Reach for the Sky - British Cycling get involved in Harrogate

Sky Rides are coming to Harrogate these are recreational rides to get more people cycling. They are organised by British Cycling the people behind the success of our world beating olympic cyclists, Mark Cavendish and Sir Bradley Wiggins. There will be a lot more news about these over the next year but for now. If you want to get involved with the whole setup and run some rides you can?

I just got this from Jo Armstrong at Harrogate Borough Council...

Sky Ride Local is coming to North Yorkshire in 2013 and we’re looking for confident recreational cyclists to train as Ride Leaders and Route Planners. You don’t need to be a cycling expert, just be confident riding in groups and have heaps of enthusiasm.

Our Ride Leaders are friendly, confident, chatty individuals who love encouraging others and are happy to operate as one member of a team. If this sounds like you then keep reading.
The British Cycling assessed one-day course qualifies you to deliver led rides for groups of beginners and intermediate level adults and accompanied children.

In North Yorkshire we currently have Sky Ride leader training courses scheduled on:
14th April - York
18th May – Harrogate
22nd June - York

To get involved, get in touch with us at skyride@britishcycling.org.uk and tell us where you live, postcode, a little about yourself, why you would make a great Ride Leader and if you hold a valid first aid certificate.

For more information visit: http://www.goskyride.com/News/ShowArticle/Fancy-training-to-be-a-British-Cycling-Ride-Leader?retURL=/News

Jo Armstrong
Sport and Play Development Officer
Harrogate Borough Council
Department of Development Services
Culture, Tourism & Sports
E-mail: joanne.armstrong@harrogate.gov.uk

"On my command unleash the Tour De France Legacy Doves"

An interesting day for Cycling in Harrogate. I was nattering to Radio York this morning after they tracked me down. I talked about Cycling in Harrogate and why it wasn't as big as it is in York.

I think I managed to blame it on poor infrastructure and a lack of any kind of strategic planning on the part of NYCC, if not dear reader I tried. Thing is it was snowing, I was stood outside and I was covered in cold, wet cement. So for some reason I was all jovial and diplomatic which is not like me at all. I hope no one got the impression I thought our county council are doing a good job catering for bike riders in the town.

This evening I was at the first meeting of the Harrogate Cycle Forum where Harrogate Borough Council who do seem interested in talking to local cyclists and listening to their views, met with maybe 20 folk who had all turned up to exchange ideas and compare agendas.

Most of the Harrogate clubs where there, a few activists like myself along with a couple of bike shop owners and people with business interests that involve bikes.

Here is what I learned, Harrogate Borough council have committed to getting more people on a bike (YESSSSS),  Jo Armstrong is the lead on this, she is doing good stuff. Kids are being trained, rides for novice bike riders are being organised, bikes will be available for loan if you fancy a go.

We need some better information to get people riding and there is to be work on this more detail to follow.

There will be money to get some cycle trainers in the area, this is all good stuff and should be celebrated. There is going to be a cycle festival as part of national bike week during the week leading up to and including the weekend of 22nd  and 23rd of June. There will be lots of stuff happening. More  info when things get nailed down.

John McGivern is the council officer tasked with getting the Tour De France delivered in Harrogate District, he looked scared and excited and he looks well capable. He wants to leave a legacy after the Tour behemoth rolls across the Stray and heads south, good man. We are going to see what we can come up with as a group and let John deliver it, more news when we have thrashed out a plan.

Then news rolled in as I got home, that the Government in Westminster have approved 10 million quid to help deliver the Tour in Yorkshire, WOOHOO. Some of this cash should wash across the shores of the district and as the wave breaks, you should see marks on the high tide line to prove it was there. We do indeed live in interesting times. If only NYCC seemed to have noticed that the third biggest sporting event in the world was coming for two days to their backyard. If they were actually committed to sustainable transport and that they had a generational opportunity to make Harrogate a bike town. I would actually believe all my dreams had come true.

Anyway look out for those Legacy Doves in late 2014. They will show when the waters from the tour have receded and we are once more, just a small town, surrounded by countryside with a congestion problem.

Harrogate Hospital begin to cuddle cyclists

A good meeting today with Liz Pugh from Harrogate Hospital Trust. We had a chat about what we could do to help each other get more staff from the hospital cycling. Oh I and I had a mild dig at their relatively unambitious travel plan for cyclists. Here's what we came up with.

• We will work together to make a leaflet to promote cycling to hospital staff. It will contain info about routes, clubs, the cycle to work scheme and other cycling related info.
• We will have some staff members who are points of contact if people who are thinking about cycling to work. This  so that they have someone they can have a chat with if they have an issues that might be putting them off.
• We will do a joint presentation/open day style event to try and promote the cycle to work scheme and increase take up.
• The Hospital will investigate if they can make some suggested improvements to on site cycle storage and lighting.
• The Hospital will give their support to our campaign to improve cycle infrastructure on the Knaresborough Rd. Makes sense they are at one end of it

I have been fairly critical over the last sixth months of the hospital's spectacular  reluctance do to anything tangible to promote cycling. Now they are working with both us and Jo Armstrong from Harrogate Borough Council its  time to lay off them a bit and see if together we can get some staff from Harrogate's biggest employer pedalling.