Newsletter - Cycling News | April
Sent: Tue, May 6th 2008, 08:14
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Welcome to the April edition of the electronic newsletter from Life Cycle UK, the cycle promotion charity. In this issue….
Ride for the railway path! (Sunday 30th)
Get your bike fixed
Bike recycling
Meet the team
David Cameron's cycling shame!
Bike Week
The day Milton Keynes turned day-glo
Ride for the railway path!
The campaign to save the Bristol and Bath railway path continues with two processions – one on foot, one on bikes – to celebrate this popular route and to voice local people’s opposition to plans to turn part of it into a busway. It all happens this Sunday (30th March) and is expected to attract over a thousand cyclists, walkers, runners, and children from Bristol and beyond.
The cycling contingent will set off from Queen Square in the city centre at noon and will then ride the railway path to Mangotsfield. On its return, it will meet the walking procession, at which point the riders will walk with their fellow path-users.
The walk starts from Fishponds (Morrisons’ supermarket) at 2.30 p.m. and heads down the railway path towards the city centre. It will reach College Green at about 4.30 p.m. for a rally at outside Bristol’s Council House.
Steve Meek, one of the organisers, said, "We want to show the powers-that-be what a much-loved resource and well-used space this award-winning railway path and linear park is to the community. We support public transport but there are other routes and options available for the busway. Millions of people use the path every year for leisure and for commuting. We are all being encouraged to get more physical activity and this path lets us do that. The first and best railway path in the country should not be destroyed."
Get your bike fixed
Life Cycle will be joining the railway path celebration at Bristol’s, College Green where we’ll be running a Doctor Bike surgery from 3.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Bring your bike along for a check up, for advice about maintenance or to have simple faults fixed for free.
Bike recycling
Recycle your cycle! Our new bicycle recycling project is after unwanted bikes. Have you got an old roadster gathering dust somewhere? Or does your workplace have abandoned bikes cluttering up the cycle racks? Give us the bikes and we’ll repair them and then pass them on to people in need.
We’ve got bikes to give away. Or rather, we will have from mid-May. Bikes donated to the recycling project will be expertly renovated and then passed on to organisations that work with people on low incomes, job seekers, refugees and people with health problems or mental health issues. If you organisation needs bikes for its clients please let us know.
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 team members…
Name: Poppy Brett
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do:
For the last five years I've been Life Cycle's fundraiser and more recently I've been running our Two's Company project, organising tandem rides for people who are blind or visually impaired. We have an exciting programme of tandem rides for adults and young people scheduled for this year, which include taking part in Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride, as well as a ride in the Forest of Dean culminating in a Barbecue.
Best thing about working for Life Cycle:
The people. They're lovely.
Do you do much cycling?
I cycle pretty much every day, but often only fairly short distances - to
work, to the shops, to take my kids to school etc..
What bike(s) do you own?
One lousy Apollo that I was given. I'm looking forward to upgrading!
Favourite cycle journey?
My eight year old is just getting really into cycling and so my current preferred trips are on local traffic free routes that he can do. We cycled on the railway path to Bath on Easter Sunday, which was fantastic. I'm also looking forward to talking him on the Strawberry Line to Cheddar in the next few months, as I know he will enjoy that too. A day out in the Forest of Dean is another family favourite.
Poppy's top cycling tips:
Sometimes I don't feel like a proper “cyclist” because I don't have a flashy bike or loads of cool gear, and I'm a useless mechanic. But actually, you don't need all that stuff to enjoy cycling: a working bike and enthusiasm is all it takes.
David Cameron's cycling shame!
Poor old David Cameron came in for a lot of stick in the media recently. Seen, and indeed filmed, apparently jumping a red traffic signal and then heading off the wrong way down a one-way street. Watch the man in action by clicking this link.
Not only is this slightly naughty, it’s also unnecessary. As a cyclist you'll actually have an easier time on the road and usually be faster across town by sticking to the rules. So, to save Mr Cameron any further embarrassment Life Cycle has offered him one of our Urban Cycle Skills lessons. Maybe you’d like one too? They cost £30 but we’ll refund your money instantly if you’re not delighted! For more information click here.
Bike Week
This year’s Bike Week runs from 14th to 22nd June. Across the UK there will be thousands of free cycling events suitable for everyone, from total novices to veteran cyclists.
Many environmentally-minded employers support Bike Week and reward people who cycle to work with a free breakfast. And many of them invite Life Cycle along to the workplace to run an information stall, a morale-raising roadshow, or a Doctor Bike surgery. We taking bookings now (but make it snappy – we book up very quickly!)
Then there’s Bristol’s Biggest bike Ride on Sunday 22nd June. Now in its 15th year, the ride gives thousands of people of all ages and abilities to opportunity to enjoy a traffic free Portway, and to venture into the beautiful countryside beyond. As always there’s a choice of routes ranging from 9 to 38 miles.
There’s no charge to join the ride, but it helps the organisers enormously if you register. Do so by clicking this link.
And please consider using the ride to raise money for Life Cycle UK. Click this link to download a sponsorship pack. If we’re to carry on helping disadvantaged communities enjoy the benefits of cycling we need the support of people like you!
The Day Milton Keynes Turned Day-Glo
Life Cycle’s Bike Guru project is drawing to a close having met its target of engaging with 1,000 local cyclists, offering them a free bike check and issuing free sets of bike lights and hi-visibility tabards.
We think that one thousand well lit cyclists is a considerable achievement. But, it seems, our efforts are as nothing compared with what they’re doing in Milton Keynes. There, the entire town is to be painted fluorescent green to improve cyclists’ safety. To read the full story click this link. The project gets under way on the 1st of next month.
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Tue, May 6th 2008, 08:14