Starting Saturday 18 April for six weeks, we are arranging a series of led bike rides designed to give beginners the skills and confidence to ride on their own or in a group on today’s roads.
The first session will be off-road, starting at 10am from the Control Tower at Greenham Common. Sessions are free – you just need your bike, helmet and a drink.
Signing up is essential, as numbers are limited – email caroline.lane3@yahoo.co.uk for more information.
One of our long-standing aspirations has been to reopen the former railway line between Newbury and Didcot as a cycle route. It was back in 2005 that we first started our original feasibility study where we walked the route to see if it would be feasible and started putting our plans in place.
The section between Hermitage and Hampstead Norreys is the easiest section to convert, since the former railway line is still largely in tact and hasn’t been built on, except where the M4 motorway cuts through it.
Over the last few years, we have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including West Berkshire Council, local landowners and parish councillors, and we have secured widespread support for the project.
Working with West Berkshire Council, we managed to attract funding from Highways England, which was actively looking for projects to reduce the severance effect of its motorway network and improve access for walkers, cyclists and equestrians. This scheme ticked all of their boxes and so they offered for their contractor Kier to undertake the works.
It has been a long, slow process to secure all the relevant landowner permissions, inspect bridges, carry out ecology surveys and undertake clearance work, but we are delighted that construction work is well-underway.
The aim is to achieve a 2.5m wide path wherever possible, using a crushed aggregate surface with timber edging and underlain with an impermeable membrane to prevent weeds from growing through the surface. The path itself respects its rural setting, both in terms of its materials and its alignment, meandering through the trees to create a pleasing, informal look.
The path is forced to deviate away from the disused railway line to pass under the M4 motorway. Here, it drops down to a widened shared use footway / cycleway alongside the B4009 for a short distance before rejoining the railway line on the other side.The section between the motorway and Hermitage is already complete and gives a flavour of how the rest of the route will look and feel.
The path is not yet open and is still very much a live construction site with heavy machinery in operation, but we are hopeful that the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be just a few short weeks away. Special thanks go to Alan Langley and Josh Kerry who have been instrumental in getting all the relevant parties on board and securing the funding to help make this pipe dream a reality.
Once complete, we will seek to maintain the momentum and extend the route towards Newbury. Although this section will be more challenging, due to the amount of development that has taken place on and around the former rail line, we have already undertaken the initial feasibility work and are confident that route can be achieved, so watch this space!
At one time, your local bike shop (LBS) was the only place you could go to buy a bike, pick up some spares, or get yourself the latest cycling gear. However, local bike shops are increasingly under pressure from on-line retailers, who with their bulk purchasing, high turnover and minimal overheads can afford to undercut the humble LBS.
Lots of bike shops have given up the fight and have shut up shop, simply unable to compete. Even the big retailers are struggling, with Evans Cycles recently revealing a gigantic hole in their finances and seeking a new backer to inject over £10 million into the business.
Here at SPOKES, we are big fans of the LBS and actively encourage our members to use them by offering a 10% discount on new cycles and parts at most of the retailers in our area. If you need convincing, then here are some of the key advantages that a LBS has over the on-line retailer:
We realise that we are very lucky here in West Berkshire to have so many local bike shops. But we’re not complacent and we realise that retailers of any description needs to continually evolve if they are to remain relevant and interesting to their customers. Therefore, we have put together a quick survey that asks a few questions about your recent experiences with your LBS. This gives you an opportunity to sing their praises and to highlight what they could do better / differently. We will share the anonymised results with our LBS and work with them to address any gaps.
It doesn’t matter if you ride thousands of miles per year and spend all your time and money with your LBS or if just tootle to the shops and back at the weekend and spend a few quid on an inner tube once a year, we want to hear from you. Just click on the link below to be taken to the survey. If you needed an incentive, then we are offering one lucky participant the chance to win £50 to spend at the LBS of their choice:
https://www.westberkshirespokes.org/quiz/local-bike-shop-survey/
The University of Cambridge has published the results from its recent survey that looked at the barriers to investing in cycling. People targeted by the survey included: local government highways officers; local politicians; Local Enterprise Partnerships; cycling advocates; academics; consultants; and businesses with an interest in cycling.
The main barriers uncovered by the survey come as no surprise:
Funding tends to be scarce, sporadic and involves competitive bidding, with the lion’s share going to the cities. This creates a postcode lottery for cycling investment and makes it difficult for local authorities to make long-term plans. Also, the competitive element creates a barrier to sharing expertise between councils.
The survey suggests that there is little political support for cycling at either the national or local levels, with a few notable exceptions, such as the London Mayor. The general picture is one where priority is still given to providing for motor vehicles. It seems that politicians still don’t see cycling as a viable mainstream transport option. In fact, schemes are often compromised by local councillors who are worried about anything that may cause additional delay for motor vehicles.
The survey results also paint a rather gloomy picture amongst those tasked with delivering cycling schemes on the ground. Cuts to council budgets have meant that most local authorities have had to restructure and reduce their staff. In smaller local authorities, cycling is usually a small part of one officer’s role, who has to fight to get their voice heard amongst colleagues.
When asked about the solutions that could overcome these barriers, the most popular answers were:
Respondents felt that tackling the funding and political support issues would in turn encourage local authority highway departments to give more priority to cycling.
The survey results emphasise how important it is for local people and campaign groups like Spokes to lobby for change and to make the case for investing in cycling. So what can you do to help?
One of our members contacted us recently to report that their bike had been stolen. As well as the obvious inconvenience and financial cost associated with losing a bike, it can be very upsetting, particularly if it is stolen from your home. However, the good news is there are steps that you can take to prevent the theft from occurring in the first place, and to increase the chances of being reunited with your bike in the event that it is stolen.
It is vital that you register your bike with an on-line database such as Bike Register or Immobilise. The basic service is free and allows the police to check the frame number of any bike that is stolen and subsequently recovered to identify its owner. You can pay to receive an electronic tag or tamper-resistant label with a unique QR code that can be scanned. This can deter thieves from stealing the bike in the first place and alerts the police to check the database. You can also pay for permanent etching kits for additional piece of mind.
We would also recommend that you insure your bike(s). Low value bikes are often covered as part of household insurance policies when stored at home. However, you may need to increase your cover, or take out a separate policy to get cover outside the home, or to insure more expensive bikes. If you intend to take your bikes abroad, then you will need to check that your policy will cover this. Also, if you live in a block of flats with a communal bike store, it is worth checking that the bikes will be covered if left in these areas. You can use an on-line price comparison website to compare prices and cover.
Make sure that you take reasonable steps to secure your bike. Buy a good quality lock – preferably two. We recommend that you buy a lock with a Sold Secure Gold or Silver rating. D-locks are popular and can be used with extender chains. However, these locks can be heavy and cumbersome to carry, but there are alternatives available. For example, the HIPLOK is a heavy duty chain that loops around your waist. Alternatively, a Dutch-style horseshoe lock and extender chain offers a neat solution. Be sure to lock your bike whenever you leave it, including at home.
When leaving your bike, make sure you attach it to a bike stand or item of street furniture that cannot be easily broken, cut, or moved, or where your bike could be lifted clear. Try to choose a well-lit area with CCTV coverage. It is best to choose an area where other people are around and are frequently walking past – never leave it in an isolated place. Wheels are an easy target for thieves, particularly where they have quick release skewers. When locking your bike, make sure that you secure both wheels and the frame to the bike stand, and if you are going to leave your bike in a public place on a regular basis, then consider fitting security skewers or skewer locks such as those made by Quick Caps.
