The Nidderdale Greenway its a wrap

The nice people at Sustrans, North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Cycle Action have been building a cycle route from Bilton to Ripley for a goodly while now. Some people didn't want it. In fact they managed to force two public enquiries where they argued that death and pestilence would result from people cycling on a disused railway line in the open air  through their land. Well the second  public enquiry has reached its conclusion and its now officially go for launch.

Should be open end of March latest, I can't wait. I'm going to cycle with my family from my house to Ripley, eat some overrated Ice Cream and cycle back, it will be great. Thanks to all those people that made it happen and if you were against it I hope you get over yourself and learn to love what is in your backyard. I wish I was lucky enough to have so much land it had a railway across it, just saying.

Here is the report of the public enquiry if you want a read

Small steps rolling forward

So myself and three others from Harrogate Cycle Action met last month to come up with a list of some small improvements we would like made for cycle users in Harrogate over the next year. We know money is tight but we were hopeful that somethings could be done. We have had a response form NYCC recently here are the edited highlights:

The Beryl Burton Cycleway has had a haircut to the foliage overhanging it prior to it getting some love and maintenance. Thank you army foundation college. Thank you NYCC for making this happen. Anyone been down that way recently? I have been working out of town.

Some of the schemes in our small improvement list will be funded out of what is called the LSTF (local sustainable transport fund) money. We should know details of what and when by March. When I know I will let you know.

There will be some cycle lane provision on Hookstone Road running up from Hornbeam Park Station toward Leeds Road. Thank you NYCC.

There will be works to the road network as a result of the Tour De France coming to town. Cycle Harrogate will be lobbying for some of this money to be infrastructure legacy as well as the"black carpet" of asphalt Cavendish will need to have a chance at a stage win.

On the whole a rather more positive picture than of late. Here is hoping for more good news soon

Tour De France news round up, building a cycling legacy for Harrogate

The manic joy is leaving me but I'm still madly excited that the Tour De France is coming to my town and twice in two days, wow. What about Legacy? I had a meeting last night with some local activists we talked a lot about legacy, after the Olympics I think we all get that idea now. There was a suggestion we argue for Cycle Town status like Bristol and others got over the last few years. It worked wonders for the towns were the money was invested. There were other ideas knocking around. I started thinking.

Recently I met with Joanne Armstrong and John Mcgivern at the Hydro. They both work for Harrogate Borough Council. Jo is a sport development officer, John is specifically looking at the legacy the tour can leave.

We talked about what a reasonable legacy from the Tour would be. Greater participation was something we all agreed on. Greater participation being difficult without better infrastructure was another point where our views aligned. John was realistic about legacy being hard to deliver but he also seems committed to making the Tour's visit more than a two day wonder. Jo is interested in anything that gets people riding bikes, she is working with employers, including (hooray) the hospital. So there seems to be some much needed progress, which is great news.

In the short term there is going to be a committee of interested local people who will look in more details about specific legacy aims. Its great to be part of this and I'm delighted to be asked. North Yorkshire County Council will be part of this group too,which is more good news as ultimately they have most of the money.

So a little over two weeks after the Tour announcement it seems like local government is rising to the challenge. It was also good to see Deputy Prime minster Nick Clegg  agreeing to meet with Welcome to Yorkshire and the Cabinet to talk about central government funding for the Grand Depart. We remain hopeful that some money will be invested and that some of it will be spent on infrastructure. Exciting times.

A final thought if you have any specific ideas about what would be a good legacy for Harrogate get in touch, I can put your views forward.

Lancing the boil

So Lance Armstrong has admitted some of his misdemeanour's. The EPO, the steroids, the bullying and the lies. Well done Lance you are now in tune with the rest of the world so your no longer delusional, good work.

Trouble is you helped bring one of the greatest cycling events and a fine sport to its knees. In  an orgy of drug taking and miracle performances that made a mockery of competition.  You and your kind deprived clean athletes of places on podiums and stopped some people making a living from the sport they also loved, but one they chose to play clean.

Professional cycling has some questions to answer especially the UCI and I'm pleased you now appear to want to tell a little more of the truth. Lets get this done and all move on into a more regulated world. One where most athletes ride clean and the governing bodies mercilessly seek out cheats and frauds, hopefully that will be your legacy to cycling.

My problem with the idea that we should forgive or forget because you say your sorry, that's just ridiculous. The notion that you think that you might have a place in any kind of competitive sport going forward makes my skin crawl. Lance some things can't be atoned for however often you say sorry. Some decisions that you make over decades you live with forever and take to the grave.

If you wear and glory in the Jersey's, the fame and the fortune, the celebrity lifestyle, all those heady years when you rule the world. When it then turns out your victories are built on sand and lies, you have to accept that you need to do something else with the rest of your life.

Its not about the bike and its not about Lance the athlete any more.  I'm not interested in anything you have to say about sport going forward, I will now never believe the things you say. So stop seeking a platform and do something with your life, you have years left, use them for some small good and tell no one but the people you help.

The Tour is coming, The Tour is coming, The Tour De France is coming to HARROGATE

Dreamland stuff then, the route of the 2014 Tour De France Grand Depart has just been announced. Stage one finishes with a sprint in Harrogate and stage two appears to be going through Knaresborough and then pretty much past my house. Deep joy all round, a flat'ish stage for Cavendish to have a pop and maybe win a stage in his mum's home town. Thousands of bike fans all spending money in the town and the eyes of the Europe and a fair bit of the rest of the world on Harrogate. Lets make it a good one Harrogate, lets show the world we are a bike friendly town, lets show them we take bikes and activity seriously and lets do Yorkshire proud.

Right I'm off to lie in a darkened room and calm down a bit.

More on the route here

Legacy

What will the tour leave Harrogate when it moves on? Other than some great memories, a few hangovers, some fuller bank accounts and lots of tidying up. If we are not careful the answer could be precious little. If the eyes of the world are to be turned on Harrogate for a few hours, it would be nice to think that like the olympics where legacy was a founding principle. That Harrogate can benefit on the back of the sporting circus having come to town. 

It should come as no surprise then that cycle Harrogate will be banging the drum for mass participation and the infrastructure to bring this participation about over the next 18 months. If Harrogate could get anything lasting out of the tour I would like it to be that it becomes a "biketown".

On Beryl In Peril

News just in on the Beryl Burton Cycleway. It will be partially re-surfaced, hopefully in the not to distant future. Before the resurfacing happens the Army Foundation College are going to do some voluntary work to cut back the overhanging branches, clean out the cattle grid and cut some drainage channels, to try and stop the unrelenting rain making the situation any worse than it already is.

Thanks to North Yorkshire County Council Transport for sharing their plans on this. A pity we don't have a cyclist's forum to discuss these issues. Perhaps a few riders could have helped with the work, perhaps they still could?

The Cycle Harrogate Map APP

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

I have been putting my mediocre coding talents to use this week, There is now an interactive cycle harrogate map online and as an android app. I will put an iPhone version out soon for you apple fans too. Its early days yet. I have put most of the existing cycle lanes on and a few of the local bike shops. I want to look at adding location sensing so it will show your position on the map. I have got maybe another week adding in some suggested low traffic routes and then its ready for  launch. If you want your favourite routes or bike shops adding email me. I would be open to putting on areas where there is good mountain biking too but I don't nail the trails any more so I need help from locals. If you want something on let me know.

Anyway before a formal launch I'm really after a few people who are Android smart phone users. To test it out, find bugs and suggests changes or improvements. If you feel inclined download it and have a go. If it falls over let me know. I haven't tried using it on a bike yet just over Wifi at home. Hopefully we can make it useful to new cyclists and people who are visiting Harrogate. If you cycle regularly you probably have most of this map in your head already. If a few more people use this perhaps we would get a few more bums on seats and the quality of peoples journey's in Harrogate would be better.

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 made to work with them to address these issues. They have just removed the only forum for consulting with local cyclists.

Wouldn't it be ironic if a respected and influential national body issued guidance that said the NHS and Local authorities should actively work to promote cycling? That these kinds of exercise are some of the best ways of reducing heart disease. Imagine if they said not exercising enough is as bad for you as smoking? Try and think how it would be if they said that transport planners and health promoters at local level should always consider cycling and walking in the decisions they make?

Just think how it would be if they said that a multi agency integrated approach is required?

...requires action on many fronts – and by many different sectors. A range of issues have to be addressed, including environmental, social, financial and personal factors.

What if they specifically said that better cycling infrastructure is part of the solution?

...measures to reduce road dangers and to reallocate road space to create a more supportive environment.

How would it be If they said that this was urgent and should happen now? That if we reached cycling levels like Denmark and the Netherlands we would save the NHS billions?

Finally if your mind can hold the idea, what if they said that they have multiple pieces of data that show that this action will work and that is why they are making this recommendation?

Well that just happened and a whole lot more. The NICE people who make evidence based recommendations about the safety and effectiveness of drugs and vaccinations, have now issued guidance that says this and more. They have said that we can save lives by getting people to walk and cycle. That 2/3 of the UK adult population are so inactive their health is at risk and that many people die because of their inactivity.

This is dynamite, Local government needs to do more to promote cycling. the NHS needs to do more to promote cycling, people like cycle Harrogate need to do more do promote cycling.

Well look we are trying to do our bit for free and with vigour but we are keen amateurs  We are a few people who speak for a few hundred more. We are asking for change. We are asking to work with local government and local agencies, we want to help, not to spend our time whinging at you, but we need dialogue and discussion not the door slamming in our face. Thus far we have been treated like the disease rather than part of the cure.

Are you doing all you should to promote and make simple daily cycling North Yorkshire County Council transport department? Could we help?

Are you doing all you should to promote and encourage cycling Harrogate District Hospital? Could we Help?

Here is a link to the nice guidance
this is the press release
here is the supporting evidence

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 the good news. There is about half a million quid to be spent on cycling. At the moment its not clear how, or where that will be spent or even who will decide. I would love to say what and where but nobody knows at the moment, it does look like somebody at the council has been given the job of spending it at least so that's good.

Now the other stuff. The head of transportation at North Yorkshire County Council has now formally said no to a Cycle officer for North Yorkshire. I think he was tired of being asked, his letter that I saw was a "final definitive position". On a more positive note they have changed the way they deal with cycling in the county so that it will be considered in the same structured way as car and pedestrian transport. That won't mean any more infrastructure necessarily but it may be a subtle shift in the right direction or even an acknowledgement that people ride bikes.

Disappointingly and I think wrongly NYCC have decided to stop consulting with the Harrogate Cycling Group on the grounds of cost and they are unwilling to run a forum themselves. This at a stroke removes the main conduit for trying to steer local infrastructure development, this is a bad thing as NYCC don't have a plan.

Related to this we and other local activists have been lobbying Andrew Jones about how NYCC  deal with cycling specifically in Harrogate. It seems he shares some of our concerns, namely that without dialogue progress will be even harder than it has been recently. It looks like he will be meeting with North Yorkshire Council chief Exec Richard Flinton to see if we can get some channels open again.

So in summary the picture is mixed. For what its worth I think North Yorkshire still aren't really that   interested and money is a convenient excuse. They seem keen to trumpet "their" past achievements even though most of these were lobbied for by activists, rather than look forward to a more cycle friendly future. It would be very refreshing to be proved wrong.

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 option, to use it.

Obviously the main aim of the scheme is to encourage people to leave the car at home and use the
bike to get to and from work, and for me a journey of 3.5miles is an easy choice, as long as I can get
organised and have work clothes, towel and shower gel to hand at work once I get there!

You would think that travelling 3.5miles through this lovely town would be stress free, pleasant and
leave me full of life when I get to work, but this is not always the case. On the roads of Harrogate,
and I am sure most towns around the country, car users have changed over the years, and quite
frankly made the journey far from safe.

On my own blog site, I recently posted an article about car drivers and the lack of road sense, mainly
around the fact that traffic lights during rush hour times seem to have become meaningless, with
more and more cars not just jumping an amber/red light but actually choosing to follow two or three
other cars through a red light. Add to this, mounting kerbs to get round stationary traffic and parking
on double yellow lines on the corners of roads near schools, and you can see that it’s not the safest
place to be.

Now put yourself on two wheels, with your only protection being a helmet – something I think
should be made a legal requirement for cyclists, but that is another debate!

I lose count of the number of times on my journey, a car will get impatient, revving the engine
before flying past very close, or as you come to go past a junction and you can see a car edging to
get out before you reach it, wondering if this is the one who will knock you off. The relief when I get
to work or back home is immense some days.

The council have tried to make things a bit easier, you can now cycle legally on the stray paths,
though not all of them, of the cycle routes takes you onto Stray Reign and up to a busy roundabout
instead of across another path, but the cycle lanes don’t seem to be a priority, they aren’t in great
numbers or ideal, take the one on Oatlands Drive, which is used for people to park cars so they can
walk their dogs or fly kites!

In summary, I do think the council should look at its cycling provisions and see if anymore can be
done, and car drivers, please don’t rush, set off earlier, take a bit of time, think about cyclists, but I
encourage everyone to get on their bikes and get out in the fresh air, it has health benefits. But be
careful!!

About the Author

Simon Williams is 44 years old, Married with 4 kids, he has lived in Harrogate for 13 years and worked in IT in Harrogate for nearly 22 years. A Former Triathlon, marathon and Ultra marathon participant, now a regular park runner and not regular enough cyclist.

You can catch up with Simon on his blog swcoachblog.wordpress.com

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 I'll bet it hasn't changed that much.

	Climbing	137
	Motor sports	81
	Fishing	41
	Horse riding	29
	Swimming	7.0
	Athletics	5.7
	Football	4.9
	Tennis	4.2
	Cycling	1.0
Safer	Golf	0.83
	Rambling	0.06

I'm a climber. I climb about as often as I cycle and I have done both regularly for over 25 years. To be honest I feel safer when I climb than on a bike. Turns out I'm on average 137 times less safe climbing as I am on a bike. I do a few things to minimise the risks when climbing, I generally wear a helmet and I don't free solo many big routes any more, nor do I go on many glaciers but still. I bet I still run way more risks climbing than when cycling.

Here is another table that tries to quantify the risks of death against the benefits of the exercise. This is a bit more of a difficult one. If you are fit already and exercise regularly riding a bike is not going to make you live longer. You will of course do your bit to ease congestion and you may have fun and save on petrol. However if you are sedentary so you  take little or no exercise and you start riding a bike now we are in most definitely in business. The second table shows that the benefits of cycling massively outweigh the risks by somewhere between 13:1 and 35:1 it depends on the data set and I have ignored the report that claims a benefit of 415:1 as that seems plainly daft.

Now to get these benefits it's not enough to own a bike you have to ride it. If you can do half an hour three times a week or ideally five or more you are getting the benefits that the studies above claim. So a 15 minute commute of say a couple of miles would be perfect. You don't by the way need to ride like Wiggins we are talking gentle exercise here. Incidentally being overweight isn't really the problem as long as you exercise regularly. See this marvellous video for a good summary of the studies on the positive effects of exercise.

So the people who have most to gain from riding bikes are people who could ride them to work regularly, who are currently not doing much exercise. There are lots of people like this in the UK maybe as much as two thirds of the adult population and many in Harrogate. Harrogate lends itself to bikes, it is small and many people's commutes are relatively short. The good thing is once people become bike riders they tend to keep doing it. So how to get them to start? Well one of the reasons that comes up again and again is fear of the road network. Now as we have seen, oddly its safer than you think but how to remove the fear?

Well a start is to get more people doing it. Its bad enough doing something you think is dangerous it's much worse if you are on your own. Creating a cycle culture where it not seen as weird is a start, we are on to a winner here in Harrogate there are a fair few of cyclists already and not just leisure riders, you do see people using bikes to commute. So hopefully pointing out that you are better cycling than sitting down might be a start.

Employers and I mean large ones should do more. I think the Hospital in Harrogate should do more They could offer incentives, free breakfasts have worked in a few places and better safe cycle parking. It would help their terrible parking problem and impact positively on their sickness rates too. We have repeatedly asked them about this, the silence is deafening.

Next  better infrastructure this is the "build it and they will come" argument and that is where we will continue to lobby local government. Actively promoting the routes that exist would be a good start. Adult cycle training could be prescribed in the same way that GP's now prescribe trips to the gym and why not throw in a bike from one of the excellent recycling schemes that are springing up? Oh and try and finish the integrated network in Harrogate that is currently patchy and piecemeal. If people felt catered for and their mates were doing it people would feel more inclined to save themselves a bit of petrol money.

So if you have a bike but don't ride it because you think it dangerous and you don't get two and a half hours of exercise a week you would be safer on a bike.

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 to answer a few questions and also publicly give his support to our campaign. Wow we have a celebrity endorsement, better keep going hard at it then then Mike would.

Here is what Mike had to say

Cycle Harrogate Mike you Broke the world record for cycling round the world which is an incredible achievement. Which person from your past or present influenced you the most whilst you were riding, or does all your strength come from within?

Mike Hall I suppose initially I was influenced by guys in mountain bike racing - particularly the guys that were racing 24 hour races solo, not stopping for any more than a couple of minutes at a time and lapping the circuit as fast as many of the relay teams. I'm now lucky enough to call most of those guys my friends and from there my horizons widened when I learned more about the big unsupported mountain bike races like the Tour Divide - a 2745 mile off-road race down the continental divide from Canada to Mexico and guys like Matthew Lee, 5 time winner would complete the journey in around 17 days with no outside support and carrying all their equipment. When I did the race in 2011 it taught me how to pack my bike superlight, do with out all but the essentials that I could ride long miles day after day over big mountain passes. It was those skills and knowledge I took to the World Cycle Race. When I was speculating on what could be achieved I thought of the achievements of Tommy Godwin. He showed that mileages of over 200 miles a day were humanly possible over a much longer period. I already knew I could do big distances for 2-3 weeks but it was what he and a few other pioneering others had done all those years ago, that gave me the confidence to keep it up for much longer. Another rider I often thought of on the ride was Tom Simpson who, despite the tragedy of his story, will always be an inspiration. 

CH Mike you signed our petition for a cycle officer for North Yorkshire and thank you very much, but why do you think a North Yorkshire County Council Cycling officer is important for cyclists in Harrogate and the county?

MH The recent summer of sporting success, particularly in cycling, along with the general trend and incentives for people to adopt more sustainable transport methods nationally mean that more and more people are either picking up bikes these days or thinking about it. That's a great thing for peoples health, reducing congestion and meeting environmental targets. Without appropriate representation, planning and infrastructure for the increased number of cyclists on the road, however, we risk this being a short term thing and we also fail to protect their safety whilst they are attempting to use a road system which is designed predominantly around motor vehicles. 

CH Elite cycling has been in the news a lot recently with the the Tour de France, the Olympics and your epic ride. What single thing could UK government do to improve the cycling experience for everyday cyclists?

MH I'm not sure I know what the biggest thing that would benefit the most cyclists is but I think the biggest thing the UK Government can do for me personally as a cyclist and probably many others is tackle the social issues of conflict among road users in an increasingly congested traffic system which is experiencing a surge in the population of cyclists. Cyclists are vulnerable road users yet there appears to be an increasing amount of animosity directed towards them in the media and on the roads, by motorists wishing harm to them. I fear that a 'them and us' culture is being fostered on the roads and in the press, between motorists and cyclists, rather than one of co-operation, mutual respect and sharing the road. As a cyclist it makes me worry that my safety could be willfully disregarded by other road users.

If you want to know more about Mike's ride this is a pretty nice article

or you can visit his website normallyaspiratedhuman.com

and this is another cycle based cause he supports Cycle a Difference

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 car but because when it's Wiggo, who is a now a national treasure, it makes the news and cycle provision is back where it should be in the public eye.

Wouldn't it have been a tragedy had the outcome been worse. A nation that can produce a world beating champion could then allow him to perish on the poorly designed roads that he trains on due to poor public policy and under-investment?

Radio two ran a mature debate this morning that went beyond the standard mandatory helmet debate thank goodness, and talked about provision and then mentioned the Times campaign that got me interested in cycle provision. That was a direct result of Wiggos crash and so is me writing this and you are reading it too. I hope one man's heroics in France this summer and his broken body can actually bring about some real change on the nation's roads, that would be genius.

Shane Sutton head coach of team GB was hit yesterday too, he is in hospital under observation and I wish him health and luck too. How come we don't hear more about people being knocked off their bikes? The answer is simple, we do but only if you look really hard. Most people don't have a national or international profile and until this year cyclists where "other" and even when the cycle community runs the stories the mainstream media often don't.

Thing is Wiggo is one of all of us now and even the best rider in the world is no match for a ton of metal that hits him. I'm not suggesting it was the van drivers fault for all I know Wiggo may have been just as much to blame. Unlike a car on car incident though their is no guarantee that all that needs to happen after a bit of a scrape is an exchange of phone numbers and ring your insurance company.

Pedestrians are vulnerable road users we make special provision for them. Cyclists are equally vulnerable road users we make little or no provision for them. That can't be right, that has to change. We need better educated motorists, we need better provision and we need more people riding bikes.

Its important to remember that even when these stories are in the news. If you ride a bike you are likely to live longer than if you don't. The benefits of the exercise outweigh the risks of being killed on your bike. That doesn't mean I think we have a road environment that is correct, but sitting still is more of a risk then sitting on a bike.

Come on Government, implement Strict Liability that presumes cars are at fault when bikes are hit unless proved otherwise. That assumes bikes are at fault when pedestrians are hit unless proved otherwise. You could do that this parliament and it would give some protection in proportion to the risks different road users run. This law seems to be working well in the Netherlands, they do bikes.

Come on North Yorkshire County Council your failure to take the needs of cyclists in your county seriously is just plain wrong, do more do it now.

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 Leeds Rd. With fairly customary vigour and massive sustainable indifference, North Yorkshire Highways seem to have ignored the needs of cyclists and pedestrians almost totally. The existing busy junction will be replaced by three lanes of traffic heading into town making life for anyone not in a car essentially worse. Pavements will be narrowed in places, verges removed. Another opportunity to add cycle provision squandered on the altar of "congestion management". Although it does seem that this one may be a work in progress, a few councillors seemed really unhappy about how the cards have been dealt, we shall have to wait and see.

Anyway my three minutes arrived. I mentioned the huge support from the local cycle community. I mentioned the fiasco over Knaresborough Rd and the fact we had complained about the process and our complaint had been upheld. Oh I forgot to mention that the council's complaints people found the way it dealt with us over Knaresborough road was wrong. At least the complaints procedure seems fit for purpose, not really the effect we were hoping for though. Finally I talked about Beryl Burton, five times world champion and inspiration for a cycleway in her name form Knaresborough to Harrogate that is now steadily falling to ruin as nobody in local government can be bothered to spend a day and a few thousand quid fixing it. I said we should be proud of our great local sports people and her memory deserved better treatment.

Now it wasn't my best three minutes of public speaking but I'm told I was pretty clear. Then I got a prepared response from a council wonk which I will now summarise. "No cycling officer"

So there you go 400 people want a Cycle Officer to help work for sustainable transport in Harrogate and North Yorkshire and the transport department don't. Except we don't feel like giving in just yet, at 1600 signatures we get a debate on a cycle officer. I think its time to up the pressure and get more people to sign, this one is still winnable  I also think  after doing my homework that their are reasons why its easy for North Yorkshire Council to say no to a cycle officer, allow me to explain without hopefully boring you to death. Hold tight I may use statistics in the next section.

Transport policy in North Yorkshire is governed by what is called the Local Transport Plan (LTP) we currently have one that is running from 2011 to 2016. In it cycling is mentioned 21 times but then it is a 177 page document, so not exactly a pivotal role in the plan.

It talks about encouraging cycling but only once is there a specific mention of making any physical infrastructure improvements for cyclists and then it is behind other provision for pedestrians in a hierarchy of action. However there is a great deal about spending money and improving major A roads.  Basically I think the Council's transport department have no effective policy obligation to do anything to provide for cyclists and that is why we are hitting a brick wall when we ask. I don't buy the money argument though, if there is enough for making some roads for cars you could spend a bit on bikes.

In my view Harrogate and Knaresborugh appear to be a special case within North Yorkshire. The population of Knaresborough and Harrogate is about 91,000, the population of the whole of North Yorkshire  about 600,000. We may be geographically insignificant, but we are very dense from a people point of view. With the possible exception of Scarborough, Harrogate and Knaresborough are the two places in North Yorkshire where large scale urban cycle provision makes sense. Now if you are still with me and not glazing over.

Harrogate especially has a large urban population and is relatively small as towns go. Its a great place to cycle round in principle. Trouble is NYCC have a transport policy aimed for most part at the sparsely populated county as a whole, where car use and provision of  car friendly roads makes good sense for daily travel. Even when they accept that 62% of their population live in towns these towns are at best half the size of Harrogate and most way smaller. Harrogate is the elephant in the room. We need a policy for Harrogate that actively champions bikes, buses and traffic calming rather than seeing it as an unattainable ideal or as an irrelevance. Sorry I know this is dull, keep going your doing well.

So time I think to set about getting NYCC to take a fresh and critical look at its current transport plan. It is poorly serving the needs of the residents of Harrogate from a congestion, health and quality of life point of view. We need a local transport plan that contains commitments to do rather more than "promote" cycling. It needs to see the development of urban cycling in its congested town to be a crucial tool to ease the congestion and pollution that it admits is a big problem.  A problem that the improving, widening and sometimes silly re-lining of its current road network has so far failed to do, things are still getting worse not better at the moment. Build roads better suited to car use and you get more car use wow, what a surprise that is. This has been known for years, but it still seems to form the basis of North Yorkshire's transport policy. I know, I know will he never finish this post?

I think the next developments for Cycle Harrogate are to keep the pressure up for a cycle officer but even if and when one is appointed they will only carry out current car-centric policy more effectively. What we need is to work top down to try and change the policy and for that we need some people with real clout batting for us. Any Ideas?  I have a couple, more soon.

Choosing a bike - a guide for new cyclists

Somebody got in touch on twitter the other day and said "I want to get in to cycling but I don't know which bike to get there are so many choices." This is oh so very true, there are bikes for all kinds of uses and getting the perfect bike for your needs is difficult but not impossible. I think its two part process.

Part One - Work out what you are going to do with it.

It's very easy to see Mark Cavendish sprinting down the Champs Elysée leaving the peleton for dead and think I need a bike like Cav has. Unless you have realistic ambitions of making it as a pro or elite cyclist. Or you  ride with a club and regularly cover 80 miles on a Sunday, a full on race bike will be more trouble than its worth to you. NO REALLY IT WILL. A bit like buying a Ferrari for the school run and the weekly shop.

OK if a road bike isn't the solution what is?

Start by answering these questions, remember the answers you will need then in part two.

Are you going to use it to go to work?

Do you want a bike to get or stay fit?

Will you ride it on or off road?

Do you need to carry a load on it?

Do you want to look like a cyclist or a normal human whilst you are riding?

Next consider your Budget

You can buy bikes new for under 100 pounds DON'T, really DONT. If that's your budget look for second hand, more on buying second hand at the end.

If you can spend between 300 and 700 pounds you will get a quality new bike, more on exactly what in part two. If you have a budget of much more than that, this article is probably not for you.

Part two -  types of bikes, and picking a type

Mountain Bikes

For some reason many people in the UK go for a mountain bike when they buy a first bike. They have some advantages over a race bike: you sit more upright and they have flat bars rather than the drop bars of a road bike, which make you aerodynamic but are more suited to experienced riders. To be honest though you need to spend £700  to get a good hardtail mountain bike (front suspension fork) and rather more than that for a decent full suspension bike.

 For your cash you will get a bike that will be a good ride off-road and a bit of a disappointment on. With their fat knobbly tyres and relatively high weight, on the road they can be a bit slow and they are geared to climb steep hills so they have 24 or 27 or even 30 gears. You really don't need that many on the road even if you live in the Alps. I own a mountain bike at the moment.  It's the bike I wanted but couldn't afford 15 years ago when I rode mountain bikes most weekends. It is a lovely ride but it should be, it would cost you £1200 for something as good now days. Quite a lot of people that end up road cycling on a mountain bikes buy slick tyres after a bit. Why not start with something that does the job you need? If you want to get into full on mountain biking and shake your fillings downhill a mountain bike is what you need, but remember its built for dirt and stones.

 Hybrids

These are sort of the best of both worlds. You can ride them round town and they will cope with light trail riding and a bit of mud. They have bigger 700c wheels, thinner tyres and usually a less aggressive riding position and maybe 14 to 20 gears. Some have a front suspension fork and some also have a suspension seat post to soak up the bumps. Many of them will have the fittings for a rear pannier or bag rack and you can get some value in the £300 pound and up price range. If you ride round town but want to ride the rougher cycleways or go out cycling as a family on trails a hybrid might be for you.

City/Commuter Bikes 

These are what they ride on the continent, these are for people who need a bike round town and don't want to look like Bradley Wiggins at work. They often have a step through frame, so you can ride them easy in a skirt or if you are older and your hips don't work quite like they did. They often have mudguards so you don't get covered in mud, a chain guard so your trousers don't have a black slick up your leg and often hub gears and hub dynamos along with lights that need little or no maintenance.  A bike to do a job rather than one that shouts "look at my bike."If you want a bike to get around town  these are for you. A city bike is usually a bit more upright a commuter bike might be likely to go a bit quicker, the lines blur.

Urban Bikes, Single speeds and Fixies

The new kids on the block for about town cool. Urban bikes are what you get if you strip a mountain bike down remove a few of the gears and put road tyres on it. You  buy one of these to save having to strip it down yourself.

Take it one stage further and remove the gears and you get a single speed bike. these will make you fit and you will have to stand up out the saddle on hills.You get single speed mountain bike size and also one with the bigger 700c wheels. I'm forty something and I rode one to work for four years, no bother. As they have no gears there isn't much to go wrong and maintenance is super easy. As most of the weight has been removed you can get them going pretty fast too.

Take it one stage further still  and remove the freewheel and 1 or both brakes you have a fixed wheel bike a "fixie". I wouldn't start riding one of these as my first bike, in fact wait a good few years as your bike handling skills need to be pretty good before you ride what is basically a track bike on the road. They are pretty cool at the moment and there are a lot about. If fitness is part of why you want to cycle you could do worse than look at one of these three. Certainly an urban bike or a single speeder. They might not have fixings for racks or mudguards though, these are all about speed and lightness.

Retro Bikes

These are bikes that are harking back to the bikes of the 1930's and 1940's the Sit-up and beg style, some with a modern upgrades on the equipment. Bikes were style is more important than weight or ride quality. Sort of the equivalent of owning a classic car. It might be out of date but boy does it look elegant. If you often wear a hat socially or own quantities of designer woollens & hand made shoes this maybe the bike for you. Pashley still make the same bikes they have made for years in the uk, too heavy for me but they are definately a statement. Lots of manufacturers are starting to offer them in their range to hipsters and ladies who cycle to lunch.

Electric Bikes

News just in these, but I'm seeing more and more about. Not cheap but cheaper than a moped. You don't need a license and whilst they are limited to 25mph that's pretty quick on a bike. If your older or getting into shape they can work either as motor only or pedal assist or you can pedal alone when the battery goes flat. Range is 30 to 60 miles, less if its super hilly. Charge times are 4 to 6 hours. Prices start around the 600 quid mark and go over 2000 for the high end stuff. Look for Lithium polymer batteries. I think these are going to be big.

What to buy How to buy and Where to buy

So them's the main types but you only want the one bike so where do you go to get a good one?

Well in Harrogate at the budget end Halfords have lots of bikes but to be honest little bike knowledge. If you know what you want you could do worse. Avoid their Apollo budget range if you want to ride the bike more than a few times. the Carrera stuff is ok and the Boardman stuff is excellent value if more pricey. They have recently re-badged some city bikes aimed at women as Pendleton's after Victoria and its a growing range. Oh and don't let them near your bike with a spanner, you will regret it.

Specialized down on West Park in town have a good range, middle to top end on price but you get some value with specialized. Worth a look

The Edinburgh cycle co op on the edge of Leeds is definitely worth a look. They do there own ranges of revolution bikes which are good value and they carry a big range of other peoples bikes. They are happy to chat and they know their stuff, good value.

Cycle Heaven in York is a fantastic shop with a wide range of bikes its especially good for city and commuter bikes and they are really happy to have a chat and get you on something that meets your needs. Worth the trip

The Big red bike co in Harrogate are nice people who know their bikes. Good for city bikes and they carry the Pashley retro bikes which are cool and built to last. 

Buying tips

Ride it first 

Don't buy a bike you haven't ridden, ever. If it feels wrong, its wrong. Whatever the salespersons says, remember they want to sell a bike.

Last years colours

Bikes have a season and the old models start to clutter up bike shops stock lists by about November. This is a great time to buy. There is nothing wrong with these bikes, the shops just need to get rid of them so they can get new stock in. You can get discounts of 20 to 40% off list price especially if you are really tall or small as these often end up sitting around.

The cycle to work scheme

Or to give it its full title the Green Transport Plan basically you can save about a third of the cost of a bike if you "ride it to work". You don't have to use it every day or actually ever. You pay for the bike as a salary sacrifice before tax usually 1 or two years at the end of the "hire period" you make a one of payment and then the bike is yours . Ask your employer about it many will already know about it.

Get ahead get a hat and a pump and a lock

I wouldn't want helmets to be a legal requirement the data on whether or not they work is mixed and complicated but I usually wear one.  A pump is a no-brainer tyres go down over time. Buy a lock spend 5 to 10% of the bikes value on it and then someone won't wheel your bike away.

Second hand

Some shops do second hand or ask you never know who has what. Ebay is good I have got a few off there myself make sure you know what you are buying, do your research. Expect it to need a few bits and bobs but bargains in the 100 quid area are perfectly achievable  I sold a really nice single speed commuter with a fair bit of carbon fibre on it for that. If you can live with a few scratches a bike need not be expensive.

Right I hope this helpful if you need more advice email cyclehgt@gmail.com

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.