Cargo Bike Dads: A Sunday in London with Professor Green

There wasn’t much of a plan for this one, other than to show just how good everyday family life can be by cargo bike. Ben headed across London with the kids to meet Stephen Manderson – aka Professor Green – for a Sunday out on the bikes.

After successfully getting the bikes onto the Thames Clipper, they met in Greenwich and spent the day riding between a few favourite spots. Along the way, they got talking about fatherhood, London life and how cargo bikes have become an important part of both their routines.

“Oh my God, I get it”

Stephen first borrowed a cargo bike from Fully Charged around a year ago. He admits there was a degree of irony to it at first – another step towards becoming “ever more middle class” – but that disappeared fairly quickly once he rode it.

A year later, it’s firmly part of family life. Greenwich Park sits on the school-run route, and the bike has also become their default option for weekends without much in the diary.

There’s a simplicity to it: put the kids on the bike, head out and see where the day takes you.

A different way to move through London

Stephen spends a lot of his working life driving between gigs – nearly 15,000 miles over the summer – which has made the contrast with travelling by bike even more noticeable.

For Ben, an 11-mile commute takes around 25 minutes by eBike. By car, the same journey across London can take well over an hour. But the benefit isn’t purely practical. That time on the bike creates some welcome separation between a busy working day and arriving home.

Stephen describes something similar on the school run: a reliable 15-minute ride through Greenwich rather than potentially 45 minutes in traffic, with some greenery and breathing space thrown in.

A Sunday well spent

By the end of the day, they’d crossed London, ridden through Greenwich, spent some time on the water and had a picnic with the kids. Nothing particularly elaborate, which was rather the point.

Beyond replacing car journeys, that’s perhaps one of the best things about a cargo bike: it makes getting out and doing something together remarkably easy.