Newsletter - Life Cycle News | July
Sent: Thu, Sep 9th 2010, 04:18
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Welcome to the June edition of the electronic newsletter from Life Cycle UK the cycle promotion charity. In this issue:
Holiday courses
Adult one-to-ones
BMWs
How many bikes in the world?
Chips with everything
Take a Stand
Instructor training
Portway closed?
Marketplace
Big Bike Read
Top Job Opp
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Holiday courses
Over the summer we’re running special cycle training courses for 8 to 11 year-olds in Clifton, Bristol. The children are taught how to cycle safely and skilfully – and they enjoy every minute of it. Courses run for two hours each day over three days.
Training begins off-road, away from traffic, but then moves onto local roads. Children learn how to control their bikes, how to anticipate car drivers' intentions, and how to carry out manoeuvres with skill and confidence. We work with small groups of children so everyone gets lots of attention.
At the end of the course the children are awarded certificates and we provide feedback to parents on their child's progress.The courses run at Bristol Grammar School, Clifton, 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon each day, on...
* 28th, 29th & 30th July
* 11th, 12th & 13th August
* 25th, 26th & 27th August
Places (for Bristol residents) cost just £10 Phone 0117 353 4580 to book.
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Adult one-to-ones
As part of the Cycling City initiative Life Cycle is now able to offer adult cycle training for just £5 to anyone living in the city of Bristol (normal price is £30). It's popular! In just four weeks more than 60 people have taken advantage of this special offer.
Whether you're a complete beginner unable to ride a bike at all, a wobbly novice, or an experienced cyclist wanting to hone your skills to perfection, you'll benefit from a one-to-one lesson. We offer a personal service. Training is one-to-one, that's you and your instructor, and we tailor the lesson to meet your individual needs and concerns. We come to you - daytime, evenings, or at the weekend - whatever is convenient for you. If you want to practise a particular route, such as your journey to work, we can do it.
If your considering giving cycling a go why not treat yourself to a £5 lesson? If you're less than delighted we'll refund your money! To book simply give the Life Cycle office a ring on 0117 353 4580
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BMWs
We've got some great BMWs (Bike Maintenance Workshops) coming up. On Saturday 4th July and on Saturday 1st August we have our ever-popular basic maintenance course. 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.
On Saturday 18th July we have a special course running for owners of Brompton folding bikes. You'll learn how to spot potential problems and how to carry out a range of maintenance tasks including tricky stuff such as removing and replacing the back wheel and adjusting hub gears.
Our maintenance courses run at the Life Cycle Centre, our custom-designed workshop and training facility in Knowle, Bristol. Places £60 and includes spare parts such as inner tubes, brake pads and cables. Plus all participants get a free copy of Bike Easy: Top Tips & Expert Advice for the New Cyclist (usual price £6.50) Check out the courses and events section of our website for more information.
Venue magazine recently sent one of their reporters along to sample a BMW and he said "I beam to myself all the way home. It feels like I'm riding a new bike, I've acquired a wealth of really useful skills."
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How many bikes in the world?
Last issue we reported that 2.6 million bikes are manufactured every year in the USA alone. What about the planet as a whole? How many bikes are collectively manufactured by the world’s bicycle companies? This amazing website will show you.
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Chips with everything
Copenhagen has launched an innovative programme aimed at tracking down stolen bicycles. The programme is called "Få en lille chip på" which, as you probably know, translates as "Get a little chip on." It involves fitting the city's bikes with free RFID [Radio Frequency Identification] chips. In June hordes of Copenhageners turned out for a special chip fitting event in City Hall Square. Demand was so positive that more sessions will be run over the summer.
Roughly 18,000 bicycles are stolen in the city each year [there are 1.9 million bicycles in greater Copenhagen]. Many of them end up abandoned, blocking pavements and taking up space on bike stands.
The chips are part of a red reflector, which is fastened to the rear of the bicycle. You fit the chip and then register your name, address and e-mail. After registration, if your bicycle is stolen you report it to the police and log it as stolen via the council’s website.
Copenhagen’s parking attendants (traffic wardens) are all equipped with RFID scanners and as they can walk past parked bicycles they scan them to check if any have been reported as missing. If their GPS-equipped device registers a hot bicycle, the owner immediately receives an e-mail and a map marked with the bike’s location.
Find out more by watching the (Danish) video.
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Take a Stand
Bikes are much less likely to be stolen if they're locked up to a proper cycle stand. Life Cycle has loads of stands available free of charge. Organisations of every type are welcome to apply. The deal varies according to the area in which you're based.
* Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Swindon and B&NES. You can have two stands free of charge (the recipient is responsible for installation)
* In South Gloucestershire you can have up to four stands free of charge (the recipient is responsible for installation)
* In Bristol it works slightly differently – but what a deal! You can have up to six stands at a very special price of £55 each including installation.
Application forms will be available shortly on the Life Cycle website.
[The pictures are of Abbots Leigh village hall. Over the years we've provided bike stands for hundreds of organisations and good causes such as this.]
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Instructor trainingCould you give children the skills and confidence they need to cycle on today's roads? Life Cycle's four-day instructor training course covers the theory and practice of teaching children and adults how to ride safely and confidently on today's roads. Places cost £450 per person, but bursaries are available which reduce the fee by £300. It could be a whole new career...
Our next course runs on 20, 21, 28, 29 July in Bristol. There's more information on our website.
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Portway closed?
Did you join Bristol’s Biggest bike ride on June 21st ? It was a brilliant day with a reported 7,000 cyclists enjoying a traffic-free Portway. Councillor Jon Rogers, Bristol City Council's cycling supremo, thinks this was simply too good an experience to restrict to just one day a year. What about closing the Portway on a regular basis and giving it over to walkers, cyclists in-line skaters, wheelchair users and all sorts of other human powered traffic?
Cllr Rogers said “It is fantastic cycling along under the suspension bridge without traffic. You can hear the birds sing, children are excited and safe, and closing to Sylvan Way shouldn't be too much of a hardship. Other suggestions are to stop Sunday motor traffic on Ladies Mile on the Downs or even in the Centre of Bristol! Let's make it happen!”
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Marketplace
Marketplace is a new regular feature of Life Cycle News. Each month we will focus on a few bike-related products or services that have caught our eye. We like things that are ethical, unusual or particularly good value – and we’re biased towards anything that has a Life Cycle connection! If you want to recommend a product that you've bought please get in touch.
T-cycle. When Polly Stubley, one of Life Cycle's star instructors, isn't teaching people to cycle, she's producing eco-friendly t-shirts, all with a cycling theme. Her distinctive designs are printed onto recycled t-shirts using environmentally friendly inks. Adult and child size shirts are available. View the range and order on-line via the T-cycle website.
Bike Easy. A unique easy-to-read introduction to cycling written as 105 tips. Each is a nugget of advice to help make your cycling easier, safer and more comfortable. It was written by Peter Andrews the founder of Life Cycle. Peter has spent 13 years helping people get on their bikes - so if anyone knows how, it should be him! It makes a perfect present for the cyclist in your life. To read samples of the book and to learn more about the Bike Easy project visit the book's website.
A bag called Basil. The Dutch cycle luggage manufacturer Basil produces these wonderful bike bags. Made from a weather-proof material they come in a range of eye-catching colours and designs, including the retro flower print pictured here. Very stylish!
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Big Bike Read
Councillor Jon Rogers, Bristol’s transport tsar, recently unveiled a new collection of books, all with a cycling theme, that will be gracing the shelves of the city’s public libraries. The books cover a broad range of bike-related subjects on everything from road-craft and maintenance to cycle touring and biographies of Britain's Olympic cycling stars.
As well as the Central Library on College Green, identical book collections can be found at Bedminster, Hillfields and Marksbury Road libraries. Cllr Rogers said: "These books are innovative. They are also inspiring, intriguing and interesting. They are eclectic. Books on top cyclists, cycling to work, cycling around the world, and even such smutty, snappy titles as Crap Cycle Lanes!"
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Top Job Opp
In September, Peter Andrews, Life Cycle’s Director is moving on to pastures new after 13 years with the organisation. We’ll be advertising for a replacement shortly using local media, job bulletin boards and of course, the advert will appear on the Life Cycle UK website.
So, if you’re a multi-talented, practical, visionary sort of person, if you're passionate about cycling and its many benefits, if you love the voluntary sector, if you thrive in the face of adversity and challenge… this could be a post to apply for!
(By the way, if you are interested in the position please do not phone or send your CV. Be patient. Wait for the job ad to appear and then follow the application procedure).
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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! As you surf the net you’ll see the donations clock up remarkably quickly. - Sent
- Thu, Sep 9th 2010, 04:18
