In Photos: London’s young riders take over the city for Bikestormz

There’s nothing that can prepare you for Bikestormz. If you’ve ever ridden a Critical Mass ride somewhere around the world, you’ll understand the feeling of riding together with thousands of others and taking back the streets of your city. But Bikestormz is so much more: this is uniquely London, built from nothing by some of London’s most talented young riders, who are making a call that London’s rich and powerful need to hear. There’s nothing else quite like it on the planet.

Since the first gathering in 2015, Bikestormz has been bringing riders from all backgrounds to ride as one for over a decade now under the banner: Bikes Up, Knives Down. With young people in the capital long-starved of resources, left out of decision-making and handled more-often-than-not as a crime and anti-social behaviour problem rather than London’s future, Bikestormz is a celebration of unity and the joy of riding together – but also a powerful call for change.

Kicking off in Southwark Park, around four thousand riders came out for Bikestormz 2024 on Saturday August 17. Everywhere you look there are bikes zipping around, usually with one wheel raised high to the sky and a massive soundsystem blasting out jungle and drum ’n bass from the bandstand. There’s a hypnotic, rolling carnival atmosphere but this is all taking place against the backdrop of a 20% rise in knife crime over the past year and it’s young Londoners – usually young Londoners of colour and working class Londoners – who disproportionately feel its impact.

“This year, we really wanted the message to be at the forefront of all the imagery and people’s conversations,” explains Jake O’Neill aka Jake100, a Bikestormz co-founder and the organiser of this year’s event. “That that’s why we spent pretty much all the budget we raised (which wasn’t a lot) on getting all the Bikes Up, Knives Down banners and things like that. This year was a real community effort and when issues came up, I was really proud of how all the people around me handled those situations together without involving the police.”

Bikestormz is a movement that is often misunderstood. Passersby are often shocked and scared by the daredevil stunts, such as stroking, when you pull a one-handed wheelie and stroke the side of an oncoming vehicle after swerving out of its path at the very last second. But what outsiders miss is the family feel of a Bikestormz event, the power in coming together and the meaning of raising your wheel for something.

“If you don’t understand the event, all I say to people is get down, get involved, talk to these young people, chat to these kids and ask them why they turned up,” Jake says. “And then I think you’ll get the real answers and the real meaning of what Bikestormz does for young people.”

Huck has been riding with Jake and other leaders of the London’s Bikelife movement since 2016 and released our short doc Before the Storm in 2018. This year photographer Greg Holland joined the storm, snapping portraits and stunts in Southwark Park, before cycling with the mass rideout through central London.

“I had only ever seen these kids riding on pavements and getting shouted at by people, so I thought it would be a lot rowdier but they were all sweethearts,” Greg explains. “I was really impressed, they were so polite, fun, open and happy for me to take their photos. Everyone rode and behaved in such a unified way, for all the right reasons: Bikes Up, Knives Down, against violence, against gangs. I honestly didn’t want it to end. I was gutted when my batteries died because I could have just kept shooting all night.”

Bikestormz continues to grow and the leaders of the movement are always thinking about what else they can accomplish together. Jake has been pushing hard to welcome more young women riders into the scene. “I managed to hook up a little partnership with Nocta (Drake’s Nike-backed clothing brand) to send over 50 exclusive, unreleased hoodies only for the girls and women that took part,” Jake says. “We’ve been working really hard to encourage and develop more girls and women riders. This year we set things up but next year we’re going to be giving that a really big push.”

After a loud but nothing-but-good-vibes rideout through central London, stopping traffic and shutting down entire streets, the storm returned from where it came, Southwark Park, for an afternoon of trick competitions. Mac Ferrari founded Bikestormz with Jake way back in 2015 and together they have grown it into a movement that truly changes – and saves – lives. Observing the never-ending tricks and thousands of riders doing their thing in the park made him reflect on where Bikestormz has come from – and where it’s going.

“It’s just beautiful to see what the young people have created, what Jake has done, what the team has done – the old faces and the new faces,” reflects Mac, who stepped back from organising the last two Bikestormz. “I’m quite emotional to be honest. It does mean a lot to the young people, it does mean a lot to the community, to the Bikelife community, and it does change a lot of lives. It’s amazing to see everyone still coming out around the cause of Knives Down, Bikes Up, getting together and having a whole load of fun. Big up Jake 100 and all the riders out there, let’s keep it pushing. Next year is the tenth anniversary Bikestormz, so let’s make that the biggest ride out ever.”

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