Newsletter - Cycling News | December

Sent: Mon, Jan 7th 2008, 08:35

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Welcome to the latest electronic newsletter from Life Cycle UK, the cycle promotion charity.  In this edition...

Doctor Bike
Christmas presents
Rumpus at Raleigh
Meet the team
Stroud and Proud


Doctor Bike

Life Cycle will be running a Doctor Bike surgery at Bristol’s CREATE Centre as part of the Festive Fair.  If you don’t fancy battling your way through overcrowded shops this Christmas or you’d like to find presents with a difference, simply bike down to CREATE, Bristol’s unique environmental centre.

The Festive Fair takes place on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th December with 60 stalls offering fair trade, local and sustainably sourced gifts. More than 2,000 visitors are expected over the two days and they will be able to choose from a vast range of goodies from ethically produced jewellery, crafts and clothing to eco-gadgets, books toys and organic seasonal food.  Doctor Bike will be there on Saturday 8th 12.00 noon to 2.30 p.m. offering free bike checks and carrying out minor repairs on the spot. 

For directions to the CREATE Centre click here. 
 

Christmas presents

If pedalling along to the CREATE Centre (see above) is too much effort, well there’s an even easier way to do your Christmas shopping.  Just visit the Resource Centre of Life Cycle UK’s website. You'll find…

Cycle training vouchers. We teach people of all ages and all abilities from complete beginners through to accomplished cyclists who wish to hone their skills further. A voucher will enable you to treat someone to a one-hour lesson – and maybe change their life!

Great books about cycling.  We stock the superb Haynes ride guides for Bristol and Bath, Birmingham & the Black Country, London, and Manchester.  We also stock the Haynes Mountain Bike Book and the wonderful Haynes Bike Book, the definitive guide to cycle maintenance.

Cycling maps.  Life Cycle has maps covering all of Bristol, many other UK towns and cities, plus honey-pot cycling locations such as the New Forest and the Forest of Dean.  Most of the maps are free (you just pay postage).

Bike stands.  Well why not?! True it’s a slightly unusual present and you'll need a massive sheet of wrapping paper, but it could be just what your favourite cyclist is longing for.

And – this being Christmas –  please consider making a donation to Life Cycle UK.  Unlike the big cycling organisations, who receive millions of pounds of Government aid, Life Cycle is entirely dependent on small grants and gifts. Even a fiver can make a big difference.  Your generosity will enable us to help more people take up cycling, in particular those who are on low incomes or who have health problems or a disability.  To donate on-line click this link.


Rumpus at Raleigh

The managing director of Raleigh bikes Mark Gouldthorp gave an astonishing interview to the Guardian recently.  Raleigh is, of course, one the most famous names in cycling and at one time it was the world’s biggest bicycle manufacturer.  But the glory days are long over.  These days, all production has been shifted from the UK to the developing world, and the company’s best-selling model is now a confection called the “Molly”, a pink bike for little girls sold through toyshops.  A far cry from the legendary Raleigh All Steel Bicycles of the pre-war years. How the mighty are fallen!

Mr Gouldthorp seems keen to speed that decline.  Asked about Raleigh’s network of dealers, he was dismissive.  “Independent retailing in the UK is a shambles. It is real Steptoe and Son stuff. Most of them will turn the lights off on a sunny day to save a bit of lecky. If you want to imagine the typical independent bike dealer, he is 50-60, highly cynical, miserable, moaning, scruffy. That's my customer."

Here at Life Cycle this set us thinking of Gerald Ratner, once proud MD of an empire of jewellery stores, the self-styled Sultan of Bling. Then at a boozy business lunch Mr R. gave an after dinner speech in which he described his products as “total crap ...  cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but they probably won’t last as long." The value of the company’s shares nose-dived and he was sacked 18 months later. 

So where does this leave Mr Gouldthorp we wonder.  Has he “done a Ratner”? Perhaps the Raleigh brand needs a new front-man/woman? Read the full interview here.


Meet the team

Life Cycle UK’s mission is to help more people take up cycling and we do this through a range of practical services such as cycle training, teaching bike maintenance, providing maps and information, and installing cycle parking.  We also run various special projects such as tandem rides for blind and visually impaired people and Bike Guru. 

Every month we introduce you to one of our lovely team members…



Name:  Kai Paulden

Role:  Bike Guru Project Manager

Tell us a little about yourself and what you do:
I run the Bike Guru project for Life Cycle UK. I used to be the charity’s photographer, but I sold my photographic studio more than a year ago now to focus more on encouraging people to become involved in useful community projects.

Recently I counted 14 changes of job I have gone through in my life. Now I call myself a community engagement consultant. It is a role which gives me great fulfilment. I wear different work hats – cycling, recycling, sustainable travel, and street parties.
 
Best thing about my job is:
It is rewarding watching cyclists leave Bike Guru sessions in the dark with their rear lights flashing and their waistcoat being so hi-vis. If we are saving cyclists from stress or injury by being seen then we are succeeding in our aim. To date we have helped around 800 Bristol people to be more visible whilst cycling. More info on the Bike Guru project here.

Do you do much cycling?
For the first time in years at the end of the summer I borrowed two panniers, stuck them on my bike, and took a train to the edge of Exmoor. I cycled into Exmoor, a place I hardly knew, and loved the scenery.

What bike(s) do you own?
I own 11 cycles. Most of them I call ‘Wacky Cycles’ because they are unusual, and people pay me to take them to events for the public to try out for fun. It always amazes me to see all ages having such a great time just cycling round and round on a small piece of tarmac.

Favourite cycle journey?
Pyrenees in France and Spain. I once was persuaded by a girlfriend to go on a 16-day trip in the mountains. I bought a bicycle two days before, and had not trained on even a small hill! I watched my leg muscles grow on a daily basis, along with the pain. Sometimes we were climbing for three and a half-hours. That was many years ago, but it still means no hill in Bristol can faze me.

Kai’s top cycling tips:
Wear hi-vis when you're cycling.  It’s amazing how it changes motor-vehicle-drivers’ attitudes and reactions; they are far less rude, and pay more attention.  Another tip – oil your moving parts regularly [I think he means the bike. Ed] and keep your inner tubes pumped up hard; you can then go faster with more control.


Stroud and Proud

We’ve just added a handsome new cycle map to our range.  It covers Stroud and the surrounding countryside including Wotton-Under-Edge, Nailsworth, Stonehouse, Cam and Dursley, birthplace of the famous Dursley Pedersen bicycle.



Like the other maps in the same series (Gloucester  and Cheltenham  both available from Life Cycle) it shows roads according to how easy they are to cycle. Green means easy, yellow and orange denote more skill needed, through to red (busy A-roads).  It’s a great system that makes route planning really easy. 

Use the map to devise an invigorating Boxing day bike ride!  Order it by clicking this link.  The map is free but we do ask for a contribution towards the cost of postage.


Finally…

A very merry Christmas from everyone at Life Cycle UK!  

Sent

Mon, Jan 7th 2008, 08:35