Just capital! City to invest £1.4m in cycling

ON THE ROAD: yesterday’s Pedal for Scotland event

Initiatives to make Edinburgh a better city for ‘active travel’ will be considered by councillors this week, with cycling set to recieve a considerable chunk of the council’s transport budget.  Inspired by Olympic success, there’s been a sharp rise in bike ownership over the last month so the measures are likely to prove popular with the Edinburgh public.

An extra dedicated cycling officer will also be appointed to take forward the design and construction of schemes that are already in the pipeline.

A further £460,000 will be spent on routine maintenance of cycle routes and on marketing and  promotion. This year the Council has also attracted £425,000 of matching funding for cycle projects from the Scottish Government via Sustrans.

Councillor Jim Orr, vice-convener of the Transport committee, said: “This programme is evidence of the capital coalition’s commitment to making it easier, safer and more attractive for people to cycle and walk in Edinburgh. It represents a record investment by the Council with 5% of our total transport budget going on cycling, and we believe this is more than any other Scottish authority in both total and per head spend. Encouraging active travel makes sense for environmental, health and traffic reasons, but Edinburgh is also a fantastic city to explore on foot or two wheels. Our investment will make the most of that.”

There will be further spending on promoting walking, with a new post focussed on improving design for pedestrians and  upgrading popular routes.

The measures form part of the Council’s Active Travel action plan, which was drawn up in 2010 with NHS Lothian, walking charity Living Streets, Sustrans and the city’s leading cycling group Spokes, among others. The Council’s progress will be measured under Scottish and European schemes to promote cycling, as well as annual reports to the Transport committee.

Edinburgh’s own Sir Chris Hoy’s herculean Olympic exploits have doubtless encouraged many more citizens to get on their bikes. Yesterday council leader Andrew Burns was joined by Inverleith councillor Nigel Bagshaw and Forth’s Cammy Day among others on the freshnlo Pedal for Scotland Glasgow to Edinburgh charity cycle – his tenth in a row! It seems the capital’s gone cycle crazy!

8500 cyclists registered for yesterday’s Pedal for Scotland event which was started by cycling star Mark beaumont and Scottish Transport minister Keith Brown

Mike’s on his bike for Macmillan

A team of local men are set to complete a 150 mile cycling challenge this weekend to raise £5000 for charity.  Michael Pratt, who lives in Cramond, and seven of his friends aim to complete the ambitious challenge in just 15 hours for Macmillan Cancer Support.  The challenge starts this morning in the Cairngorms , and will take them through Rothiemurchus and Perthshire before finishing in Aberfoyle tomorrow.

Michael, a married father of two, has previously walked 54 miles with friends in the 2010 Caledonia Challenge and took part in the Rob Roy Challenge last year. However, the challenge this time round has greater personal significance as he has been closely affected by cancer. His mother, Kate Pratt, 67, who currently has secondary cancer, has influenced Michael’s decision to raise funds for Macmillan due to the support they provide at Edinburgh’s Western General.

Michael, who is a Project Manager, said: “When someone close to you tells you they have cancer, you feel helpless. Something I feel I can do is support a charity that provides the help people affected by cancer need.”

Good luck, chaps.

Visit: http://www.justgiving.com/Mike-Pratt1

Postcode Challenge was ‘wheelie’ great!

Last year’s event was a hard act to follow, and we all know what the ‘summer’ weather has been like this year, so the signs weren’t promising – but this year’s Postcode Challenge proved to be a great success with hundreds of keen cyclists and enthusiastic walkers taking part in the 1 July event.

Although billed as a ‘challenge’, the Postcode Challenge is really a fun event and an opportunity to discover – or rediscover – your local natural habitat, by bike or on foot. Participants of all ages and abilities set their own pace, checking in at ten pit-stops along the cycle path routes and collecting stamps to be in with a chance of winning  prizes. There were also loads of goodies to collect along the way, including high-visibility cycle vests from People’s Postcode Lottery, and flower and seed packets from the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust team.

Zero Waste Aware Scotland, State Street, Drylaw Community Centre, Drylaw Community Garden, Spokes and MYDG (Muirhouse Youth Development Group) also had stands along the Postcode Challenge route.

Liz Stewart, of organisers Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust said: “The Postcode Challenge was a great event and we were so lucky as it must have been about the only sunny day in the last month! We believe that there were at least 300 participants – walkers and cyclists. Although cyclists had to pick up a stamp from each of the 10 ‘postcode stops’, walkers only had to collect 5, which made it easier to include them. The day went really well and it was such a happy, good-natured event and loads of great feedback – helped of course by some good weather for a change!”

It took a mighty team effort to make the Challenge such a success, Liz said.

“There’s a huge list of people to thank! The Postcode Lottery and their players for funding the event in the first place, for manning a postcode stop on the day and for providing prizes. Other stall holders were our co-organisers, The Bike Station, who also provided bike repairs on the day and kept all the wheels turning; Spokes, State Street, MYDG Muirhouse Youth Development Group, Drylaw Community Centre and Drylaw Community Garden. We also had the following prizes to give away and were very grateful to all donors:

· 37 bike themed Goody Bags from The Bike Station

· 2 Tickets to see a Film of your choice at The Filmhouse

· 2 Vouchers for Greenyonder Tours

· Lunch for Two at Hula Juice Bar

· Grow your own veg & wildflower seed packets from ELGT

· 1 of 4 cycling maps of in and around Edinburgh and the Lothians from Spokes

· 2 Herb planters, 2 bird nests & 2 nectar feeders from ELGT

· An assortment of prizes from the Postcode Lottery

· A £50 Alpine Bikes gift voucher donated by State Street

· Two tickets for a free tour of Royal Yacht Britannia.

I think that’s everyone, but it’s quite a list so apologies if we’ve missed anyone out!”

“We were delighted to support the Postcode Challenge Treasure Hunt again this year,” said Clara Govier, Head of Charities, People’s Postcode Trust. “It’s a great event and it gets everyone outside and learning a little more about the beautiful environment right here in the city.”

Organisers also encouraged participants to leave messages on the Edinburgh Innertube blog (which can be found at: http://innertubemap.com/.) and comments were very positive. One person wrote: ‘As good as anything I’ve ever done in Edinburgh – great for all the family/all ages and all abilities. You all deserve medals and loads of funding for this!’

 

 

Security RULES for cyclists

Lothian and Borders Police are offering cyclists the opportunity to make their bikes secure at two forthcoming sessions.

At Craigleith Retail Park on Thursday 24 May (12 – 2pm) and at Ocean Terminal on Tuesday 5 June (5 – 7pm) you can have your bike registered and UV marked for £5, or registered, UV marked and electronically tagged for £10. Some lucky cyclists could get this done for free so get there early!

Remember those rules:

Register It

UV mark it

Lock it

Electronically tag it

Secure it

 

Lothian and Borders Police