaration on Ecomobility in Cities’, a commitment to strive towards greater ecomobility. The declaration will be presented at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris in December, apparently by Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau, who has been a driving force behind people using more sustainable forms of transport.

“By endorsing this final draft of the declaration”, the document said, “we confirm that we will work with our subnational and national level governments, international development agencies, bi- and multi-laterals, networks of cities, and more importantly with each other and our local communities to make ecomobility a reality in our cities.”.

The next FNB Freedom Ride in Cape Town still has to be announced, according to the Freedom Ride’s website. Also remember that the Standard Bank Africa Cycle Fair, which will have places to ride and bike products for sale, takes place in Johannesburg on October 23-25.

Here is a video promoting the Standard Bank ACF, which has a new venue in Sandton this year:

https://youtu.be/5sJfCZpeuG0