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 but he road the leader down to take the win. I would recommend you go but the series is sold out this Winter, perhaps we really are starting to warm to cycling as a nation?

As I was wandering around the edges of the track with a restless four year old, I came across a shrine to Beryl Burton. I knew of her because she has a cycleway named after her from near my house to Knaresborough. What I didn't know just how good she was she was, like a later day Victoria Pendleton but more versatile. Five times world champion and she was a mean time trialler too. all this in the days before the UK had one of the most successful sporting cycling setups the world has ever seen. She rode for Knaresborough cycle club in her later life and that why the cycleway is where it is.

Beryl's Shrine

A while back we started chasing NYCC to try and get the cycleway repaired as it in a right old mess. It is pot holed and rutted and on a road bike it not really ridable at the moment. Now Beryl never rode a mountain bike they hadn't be invented when she was in her prime, but if you want to follow her trail at the moment thats my tip. Surely the memory of one of the world's greatest cyclists with a local connection deserves better than a rutted track that looks un-loved and un-cared for?

Thats just another little reason why we need a cycle officer, we need somebody in local government who cares about these things so we can help generate the next generation of Beryl Burton's. I'm talking at a local council meeting on Thursday. I will tell them about the petition, about the support we have from local cyclists, about how they are failing to do right by sustainable transport in Harrogate at the moment and I will tell them that Beryl is in peril.

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 somewhere.

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 they do at the moment. The same women said anyone could sign a petition but 38 degrees have shown how effective these sort of campaigns can be.

We have had some great support from amongst others Wheel Easy, The Harrogate Cycling Group, Boneshakers, Ride Harrogate Harrogate Nova, The Big Red Bike Co and the Cappucino Cycling Club, not to mention the people that have signed up via twitter and facebook.

All these organisations have asked their members to get behind this campaign and for the first time I think we are now seeing that the women from the council was wrong. It seems that there is consderable demand for better cycling infrastructure and advocacy from local government in Harrogate and North Yorkshire. It also seems that this demand is much bigger than they claim and that we know they are dragging their heels in pushing forward a sustainable transport agenda as they say they want to.

There is still a mini mountain to climb and we need to keep the momentum up but a good start. If anyone out there knows how we can raise the profile of the campaign?  Please get in touch at cyclehgt@gmail.com we need all the help we can get.

If you haven't signed our petition and you think a cycling officer would be tax money well spent here is a link to the petition.

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 a lots less than what you see now and quite possibly nothing.

When I am getting into one of my splenetic rants about cycling provision and local government its worth remembering that these people had to start from scratch. They do it for free and they occasionally deal not only with our Council's officers, but hot headed, grumpy, impatient people like me.

Anyway here are the highlights and its worth having a look at the full report to get an idea of what they have been involved in.

Completed Projects 2010/2011.

• Bogs Lane cycle ramp
• The Avenue cycle ramp
• Weekly cleaning by HBC of Asda cycle path
• Improved safer crossing from Sainsbury’s to Stonefall.
• Cycle path through showground to Traveller’s Rest
• Fence repaired on Skipton Road bridge preventing illegal access
• Covered bike stand at Hornbeam Station Car Park
• Newly widened paths from Dragon Bridge to Dene Park and Bilton Lane
• New path and ramp to Woodfield Road
• Links to Schools network for Woodfield, Richard Taylor and Harrogate High Schools.
• Links to Schools network to Rossett via St. George’s roundabout with Toucan crossing installed.
• Cycle paths on The Stray with improved crossings.
• Additional cycle stands have been installed at One Arch, Prospect Crescent, Leeds Road and Oxford Street.
• Work on Follifoot underpass has been done but this has not yet solved the problem.

If you agree with me that North Yorkshire County Council should be doing this work without having to be lobbied quite so often sign our petition for a dedicated cycle officer.

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 blog might be a good place to celebrate successes and to hold local government to account for its shortcomings but whilst channels are open and negotiations are ongoing we should let things progress.

Problem is as we found out over the Knaresborough Road fiasco NYCC really aren't that interested in sustainable transport compared to other County Councils. We are now pursuing a formal complaint with NYCC over how they dealt with our request for cycle lanes on the Knaresborough Road and we will keep you informed, I'm expecting the fob off once more if I'm honest. North Yorkshire County Council  it appears advocate sustainable transport in words but when it comes to actually doing anything about it, currently they prioritise the needs of cars before anyone else and seem to throw scraps as an afterthought.

Last night I asked what had let to the most success over the last ten years or so and having a Cycling Officer employed by Local Government to fight for provision for cyclists, someone who would make sure that any planning or transport developments take account of the needs of cyclists, was the single thing that had the most effect. When the last officer left her job she was not replaced and the sorry mess we have now, where bikers are fobbed off or worse not even considered (see the M &S development on the Leeds Road where NYCC admitted they they forgot to think about bikes at all in the planning process), was the result.

In a day or so we will be bothering as many people as possible  starting a petition and campaigning to get NYCC to put someone in post so that cycling gets paid a little more than the current lip service and Harrogate can really become a bike town.

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 is just over 6 miles starting at York college and heading toward Selby.

There was a bit of BMX ramp at the end and a scale model of the sun. It was our four year old's first proper bike trip and he struggled to get going but after the best part of an hour and a few shoves he was definitely a cyclist and he had a grin a mile wide. It was nice to be on a decent car free route for a change a it took me back to riding the C2C route in 2000 and made me appreciate the good work that Sustrans do. A grand day out recommended.

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 before we can report back.

Oh and just found this quote on the web on NYCC's website. Having dealt with them over Knaresborough Road we would argue that this is not true or as George Orwell would put it Doublethink.

"The County Council is committed to promoting cycling as an alternative mode of travel to the car for short trips or as part of longer journeys."

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 email on the 2nd of July in which she said the following:

...the outcome of this discussion was that we would undertake further detailed design to try to accommodate cycle lanes in both directions on the sections of the A59 where the remedial works are due to be undertaken in the next few months.  The costs of these works can therefore be accommodated to a greater extent within the remedial works costs.

I did explain to the Group that we were not able to remove or alter the existing pedestrian refuges for road safety reasons but the Group felt that even short sections of advisory cycle lane between the refuges / right turn lanes would be a significant improvement on the current position.

I will be meeting with the design engineer in the next few days and I hope to get a detailed drawing of the cycle lanes in the next few weeks.  I would be happy to send you and the Cycle Group a copy of the drawings once completed so that you can see the extent of what we can deliver.

From this I assumed we were going to get some cycle lanes on Knaresborough Road which would stop and start again at the pedestrian crossings and would run the length of the road from the railway crossing to the hospital this is what we asked for originally and what our petition was about. Donna alas never did get back with those design drawings despite us chasing her on a few occasions. In fact when she did get back to us work had already started and is still underway on Knaresborough Road.  So what do we get? We get some cycle lane less than 100m long on the downhill side as it runs down to the railway crossing. Perhaps the most useless section and hardly worth having at all. The sort of shabby provision that makes those "look at this useless cycle lane" photos on the web.

Do I feel Donna and North Yorkshire County Council have acted in bad faith over this? Well yes I do. I suppose her decision if she had communicated it a few weeks ago, whilst we would have disagreed with it would have been presented fairly and she would have done what she had said she would do. We would have opportunity to discuss and perhaps amend some of the details. Donna's decision to withhold details of what would happen until after work has started seems hard to view as anything other than a cynical ploy to do the absolute minimum and fail to negotiate with both us and the Harrogate Cycle Group, something she had already said she would do.

Some I'm sure will say that we should be happy that we got anything done at all. But I for one won't celebrate piecemeal provision which seems to be thrown like scraps to a dog, begrudgingly and with much tutting at our impudence for daring to ask. I think Harrogate's cyclists deserve better. I want my kids to cycle up that road and at the moment it would be tantamount to letting them play unsupervised with my circular saw.

Based on this outcome I think Cycle Harrogate looks set to have more effect on cycle provision if we adopt an adversarial approach rather than one of partnership toward NYCC. I think that is where we go next. It looks like the County Council can't help but favour car traffic even when money isn't the issue as was the case here (they were going to do some work anyway).

We need to try and win the battle for hearts and minds amongst the public in general and specifically amongst those who we ask to govern for us. At the moment asking nicely and going on a bit just aren't working as effectively as we want. If we are going to put effort into lobbying we might as well expose the way local government operates and hold them to account for the way they spend our tax rather than try and change their minds something we have so far failed to do.

Expect more from us soon about how you could help us get this message across in a law abiding but no longer polite and patient way.

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 Asda.

I came off the roundabout by the cinema and proceeded to coast down East Parade. There is a cycle lane along this road which I kept within.

I reached the traffic lights just before the turn off to Bower Street when out of nowhere a silver Mercedes S-Class (who must have been behind me) turned left in front of me and I had no chance. I managed to turn the bike to the left but it was too late and ploughed into his passenger door. I have yet to be given the drivers details so I can ask him how on earth he didn’t see me given that I had both front and rear lights flashing!

Alas, I ended up on my back with my legs now resting vertically against the rear door of his car. Within seconds passers by were ringing the emergency services. He was a youngish lad who had the decency to stick around and actually help the paramedics get me on a stretcher. You can see from the attached pics that the paramedics were concerned enough to strap me up as I had hurt my knee and banged my head.

The police officer who turned up was most unsympathetic and I shall be logging a complaint. He questioned me in the ambulance about the event, when I said I had been on the cycle lane he rather patronisingly told me that there was no cycle lane. A debate ensued before he then clarified that that cycle lane ends approximately 30 yards prior to the traffic lights. My point was that I ‘had’ been on the cycle path and anyway, it was irrelevant as clearly the driver had not seen me. He proceeded to inform me that he would give further details on his return to work the following Wednesday!? In some discomfort I then asked if I could be left alone with the paramedics to get taken to A&E rather than having a ridiculous argument with him.

A&E confirmed that I had in fact separated my AC shoulder joint, along with some other cuts and bruises. It could have been a lot worse. I have yet to speak to the driver to establish his side of the story but I suspect I will be taking this further.

I had to laugh that having very recently taken part in a charity bike ride across Scotland (150 miles) I get knocked over in my home town just minutes from my home.

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 was above and beyond the call, so well done. I hope this become an annual event and that it is a way for Harrogate's cycling community to come together and become stronger as a result.

The event seemed really well attended by all ages and there were some interesting bikes there including some folding electric bikes of a type I have never seen before with the batteries running vertically behind the seat tubes.

Wheel Easy were there, we had a chat and it looks like the Harrogate to Ripley cycleway will be open by the spring once a final few access and planning issues have been resolved. This will be a great leisure route and its good to see Sustrans making a difference on the ground.

We ran into a friend of mine Craig Stevenson on the Specialized/Boneshakers stand who was a fresh from coming second in the Leeds Triathlon. I've been climbing a few times with Craig but didn't realise what a quality athlete he is. He is off to the World Champs in New Zealand soon, so good luck Craig.

North Yorkshire County Council also had a representative there and we introduced ourselves and explained what we were about. We soon got a lot of puffing and blowing and platitudes about why there was no money for cycling infrastructure and why resurfacing the Beryl Burton cycleway was important but couldn't be done at the moment. My wife thought I was a little to direct in my approach especially when I said I would resurface the Beryl Burton myself for 40K, but to be honest I think I may have been too polite.

It was to be honest a pretty depressing conversation that made me quite angry. The message seemed to be there is no demand for cycling so we don't bother making any provision. I think that this is both wrong and wrong headed and it got us to thinking that maybe we have to re-double our efforts with Local Government, to make them aware that there a lots of cyclists out there who want bikes to be better catered for. On a more positive note they did say they were hoping to work with the Hospital to encourage cycling something that so far we have failed to do and we will see what comes of that.

I think the council and I guess many Councillors have missed the huge groundswell in cycling recently and perhaps genuinely believe that what they are offering for cyclists is acceptable. Roads designed to put the needs of car users before the needs of other road users being something to be proud of rather something to be ashamed of. I put forward York as a city that seems to have given some thought and investment into the needs of bike riders but I  got stared at like I was deluded. I think we have a long way to go before the argument is won.

Anyway good to see cyclists being catered for by our police service and at least acknowledged by the people we ask to govern us and if we can keep putting our concerns and requests in front of them we will be more difficult to ignore and change will follow.

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 could Petronella have a thing against cyclists? No possible reason I can think of. This the Same Petronella Wyatt  that had a dalliance with London's mayor Boris Johnson that is now fading into the past, Boris well known cyclist and brains behind the Boris Bike? Just pointing out those last few facts, I'm not obviously suggesting any link.

Anyway back to Harrogate's Grumpiest Man, we got into a mild twitter spat about cycling. Him saying folk shouldn't be riding on pavements (in principle I agree) and that its dangerous and illegal. So is it? Should we always seperate bikes and pedestrians on the grounds that it is simply too dangerous for them to mix?

Well the best data I could find was saying in the 10 years 1999-2009, 29 pedestrians were killed by bike riders and 7,600 by cars. So if your a pedestrian you are roughly 200 times more likely as a pedestrian to die as a result of by being hit by a car than a bike.

What do I think about pedestrians and bikes sharing footpaths or even pavements? Well in principle I'm against it as I said but I do want to act on Chris Boardman's suggestion that we re-design our urban environment to favour cyclists. Trouble is even if this argument is won, it won't happen overnight so what could be done in the way of interim solutions? Well mixed use of of some suitable wide footpaths seems to have merit, we have some in Harrogate on the Stray for example.

I'm not suggesting that this is a solution that would work everywhere but I do think the idea that pedestrians and cyclists should live separate lives on the grounds that they cannot rub along in reasonable safety is wrong. I for one would rather have money spent on better cycle provision, for example urban speed limits of 20mph seem to have the most effect in reducing fatalities for both pedestrians and cyclists. Rather this than the enforcement of laws that may well do little to save the lives of pedestrians.

I'm reading this and I'm worried people will think I'm anti car. Some deep green, knit your own yoghurt commune living freak and it ain't necessarily so. Read my on the road post for more on my love of cars and one in particular. I drive more than I cycle and walk, I don't suppose that will change. I own a car and its a battered SUV, I like it (but I love my bike). Its great for driving around the relatively empty county of North Yorkshire and I chuck tools in it for work. I suspect I will always drive more than I cycle. I just think for journey's under 3 miles round town the bike wins if your on your own. Its quicker and it keeps you fit.

What really got to me about Petronella's piece is the unjustified attack on bike riders especially as the source article looks well up to the rigorous journalistic standards that the Daily Mail always adhere to. Sure the odd cyclist rides badly, some of them use pavements all the time and you can't condone it. Thing is some pedestrians walk out into the road without looking or walk around so drunk they are a danger to themselves and others, see Harrogate about 11 o'clock most Friday nights. People drive around talking on their mobiles so often I hardly notice, speed limits are ignored as a matter of course by many and nobody even sees it.

Bike riders are just like other road users, most are pretty considerate a few are selfish and and an even smaller minority really are dangerous. I think the reason cyclists are seen as a soft target or often as the target of choice is they have novelty value. You see we might have the best elite cyclists on the planet but riding a bike on the road remains a minority behaviour. So just being on a bike gets you noticed, if your breaking the rules you stick out like a Roman Nose and you get remembered.

Do I think me and Harrogate's Grumpiest Man will ever agree on this? No not really he seems to be a rules and regulations guy and I'm interested in change. I want better towns where the car isn't king and the bike is no longer the transport chav, part of the underclass, a useless NEET of all the choices you have when you want to nip out in one of the nicest towns in Britain. Anyway spleen vented.

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. Are you listening CTC?

Then he went on to talk about how the Danish have modified their cycling environment so pedestrians have presumed rights over cyclists, who have presumed rights over cars and that such a shift in the UK is needed. It was great to hear and this was on the back of all the cycling success from our athletes this years, so well done team GB cycling.

I can't find an iPlayer link yet to the BBC breakfast story but in the meantime here is Boardman doing much of the same on five live

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

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 "get this right" on her email  and re-lining is now scheduled for September. I can't decide if she is interested in keeping to her commitment to us and Gia Margolis or not, we await developments. Expect another call to arms if there is significant backsliding on their part.

We have been lobbying the Hospital to try and get them to work in partnership with us to increase staff cycling numbers. We met a stone wall until recently. Odd as they have a stated objective to promote cycling in their travel plan. We have now been referred to another person in the hospital. This either means we are getting somewhere or we are getting the run around. It seems important to try and work with the hospital as they are the biggest employer in the area and bike riders are happier staff as this London School of Economics report into the british cycling economy suggests that people riding bikes saves the nation 128 million quid a year in sickness costs.

Oh and the Olympics put some rather splendid elite athletes and one Yorkshire woman in the world's view. Well done GB cycling, well done local hero Lizzie Armitstead now can we get some provision for those of us who think Keirin is a boy's name? I have on the back of all this however bought tickets for the revolution championship at the velodrome in Manchester so hopefully when I return I will know why the man rides around on the silly motorbike that can't stay ahead of Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton for that long.

The voice of reason

This marvellous poem by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy first published in the guardian, comments on our Olympic success and the state of the nation. It also asks for more cycle lanes so here it is in full. She is worth her barrel of sherry I reckon.

Translating the British, 2012

A summer of rain, then a gap in the clouds

and The Queen jumped from the sky

to the cheering crowds.

We speak Shakespeare here,

a hundred tongues, one-voiced; the moon bronze or silver,

sun gold, from Cardiff to Edinburgh

by way of London Town,

on the Giant's Causeway;

we say we want to be who we truly are,

now, we roar it. Welcome to us.

We've had our pockets picked,

the soft, white hands of bankers,

bold as brass, filching our gold, our silver;

we want it back.

We are Mo Farah lifting the 10,000 metres gold.

We want new running tracks in his name.

For Jessica Ennis, the same; for the Brownlee brothers,

Rutherford, Ohuruogu, Whitlock, Tweddle,

for every medal earned,

we want school playing fields returned.

Enough of the soundbite abstract nouns,

austerity, policy, legacy, of tightening metaphorical belts;

we got on our real bikes,

for we are Bradley Wiggins,

side-burned, Mod, god;

we are Sir Chris Hoy,

Laura Trott, Victoria Pendleton, Kenny, Hindes,

Clancy, Burke, Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas,

Olympian names.

We want more cycle lanes.

Or we saddled our steed,

or we paddled our own canoe,

or we rowed in an eight or a four or a two;

our names, Glover and Stanning; Baillie and Stott;

Adlington, Ainslie, Wilson, Murray,

Valegro (Dujardin's horse).

We saw what we did. We are Nicola Adams and Jade Jones,

bring on the fighting kids.

We sense new weather.

We are on our marks. We are all in this together.

Image JL08

The Halo Effect and how the CTC shot itself in the foot

So it really happened, Bradley Wiggins exceeds everyone, except perhaps his own expectations by winning the tour de France and the Olympic time trial in imperious style. How can we use cycling's current  stellar popularity to get the cycle lobby taken more seriously on the nations Roads?  The CTC's approach to politely criticise Lord Wiggins of Modshire when he comments on the tragic death of a cyclist near the Olympic park seems to be a mistake to say the least.

We need  our national cycling lobby to be working with UK cycle sport to see everyone as a cyclist, not  pigeon hole cyclists as some mutant sub-species. We are all potential cyclists most of us are pedestrians and motorists too, if the Olympics can pull us all together as a nation and watching Brad tear up the field yesterday seemed to do that, then we need to seize cycling's moment in the sun and make political and popular hay while the Olympic flame lights us all up. It will be another four years before it shines this bright again.

Come on CTC you should be on the phone to Wiggo's people now asking if he will help, if he will issue a one paragraph statement saying he supports better cycling infrastructure. Maybe even lobbying in private and explaining why you disagree with his views, but to rush out something that criticises him the day after a great victory looks like sour grapes.

Starbeck school Promote Cycling - Hooray

An excellent meeting last night with Mrs Carolyn Sandford the head at Starbeck School.  The School are now keen to encourage cycling and we will work with them to try and promote safe cycling for the school's pupils. Hopefully the Knaresborough Rd improvements will help and we will see what else we can do. Initially we are working with MrsSandford and the School to try and get some cycle racks installed as soon as possible. We also had a walk round the school with Mrs Sandford and found a suitable site for some racks to go.

Next task is to do some design and costing work and then look at how we can collectively fund the project. It seems likely that that school PTA maybe able to help and we will be getting in touch with Sustrans to see if they can help as well. We are hoping to be able to use local suppliers for the fabrication where possible,  my new venture  deeprinse has offered to do the installation for free.

image: Kevin H:

Wanted Businesses who want to get their staff cycling

If you would like to work with us to get your workforce cycling to work we would love to hear from you and there is a potential 25K if you do a really good job.

Now its not our 25 Grand. Nesta (no I'd never heard of them either) are running a competition, well they are calling it a challenge, for businesses who want to work to increase the number of their staff who cycle to work. They are after innovative and effective ways to get some bums on seats.

Now as this is bread and butter to us we would like to work with any companies in Harrogate or Knaresborough that want to put an application in. We could offer support and ideas though we are scratching our head a bit at the moment, but we reckon making cycling sexy might be a starting point. You know get Brad and Angelina down for a day to ride around the Stray or something simple like that.

You have to have at least 10 employees and entries are to be in in October. If you are interested or have any good ideas we would love to hear from you

More details of the challenge here

image Gage Skidmore

GOOD NEWS Harrogate Primary School agrees to look for solutions

We got a letter today from Mrs Sandford the Head at the primary school that we posted about recently. She has asked if we will try and arrange a meeting with her over the next two weeks to look at possible ways we might move the cycle storage issue forward. This is excellent news and we look forward to working with the school and other agencies to try and get a speedy solution and see if working together we can promote cycling in the local community.

Image o5com

Money for Cycling in Harrogate, What do you want most?

A few days ago North Yorkshire County Council were succesful in winning £1.6 million to be spent on sustainable transport initiatives in Harrogate and Knaresborough. The original bid was for £3.9 million and proposed a range of initiatives including upgrades to some of the main routes into Harrogate to make them more cycle friendly.

This is great and welcome news, but obviously as the bid has only been funded in part, some of the projects proposed will not now go ahead. Cycle Harrogate hopes as many as possible of the cycling projects will be implemented, realistically though we may need to lobby for one or two.

The bid involved proposed work on the roads to: Hornbeam Park, Otley Rd/Harlow Hill, Leeds Road, Whetherby Rd and the road between Knaresborugh and Harrogate, you know the one we have been going on about for the last few months. Work was scheduled over the next three financial years.
Wheeel Easy and The Harrogate Cycling Group where involved in the bid process and where named as stakeholders on the bid document.  They will both want to have input into the negotiations that will be going on as interested bodies jostle for funding. If as looks likely our Knaresborough Road proposals are going to be implemented, what do commuting and utility cyclists in Harrogate want us to lobby for next?

Here are the bid choices

1. Completion of cycle provision between Knaresborough and Harrogate.

2. Cycle Provison on the Otley Road up Harlow Hill towards Harlow Carr.

3. Better cycle provison on Leeds road as it enters town.

4 Upgrades to the road from Woodlands to Hornbeam Park.

5 Cycle provision on Whetherby Road past the hostpital and down to the Showground.

All of these are clearly important, but we started as a single issue campaigning group and we think our efforts are best focused on getting things done one at a time. We also want to represent the views of ordinary people in Harrogate (and Knaresborough) who use their bikes as part of their everday lives. So what do you want?  We are about getting bums on seats. Where do you want your bums? Either leave a comment on this post or get involved on twitter or facebook

image CJ Isherwood