Inspiration

Have a look at this video these people are selling clothes in New York City but they are advocates for Cycling too, I like their style.

Cycle Harrogate on Stray Fm

This afternoon Andy Dennis from the Cycle Harrogate group recorded an interview with Stray Fm's Patrick Dunlop. It was a great chance to spread the word about the campaign and to further press for this issue to be taken seriously. You can hear the broadcast hourly from 0700hrs on Wednesday 30th May.

Can you Hear Me?

So left hand, right hand etc. The Radio interview will be happening tomorrow and we will update you with the broadcast date and time, turns outfit is a pre-record and we hadn't realised. Thank you once again to Stray FM for giving Cycle Harrogate the opportunity to spread the word and to empower the good cycling folk of Harrogate.

Black is the new Florescent yellow

I have spent a good proportion of my time on a bike in a mixture of hi-viz yellow and Scothchlite so I look like a christmas tree in car headlights. This has certainly kept me alive but it's not exactly cool is it? In the summer months when dryer weather and lighter nights mean there is less of a need to look like an emergency worker commuting. I try and wear more normal gear and its feels way better. Now if I can just find something natty in flouro orange...

Here is an interesting article from Cycle info that looks at how what you wear tells you about your cycling style (or lack of).

Image Brett Jordan

On the road

This Cycle Harrogate thing started off as a way to try and get cycle paths built up the Knaresborough Rd. That seemed a little selfish, a little self interested, I would benefit sure and it would be there for everyone but what about the cycle provision we already have? Shouldn't we be getting people to use it?

I'm no cycle zealot, I'm not anti-car. I have had some great and memorable journeys in a car; driving the length of the States across a few deserts in a clapped out Dodge, springs imediately to mind. The idea of the car is deeply associated with personal freedom, I get that, but cars don't make sense if you live and work in a town or a city, bikes do. Top Gear peddle the myth of the Open Road. In Top Gear World we are all Jack Kerouac driving on endless empty roads that disappear into the far distance of a blood red sunset. On that road, heading for a better future, discovering what is really happening, we live a life that is more full, more real.

Thing is we don't live in Top Gear World, most of us live an urban commuter life and we can all afford a lot more to eat than Kerouac could when he was spending most of his cash buying the booze and drugs that would help kill him early. The Americana myth is more powerful and evocative than the gritty reality.

That's where we are at with the car. They represent freedom, but a freedom few of us would actually be prepared to sacrifice our comfortable lives to experience for any length of time. The bike as a form of freedom on the other hand might just have a few things going for it:

Bikes are cheap, £200 will buy one that will last longer than you will. If that is you oil the chain, pump the tyres up and spend another ten to twenty quid on it once a year. Shell out five hundred to a thousand pounds and you get something that you really could go round the world on. A grand will buy you a car sure, but you won't be maintaining it for twenty quid a year and you will still need to put petrol in it.

Bikes are quick, not the high speed quick of stomping on the accelerator and getting up to forty on your street, only to brake like Sebastian Vettel as the junction comes up too fast, of the car driver. They are  quick in a tortoise and the hare kind of way. For most journeys around town a bike wins as it won't need to queue in traffic. Slow and steady, even pace, win the race.

The obesity epidemic will not be solved by driving to the gym. Seems obvious but that is what many of us do, I've done my share. What was I thinking paying the price of a decent meal once a month to go somewhere else to exercise because I was driving to work when I lived a cycle ride away?

Bikes have a future in their current form. Cars are maybe ten to twenty years away from needing a big re-think. Oil is going to get suprisingly expensive unless there is a whole lot hidden in places where its going to be easy to get at that we haven't found yet. As to low carbon alternatives there are some interesting developements on the horizon, but what if we already had the power source inside us?

So an idea that came into being around about the same time as the car was being born. The humble often unloved, often scorned bicycle might just be just about to overtake the fast, brash, aspirational-bling of the motor car as the preferred choice around town.

Seems to me Cycle Harrogate should be banging the drum loud for Cycling as well as cycling provision and trying to get as many bums on bike seats as possible.


Dave Prince

Image - Rachael Prince 2000,  Mojave Desert, California (taken from that clapped out Dodge)

Why Cycle?

Why Cycle?

Burn fat not oil

Screaming along flat out is one of the best feelings in the world.

Mark Cavendish Rides a bike.

Free cycle parking in big cities

Its quiet, wildlife doesn't know your coming.

Downhill is a buzz.

Wheelies and track stands.

When it's cold and your hair freezes you feel exhilarated that you could still be bothered.

Its quicker than sitting in traffic, sitting in traffic is rubbish.

So you don't feel guilty about driving to the shops.

Cycle Harrogate Stray Fm

The lovely people at Stray Fm are to give the campaign some airtime on 3pm Monday 28th May to talk about the Knaresborough Road and how we want to help get Harrogate Cycling. Andy Dennis aka @walka2b who some of you may know from his marathon walking exploits, will be being interviewed as his legs it turns out are not just used for walking. Tune in even if you have no interest in what we are about, Andy is usually worth a listen.

100 signatures

Great news on the petition front we have crossed the hundred signtaure line. Much of the thanks for this goes to Malcolm Margolis and his supporters. We have seen a real surge since I spoke to him. Now to keep the momentum up...

Cycling for a Lifetime

Once you learn to ride a bike it opens up so many options. This lad in Aloi camp Northern Uganda was expert at riding the family bike to do his jobs. One day he may even be able to sit on the saddle.

The Great Cycle Boffin

We had a wonderful chat on the phone with Malcolm Margolis last night. Malcolm is driving force behind both Wheel Easy Harrogate's premier leisure cycling club and also a good portion of the impetus behind getting the new Cycleway across the Stray. He and his wife Gia are involved with Sustrans and the Harrogate Cycling Group  I was hoping Malcolm would be able to help and support us and he didn't disappoint.

Malcom  has sent our petition out to his members and we are to meet in the next few weeks and see if we can help each other out. Malcolm is keen to learn about using social media and I think his contacts and experience of bringing about positive change for cyclists  in Harrogate  will be invaluable. All in all a very productive conversation.

Riding a bike should be easy

These aren't my words I wish they were, but they do a way better job of explaining why I think cycle provision is so important than I am able. This article was written by Ben Addy aka @BenjaminAddy who works for Sustrans the cycling charity. It was first published on the website of  Welsh organic clothing makers and full-time cycle nuts Howies. Ben has graceously said that I can reproduce it here. You can find a little more about Ben at the endlessly inspiring Do Lectures. 

 Riding a bike should be easy

Isn’t that what we are told? You learn when you are small and, like an elephant, you never forget. What an amazing deal. Once mastered, you have a gift that lasts a lifetime, and even if you part ways for a period of time it waits patiently for you to return. Once bought, it is the gift that keeps giving – health, entertainment, and convenience. So why isn’t everyone riding a bike? Shouldn’t the streets in every village, town and city hum with the sound of rubber passing over tarmac? You only have to observe parts of cities like London, Bristol, and Cambridge at rush hour to see the potential. Hybrids, racers, fixies, bmx, mountain bikes, single speeds, choppers, Dutch bikes, and cruisers all spinning to and fro.
While cycling numbers have increased by around 20% across Britain over the last decade, we lag behind other European countries. The number of cyclists killed or injured sits around 27,000 for that period. This figure is unacceptable and concerns over safety are the main reason many bikes sit unloved in garden sheds up and down the country. This is a terrible shame since cycling represents the elixir to many of our problems. Regular riding can significantly improve fitness levels (goodbye beer belly) and increase life expectancy (hello happy retirement). By swapping an eight mile round trip commute from car to bike, you save 0.5 tonnes of carbon per year – that’s the equivalent of a short haul flight.
It stands to reason that if we want a country that is synonymous with cycling you need to ensure that it is safe. As a result of much hard work by sustainable transport charities and cycling campaign groups we have seen significant progress. Most recently, the Cycle Safe campaign from The Times – coupled with February’s Parliamentary cycling debate - has helped raise the profile of cycle safety. There is much that can be done to improve junctions, slow speeds in neighbourhoods, and provide better road user training. However, this all requires investment – even a small percentage of the road budget could make a huge difference across the country.
Ultimately, the goal is to get people – young, old, male, female – on bikes for their everyday journeys to places like school, work, and the shops. However, currently around 66% of journeys (two miles or less) are completed in a car. While the number of accidents involving cyclists are a concern, the perceived danger can sometimes outweigh the actual risks. It is important to emphasise that cycling is still a fun, exhilarating, and egalitarian means of getting around. You hear of schools not letting kid’s cycle and adults looking on in horror as you ride past on the way to work. It is important to remember that it’s cycling, not war. Going forward, we need more people on bikes and (much) improved cycle infrastructure to ensure that the fun isn’t taken out of cycling.

Photo Marco Gomes

The Man from the Council says.... We will get back to you.

This afternoon we met with Glen from North Yorkshire  Council.  The story is that there may already be a "scheme" in place to put provision up the Knaresborough Road.  If there is no scheme we or the Council will put one forward as a starting point. Next obstacle is to find funding in these recession hit times although there are a few funding sources around and we may want to talk to people like Sustans to see if they would wish to get involved.

It  looks like it is feasible to have the really wide pavements on the Knaresborough Rd as dual cycle/pedestrian use so that might be an option and give a proposal more flexibility. All in all a constructive meeting although I was accused by my wife of being a bit of an attack dog in my style. I have no idea what she means, anyway when I had taken my teeth out of Glen's neck it turns out he is a pretty keen cyclist too and hopefully this should help us. Next Job is to update Andrew Jones about progress and we will  of course let you all know what happens next.

How I Cycle

There was  lovely 2 page spread in The Guardian magazine this weekend showing photos of cyclists in Copenhagen. What is lovely to me about these pictures is that they are not 'cyclists' in the sense that we use, they are people on bikes. This summer we were lucky enough to holiday in Denmark, which changed my view on cycling, cyclists and my bike.

10 years ago I bought a Mountain Bike, it was to be an all terrain machine on which I wound career down hill through mud and puddles (cue music and fast camera shots). I bought special leggings so I could cock my leg over the crossbar (there were only boys mountain bikes 10 years ago)  and a special bright yellow jacket to protect me from spray and even techno gloves.  I have in fact been down 3 such hills in that time and it's safe to say any musical accompaniment would have been more Mozart than Motorhead. However I loved my bike and used it regularly to cycle to work, arriving in a fashion which prompted my colleagues to ask 'how far have you come?' The answer is just over a mile on residential roads, but that seems to be how cycling is in this country - you dress for some sort of extreme sport and then ride up the road.

Sitting in a cafe in Denmark I suddenly realised I too wanted to ride my bike in the clothes I would wear everyday. I wanted to relax on my bike, I wanted to go to the shops on my bike, I wanted to go a cafe or a pub on my bike because it's a nice thing to do and I like riding my bike. I also admitted I was never going to go down another mountain on my bike.

Looking at the pictures there are no fluorescent jackets, no wraparound sunglasses and even no go-faster helmets, they are just people on bikes.
With a little inspiration I got myself a 'lady bike', it even has a basket I can use. I cycle slower and wear what I want. I have fallen in love with cycling all over again, although I darn't leave my helmet at home just yet.

Meeting the man from the Council

So we didn't meet with the council as we had hoped this week but they are coming round for a chat next Thursday. Hopefully by then we will have a few more signatures on the petition and a deal more idea exactly what we will be asking for in the way of provision. We will of course keep you informed.

Twenty Three and a half hours

Cycling makes you live longer - actually half an hour of any light activity a day does just that. Here's a really nice video summarising some important evidence on the surprisingly positive effects moderate exercise can have on your life. This is one of the reasons Cycle Harrogate would like more people to ride their bikes.

Why Cycle Harrogate matters

Image by Carlonreid on Flikr

Sitting in my car on the Knaresborough Rd on the days when  for one reason or another I didn't cycle to work it's easy to let the often stationary traffic get to you. It's important to remember though that you're not in traffic you are traffic.

Harrogate is a beautiful town but often crossing it in a car is a shocker. On many days my journey to work is quicker by bike than car, even though I go literally an extra mile to avoid the busiest bits of road. While I'm on my bike I'm burning fat (a constant requirement in my case). When I'm in my car I'm burning money. I hope Cycle Harrogate as well as improving provision for cyclists can get more people out on their bikes who wouldn't have thought about, bothered or even dared to before.

Cycle Harrogate some questions answered

Cycle Harrogate some history?
Cycle Harrogate started off as a response to the slow pace of change by local government to provide quality cycling provision for the people of Harrogate. We began with a petition aiming to get some swift improvement on the Knaresborough road between Starbeck and the Stray. There was a load of support on Facebook and Twitter for this initiative. We continue to work to improve the lot of all bike riders in Harrogate and overtime we have campaigned on a number of issues. We did manage to get some cycle lanes on a part of the Knaresborough Rd but not what we hoped, this was a defeat really, but it made us more determined.

We persuaded a local primary school to abandon an anti cycle policy and install some bike racks.

We helped to get the beryl Burton Cycleway which was falling apart some much needed maintenance.

We asked North Yorkshire County Council for a cycling officer and recently they advertised for a sustainable transport officer.

Along the way we have became smarter and more pragmatic. You don't get what you want but you do get something and every time you get a little bit you make the next step easier.

Who is behind Cycle Harrogate?
Most of the blogging on here is by Dave Prince but a few other people write for us to. We want Cycle Harrogate be a community organisation for the people of Harrogate and we are often asked about the state of play by local people and the media. If we don't know we can usually find out.

How can I help ?
Firstly ride your bike, then get your friends and family riding theirs. Get involved, contact your local and county councillor ask for better cycle infrastructure.  We get told there is no demand for cycling I don't believe that. We welcome guest posts on the blog send us one. Ask a question or leave a comment.

How can I get in touch?

easy email cyclehgt@gmail.com

or message us on twitter or facebook