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Spokes rides and events

Spokes AGM and monthly rides
In view of the current government health advice regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus and public meetings, we have decided to postpone our AGM until further notice.
We expect that most public events will be cancelled for the near future, so we will cancel rides following the advice regarding group activities. Currently, there is nothing to prevent individuals going on rides with others, provided that they keep the recommended distance from other persons. I will shortly circulate a chairman’s annual statement summarising our activity in the past year. The current committee will continue in a caretaking role in these exceptional circumstances.
Paul Rees, Chair, Spokes

£8 million for cycling and walking in Kent
Kent County Council (KCC) ahas been allocated just over £8 million by the Department for Transport (DfT) to invest in walking and cycling and to promote the positive effects of safe and sustainable active travel.
The first round of funding, however, will be £1.6 million with the remainder subject to agreement if spent within eight weeks. KCC will be looking to:

Trial ‘pop-up’ cycle facilities and widen some existing cycle lanes.
Use cones and barriers to widen some footways.
Encouraging walking and cycling to school.
Reduce speed limits: trial 20mph speed limits where appropriate and locally supported.
Introduce pedestrian and cycle zones, with the possible introduction of low traffic neighbourhoods and maybe modal filters.
Provide additional cycle parking facilities at key locations
Change junction designs to accommodate more cyclists – for example, extending Advanced Stop Lines at traffic lights.
‘Whole-route’ approaches to create corridors for buses, cycles and access only on key routes into town and city centres.
Identify and bring forward permanent schemes already planned, for example under Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans that can be constructed relatively quickly.

In addition to this, plans are being worked on to introduce further 20mph zones, including trials in Faversham and Tonbridge.

More information in KCC's press release.

Back garden pump track
Lockdown and social distancing have made it a little more difficult to get out and about on a bike - and almost impossible to get to a pump track. So, bike crazy Ramsay MacFarlane, 34, from Glasgow, spent 5 weeks during the lockdown building a 75 square meter pump track in his section of his back garden close in Glasgow. The Mountain bike coach and guide moved 20 tonnes of earth and clay to build the track to keep himself entertained and healthy.

Many thanks to James Chapelard, Freelance Press/PR photographer for this item and the photos. More of James's work on Instagram and twitter.

Spokes objectives

To encourage cycling and publicise its benefits for the community and for individuals.
To ensure that local authority and government policies actively encourage cycling and make full provision for it as part of an overall transport strategy.

This is to ensure that all members of the public can enjoy cheap, safe and environmentally-sound travel for work and leisure.

If you support our objectives, why not join us?

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Update
The May issue of Update, our email newsletter, is now available.

Cycling in
St Stephen's, Canterbury
Cycling in Canterbury can be unpleasant and dangerous. And one of the worst areas is St Stephen's in the east of the city. Local resident, Victoria Fields, has made a video highlighting the problems in the area. The video is available on vimeo and last just over four minutes.

Online bike museum
Strange how things happen...
A member of Spokes started chatting to someone in their local park, mentioned cycling and, as people are fond of saying, the rest is history. In this case, bike history.

The Online Bicycle Museum (https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/) is an treasure trove of bicycle history with enough information, photos and videos on every aspect of cycling and its development to keep even the most historically minded cyclist happy for days, if not weeks. Even if you only have ten minutes to spare, it's worth a look. A real find.

The photo shows an BSA Otto Dicycle from the early 1880s. Just one of the many machines you can view on the site.

Canterbury cycle superhighway petition
If you would like to see a connected cycle path that would enable cyclists of all ages to travel safely in both directions around Canterbury town centre, then you may want to sign a petition on Canterbury City Council's website asking for this. The petition runs to 29 August.