Family-friendly mass bike ride across Wolverhampton set to celebrate the joy of travelling on two wheels

Wolverhampton Kidical Mass on Saturday, June 14 features activities for all ages and abilities, from a gentle ride from East Park to the Molineux Stadium and back, to bike skills and practice riding sessions for learners in East Park throughout the day.

The event is a partnership between Wolverhampton Council, Transport for West Midlands and health and wellbeing social enterprise No Limits to Health CIC and aims to celebrate local cycling infrastructure and encourage more Wolverhampton residents to explore the city on two wheels, in line with the council and the WMCA’s active travel and climate goals.

Mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker will set the cyclists off at 12pm, joined by Wolverhampton cycling ambassador Hugh Porter, a former world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist. 

Riders will travel mainly on roads with designated cycle lanes to reach the Molineux.

The event is planned as Wolverhampton’s contribution to the national Bike Week 2025 celebration and coincides with Great Big Green Week, the UK’s biggest celebration of community action to protect nature and tackle climate change.

The stadium is welcoming participants courtesy of Wolverhampton Wanderers Foundation, underlining the site’s heritage as a cycle race venue from before the football ground was built in 1889. 

Dancers from Ellowes Hall Sports College in Dudley will put on a display, and riders will be greeted by Matt Campbell, senior community activation officer of Wolves Foundation and Wolverhampton Wanderers club historian Peter Crump.

The route resumes along the central reservation of the Ring Road, recently converted into a cycle lane, and trails back through the city centre to East Park.

The ride, suitable for riders aged 10 and up, will be led by experienced cycle coaches and volunteers, including No Limits to Health founder and Bicycle Mayor of Wolverhampton Sam Henry.

East Park will host a bike skills track and learn-to-ride sessions for younger children, plus a Speedway Cycling Demonstration, Dr Bike repairs, performances by the Ellowes Hall dance troop and theatre group the Miss Ida show, face-painting, and Indian, Caribbean and British food stalls.

Hugh Porter said: “As a former world champion and Cycling Ambassador for the City, it is music to my ears to see people riding bikes.

“I wish the Kidical Mass family bike ride every success on the day and I hope it attracts lots of youngsters to pedal around the route.”

Councillor Qaiser Azeem, Cabinet Member for Transport for Wolverhampton Council, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate safe, family-friendly cycling and for children to practise riding on public roads and cycle lanes, taking advantage of visibility and safety in numbers.

“Those taking part will follow a route that will take in designated cycle routes developed by Wolverhampton Council as part of our commitment to encouraging active travel and healthy lifestyles, reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality.

“I hope as many people as possible get involved and that the sun comes out on the day.”
Sam Henry, who set up Kidical Mass Wolverhampton last year, said: “Kidical Mass is great way to encourage masses of citizens to embark on a journey for health for the sake of their children”.
“Safety is the big, golden word running through this event. We are making the city safe for cycling.

“Wolverhampton City Council has put the money in. Kidical Mass is working with TfWM and the WMCA to make sure people use cycle lanes once they’re built”.
Speaking after last year’s inaugural Kidical Mass, teacher Katrina Kellyauda, who volunteers at No Limits to Health’s Gloucester Street hub, said the event had been “brilliant, to see the trees, the sky, to be out in the elements. I really, really enjoyed it”.
“It’s very, very important to encourage people to cycle more,” she added. “I think about children and the example set when you do things like this in the community.
“I am Afro-Caribbean and I don’t really see many Afro-Caribbean people riding especially in Wolverhampton. This will be a great encouragement for more people of Afro-Caribbean descent to be riding and to be more healthy as well”.
Candice Harvey, one of the bike leaders at last year’s event said: “I always say your health is your wealth and that’s what we’re doing today”.

She said cycling offered her “fun, relief, clearing of mind – it’s just awesome. It’s a lovely cocktail of fun and fitness”.