Newsletter - Cycling News | February
Sent: Mon, Feb 4th 2008, 09:20
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Welcome to the February edition of the electronic newsletter from Life Cycle UK, the cycle promotion charity. In this issue….
Goodbye railway path?
Book sale
Park and pump
Half-term cycling courses
Meet the team
Bite size bike maintenance
Gilt-y secret
Goodbye Railway Path?
Plans are afoot to turn the Bristol & Bath Railway Path, one of the UK’s most popular cycle tracks, into a “guided busway”. The plans put forward by a consortium of local councils will see the trees and vegetation cleared, many of the the bridges raised and a concrete channel constructed along which buses will run. Walkers and cyclists will be given a strip of space alongside. Quite how they are meant to cross the busway to get on and off the path has not been explained.
One of the officials behind the scheme said; “It will help transform public transport in Bristol and its surrounding sub region and I believe the vast majority of people in the city will welcome it. We are aware of the concerns of some cyclists, although we believe many will welcome the improvement to public transport.” You can read more about the busway plan by clicking here.
The railway path was one of Britain’s first traffic-free routes created for walkers, cyclists and people with disabilities. More than 2-million journeys are made using the path every year. It also functions as a wildlife sanctuary, green corridor, linear park, trim-trail, playground and picnic area.
Certainly the prospect of being able to catch a bus to Emersons Green is an exciting one, but if - like us - you’d rather the railway path stayed as it is, you might want to sign the e-petition by clicking here.
Facebook users can access all sorts of useful documents and find out what Bristol's cyclists are saying by joining the group 'I do not want the Bristol to Bath Cycle Path to turn into a Bus Lane'.
There’s also a public meeting to discuss the busway on Tuesday 5th February at Easton Community Centre (in Kilburn Street off Easton Road and about 100m from the railway path) at 7.30 p.m. For directions click here. Or get a map of the entire path by clicking here.
Book Sale
Life Cycle is having a Winter Sale and has slashed a full pound off the price of our Haynes bike manuals – and there’s no charge for postage either! We stock six cycling titles: ride guides that cover …
Bristol and Bath
Birmingham and the Black Country
London
Manchester
We also stock the Haynes Mountain Bike Book and the classic Haynes Bike Book, the definitive guide to cycle maintenance, now in its fifth edition. As recommended by Life Cycle UK’s bike mechanics!
These discounted prices apply during February only and you must order on-line (click any of the links above).
Park and Pump
How about this for an idea? A bike stand with a built-in pump. Tyres a bit squashy? Inflate them for free. Needless to say it’s from the bike-friendly Netherlands. For more information click here.
Meanwhile, in Bristol, B&NES, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset or Gloucestershire there are bike stands available (sadly without built-in pumps) free of charge. Check out Life Cycle’s Take a Stand offer by clicking here.
Half-term Cycling Courses
Specially for half-term Life Cycle is running cycle training courses for 8 to 11 year-olds. Courses run for two hours each day on the 19th, 20th and 21st of February. There's a choice of venue, either Christchurch School, in Clifton, Bristol or St Keyna’s School, Keynsham.
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 the child's progress. For more information click 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 activities for disadvantaged youngsters.
Every month we introduce you to one of our lovely team members…
Name: Sarah Beetham. (Pictured bottom left at the end of one of Life Cycle's tandem rides for blind and sight-impaired people).
Role: Cycling instructor.
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do:
I have worked as an instructor for Life Cycle for over five years now. My other “hat” is teaching the violin, but I love cycling. Provided that we have enough time, cycling allows us to arrive at our destinations with a sense of well-being rather than feeling stressed.
Best thing about my job is: Sharing the pleasures of cycling, meeting people who would like to cycle more, particularly when they would like to learn to cycle a particular routes such as to work.
Do you do much cycling?
We have a car but use our bikes for almost everything in Bristol, for shopping and for trips to the allotment. You can carry a lovely lot in panniers and the bike takes the weight. Bristol is a good place for cycling provided you have some low gears for the hills!
For holidays we like camping in France. Once installed we use the car as a cupboard and our bikes for transport – down the road for a baguette or off for a day’s ride.
What bike(s) do you own? I have two bikes: a Dawes, 20 years old this month, and an Orbit. In wet weather and when there’s salt on the roads I use the Dawes. If I had a third bike I think it would be a folder for using easily with public transport.
Favourite cycle journey?
I look forward to making an annual ride from Bristol to Oxford for a music course. The route is very quiet and easy. But almost any bike ride has its delights: there are so many opportunities to enjoy the birds and flowers and, at night, the stars.
Sarah’s top cycling tips:
Be courteous to other road users. Be nice to drivers and they're more likely to treat the next cyclist they encounter with respect.
Bite Size Bike Maintenance
Join one of our tasty cycle maintenance courses. We’ve got short courses on Wednesday evenings devoted to topics such as brakes or gears or punctures; and day-long courses on selected Saturdays that give you a full intro to the mysteries of bike fixing.
By popular request we’re running another short course specially for owners of Brompton folding bikes. The course covers...
- A brief history of the Brompton bicycle. Different models and specifications.
- What wears out on a Brompton. How to identify maintenance needs.
- Tyres and punctures.
- Removing and replacing the rear wheel.
- Simple adjustments for Sturmey Archer hub gears.
- Adjusting brakes.
- Upgrades and add-ons.
To see the full range of courses and to make a booking click here.
Gilt-y Secret
We spotted this delightful confession on the letters page of the Bristol Evening Post...
“I was an office boy at [builders and restorers] Mills & Sons in Farnham, Surrey when we won the contract to re-guild the golden cockerel on the town hall roof. The company invited suppliers of gold leaf to send samples and from these we selected the best shade of gold. The order went through and all the rejected samples were discarded.
"I was the only kid in the district [probably in the world, Ed] with a 24 carat gold-plated bicycle bell, gold handlebars and gold mudguards... Thinking back, they were probably worth more than the whole bike.”
Arthur Backhurst, Weston-Super-Mare
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Mon, Feb 4th 2008, 09:20