The Cycle Harrogate Map APP

So I got to thinking how most of what we had done so far had been fairly negative. We grumbled at the council a lot basically. How about something to support new and prospective cyclists in Harrogate? Harrogate Borough Council used to distribute cycle maps. They weren't the greatest maps ever but I found a few cycle routes using it. Well it went the way of all things when NYCC took over cycle promotion and there was nothing to replace...

Nice to see you, to see you NICE

We repeatedly lobbied Harrogate hospital this year to ask them to encourage cycling for their staff. We offered our help. They did nothing. In fact they never really answered our letters at all. Indifference would be a fair description of the response we got. North Yorkshire County Council have no plan in place to develop cycle infrastructure, have no cycle officer, spend no money on adult cycle training and have refused all the offers we have...

What's occurin'?

Its been quiet from us recently here is a mini news round up of what's been going on. Firstly a plug. If you are near a radio at 2.15 tomorrow put radio 4 on and catch the radio play about local hero Beryl Burton or catch it on the Iplayer afterwards. Its her cycleway we have asked to be repaired over the last year to no avail, beginning to think this might be a DIY job and why not? Next up is where cycling in Harrogate is at. Firstly...

Guest post from Simon Williams - Cycling in Harrogate

Harrogate is a lovely place to work and live, it’s not too big, it’s not too small, and it’s virtually crime free. The citizens of the town are pleasant and law abiding, but put them in a car, and the world seems to change. I’ve lived and worked in Harrogate over the last 22 years and for the last few years I’ve taken advantage of a cycle to work scheme through the company I work for. A fantastic scheme, that I encourage anyone who has the...

Why Cycling is less risky than not Cycling

Cycle accidents have been in the news this week. Bradley Wiggins had a lucky escape and so did Shane Sutton. The question for me that follows these high profile accidents has to be is cycling dangerous? Turns out the answer is ermm, no not really, and the benefits of the exercise far outweigh the risks of riding the bike. So that's not what we hear is it? This is an interesting table   if you like me, like data of course, it shows relative risks of death of a few sports and pastimes. Now its a bit out of date (1986) but...

Support from a legend - record breaker Mike Hall talks to Cycle Harrogate

Mike Hall is quite an individual. Not only did he break the record for cycling round the world earlier this year but he supports our Cycle Officer campaign. 91 days to cycle round the world unsupported, some 18,000 and something miles that is pretty extraordinary. Oh and Mike is a Harrogate chap so he is a local legend to boot. Somebody tipped me off that Mike had signed our petition and I got in touch in a hurry. Mike was good enough...

Impact, Fracture, Inflammatory comment - Bradley Wiggins is hit by a van

Bradley Wiggins is hit by a white van, you couldn't make it up. Only the fact that it was a woman not a man driving, stops the story being perfect. Wiggo it seems will be fine, but a broken rib really hurts, he is lucky and I am delighted it wasn't more serious, I wish him a swift recovery. I'm going to say something inflammatory now. In a way this is one of the best things that could have happened. Not because I want anyone hit by a...

Falling on deaf ears, 25% there and creating an NYCC Cycling Policy

I went and spoke at the council area committee meeting at the Cairn Hotel on Thursday morning. That was a first from a lifetime experience point of view. I had asked to talk about our cycle officer campaign, you get allocated 3 minutes and told to speak up and use the microphone as some of the councillors are hard of hearing (I'm not making this up). Before I had my go Gia Margolis spoke with eloquence and passion about the impending car crash (pun intended) that appears to be the planned junction re-design for the new M & S store on...

Choosing a bike - a guide for new cyclists

Somebody got in touch on twitter the other day and said "I want to get in to cycling but I don't know which bike to get there are so many choices." This is oh so very true, there are bikes for all kinds of uses and getting the perfect bike for your needs is difficult but not impossible. I think its two part process. Part One - Work out what you are going to do with it. It's very easy to see Mark Cavendish sprinting down the Champs Elysée leaving...

On Revolution and Beryl in Peril

I went to the Revolution series cycle racing at the Manchester Velodrome on Saturday night, it was great. Ed Clancy was on imperious form and he looked like a different species when he was lapping the boards compared to the other riders who were all world class, It was well worth seeing. The highlight was his lone effort to chase down a breakaway in the points race. With half a lap to go he was 40 metres down and it looked impossible...

Unaccustomed as I am

On Thursday I am going to talk at the Council  area meeting at the Cairn Hotel. I will tell them about the petition and mention all your names one by one. Actually I won't as you only get three minutes, so I  had better keep it short and sweet. Anyway suffice to say I will put the arguments across and point out that we represent a large constituency of Harrogate cyclists and can we have a Cycle officer please? Hopefully all this lobbying will lead somewher...

DEMANDING - petitioning North Yorkshire County Council for a Cycle Officer

A while back I met somebody from the transport department at North Yorkshire County Council. She said that they didn't do more for cyclists as the demand wasn't there. A fortnight ago we started a petition to ask NYCC to employ a cycle officer.  We now have nearly 300 people signed up, more probably by the time you read this. If we can get 1605 signatures the council have to debate our suggestion rather than fob us off with platitudes as...

Lets make some noise - Cycling provision in Harrogate

The nice people At the Harrogate Cycle Group, Wheel Easy and Harrogate's very own Sustrans Rangers have put a report together of what they achieved with lobbying and consultation in 2011. I will update you after Christmas with all that has happened in Harrogate in 2012. If like me you knew little about their work it is worth remembering this. If you use any of the cycle provision in Harrogate they are probably responsible for getting it there. Left to their own devices our local government would have almost certainly have done...

Good Evening, Officer? - We need a Cycling Officer badly

Interesting chat with some local cycling advocates last night. Lots of people are putting plenty of effort into making Harrogate a more cycle friendly town and its certainly isn't just me banging the drum for this. If you do Facebook check out Ricahrd Marshalll's Ride Harrogate page he is getting some love from a more hardcore downhill community which is great to see. There is also a lot of lobbying going on in less public forum's than the internet and I don't want to undermine any of that by shining a light on it right now. Seems like this...

Small Solar System

We took a family trip to a Sustrans route near York today. Its a cycle route that has a scale model of the solar system built in by its sides, it was one of their first routes in the 1980's when they bought the old railway line for a quid.  We started at Bishopthorpe near York. It was fantastic, It was a long way from Jupiter to Mars and then the other planets come up pretty fast. We only rode maybe 2 miles either way but the whole thing...

Big Brother loves you

So according to the Woman From the Council the full 70 or so metres of cycleway will have been painted on the ground on Knaresborough Rd last night and will be drying even as I write. We will go and have a look at it when we have nothing better to do.  As we are heading over to Selby on the bikes this morning to use a Sustrans route  based around the solar system which looks great, we do have something better to do, it might be a while...

Ever feel you've been cheated?

Donna Hodgson who is the "Woman From the Council" got in touch after a deal of prompting from myself and others local cycling advocates on Friday. She wrote a long email justifying her decision to basically do very little in the way of cycleway provision on  Knaresborough Rd. After I had calmed down I tried to work out why I had thought we were justified to expect rather more. The last time I was in touch with Donna prior to Friday was an...

Well at least nobody died

This is Derek Ryan's story from last week. He emailed it to us, worth a read. North Yorkshire County Council have argued they don't make better cycle provision because there is not enough demand. Seems to me they really ought to do a  more. Think we might start being a bit more demanding. On Thursday evening I was making my way home through the town centre (it was about 19:45) along my usual route which takes me down East Parade towards...

The Woodfield bike show

Local PCSO James Skaith or as he is known on twitter PCSO_5391 organised a bike show on Sunday at Woodfield Park to promote cycling in Harrogate, we were there. It was great to meet James who is a switched on and enthusiastic cyclist and he seemed genuinely interested to find out what Cycle Harrogate was about. He was there coding bikes and giving security advice but to organise so many other companies and agencies to turn up as well really...

on Bikes and Harrogate's Grumpiest man

So @alanhuddart Harrogate's self proclaimed Grumpiest Man, legendary slayer of dragons and victor in the famous battle with Harrogate Borough Council, posts a link to an article in the daily mail  by Petronlla Wyatt. In it she says her mum had been knocked down twice in a month by a bike rider. Now this sounds terrible but it turns out she made the same claim two years ago and it looks like some of the article was a cut and paste job. Why...

Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice

Chris Boardman, cycling commentator, Sustrans advocate and former Olympic champion was on BBC breakfast this morning talking about cycle safety and articulating the debate about the need for a better environment in which to cycle. He did it better than anybody I have seen so far. He explained that 30,00 people die annually of obesity and only 100 on a bike which made the point for healthy lifestyles wonderfully. He said that helmets on you bike aren't the answer and put to rest, for me at least the points made by Wiggo without criticising him....

Benefits of a Bike (with added dubious claims of Bike - Earth interaction

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What's Going on

So I'm aware we haven't had that much to say or ourselves recently, here is where we are at with campaigning. The Woman From The Council (TWFTC) has been back in-touch about re-lining and the Knaresborough  Rd  apparently they have gone back to their sub-contractor who have proposed little or no cycleways or some such on their detail drawings.  Anyway TWFTC has headed off on holiday for a fortnight but she did say she wanted to...