Taking part in Nottingham's glow ride for My ride. Our right

Riding together is unmistakeably magical, but perhaps even more so, riding together after dark. The glow ride last Wednesday evening in Nottingham, led and organised by Women in Tandem in collaboration with Cycling UK’s campaigns team, was such an example of a colourful, bright blast on two wheels for circa 60 women and allies, who got together to show that their safety matter too.

There is something in that multi-colour 3D-glow-ing experience of togetherness that is hard to pin down with words, which feel all too flat. Let me have a go.

We rode through Nottingham city centre amid traffic, on busy roads of the evening rush hour, to the sound of the music and flashing lights of the bikes, meticulously decorated for the occasion. I was lucky to be a visitor in Nottingham that evening, exploring the city from the perspective of a night time rider, both within cycling lanes as well as on roads shared with other road users.

Our group of 11 Cycling UK colleagues were looked after by Women in Tandem and their wider Ride Leaders team, who ‘managed’ each junction for all the 60+ riders – not an easy task at 6:30pm midweek!  

Message in a lightbulb 

Riding together in one place with 60+ riders, but also at the same time as other rides in 60+ locations across the UK amplified the meaning of this personal experience. Together, we sent a message to everyone who saw us in person or online. To me, that visual message feeds to the value behind the My Ride Our Right campaign, but equally, it narrows down to quite an existential reason for our organisation: 

we want all people to have a choice. 

In their daily lives, we want people to be able to choose how they want to move from A to B. If they want to choose an active form of transport, for example short journeys, we want this choice to be feasible, whether they pop out to the shops, go on the school run or do their daily commute, whether they ride on their own or together with their friends and families.

Too many women actively stop riding from A to B in darker months and that is beyond unfair. It blows my mind that today, in 2025 we keep getting together to ask the public to share the roads with all users safely, to be able to continue riding our two- wheelers (and trikes!) in winter months. 

Disco on Wheels

Personally, the Nottingham glow ride brought the memories from my very first group led ride at night, three years ago in Manchester. Lights Up rides, organised by Bee Pedal Ready and Station South with the Rides for Women collective, formed a prominent inspiration to the glow ride movement. 

The magic of the annual tradition of Disco on Wheels comes into its third consecutive year this 8 November 2025, and has become one of the winter traditions in Mancunian landscape of mass events, bringing circa 200 riders each year to call for a safer roads for all users, that includes women cycling after dark. The benefit of experience is telling. Lights Up gets bigger and better every year, with its multiple art collaborations and local partnerships, and an exemplary attention to detail that the organisers bring. For example, circa 30 Ride Leaders (all women) are also required to attend three evening pre-rides, for the marshalling a mass ride presents quite a different endeavour at night. 

Since that first night time mass Lights Up I have ridden much more and more often after dark, normalising bike riding as a form of transport for others in my community. 

In Nottingham and in all other glow ride locations this autumn, a colourful cloud of moving lights sent a visual and visible reminder that we all have a right to share our streets safely. Yes, safety in numbers.