Newsletter - Cycling News | March
Sent: Thu, Sep 9th 2010, 18:06
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Welcome to the March edition of the electronic newsletter from Life Cycle UK, the cycle promotion charity. In this issue:
BMW
Bike with a bang
Two's Company tandem rides
Winter woes
Nitty gritty
Weather forecasts
Bike Week
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BMW
Life Cycle’s BMW’s (that’s Bike Maintenance Workshops!) have been extremely popular lately with all the course fully booked. But for some reason the BMW scheduled for Saturday 14th March still has spaces. So, If you want to learn the mysteries of bike maintenance, here’s your chance!
Over a single day you'll learn how to set a bike up for maximum comfort, how to cope with a puncture, how to keep your brakes in good condition and your gears changing properly.
The courses run at the Life Cycle Centre, our shiny new workshop and training facility in Knowle, Bristol. You’ll get to use a proper tools and a cycle workstand (it's much easier working when your bike is at eye-level and when it doesn't keep toppling over!)
A place on a BMW costs £60 and includes spare parts such as inner tubes, brake pads and cables. Plus! all participants will receive a free copy of Bike Easy: Top Tips and Expert Advice for the New Cyclist (usual price £6.50) Book online now!
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Bike with a bang
A bicycle with a sticker advertising a Florida punk-folk band forced the evacuation of an airport terminal in Memphis, Tennessee, authorities said. A pilot alerted airport police when he saw a bicycle with a sticker that read "this bike is a pipe bomb" parked near the passenger ramps of Terminal C at Memphis International Airport, according to the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority.
"Terminal C ticketing and baggage claim at the airport were cleared out," said airport spokesman John Greaud. "A K-9 unit responded and found no explosive materials at the scene."
This Bike is a Pipe Bomb is actually the name of a band based in Pensacola, Florida, and this is not the first time in their 12-year history that the name has caused a commotion. Bikes sporting similar stickers at college campuses in Ohio and Philadelphia led to building closures, arrests and the bikes' controlled destruction by bomb squads acting on the assumption the sticker was announcing a real threat.
The owner of the Memphis bike was taken into custody by airport police but was later released because they had no grounds to hold him.
Don’t try this at Temple Meads station folks.
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Two's Company tandem rides
Do you know anyone who is visually impaired and would like to go cycling? If you do, Life Cycle's Two's Company project wants to hear from you.
This month sees the start of this year's programme of tandem rides for adults and children who are visually impaired. There are some wonderful rides planned, including into Wales across the Severn Bridge, along the Strawberry Line from Yatton to Cheddar, and a trip to the Forest of Dean. The rides are designed for all levels of fitness and ability from beginner cyclists to advanced level, and we have riders of all ages from 8 to 80!
We are also organising a Tandem Taster Day on 25th April in Queen’s Square in Bristol – an ideal opportunity for visually impaired children and adults to have a go at riding on the back of a tandem and to meet other riders.
Life Cycle is keen to give more people the opportunity to come and enjoy the rides. If you know any visually impaired people in the Bristol area who might enjoy cycling, please tell them about us!
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Winter woes
Our last newsletter coincided with heavy snowfall and icy road conditions. Many Bristol people set off on their usual commute, only to come unstuck on the city’s cycle tracks. Although roads get treated, cycling (and walking) infrastructure generally doesn’t because it’s seen as uneconomic. It’s not just Bristol that takes this view – it’s standard practice nationwide.
An e-petition has been set up and (at the time of writing) 88 people have signed it. Many of the petitioners have added their own accounts of winter cycling. Here is a selection:
Georgina said: The riverside cycle path next to Cumberland Road is an important commuter route for cyclists, but is unusable for much of the winter, due to frost and ice. It should be gritted and made safe for use throughout the year.
Sally said: I have not fallen off my bike but it makes me very nervous when it is so icy and I have had to resort to the car for a few days. I got stuck on a hill on day when I could not move forward or walk and someone had to come and rescue me on the verge. Really scary!
John said: A tumble on ice is a horrible experience for a cyclist. The shock at loss of control on ice can easily destroy the balancing confidence and nasty bruising and minor cuts are inevitable.
Michelle said: I fell off my bike bruised my knees and hurt my shoulder along the Avon Ring Road cycle path.
Pru said: Millennium Square needs attention the surface freezes the moment the temperature falls below zero and no-one seems to grit any of it apart from around the fountain, and even then that gritting is done at about 8.50, so any early morning commuters have to shuffle across. Surely as a cycling city, cyclists should get the same level of treatment as car drivers?
Paul said: I came off my bike on a patch of black ice leading up to the Bristol-Bath railway path.
Shivon said: I fell off my bike in November at the bottom of York Road in Montpelier due to an ungritted icy road. I broke three of the fingers in my right hand. Please grit more roads.
Andy said: I've had to carry a friend to the BRI after he came off on ice, with a suspected fractured pelvis. Thousands of people cycle in Bristol, and we feel vulnerable, particularly during the icy weather.
Adam said: I saw a lady fall off in front of me the day before the Bristol-Bath cycle track was gritted. [Hopefully, you helped her up again? Ed.]
Two themes seem to reoccur. Firstly, that people are sustaining some quite serious injuries (bruises, broken fingers, fractured pelvis) and, secondly, that a fall is an alarming experience, so much so that it makes people think twice about getting back on their bikes. We think that Bristol as a Cycling Demonstration City with loads more cycle routes planned, should ensure that they remain safe and useable in all weathers. This is a topic we’ll be returning to in the autumn.
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Nitty gritty
Here at Life Cycle we’re keen to see local authorities take cyclist’s safety a little more seriously and apply grit. That’s grit. G.R.I.T. Not crushed glass as they did in Greenwich… Read all about it here.
Greenwich Borough Council received more than 20 complaints from cyclists with punctured tyres and residents who say the glass was carried into homes on shoes, damaging floors and furniture. Cyclist Andrew Hardy, 23, said he had to repair both tyres of his bike after riding over the glass. "I was just pedalling along as normal when both tyres went flat," he said.
A spokeswoman for the council said it spread a government-approved mixture of salt and glass "that had been crushed, graded and washed".
There is no truth in the rumour that the fire extinguishers in Greenwich contain paraffin.
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Weather forecasts
Enough of the winter weather! We’re confident that Spring is on its way. But just in case, we recommend getting an accurate up-to-date weather forecast before setting off for a long bike ride.
We like MetCheck and we particularly like Google weather (add it to your Google toolbar) There’s also the BBC weather site which gives you a five-day forecast.
We suspect that all of these get their data from the Met Office. So why not cut out the middleman and go straight to the Met Office website? Try this page which includes an animated map showing the weather fronts as they roll across the country.
Alternatively, for those who detest information overload and want their forecasts super-succinct, we recommend the ultimate no-frills weather site.
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Bike Week
This year’s Bike Week runs from June 13th to 21st. So now is the time to start planning your organisation’s celebrations. Life Cycle will be pleased to run a Doctor Bike surgery, a morale-raising Roadshow, or provide your people with cycle skills training.
We’re taking bookings now (but the sooner you contact us the better – we book up very quickly!) Please e-mail us for more information or phone 0117 353 4580
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Everyclick
Here's a way to support Life Cycle at no cost to yourself! Simply use the Everyclick search engine. Every time you search, a tiny donation is made to Life Cycle UK. It takes a few seconds to register and then away you go! Surf the net, check your horoscope, update your Facebook profile, do a spot of shopping… and you’ll see the donations clock up remarkably quickly.
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Thu, Sep 9th 2010, 18:06