The city route in Manchester was an anticlimax this time round. Clayton to Chinatown through an even longer meander round the back of Piccadilly station and they seem to have gone out of their way to find more of the worst maintained roads possible to use. I only hope that was a plan to embarrass the Council into fixing the holes and gashes in the surface.
None of the cruising niceness of previous years and other events rolling car free round Albert Square or up Deansgate to Castlefield.
You also need your wits about you for the really little kids and their parents focused solely on them and the planks that belt around thinking it is a time trial who are oblivious to everyone else and their relative speeds & needs.
London seemed to have the more vocal complaints about road closures and TBH most of the non participants on the route are waving and cheering people on. The route in Manchester is pretty well established now, the date advertised well in advance & this year avoided the shopping areas & through routes almost totally. It also stays off the main arteries predominantly & there are easy alternatives that don't inconvenience drivers. TBH, getting stuck at the roadblock of away fans coaches being escaorted from City's ground is far more of a pain round there, when you forget they're at home.
I've done a couple of the organised smaller rides too with the kids, nice as someone else made the decisions and I could just roll along behind. They were fine, friendly & sensible leaders who were clearly experienced cyclists (apart from the one who's toolkit didn't have allen keys) quiet choices for the on-road bits, short and gentle paced but I did pick the easy rides, I've no complaints and if I my job didn't include weekends I'd consider putting myself up as a leader for them to help get more people into riding in a friendly relaxed atmosphere.
there are different grades of organised rides too, if I was on my own I would have picked something other than easy, but with kids in tow...
