Barnet's Great Divide Ride

London's cyclists have had the Blackfriars Flashrides, the Tour du  Danger, Kings Cross Bikes Alive protests, and the Cities fit for cycling flashride, and now suburban north Londoners will have their own ride-cum-protest with the Great Divide Ride.  Organised by Barnet Cycling Campaign (a group of LCC), the distinctive idea of this ride, on Sunday 25 March, will be to highlight how a huge infrastructural barrier cuts north London in two, preventing any but the most fit, skilled, and brave cyclists from making journeys across it. This barrier is the North Circular Road, the A406, which effectively strangles cycling in the north London suburbs, lacking any properly-designed cycle crossing points, and forcing cyclists to contend with terrifying, motorway-style junctions.

A bizarre switchback route will take cyclists across the Borough of Barnet – known in recent times as one of the least helpful local authorities in the country for cycling, with an active program of removing both cycle land bus lanes, as well as ripping out traffic calming features that benefit pedestrians as well – from the border with Enfield on the east to the border with Brent on the west. The route will cross the North Circular Road ten times, highlighting the lack of safe, convenient or legal ways for cyclists to cross the road, and also the fact that Transport for London under Boris Johnson has actively made things worse recently, with their rebuild of the Henlys Corner junction with the A508 Finchley Road that totally ignored their own published standards for cycle-friendly roads. "Why is a new London junction design no better for cyclists than the 1960s junctions at Brent Cross and Staples Corner?", Barnet Cycling Campaign will be asking the Mayor.

The ride will be marshalled so cyclists of all abilities and ages will be able to ride slowly in a mass through some of the most dangerous junctions in London. The ride will start at 10 am from New Southgate Station N11 1QH (on the line from King's Cross), and end at Mill Hill Park NW7 2BD, where a "Fun Day" will be in progress. There are likely to be feeder rides from other London meeting points. Full details will be here.