SPOKES
East Kent Cycle Campaign
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Front cover |
Join one the many rides on offer and come and celebrate afterwards, at the cycling festival in the Dane John Gardens, Canterbury. |
Editorial |
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This is it. Spokes has put a ton of work into organising this years, the Big Wheel of Kent Event, on 13th June 2010, in association with National Bike Week. It will be a celebration of cycling that will include long and short rides (16 in total) for all types of cyclist and a cycling festival at Dane John Gardens in Canterbury. The event will target both experienced cyclists and those who are new to cycling or who only get on their bikes occasionally. We will demonstrate the health, economic and climate related benefits of cycling and provide an opportunity for all to discover Kent’s rich network of Sustrans cycle routes and interesting byways and hidden-away places in and around Canterbury. There will be three types of ride. Radial (spokes) rides from other towns and cities in Kent and finishing in Canterbury, two circular rides starting and finishing in Canterbury, and two short rides in and around Canterbury. The radial rides will cover distances of between 7 and 35 miles. The circular rides will be 28 and 12 miles respectively. The short rides round Canterbury will use routes that cars can't use. The radial ride starting points will be Maidstone, Rochester, Sittingbourne and Faversham along National Cycle Route (NCR) 1, Herne Bay via Whitstable and the Crab & Winkle Way, Ramsgate and Deal via Sandwich, again along NCR1, Folkestone along Regional Route 17 and Ashford along NCR18. Although rides are free, riders must register, on http://www.bigwheelofkent.org.uk/ Emily Shirley, Editor |
Chairman's Ramblings |
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According to the government’s Chief Medical Officer “National Targets should be set to double travel on foot in England’s towns and cities, and to increase travel by bicycle eightfold”. Great news and very welcome! Will politicians and councillors finally start to take notice and act? Or will we simply be fobbed off with the usual rhetoric from the anti-change lobby? Probably. Improving our cycling infrastructure and promoting a modal shift to cycling, is essential. With rising fuel prices and little evidence of growth in the economy, we can expect to see more people reducing their dependence on the car. With more people cycling, our roads will become safer. One fairly easy and low cost means of improving our streets is to follow cities like Portsmouth and Oxford and implement 20 mph zones in residential districts, town centres and villages. While 20mph zones will benefit residential zones and centres, speed limits on main arteries serving town/city centres could remain the same, where appropriate. Designated cycle paths still need to be built in order to connect communities and provide safe routes to schools and work where 20 mph speed limits do not apply! Reducing speed limits certainly works. What happens in the next few months under the new administration remains to be seen. I only hope that the Conservative- Liberal Democrat Coalition understand the true meaning of sustainability and what constitutes an integrated transport system. Isn’t it time we learned a few simple lessons from our more enlightened European neighbours and put an end to this autogeddon? Or shall we simply carry on, regardless of future consequences, because we haven’t got the guts to say enough?! Steve Fawke |
A new bridge and it's NOT for cars! |
Earlier in the year a rare - and consequently exciting - event took place. A new bridge was installed. But it's not for motorised vehicles. It isn't even connecting a road. It is a bridge connecting a bridleway by Kingston in Kent that was cut in two when the Canterbury bypass was built some twenty odd years ago. So it's a bridge for walkers and riders of horses and bikes. All the work has been completed now and the bridge is open. So, if you want to try a new bridge on your bike, then head off towards Kingston between Barham and Canterbury.It's quite a pretty bridge too. Adrian Oliver |
Looking for a route? |
Many of us are used to planning our car journeys using online mapping tools such as Google Maps. But what about our rides? Well now there is an online journey planning tool just for cyclists. If you visit www.cyclestreets.net and input your start point and where you want to end your ride, then CycleStreets will respond by giving you three suggested routes - a fast route, a quiet route and something in between entitled a balanced route. Cyclestreets will tell you how long the ride will take, how far it is, whether there are any traffic signals and how much climbing is involved. Other cool features include the ability to fly through the route using Google Earth and exporting it to a GPS device. It's still early days so sometimes it might come up with odd suggestions. If it does, just let the developers know by clicking the Quick Feedback link. Happy route planning! Gregory Williams |
News...News...News...News... |
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Two new routes for the Isle of Sheppey -
The £700,000 project is being delivered through a partnership between Kent County Council Regeneration and Countryside Access, Kent Highway Services, Sustrans and Swale Borough Council. Re-surfacing works between Lydd and Jury's Gap are underway – This includes 2.7 km of route improvements to the NCN2 and 5200m2 of quality re-surfacing to the County border with East Sussex. The £100,000 project is being delivered by Kent County Council Highway Services, Sustrans and Kent Countryside Access and is likely, to be completed, by the end of May. Chartham to Canterbury - NCR18 - Works alongside the Great Stour River stalled over the winter months however works will resume this month. It is expected that this superb £400,000, 5km traffic free project, will be completed by the end of the year. Reinstatement of the Whitstable Bridges and extension of the Crab and Winkle way continues to progress. The public consultation process has been completed. Thanks to all SPOKES members who wrote in to express their support and who helped with delivering the consultation letters. Finally Kent County Council's Cycling Officer Anna Michalska-Dober gave birth to a lovely baby girl, many congratulations to her and her family. Spokes congratulates Anna, her husband and new baby daughter, too! David Young, Sustrans Project Co-ordinator South East |
Spokes Big Wheel of Kent |
Something for everyone: choose from 16 rides on Sunday 13th June
Ben Knox |
Cycle parking at railway stations |
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Not all railway stations are made equal. Especially so, if you're a cyclist. In the previous issue we noted the improved cycle parking levels that can now be found at Ashford International station. We've counted enough spaces for 228 cycles there. However there are many more stations that either don't have any cycle parking at all, or where the quantities are simply insufficient. Canterbury West station has room for 38 bicycles on Sheffield stands and these are full on a regular basis. As a result bicycles can often be seen chained to fencing as well. Large villages, such as Aylesham, don't have any cycle parking at all. Other large stations such as Ramsgate, which sees approximately a million journeys a year, have pitifully little cycle parking available (12 spaces at Sheffield stands and 8 lockers on platform), despite there being plenty of available space to site them. Spokes believes that the provision of well-sited and sturdy cycle parking is essential to encourage people to choose to cycle for their commuting and other journeys instead of choosing motor vehicles. The current levels don't do much to support this. Contrast this with the provision in mature cycling nations such as The Netherlands where quantities at a single station can be found in the 1000s - that's more than the total we've found in the 40 stations we've looked at in east Kent. Gregory Williams |
Light summer musings… |
This photo, recently taken by Spokie Sheila Webb in Paris, says it all. Paris is a cycling city par excellence. The smaller French towns and cities are following swiftly behind. |
Doctor's Orders - Pump Them Up! |
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A simple way to increase your cycling enjoyment is to ensure that your tyres are always pumped up. When we're out and about doing free Bicycle Health Checks, at our events, it is rare to come across a bike with the tyres properly pumped up. Even amongst our most loyal and most regular cycling committee members! More often than not, tyres are like Victoria Sponges. Nice hard tyres will make cycling easier and reduce the likelihood of getting punctures. So, Doctor's Orders are: every time you get on your bike give your tyre walls a quick squeeze. If they give, then pump them up! If you have a pump with a gauge, check the tyre wall for the recommended inflation levels. For bobbley mountain bike tyres the range is normally 40 to 65 PSI. Hybrid semi-slick tyres it's 60-80PSI and for skinny slick road tyres probably 100PSI. Happy Cycling! Dr. Bike |
Kent Community Foundation Grant |
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Spokes successfully applied for a grant from the Kent Community Foundation and received a grant for £3000. This money has been used to purchase a larger event stand, feather flags, tables and freestanding display boards. Some of the fund will also be spent on new GPS equipment for surveys and mapping work. The smaller stand that Spokes purchased three years ago, will be used for smaller events and in tandem with the new stand at larger events for Dr Bike. Spokes would like to say a big thank you to the Kent Community Foundation. The grant will be, a major aid in our campaigning and cycle promotion work, for years to come. Steve Fawke |
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