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 Now its a bit out of date (1986) but...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...