Edinburgh Skyride - Saturday 8 September - Cycling for Fun!

Edinburgh is holding a SkyRide event on Saturday 8 September - join hundreds if not thousands of others for some family-friendly cycling.
 

Open to all.  Everyday bikes and everyday clothing welcome!  (You can hire a bike if you don’t have one.)
 

Final details of the roads to be cleared of cars will be revealed on the SkyRide website (below) but in total are expected to be over 8km in length, centred around Holyrood Park.  The roads will be free of motor traffic from 10-4, and people of any age can come along and try cycling in a traffic free environment throughout that period.  You can come and you can leave at any time and at any of the official locations – or anywhere you like on the route!  Prizes too!

There will be entertainment and stalls at the start/end of the route (near the Parliament) and at key locations along the route.  Stalls will include bike-related, e.g. Dr Bike, bike shops, hopefully a Spokes stall, etc; but there will also be plenty more general entertainment.

See http://www.goskyride.com/EdinburghSkyRide for more info, and to register your interest.   See also www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2012/07/edinburgh-skyride-8-september/ for updates.

Summer Competition - Favourite Places by Bike

Every year Spokes (the Lothian Cycle Campaign) runs a summer competition, open to everyone interested in cycling (all ages).

This year’s one has the theme "My Favourite Place by Bike" - which ties in nicely with WeansOnWheels' aim to put together a collection of nice rides for families and others to do (see the 'Routes' page).

For more details go to: www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2012/06/spokes-2012-competition/

Spokes wants to know where you love to go, or be at, or pass through, with your bike.   It must be somewhere or something you can do, visit or experience in Edinburgh or the Lothians.  It could be a downhill swoop, a picnic spot, somewhere with a lovely smell, a cafe, something unusual, maybe something more abstract, or doubtless loads of other things.

Great prizes! - including a ScotRail 1st-class return for 2 between any 2 Scottish stations;  and prizes from Edinburgh Bicycle,  Kalpna Indian Vegetarian Restaurant, Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, Scottish Seabird Centre, Sustrans, Peter’s Yard, Velo Ecosse, Reiss Hairsalon and [to be confirmed] the Bridge Inn at Ratho.  

The competition closes on 9 September so you’ve plenty time to work up a really excellent entry and win a top prize.    Details of how to enter and where to send entries are on the Spokes website.

Children Are the Future of Cycling

Some summer reading!

1 - an article that appeared in the Guardian article on "Reclaiming the Streets for Kids": two Bristol mothers decided it was time to banish traffic from their road and replace it with scooters, skateboards, hopscotch and bikes. 

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jun/23/reclaiming-the-streets-for-kids?CMP=twt_gu

..... Let us know if you get something similar going in your area.....

2- "Children are the Future of Cycling"  article by John Pucher (eminent cycling researcher) on the European Cycling Federation website, see

www.ecf.com/news/childrencycling/

Now on Twitter

You can now follow this blog on Twitter - @WeansOnWheels.

Sunday 1 July - Cycling Treasure Event

Postcode Challenge Event on the North Edinburgh Cycle Paths
 

Sunday July 1, 2012 from 11am to 4pm
 

Take part in a free and fun Cycling Treasure Hunt, run by the Edinburgh Bike Station! 

Explore the "Inner Tube" network (the North Edinburgh cycle paths, running between Roseburn and Leith) by bike or on foot, collect stamps and have the opportunity to win prizes.

This is an exciting cycling and walking treasure hunt open all ages and abilities, just come along, join in and get exploring! 

- Explore the innertube network to find all ten stands at the ten different postcode locations. 

- Collect your Postcode stamp at each stand hand in your completed Challenge Card at Fiveways Junction before 4pm see if you're a prize-draw winner.  The challenge is for bikers to get to all ten stalls and for walkers to get to five stalls.  These stalls will be positioned in secret locations along the North Inner tube cycle path network.

- You can start the hunt from any location along the North cycle paths.  Just explore the paths to find your first stall, they will give you a Challenge Card with your first postcode stamp and from there the hunt begins!

More info: http://innertubemap.com/blog/post/451

New Factsheet for Parents - now available!

The brand new Spokes factsheet for parents, "How to Get Your Child Cycling", is now available!  

A significant proportion of parents who participated in the Spokes Weans on Wheels project last year asked about support with getting their children cycling independently, for transport ultimately as well as for fun.  The new factsheet focuses on the practical aspects of everyday cycling with children old enough to cycle on their own bikes, and aims to encourage more families to think about everyday cycling.  

It's available in electronic and printed versions:

(a) - From Spokes stalls at summer events (e.g., the Bike Breakfast on Wed 20 June, and every month at the Edinburgh Farmers' Market (Saturdays at Castle Terrace)

(b) - Direct from Spokes: email familycyclingATspokes.org.uk, or send an SAE to Spokes, c/o St Martins Church, 232 Dalry Rd, Edinburgh EH11 2JG.

(c) - Download it from the Spokes website [prints as 4 A4 pages] - see http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2012/06/factsheet-how-to-get-your-child-cycling/#more-4076

Feedback and suggestions for further topics to cover would be very welcome - email familycyclingATspokes.org.uk.

If you have good ideas for using the factsheet - e.g., with a youth group keen to get children cycling, or through a school - please do contact us.

It's Bike Week 2012 - Happy Pedalling from Weans on Wheels!

Lots of events on, inckuding the annual SPOKES BIKE BREAKFAST at the City Chambers next Wednesday, 20 June, 8-10am.
- Free Spokes maps for the first 20 arrivals, 
- free breakfast on your way to work / school, 
- bike chain cleaning by Edinburgh Bicycle, police bike security coding, 
- plus a big range of stalls. 
New Transport Convener Cllr Lesley Hinds will speak briefly around 8.45 on what the new Council has planned for cycling, introduced by the new Council Leader, and transport convener 2001-6, Cllr Andrew Burns.

More info at:

www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2012/05/spokes-bike-breakfast-june-20

There are Breakfast Bike Rides from various parts of the city to the Breakfast as well, and Edinburgh councillors will be joining several of them.   Check out the website to see if there is one from your area...  http://breakfastbikeride.org.uk .  For more info or to help organise a ride contact Mike: lionfishy[AT]gmail dot com.  07779527004.

ALSO on Wed 20th, from 11am-2pm there will be a cycling event at Festival Square, including a Spokes stall and a heavy goods vehicle you can sit in to see (or not see!) the blind spots experienced by HGV drivers.