Come to the pedal on fun day at Ripley Castle 2 Sept

This just in from Gia Margolis of Wheeleasy and Harrogate Cycle Action, sounds like a great occasion and Sustrans are rattling the tin too, I can think of worse places to give my hard earned too.

Pedal On UK Family Fun Day, Monday 2 September at Ripley Castle 3pm-6pm.
The 144 mile North West and Yorkshire leg of the Pedal On UK Ride will end at Ripley. Details at http://www.sustrans.org.uk/events/pedal-uk-ripley
The last day ending in Ripley is being flagged as a Family Day and I believe that it is the day before the kids go back to school. So if you could help to spread the word that would be great.
Malcolm and I have been invited to join the ride starting in Sale. We do have a fundraising page too collecting funds for Sustrans  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=margoliswheeleasy&isTeam=true

Beryl Burton - disappointing but the trend is upward

I got no further really on Beryl Burton re-surfacing and the loss of funding, when I dug deeper. Richard Cooper got involved and asked some questions and the Stray FM news team are to run a piece on me whinging about the whole sorry mess. NYCC's position as a response to questions, is that they pulled the funding for the totality of the Beryl Burton so they could spend the money fixing potholes on the roads.  Here is part of their response:

Funding of £20k is included in the 2013/14 Highways Capital Programme for cycleway maintenance and the Beryl Burton Cycleway was subsequently identified for the use of this funding with an initial programmed date of May 2013 to carry out the work. A detailed survey of the route revealed that the estimated cost of repairing and resurfacing the whole length of the route was approximately £80k which clearly exceeded the budget for this work. Consequently, the scheme had to be revisited and the areas of greatest need are now to be repaired, this will involve the drainage and surfacing work to the first 500m or so from Bilton Hall Drive to the first cattle grid. The work is scheduled to be carried out in September to avoid the school holiday season.

I appreciate that this may not be the response that you or indeed the cycling groups were hoping for but in these times of significant funding pressures it is necessary for the County Council to make difficult decisions about highway investment.

That leaves another 60K needed to do the whole lot from the cattle grid to the Yorkshire Lass.

Agreed the potholes need filling but the Beryl Burton needs fixing too. Lets see how it rides when they have done the bit they are now committed to. There remains the possibility of some external funding to finish of the re-surfacing more on this if anything comes of it. I'm even thinking about a kickstarter campaign to crowd source some funding.

It Just worries me that we are tinkering round the edges here, patching an already patchy network that was never really planned, let alone finished. That Harrogate's tour legacy will be more low key fiddling that no one will really notice, that won't get people riding and won't lead to a nicer town to travel round.

On a more positive note the Harrogate to Spofforth Route looks to be getting some love. NYCC officers are riding it with Local Cycling activists in the next few days and have expressed some interest in the proposal Harrogate Cycle Action put together a while back. This one still has the potential for a flagship legacy project. When you talk to activists they think NYCC are more willing to consult on what development there is and that's good too.

There are also the NYCC tour legacy proposals floating around and who knows funding may arrive for that. It is just frustrating when NYCC give with one hand and take away with the the other. I wish we had a broad forum to represent the needs of bike riders in town. There are too many people with interests and we don't present a unified front, at least there are plenty of people who seem to be prioritising cycling.

So was the Beryl Burton campaign a success or a failure? Hard to say, probably more has been done than if Cycle Harrogate and a good few others had kept quiet, but as ever its a frustrating process trying to get cycling infrastructure in this town.

Vote For Me

This via Malcolm Margolis

Vote for Sustrans’ Connect2 to win the best environment project in the National Lottery Awards 2013

Voting closes at midnight on Wednesday 24th July 2013.

You can vote online at www.sustrans.org.uk/vote, or by phone on 0844 836 9689.

Please support us and ask your group (and your friends, family, colleagues etc) to support us too

Here in Yorkshire, we are very proud of the fantastic new Connect2 routes & structures that have enabled so many people to make easier, safer journeys.
The Big Red Bridge over Manchester Road in Bradford http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izxFuq2H32E
The former railway tunnel between Dewsbury and Ossett has been restored and given a new lease of life as a greenway.
New bridges over rivers and railways at Killamarsh have provided a walking and cycling link to Halfway Tram Stop, the Trans Pennine Trail and Rother Valley Country Park,
The Nidderdale Greenway has been created by reopening the grade II listed railway viaduct and part of theHarrogate to Ripon railway line for public use.
A new bridleway bridge over the River Swale at Brompton-on-Swale (re-using an ex-railway bridge which during its former life years carried more than a million soldiers to and from Catterick Garrison).





To see the full list of finalists visit http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards and click on the Award category marked ‘Environment’.

North Yorkshire County Council go back on their word over Beryl Burton

North Yorkshire County Council were going to resurface the Beryl Burton cycleway from Knaresborough to Forest lane a fine legacy to a great champion. They were supposed to do it in May.

I have just received this from the Council Highways department:

The works were delayed on the Beryl Burton Cycleway because of funding issues. The original scheme has had to be cut back so that we are now only able to lay surfacing on the first 500m or so from Bilton Hall Drive (to the first cattle grid).
The current programme is for a September start.

So we get a half baked solution that won't happen until September. Remember this is the same Council that failed to spend all of its local sustainable transport funding last year and now can't find the cash to maintain some of its existing provision.

I have contacted Councillor Richard Cooper over this, he has gone into bat for cyclists recently. Lets see if we can get a speedy resolution to this issue and get the council to stick to its word?

Its hard enough enough to get NYCC to commit to any infrastructure improvements without them going back on their word when they do commit.

Go Cav

I just watched Mark Cavendish wrap up his second stage win in this years Tour.  His team took it on with a 100 km to go. They rode their hearts out, in side winds to drop his main rivals Kittel and Greipel. This meant when it cam to a sprint there was only ever one likely outcome Cav easily besting Peter Sagan. If your being beaten for speed get smart, and Omega-Pharna Quick-Step did just that, really brave too. We might yet see Cav sprinting for the line in Harrogate, but I'm no longer sure the outcome is as certain as it looked last year, I'm not writing him off yet mind.

Chris Froome lost over a minute to Contador and what was looking like a procession to Paris for Sky looks very much like a race again. If you can't attack Froome in the Mountains, you can put him under pressure on the flat, Sky looked vulnerable today and seemed to blow up badly towards the end of the stage as they tried to limit Froome's losses. One by one Sky's riders were heading for the back of the field and whilst Froome said he was comfortable, he needed more support than he got.

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a bike race on our hands.

Now we are talking, some concrete legacy proposals

I just got my sweaty little hands on a copy of North Yorkshire County Council's Tour legacy proposal report and its better than I could have imagined. Traffic free to Spofforth is part of it although what form it will take on the ground is unclear. Better yet there is a whole raft of proposals including extending the Nidderdale Greenway via Ripon to Masham how cool would that be? As well as loads of other stuff in the Dales  and some urban stuff too.

Now these are un-funded proposals currently, but as a starting point at least NYCC have identified viable and much needed projects so good on them. I'm very excited I haven't read it all yet, but you should have a read we will be talking about this for a while yet.  I will be trying my damnedest to make it all happen but at least we have a starting point.

Oh and Froome looked good today in the Tour could be a good summer.

The Harrogate Cycling festival

I have just got back from the cycling festival at Killinghall Moor. We parked at the Hydro and cycled up, my youngest struggling up the hills but I managed a one arm pushing, one arm steering assist up the steeper bits and he did the rest on his own.

The event itself was great. The mini pump track was my kid's highlight and mine if I'm honest. I ended up racing another dad on a 16" wheeled little kids bike, great fun. There were plenty of local bike shops in attendance, some scalextric cars you peddled bikes to get moving and a BMX ramp if you were braver.

Jo Armstrong from Sports development Harrogate the brains and drive behind this was there. As we arrived she was worried nobody would show up she needn't have been.  Lots of people were there, by 12 and you were queing for your go on the attractions. People were getting their bikes coded by the police, trying out electric bikes or just eating cake and ice cream. It was a really nice atmosphere so a big thank you to Jo and Harrogate Borough Council for making it happen. When you build it they come.

I talked legacy to Jo whilst my children pebble-dashed themselves in cake and ice cream. She seems taken with the idea of traffic free to Spoforth as a Tour de France legacy for Harrogate. She is going to ride the proposed route with one of Harrogate's leading cycle boffins next week as well as North Yorkshire County Council's new sustainable transport officer as a kind of feasability study.

We got to chatting about the Nidderdale Greenway too. One thing that came up was how delighted Sir Thomas Ingeleby is with increased business on the back of the extra traffic his castle and ice Cream parlour are receiving. Surely this is a model for businesses and landowners to see cycle routes as opportunities not threats? When you build it they come.

I talked to the guy from the Big Red Bike shop too. He is now hiring bikes and surfing the wave of demand generated by the Greenway. Only 8 bikes at the moment but if traffic free to Spoforth happened he felt he would be able to upscale his operation and maybe employ someone to deal with this demand full time in the summer.

Next July when the tour is on, another local landowner will be helping to meet huge need for accommodation by putting camping fields on over Wetherby way. If these people had a traffic free route into town that would be genius. Come on Harrogate we can make this happen. Business wants it, cyclists want it. We could become more than a town with a famous tea room and a foul tasting spring. We could become a national destination on the cycling map. Incidentally the Greenway made the Guardian at the weekend. When you build it they come.

York to Harrogate then on into the Dales that route, would pull visitors and money in from tourist hotspots and we could all benefit long term from this steady stream of visitors. It would be a younger more family orientated market than the one we cater for as a town currently, one we don't really exploit fully one with a bit more cash to flash. Take a look at Grizedale Forest in the Lakes or the Manifold valley in the Peak District if you want to see these sort of schemes creating jobs and revenue.

If we build it they will come.

Who wants to play Virtual Tour De france?

Its that time again Wiggo is out but Froome looks on form and the behemoth of Cav looks as good a bet as ever. Its tour De France time. Get yourself by a telly at about 4.15 in the afternoon for the next few weeks. The nice people over at velo games run a fantasy Tour De France game, league, thingy. You pick a team and as the results roll in stage by stage you get points and somebody wins.

This year Cycle Harrogate are running a mini league so you can see how you compare with other local folk and maybe consider a career change if it goes well. This time next year you will be watching "your" riders for real so I thought I would get you used to the idea 12 months early.

If you want to join in and play along  you sign up then pick a team. next go to your team and click the join league link at the bottom. Its a bit fiddly but you will work it out. Its free and no cyclists are hurt.

This is the league code you need: 21164055

The winner gets well nothing, but the kudos of being the best team manager in Harrogate unless any of our local cycle shops want to put some prizes up? Oh and don't pick anyone in my team, I'm usually rubbish.

Summer News Update

Sorry my life has been busy with work recently and a fair bit of cycling with the family but local cycling has been moving on whilst I have been earning a living.

The Nidderdale Greenway was opened by Sustran's head honcho along with our MP Andrew Jones. There was some speeches and a tape was cut. Malcolm Margolis Harrogate's local cycling hero also made a speech. He was delighted the route was open but he quite rightly had a pop at North Yorkshire council as an entity for their lukewarm reception to the idea initially. Here is an excerpt from Malcolm's speech, I thought it deserved more than an audience of fifty.

here is the speech in full

 ...I particularly want to thank certain councillors whose support was crucial, especially Michael Harrison, Don Mackenzie and Heather Garnett, and Sir Thomas Ingilby of Ripley Castle who has always supported the principle of the Greenway. A few council officers, not least Dan McAndrew, countryside ranger officer for Harrogate, and Martin Parker, project leader for North Yorkshire, played a key part. As a campaigner I have to say the lack of enthusiasm of some officers at times very nearly defeated us. When I first got involved we had to overcome outright hostility from officers who couldn’t get us out of County Hall fast enough and made us wonder, half seriously, if they were in league with the opposition. We then faced a change from a local transport plan which gave recreational routes like this high priority to one where they had very low priority and little chance of funding. All too often correspondence goes unanswered and officers need to be chased again and again. North Yorkshire continues to refuse to appoint a cycling officer, as it did before recent budget cuts were a factor. The County still seems to me no more than a reluctant partner with Sustrans. It needs to become a truly enthusiastic partner if its stated ambition ‘to be recognised as a great region for safe cycling, inspiring more people to cycle more often’ is to be more than just fine words on paper. 

A huge thank you to those, some here today, who contributed to my fundraising effort several years ago which has at last helped produce this brilliant result. But above all I want to thank Sustrans, a fantastic organisation which has fought for this route since the mid 90’s and funded it with Big Lottery money. Sustrans has built over 14,000 miles of the National Cycle Network of which this is part. If you want to support a superb charity working for sustainable transport, with your money and/or your time, I can’t recommend Sustrans strongly enough. 

Ideally Sustrans shouldn’t be needed, though it most certainly is. In Holland, Denmark or in Belgium where Gia and I have just been cycling, Governments provide a wonderful network of safe cycle paths. It’s fabulous. In the towns and cities thousands of people bike to school, university, work, shops and cafes. There is no good reason why the UK shouldn’t have a cycle infrastructure which enables us to do the same. In terms of our transport policy we are in the Dark Ages. We need a new approach which serves the community as whole – pedestrians, cyclists, the many who don’t drive as much as those who do. And to protect our environment there must be incentives to avoid using vehicles except when necessary. Government, most local authorities and indeed many people in this country sadly still don’t get it. I’ve no doubt they will, but how much longer do we have to wait?

After Malcolm's speech and the tape cutting, we  cycled down to Ripley for fun and stalls in the Carpark I ran into Jo Armstrong it's the bike festival this Sunday, get down there it will be grand.

We also got details recently of the LSTF schemes that North Yorkshire are proposing for cycle improvements in Harrogate there is a lot of detail lots of joining the dots relatively small schemes, but its all good stuff the detail is here sorry its a weighty download but if you ride round town its worth a look.

There are moves in the pipeline for parking ticket monies to be invested in sustainable transport by North Yorkshire County Council. there are a few options being mooted. One is to pay for the Beryl Burton upgrade which I thought had been promised out of existing money but what do I know? The other Otley Road and Cardale park. Anyway more detail here if you want it.

Next up on the radar is a physical legacy for the tour. Gary Verity Welcome to Yorkshire's main man wants every kid to have access to a bike. Nothing wrong with that but I think it sets the bar too low. How about access to a bike and somewhere safe to bride them?  For Harrogate traffic free to Spoforth and the rest of Sustrans network is what we want. There are existing schemes in place we just need some support from our politicians and the movers and shakers. I think I might start bending Mr Verity's twitter ear next.

Well that's about it for now, sorry it took me a month to write anything.

Councillors talk to Cyclists, Money to be spent - Rejoice

Via twitter I got in touch with councillor Jim Clark about the total lack of consultation by North Yorkshire County Council over the money to be spent on cycling infrastructure over the next two years in Harrogate (LSTF). He put me in touch with Rebecca Burnett who works for Andrew Jones MP, she  has been a BIG HELP moving things forward. We had been trying to get a response from Council Officers in transport for over six months and we got platitudes and commitments that were never kept.

Rebbeca has now put me and local cycle activists in touch with Councillor Richard Cooper who is chair of the LSTF steering committee and he has let us have a look at the proposals for the spending. The proposals look good we have one or two comments and we will be feeding this back in a day or two. I will not bore you with specifics right now, but I will bore you at some length over the next couple of years in future posts I'm sure.

The committee meets for the first time on Thursday and it is nice to feel that we have been included in the process and hopefully can contribute to infrastructure developement for all bike riders in Harrogate. More importantly I hope we can build on the relationships we have built with local government so that cycle infrastructure in Harrogate meets the needs of Harrogate cyclists going forward.

Skipton Road slow, slow. Slow slow slow

There was a news story recently that named Skipton Road in Harrogate was one of the most congested roads in the UK outside London. If you use the road you will know that it is pretty busy in rush hour to say the least. Chris Lee from RAM tracking who carried out the study got in touch recently. Here in a guest post he explains how they did the study and he also includes some resources you might find useful.

I recently worked with RAM Tracking to help put together a study that Cycle Harrogate tweeted about recently. The study looked at the most congested non-motorway roads in the UK during rush hour in February this year, and the findings are shown on the interactive map at the bottom:

Since being carried out, this study has attracted media attention from several news outlets, from local publications like the Yorkshire Post and Harrogate News, to nationwide publications like LBC, ITV, and the Daily Mail. I thought I’d write a little bit about how it was carried out, to contextualise the findings.
The large data set of all GPS records from vehicles using RAM’s trackers was compiled for February this year. That was around half a million data points.
A filter was applied so that only records collected between 8 and 9am were shown. This was the rush hour data.
Another filter was applied that added records collected between 11 and 12 noon to be shown as well. This was the comparison data.
The data was then sorted by road, and the roads were calculated which suffered the greatest reduction in speed during rush hour.
The 10 roads found in the final step were added to the map above, along with information about their average speeds. This obviously generated interest – some people attempted to discredit the findings, others found the locations of the roads very interesting (especially in places like Harrogate!). Personally, the study reaffirmed my decision to be a cycling commuter! It’s a nice feeling being able to dodge the traffic jams, although it does annoy me when I see other cyclists jump red lights as if the rules don’t apply to them.
I thought I’d finish with a few resources that can be helpful for planning a cycling commute:
MapMyRide: A website which allows you to record and track the rides you’ve done. You can either enter them manually, or use the MapMyRide app to record them for you via GPS. It’s nice to be able to look over the amount of distance you’ve covered!
 
The Cycle to Work Scheme: this is a scheme offered by many employers, which allows you to purchase a tax free bike and pay it back from your wages over an agreed period of time. It’s great for people who want to cycle but are put off by the initial investment
And possibly my favourite: this one has saved my skin numerous times!

Here is Ram Tracking's map

and here is the original on the RAM Tracking website

If we build it they will come - Traffic free to Spofforth

The Tour is still coming, the roads are going to be fixed so Cav and Wiggo can ride across them. Thing is, after that cars are going to use them mainly, which will be nice when I'm in a car but won't make me cycle anymore often.

LEGACY I keep hearing lots about LEGACY but its all talk. Here is a concrete idea for some legacy that we could all get behind.

The Nidderdale Greenway is already being loved by the people of Harrogate, be they cyclists, horse riders or walkers. I blogged about it a month ago and put a rough map online. 4500 people viewed my post, that is  viral for Cycle Harrogate. We need more of this kind of provision people want it and are using it it, this is a very good thing.

Here's is an idea that could make our town a better place and a more prosperous one too. I was sat with Harrogate Cycle Action on Monday evening being my usual stroppy self. Ginny Leonard from the CTC had come along to tell us how to try and get people interested in cycling when we realised they already are. They are mad for the Greenway in Harrogate, but not enough people from out of town know about it, yet.

Harrogate has no traffic free connection to Sustran's National Cycle Network. The nearest place you  can get on it is Spofforth. From there you can get yourself to Wetherby and on to York with barely the sniff of a car. To get to Spoforth at the moment though is back roads and a scary crossing of the main road.  Harrogate to its East is an island surrounded by a sea of cars. So kids and families don't ride to Spofforth and on to Wetherby and nobody really comes that way into town by bike.

What if the Tour's legacy was to link the excellent and much loved Nidderdale Greenway to the national cycle network at Spofforth? Then a family would have a choice of places to ride from Harrogate, west to the Dales, East to York. Bettter still folk could ride their bikes into Harrogate, stay a bit wander round the town, spend some money, maybe stop for the night (cyclists are hungry and thirsty and need places to sleep.) and then on to Ripley, eat ice cream  and on into the Dales. This is eco tourism gold and we have a winning ticket in the shape of the tour with which to make it happen.

Lets take the vision a step further. What if we got it open for next July? Folk could cycle in for the tour. How cool and bike friendly would Harrogate look? We would have shown that not only can we stage a major international cycling event but that we can get everyone in and out too.

What if whilst we were at it, we linked in the showground and put some cycle hire places in Wetherby and in town? We could help sort out the congestion problem for Yorkshire Show week. We could park some of them in Wetherby at the race course. Offer them a few quid off the ticket price and let them ride down the Tour De France cycle route into Harrogate.

We need some people to get behind this idea. We need councillors and the press to champion this. We could show Harrogate in the best possible light and build a Legacy that we can all be proud of and can all benefit from, but if we don't all want it. If we don't all make it happen. We just get Cav and Wiggo for a couple of hours and memories of when the circus came to town.

Family cycling in Grizedale forest

We camped over in Hawkshead in the Lakes at the weekend and we took the bikes. On Saturday we went to the cycle hire place at Grizedale forest and hired a tag-a-long to get our youngest mobile.

We picked a nice easy route of maybe 9 miles and set off. We rode the purple dots on the map on the left. The cycling was on forest tracks and the first climb up for maybe half an hour or so was steep in places. Steeper if you were towing a four year old who worked out pretty quickly that his dad couldn't see if he was peddling or not.

We were with another family and it was their first time on mountain bikes off road I suspect. There was some swearing, some muttering at "gears" and some glum, pale, grim faces. By the time we stopped for sweets there was that "leave me with the gun you go on" look from Mr Other Family.

The sweets worked and by lunch we were well up the side of the valley at Moor Top. Its was cold in the thin cloud but with some cheese butties inside we were all a bit more perky, so we zoomed round the fun blue loop in half an hour or so. It was all little hills and little descents if you kept the bike moving it was more roller-coaster than road.

The afternoon was spend whizzing down the other side of the valley getting rid of all the height we had put on in the morning. You got views down to the valley floor in between gaps in the trees and a deer lept across our path to add a touch of the exotic to the day.

The two older boys had a ball, there were many grins and behind me all I could hear from my youngest was "Faster, faster." I was trying to provide the best high quality adrenaline experience, without dropping the bike and turning him off cycling for life. It worked and my wrists will stop aching soon.

Mrs Cycle Harrogate was all grins too and having just got rid of her last mountain bike for her current city bike, she is now shopping for a replacement once more. Mrs Other Family was secretly having the time of her life but was finding the saddle on her bike a little unfriendly. We zoomed on finally descending steeply to Bogle Crag were we picked the road up and followed it back to the start.

We were back at the visitors centre in about 3 hours from setting off, after as good a days cycling as I have had since I got to blast some trails in California,  long before children were even a vague idea.

So if you are looking for some family friendly cycling and you find your self that side of the Pennines you could do much worse. We are going to have a look at Dalby Forest next and I'm hoping for as good a day.

Show me the money

I put a freedom of information request into North Yorkshire County Council about the 143 grand of Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) money that should have been spent in the year to this April.

Here is what they came back with...

This is what should have been spent and on what

Project	Programme 12/13 (£k)
Area 3 – Harrogate Town Centre	60
Radial 2 – A661 Wetherby Road Corridor	33
Cross Cutting Measures	50
Total	143

Here is what I got back as a statement of what was spent

Project	Project Element	Total Expenditure (£k)
Area 3 – Harrogate Town Centre	Cycling Infrastructure	19.988
	Cycle Storage	1.995
	Pedestrian Links	5.005
	Visitor Information	11.364
Radial 2 – A661 Wetherby Road Corridor	Cycle links to the Great Yorkshire Showground	13.004
	Travel Information for exhibition venues	19.184
Cross Cutting Measures	Bus pre-emption at traffic signals	48.950
	Cycle map	0.100
Deferral agreed with Department for Transport		22.474
Total		142.064

So your County Council transport department has money to spend on your behalf and hasn't bothered to do this. Out of 140k they were supposed to spend they failed to spend 22k. Should you be worried? Well thats 15% of what is available. If you want better cycling infrastructure and you are being told there is no money you should be. I have raised this issue with a few councillors but so far nobody seems interested. 

How should you vote tomorrow? Well that is entirely up to you but the current administration would claim to support sustainable transport but in practice they don't always. Lets see how they do in this financial year when there is much more money to spend.

An end of term report for Local Government for their bikeyness. Well why not?

What follows whist rather tongue in cheek is also pretty accurate...

Andrew Jones Incumbent Tory Mp.

Andrew Jones has generally been helpful. He has always responded to letters from cycle activists and has tried to use what leverage he has to get North Yorkshire Council engaging with Harrogate Cycle Action once more. He has limited effect on local transport planning but he seems to be generally supportive of cycling initiatives and has championed the Tour De France.

Score 8/10 Seems to be working well for his constituents.

County Councillors

Conservatives

Variable results here, a few Conservative  councillors have engaged with Cycle Harrogate and also some Tory County Councillors have been helpful over the Nidderdale Greenway. It would be fair to say though that when I and others have lobbied for a Cycle Officer at area meeting we were was met by fairly overwhelming indifference from mostly middle aged white men who didn't look like they had ridden a bike to the meeting. Mind you if that is what Harrogate elects that's hardly their fault. I have also had a few positive conversations with a few councillors who do seem at least interested in advancing a bike riding agenda in Harrogate

Score 5/10 Some promise but could do better.

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal democrats who also have serving Local Councillors seem to be indifferent to cycling and attempts to lobby them or work with them are either fobbed off or ignored.

Score 1/10 You are letting yourself and your party down.

Labour

A tad unfair really as they have little actual power but I have had a few online dealing with them. Unfortunately whilst they seem keen, nothing ever materialised. I asked for feedback on some questions nothing happened. I was due to speak at a Labour club meeting which they initiated, nothing happened

Score 1/10 Needs to work toward their target or will continue to under perform

North Yorkshire County Council

Some positives. I am told they were supportive over the Nidderdale Greenway and there does seem to be evidence of some local junctions being re-lined in a way that will help cyclists and they recently undertook work on the Beryl Burton Cycle way. They have supported the Tour De France bid.

More negatively since NYCC took control of Harrogate's road cycling infrastructure investment has fragmented and apparently stalled. They have removed the forum for consulting with cyclists. They  have had a complaint about their internal processes upheld. They have refused to appoint a cycling officer. They seem to lack a plan when it comes to spending the LSTF funding. They also have no plan to develop cycle infrastructure and their idea of promoting cycling currently involves handing out puncture repair kits.

Score 4/10 Must do better you have much influence locally and others would follow your lead

Harrogate Borough Council

Harrogate Borough Council are now doing some of the things that are helping make Harrogate a bike town. They have officers in place to both encourage people to ride bikes and get tham trained if they don't know how. They are working with local employers to try and get more people commuting. They have people on the ground making sure the tour De France is delivered and leaves a legacy. Much of the bike infrastructure of Harrogate is down to Harrogate Borough Councils work in the past and they did employ cycling officers.

Score 8/10 good work you are a pleasure to have working for us.

The vision thing - a cycle manifesto for Harrogate

Its getting on for a year since Cycle Harrogate spluttered into the world rolling slowly forward. Its time to try and put some structure into what has been a fairly scattergun campaign to improve the lot of bike riders in our town.

We have had some small victories we have made some difference but nobody would claim this is now an easy place to ride a bike.

Things I know now

1. I have learned a lot about how local government works or sometimes doesn't work in Harrogate. 
2. There is a much bigger demand for cycle infrastructure in Harrogate than the County Council believes at the moment, this demand is being limited by poor car-centric transport planning.
3. People who ride bikes, also drive cars and walk too, there has been too much tribalism in transport planning. 

Things we need

Better signage and "named" cycle routes

The cycle network in Harrogate is actually not too bad in places. Trouble is it is poorly signed, there is no map and there is a huge opportunity for a design led solution and a marketing campaign. This is supposed to be happening now under the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. Money is in place it should be being spent as I write. I am concerned that money isn't being spent due to inertia from North Yorkshire County Council. I have a freedom of information request pending at the moment trying to work out what is happening, as talk is cheap. I am worried as has happened before, that the money won't be spent and could be clawed back by central government.

Provision for commuters on main routes

So far, few if any of the main arterial routes into Harrogate from the edges, do anything significant to make life easier for cyclists. There is no traffic separation, there are few cycle lanes and the needs of cars and HGV's are put before the needs of bikes. This is a big problem and as the heavily congested Knaresborough Road demonstrates you don't fix congestion by making life easier for cars and lorries.

Always consider cyclists when you are changing things

The number of times I have seen works on roads being carried out where for the cost of some paint a more bike friendly junction could have been made, and nothing has been done is beyond counting. We need an undertaking that when any work is carried out on Harrogate's roads the scheme considers how cyclists could be better catered for. Oh and then actually do something.

A cycling officer. 
If money exists and isn't being spent and the needs of bike riders aren't being considered within the Transport Department. It is because nobody needs to think about these things. Local government will continue to fail cyclists until there is an officer within North Yorkshire County Council that is paid to make bike riders lives easier.

More engagement from Councillors on cycle policy
Many Councillors claims that they support cycling but when you get down to specifics and ask questions you get very general answers. I believe money isn't the problem here, but political will. I need to see promises turning in to action. There is big demand for better cycle infrastructure in Harrogate and with a Tour De France coming I want to see changes to the roads of our town rather than warm words. Or we risk looking like we are just in it for our 48 hours in the world's spotlight.

Tell your Story

Howies are a Welsh based clothing company. Last week they made some new cycling stuff  and someone on twitter asked what I thought of it. Not that much I said.

It just looked un-remarkable. Five minutes later Howies are on twitter defending their product pointing out the unique features in their products, conducting a damage limitation exercise on social media. They were right their new tops are seamless (literally), good spec, some reflectiveness and some high quality zips and pockets on them. Thing is I had made my mind up after a quick look as people do and they had missed their chance to tell me all about it, they didn't grab my attention, they didn't tell their story.

Now Howies used to be owned by a man called David Hieatt a former advertising copyrighter turned clothing maker, part time environmental campaigner and a host of other good ideas all rolled up into a brand. He could tell a story. His story's were sometime better than his clothes. He could explain why a product was better for the planet and better for you. He got you thinking. I often used to browse their site for ideas rather than clothes.

One of the reasons cycle Harrogate exists is because of David Hieatt. He is a big one for just doing things, for getting on and ignoring all the negativity the word throws at us. I like his phrase "Done is better than perfect".  Somebody needed to really try and get Harrogate cycling, it might as well be me.

So excuse my often shocking grammar, my poorly constructed sentences and my occasional boring posts. I'm going to keep trying to tell the story of why cycling is so important for us all as a way of getting around. I will whinge on about why we need local government to do more to make it easier for people to ride their bikes, because if I don't maybe nobody else will.

I won't be buying a Howies cycling top, I cycle around in everyday clothes for the most part, I'm fat and forty I would look pretty scary in stretch clothing and my children would laugh or cry. If your looking for a decent cycling top though, you could do worse than look at the Howies ones. They have some interesting features below the surface. Oh and if you ever want a pair of jeans, David Hieatt is running a company making world beating jeans now and he doesn't tell quite so many stories.

Vote for me - The Harogate Cycling Debate

Cycle Harrogate is not aligned to any political party. However we do want to know what the various political parties plan to do about promoting cycling in the Harrogate area as there is both a County Council Election and a Tour De France coming up.

My views on the current performance of North Yorkshire County Council with regard to cycling are a matter of record. I don't think they are doing enough to promote cycling as a sustainable transport choice, I don't think they are even meeting their own stated objectives and I don't think they are meeting national guidance. In fairness to them they work for elected councillors who are voted for by people like me and you. If we don't have elected officials championing cycling why should council officers?

So if any prospective councillors or representatives of political parties would like to answer any of these following questions I will happily publish their responses and won't add my own commentary to them. At least not until after the elections. In that way if you care about cycling and want a County Councillor that does too, we all have an opportunity to know what they think and plan to do if elected.

A version of these questions I asked the County Council recently. As sometimes happens we got no meaningful response.

Update 5/4/2013

We have had our first responses from Don Mackenzie incumbent conservative councillor for Saltergate Division.

Don's responses are in blue

Update 6/4/2013
Jim Clark incumbent for Rossett Ward has sent his responses which are in a different blue and shown second.


1. How as a councillor would you monitor how the County Council is currently spending the Local Sustainable Transport Fund monies provided by central government and how would your interventions  benefit sustainable transport in Harrogate?

"As an active member of the NYCC Harrogate Area Committee and of the Transport Scrutiny Committee I have been fully supportive of sustainable transport initiatives."

 "I am an active member of the NYCC Harrogate Area Committee and I am fully supportive of sustainable transport initiatives and actively promote cycling in my division."

2. How as a councillor would you make sure that the County Council is working with local cycling groups and other interested parties to help make 2014's tour de France a huge success? Further how would you help guarantee a tour legacy now that central government has pledged £10 million to Yorkshire for Tour delivery?

"Bringing The Tour de France to North Yorkshire, and Harrogate in particular, is great news for cycling, in a town which has a rich heritage in that activity. I will play my part in ensuring that this success raises the profile of cycling even further in the borough, and that the legacy will not be lost as soon as the cyclists depart."

"The input of local groups such as Cycle Harrogate is valuable to the council and even more so at this exciting time as we start preparing for the Tour de France in Harrogate.  The potential legacy from this event is something we must seize upon, especially with the help of £10 million from the Government." 

3. In light of recent research finding Skipton Road to be one of the most congested roads in the country outside of London. How would you work to reduce congestion by encouraging modal shift as current transport policies that favour car use by default, appear to be failing?

"Skipton Road west of New Park roundabout is in my division. I know only too well from residents that congestion, especially at peak times, is already bad. Now more houses are proposed for the area. Certainly, a sustainable transport plan must accompany any large-scale housing development. I have played my own part in ensuring that those who wish to cycle have better facilities in which to do so. As Harrogate's Cabinet Member for Planning and Transport (2007-2010) I introduced cycling on the Stray on six dedicated dual-use paths - in the face of much opposition - and served for all those years on the working party for the Bilton - Ripley cyclepath (now the Nidderdale Greenway)."

"There are similar congestion problems on many of our main roads, including Otley Road, part of which is in my division.  It is clear that sustainable transport will have a major part to play in resolving congestion problems. People need to be encouraged, wherever possible, to consider walking, cycling and using public transport before they get in their car. Having contributed to the work on the Nidderdale Greenway and promoting sustainable transport in schools, I am aware there are many things we as councillors can do to help the cycling lobby work towards this modal shift."

4. How as a  councillor would you  work to fulfil national obligations to promote cycling and walking as specified in recent NICE guidelines  These guidelines cite these activities as ways of improving public health and call on councils to actively work to get more people engaging in these activities.

"I will ensure that the needs of cyclists are borne in mind when any decisions on transport-related matters are taken. Public Health is now a function of the County Council (since this week) and our Director of Public Health will no doubt be mindful of the benefits to public wellbeing of cycling. I am currently the Chairman of the NYCC Care and Independence Scrutiny Committee, and my committee is well aware of the importance of healthy lifestyles to the general public."

"The NICE guidelines are clear and I am sure that, now Public Health is a function of the County Council, the Director of Public Health will be considering how they relate to the work the council does.  As Chairman of the Scrutiny of Health Committee I will be working closely with the Director of Public Health and will ensure this matter is firmly on the council’s agenda."

Lets all be excellent with each other - Safe use of the Nidderdale Greenway

The Nidderdale Greenway has been open nearly a week. Yesterday an older person was knocked down by a bike rider  and air lifted to Harrogate Hospital with a broken hip. Worse yet the rider apparently rode off from the scene of the incident.  More from North Yorkshire Police on the incident here.

I wish her a full and speedy recovery I hope justice finds the cyclist if they really did leave the scene.

How could this happen? Well I have a few ideas even though I know nothing of the circumstances of the incident. I also have a few suggestions about how to stop it happening again.

The Nidderdale Greenway is a shared use facilitiy its not a cycleway as some people believe. Bikes, walkers and horses are welcome. For that to work people have to share the route, this means compromise. These types of transport all operate at different speeds. Walkers take many risks when they use a path like this. Bikes are bigger and going faster, horses pose yet another set of risks to both horse riders and other users. I wonder if people have thought this through? Its still better though than going on a road with things with engines.

I saw some poor/risky behaviour on bank holiday monday as I rode the route. This from both cyclists and walkers. Some bike riders rode like they were about to sprint for the line on a stage of the Tour de France. That's way too fast on a route that was really busy with loads of traffic. Young kids walking and on bikes and lots of dogs wandering around not to mention loads of "ordinary" bikes and walkers. I saw some walkers stopping and chatting in groups. They were blocking the path or walking three and four abreast this was no help. I didn't hear enough bike bells being rung or even bike riders saying excuse me. Someone was throwing a stick for a dog up and down the route that's just daft.

I felt there was overly risky behaviour from too many people. I think this is ignorance not stupidity. I figured what the heck, no one got hurt and then it turned out somebody had. I think people don't know what to do and there are no signs at the moment to tell you what is expected. Signs will go up soon I am told. This will help but I don't want any more avoidable accidents so this post is an attempt to get some guidance out there.

On a positive note nearly everybody seemed to be having a good time and that remains the most important thing. This is a leisure route mainly (apologies if you commute on it), but I think we need to educate users so there are as few injuries going forward as possible.

Some common sense stuff for various types of user that might make everyone's life better and longer.

Bike Riders

Take it steady when you approach groups of walkers or horse riders, ring your bell, slow down or say excuse me. They won't hear you as a bike is virtually silent when approaching from behind. Slow down a bit generally. If you want to go out time trialling this is not the place.  Horses particularly can be spooked by bikes, I spooked one once when riding to fast and as it reared over me its front legs flailing I made a rapid mental decision to be more considerate in the future.

Walkers

There are bikes around look out for them, give them some room don't hog the whole route. You are at risk as bikes can go fast and will hurt if they hit you. Most bike riders wear protective gear most walkers don't. You need to be aware of whats going on around you.

Dog Walkers

You have to control your dog and that might mean putting it on a lead when its a really busy day. There of plenty of videos of dogs losing in collisions with bikes on You Tube. I wouldn't want that to be your dog. Your dog can also unseat a horse rider if it spooks it. Horses riders have a really poor safety record when it come to riders being injured or killed after being thrown, they are that bit higher up.

Horse Riders
Your vulnerable as well, you need to make sure your horse is used to both dogs and bikes before you take it on to what is often a busy route. Equally an out of control horse can be a dangerous weapon to other users, make sure you are confident in your ability to control your horse before you set off.

Now there is nothing to difficult or scary there is there? Off you go and enjoy your wonderful new car free route and please, be excellent with each other.

All hail the Nidderdale Greenway - Traffic free cycling from Harrogate to Ripley

We managed to get out as a family today on the recently opened Nidderdale Greenway, Sustrans's excellent new cycle route from Harrogate to Ripley via the old Railway line.

It was fantastic we rode for about 40 mins steadily zooming along on what was today a very busy cycle way. Its is Sustran's usual quality provision and to be honest they didn't have too much to do for most of the way. As the railway route is pretty good quality. Its lovely as it goes over the Nidd Viaduct. As you get out toward Ripley it bobs and weaves a bit through the trees by the banks of the river and then takes you over the main road and across a field and right into Ripley itself.

I made it around about 4 and half miles from Starbeck. We started at the top of the Avenue and I reckon maybe a shade less if you got on at the bottom end of the Asda car park in Harrogate town.

There were lots of people on bikes and loads of people just out for a stroll or walking with their dogs. Everyone rubbing along together and all getting some exercise in a nice car free environment, genius.

I only got one negative comment from another bike rider who said "There are too many ignorant pedestrians around." I thought there was one to many ignorant cyclists.  I wish I'd had the thought quicker I would have told him.

We stopped for ice cream in Ripley (I still don't know what all the fuss is about Ripley ice cream is? Its nothing special). This was a questionably stupid decision as the east wind was now blowing and it, coupled with the ice cream cooled us all down just enough to make the journey back into the headwind a little bit of an endurance test. My four year old was pretty cold by the time we got back but the eldest had done his longest ever cycle ride starting and finishing at his house, brilliant.

All in all a grand day out. Myself and Mrs Cycle Harrogate were eye-ing up the Boars Head whilst we munched ice cream. The next time we get an evening out, it looks like beer and bikes and if you go to the Gardener's Arms on Bilton Lane a mini pub crawl seems possible.

Here are a couple more sketch maps of the route showing where to get on and off the trail