Newsletter - Life Cycle News | February 2010
Sent: Tue, Feb 2nd 2010, 13:18
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Welcome to the February edition of the electronic newsletter from Life Cycle UK the cycle promotion charity. In this issue:
Learn to cycle with style
Last chance to apply...
Veer here!
Wacky racks
Half term cycle training
Fill that hole!
Bike thief steals children
Instructor training
Two's Company
-----------------------------------------Learn to cycle with style
Life Cycle is currently offering Bristol residents cycle training for just £5 thanks to a subsidy from Cycling City. For those of you out there who never learnt to ride a bike, now's your chance to give it a go. Life Cycle can give complete beginners up to three lessons at £5.00 each. If you know how to ride a bike, but feel a bit wobbly and nervous about cycling in traffic, you can have two lessons for £5.00. Finally, anyone who feels confident in most places but wants to master Bedminster roundabout or multi-lane roads, one £5.00 lesson is available to you. Please contact us for more information.
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Last chance to apply...
Life Cycle is looking to appoint a Project Co-ordinator to develop a brand new project called Bike Minded. Supported for two-and-a-half years by the Big Lottery Fund and Mind, the project will offer a range of cycling activities to mental health service users. As well as helping people to cycle, the project aims to help those with a range of mental health issues to gain independent travel, reduce isolation and access nature and the countryside more easily. Full details of the job and how to apply can be downloaded from our website.-----------------------------------------
Veer here!
An evening of cycling-themed films are showing at Bristol's Cube Cinema on Saturday 13th February. Zoo-bombers, tallbikes, bike jousting, chariot racing and a syncronised mini-bike dance team. Plus Veer, a great documentary about bike culture, hot from Portland, one of the world centres of the cycling revolution. Check it out.-----------------------------------------
Wacky racks
We applaud the creativity that has gone into this competition to reinvent the bike stand. But we question the practicality of most of the designs. When an artist or an architect who has scant knowledge of everyday cycling turns their attention to cycle parking we invariably get an object that's strong on style but a pain to use in the real world.
They're unremarkable, some would say drab, objects, but the classic Sheffield stand takes some beating. It's a simple inverted U-shaped steel tube. Cyclists lean their bikes against it and secure it with a D-lock or cable lock. Each stand holds two bikes.
Life Cycle has lots of these to give away, absolutely free of charge. Check out our website to see whether you're eligible.
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Half term cycle training
Life Cycle's exciting cycle training courses for 8 to 11 year-olds are the perfect half-term and school holiday activity! Courses run for two hours each day for three days at Bristol Grammar School and Widcombe Junior School.
Training begins off-road, away from traffic, but then moves onto local roads. Children learn how to control their bikes, how to anticipate other road users' behaviour, 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 get certificates and we provide feedback to parents on their child's progress. A place on the course costs just £10 for all three days. Please phone us on 0117 353 4580 to book a place or download further information.
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Fill that hole!
The recent cold spell has left lasting damage to our roads. Water seeps into tiny cracks and then, as it freezes, it expands and breaks up the road surface forming ruts and potholes that can be a real hazard to cyclists.
Local councils want to put things right, but they can only act when they know there's a problem. This is where FillThatHole comes in. It's a really useful website that lets you report potholes and locate them using Google maps. The site's organisers (our friends at the CTC) then alert the appropriate authority and they send the road menders out. Nearly 9,000 holes have been filled to date.
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Bike thief steals children
A thief in Copenhagen got more than he bargained for when he rode off with a Christiania load carrying bike – and subsequently found three sleeping children in it. The father had left the kids, aged one, four and seven, napping in the cabin while he popped to a shop. Fortunately, there’s a happy ending: on discovering the ‘cargo’, the thief asked the eldest child where they lived and delivered them to a neighbour. The bike thief has been charged with theft and fined 1400 kroner – approximately £170.
---------------------------------------------Instructor training
Could 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 22, 23, 29 & 30 March in Bristol. There's more information on our website.---------------------------------------------
Two's CompanyTwo’s Company is the name of Life Cycle's programme of tandem cycle rides in and around Bristol for people who are blind or visually impaired which is about to start up again. So, if you're visually impaired and fancy going on a bike ride, or know someone who might be interested, the rides start in March. They are suitable for all ages and abilities and our programme includes off-road rides in Ashton Court, trips along the lovely Strawberry Line to Cheddar, an expedition to the serene Forest of Dean, and a special tandem Easter egg hunt for kids! Please contact us for more information.
---------------------------------------------Bike maintenance courses
Our popular maintenance courses for complete beginners (called Know Your Bike) are booking up quickly. But we still have a few places on the following courses. Places cost just £10.
One-day Know Your Bike courses starting at 9.30 a.m. at the Life Cycle Centre, The Park, Daventry Road, Knowle, Bristol. Courses run on 20th February, 6th March and 13th March.
We are also running Know Your Bike courses on two consecutive Tuesday evenings from 6.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. at the CREATE Centre, Smeaton Road, Bristol. Courses run on 2nd and 9th March, and on 16th and 23rd March.
Our more in-depth and advanced Bike Maintenance Workshops are running at the Life Cycle Centre, The Park, Daventry Road, Knowle, Bristol. Places cost £65. Courses run on 27th February and 20th March.
Finally, there's a special Brompton maintenance course on 24th April. Places cost £60.
To book, visit the Life Cycle website or ring 0117 353 4580 - Sent
- Tue, Feb 2nd 2010, 13:18