Welcome to Birmingham
Birmingham is a great place to cycle, and now there are even more opportunities to get out and about on your bike in the area.
This year Birmingham hosted a big Sky Ride City event, as well as a series of friendly neighbourhood Sky Ride Local rides, Breeze bike rides for women, and more.
Check out the list of events still coming up on the righthand side, and register for free to join in.
Sky Ride Birmingham took place on 19 August 2012 and was a great family day of traffic-free cycling. Read the report here – and find out about other rides taking place in the area below.
Sky Ride Local rides are guided by friendly British Cycling Ride Leaders along scenic planned routes. With different levels, there’s something for everyone – whether you’re building your confidence or already comfortable on a bike and looking for a challenge.
Breeze is the biggest programme ever to get more women into riding bikes for fun. Our aim is to help thousands more women feel confident and comfortable about going on a ride.
A social network exclusively for cyclists, Social Cycling Groups makes it easy to get together, find a place to ride and enjoy a bike ride at a level and time that suits you.
See what others are doing
Clubs
British Cycling can help you to find a club that’s right for you. Use the club finder link to find a club near you There are some great cycling clubs and groups in Birmingham who welcome new and novice cyclists to come along and ride with them, including:
Hopwood Ladies
A recreational non-competitive cycling club run by women for women in the south of Birmingham. Offering fab weekly rides for all abilities taking into account family and work commitments.
Beacon Roads Cycling Club offers monthly introductory social led rides. If you fancy a relatively short, easy-paced ride suitable for newcomers including cafe stops for refreshments – you’ll be among friends!
Stourbugs is Stourbridge's bicycle users group, offering cycling for fun, leisure and pleasure.
Solihull Cycling Club offers everything from competitive cycling to weekly recreational club rides catering for all abilities.
Halesowen Cycling Club offers competitive and recreational cycling opportunities to all.
Stourbridge Cycling Club supports both competitive and non-competitive, on- and off-road cycling.
Stourbridge Velo Cycling Club encourages the enjoyment of recreational and professional racing cycling in the local area.
Support
There are lots of initiatives in Birmingham designed to help and support you to get the most out of cycling.
Bike North Birmingham
Birmingham City Council has recently been awarded over £4million funding to improve cycling facilities and promote cycling activities in schools, businesses and the community in north Birmingham. Find out more on the Birmingham City Council page and the Bike North Birmingham brochure.
Cycle training
Birmingham City Council runs cycle training for children and adults.
Commuting in Birmingham
Birmingham is an excellent city to commute to work by bike. Read our guide to commuting in Birmingham.
Cycling initiatives
Pushbikes is a cycling campaign to make Birmingham and the West Midlands more cycle friendly. Join in one of their leisure rides or download a cycling map.
Midland Cycle Hire offers easy bike hire in Birmingham, Solihull and surroundings.
Gear up offers rides, Bikeability training, bike maintenance and recycled bikes for sale. As one of the Be Active by Bike Hubs (see above) they also organise led rides with trained ride leaders. Gear up is a bike Social Enterprise run by young people in Birmingham, part of Worth Unlimited.
Where to ride
Whatever kind of cycling you enjoy, Birmingham and the surrounding area has some great places to ride.
Planning a commuter route is easier now the West Midlands has been added to the national Transport Direct online journey planner in 2010. Plan door-to-door cycle journeys – take the quietest, quickest or most recreational route.
Check out the routes in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield centred on Plants Brook and the Newhall Valley.
Birmingham's stunning canal network provides great routes for commuting or leisure close to the city centre. Find out more about local canal cycling.
Also West Midland Cycling has a very informative section on the different canal networks in and around Birmingham.
