Last year 3000 people cycled to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, urging politicians to sign up to a cycle-friendly manifesto. This year’s pedal protest is tomorrow.

The second annual Pedal on Parliament ride is taking place tomorrow. Sir Chris Hoy said: “It is incredibly important that Scotland invests in safe cycling for all. I thoroughly support the aims and objectives of Pedal on Parliament and I urge as many cyclists and non-cyclists alike to attend.”

The campaign has also received pledges of support from Olympic champion Chris Boardman, who said:

“The Pedal on Parliament event is a great way for people to make sure their voices are heard on safer cycling in Scotland.”

The 1.5 mile ride leaves from the Meadows, 2pm for a 3pm start.

“The pace will be slow enough for even the littlest legs, ending at the Parliament building where we promise to keep the speeches to a bare minimum,” said co-organiser, David Brennan.

Pedal on Parliament has an eight-point manifesto:

1. Proper funding for cycling
2. Cycling to be designed into Scotland’s roads
3. Lower speeds where people live, work and play
4. Cycling to be integrated into local transport strategies
5. Improved road traffic law and enforcement
6. Reduce the risk of danger from HGVs
7. A strategic and joined-up programme of road user training
8. Improved statistics supporting decision-making and policy.

A team of volunteers, trustees and staff from Life Cycle UK appeared on the BBC2 quiz show Eggheads earlier this evening, winning £26,000 for the Bristol-based charity.

The BBC quiz show offers each team taking on the Eggheads – a resident team of five professional quiz champions – prize money of £1000, However, as the previous 25 challenging teams had failed to post a win, the Life Cycle team were able claim a substantial reward for their victory.

The team, appearing under the name ‘Two and a Half Tandems’, knocked out two Eggheads during individual head-to-heads, before sealing victory in the team round. Although competing as individuals, each of the team members decided to donate their share of the prize money to the charity – meaning that the entire prize pot will go to Life Cycle.

Team captain Ed Norton said:

“We only applied to go on the show as a way of promoting Life Cycle’s work, which includes Two’s Company, a service offering blind and visually impaired individuals’ joyful, liberating days out cycling on tandems for free and Bike Minded, a project which supports those recovering from mental health issues to get out, take healthy exercise and meet new people. It was a complete surprise when we actually won the prize!”

Life Cycle director Poppy Brett added:

“This is really fantastic news for Life Cycle. Every year we struggle to raise enough funds to deliver our work helping vulnerable people to benefit from cycling. This funding will ensure we can continue supporting isolated, marginalised and disabled people to enhance their lives through cycling.”

The episode is available to watch again on BBC iPlayer.

Dutchman Ebrahim Hemmatnia is pedalling around England in a boat on the first stage of a fully human-powered round-the-world trip.

Ebrahim Hemmatnia is currently making slow progress around England in a large, boat-shaped recumbent. He describes his adventure as a “tour with the world’s first amphibian and pedal-powered boat.”

He landed in England on 19th April and leaves from Lowestoft on 19th May. He won’t be getting the ferry.

Hemmatnia is on Twitter and there’s a blog to follow, too.

Cycling to work has many personal benefits – health and wealth being the two most obvious – but bicycles are also swift, too. And because they can filter through traffic perfectly legally, bike to work times are very consistent: no worrying about congestion levels or roadworks. ‘Commuter challenges’ are useful ways to show the time benefit in action. Enfield Council staged one on Thursday 25th and it’s no surprise which of the commuters were swiftest.

Six commuters tested out four different methods of transport in a challenge to travel two miles from John Wilkes House in Ponders End to Enfield Civic Centre to see which transport was the fastest in rush hour.

Two bicycles, a car, a bus user and a pedestrian all set off at 8.30am in a test to see who would arrive first.

The first cyclist – a sporty one, a bloke on a road bike – arrived 8mins and 45 seconds later. The second cyclist – a non-sporty one, a woman on a rusty old town bike, complete with front basket – took 13mins 32 seconds. (The Bike Hub app says the route is 1.75 miles and should take about 11 minutes). The car was five minutes slower than the non-sporty cyclist, arriving after 18 minutes and 40 seconds. The pedestrian took 28 minutes to complete the distance. The bus passenger trailed in at 42 minutes.

Councillor Chris Bond, Cabinet Member for Environment at Enfield Council, said:

“There are many ways to get around the borough, but looking at the cost of transport, speed and what is most enjoyable it is very clear that cycling comes out tops.”

The report for the Get Britain Cycling parliamentary inquiry calls for political leadership to effect change.

A parliamentary report on the future of cycling in Britain calls for roadspace reallocation and more cash for cycling. The report – published today – also calls for a national cycling champion to lead a drive for 10 per cent of all journeys in Britain to be by bicycle by 2025. More of the transport budget should be spent on supporting cycling, at an initial rate of at least £10 per person per year, increasing as cycle levels increase, says the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group.

The report – sponsored by The Times and the Bicycle Association – is based on the six week ‘Get Britain Cycling’ inquiry, which started to hear evidence in January. The 16-page summary report also calls for 20mph speed limits to become standard in urban areas and lower speed limits on many rural roads. It also says that all children should be given the chance to learn the skills of on-road cycling, at primary and secondary school.

The Times’ cyclesafe campaign led to the creation of the inquiry and the newspaper is today seeking to capitalise on the report’s launch to get 100,000 signatures on a petition on the Government’s petition website. This may then trigger a debate in parliament.

The inquiry heard evidence from over 100 individuals and organisations, including cycling organisations, the Automobile Association, and a wide range of government departments and ministers.

More cycling will lead to reduced congestion, environmental benefits and healthier citizens, said the report. The aim is increase cycle use from less than 2 per cent of journeys in 2011, to 10 per cent of all journeys in 2025, and 25 per cent by 2050.

For this to happen, leadership is needed right from the top, the MPs and Peers conclude. Cycling should also be considered at an earlier stage in all planning decisions, whether transport schemes or new houses or businesses and More use should be made of segregated cycle lanes, learning from the Dutch experience.

Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge and co-chair of the group, said: “Cycling has huge advantages – it is fast, safe, healthy, efficient, reliable, environmentally sound, and fun. We all benefit when people choose to cycle.

“One of the most consistent points made was that lower speed limits reduce the number and severity of collisions for both pedestrians and cyclists – we should heed that advice. It will improve safety and reduce the fear of cycling that too many feel.

“This generation of politicians has the chance to be long remembered for having a vision for cycling that includes us all. Put simply, Britain needs to re-learn how to cycle. This report sets out how this can be done.”

Ian Austin, MP for Dudley North and co-chair of the group said: “Too often, cyclists are just an afterthought. When collisions happen, the police and courts let the victims down, with sentences that do not fit the harm caused – this must be changed.

“The real test of whether something is taken seriously in Government is who leads on it – and that means the Prime Minister has to take that lead.”

Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch and vice chair of the group said: “In Hackney, strong political leadership has shown what can be done, with Hackney topping the league tables for journeys by bike in London. We now need that leadership nationally.”

Journalist and broadcaster Jon Snow said: ‘At last, Parliament is pedalling the talk and recognising the urgent need for political leadership on actions for cycling. Whichever party peader now seizes this opportunity, will reap dividends.”

The president of the Automobile Association, Edmund King, said “If the recommendations in Get Britain Cycling are followed through it should be the catalyst for change to put cycling on the front foot. We now need leadership to match this vision. Drivers and cyclists are often the same people and they should all welcome this report.”

British Cycling’s Chris Boardman, said: “The benefits of getting more people to cycle in terms of health and improving the places in which we live are clear. We need to be ambitious and set ourselves quantifiable targets to increase the number of people on bikes. Only then will we have a yardstick against which we can measure our every action and policy.”

BlipTrack is a Bluetooth traffic tracker from Blip Systems of Denmark. The company has a stand at the Traffex exhibition currently taking place at the NEC in Birmingham. The CEO of the company told BikeHub that BlipTrack could measure the flow of cyclists but there’s little need because cyclists don’t suffer from the sort of congestion that motorists experience.

BlipTrack sensors can track and time-stamp Bluetooth-enabled phones, allowing local authorities to gather real-time information on traffic speeds and congestion hot-spots.

Peter Knudsen, CEO of Blip Systems, said:

“We can track bicycles but there’s little point in measuring speed of cyclists because no matter what the weather or traffic conditions cyclists travel at a uniform speed, even when there are lots of them. Our system mostly measures motor traffic because there are lots of variations that can affect the speed of motor vehicles. In city centres cars can’t generally overtake and are much more sensitive to how many other cars are in front of them. Car speeds are much more variable and unpredictable.”

The Department for Transport has today released details on how local authorities plan to spend the £40 million in grant aid announced last year. Most of the schemes are run-of-the-mill improvements, others are quite radical and involve taking roadspace away from motorised vehicles.

The money will be made available to improve the design and layout of roads at 78 locations across the country, with all schemes due for completion within the next 12 months and is part of the £107 million investment in cycling infrastructure announced the last year. This is in addition to the cycle elements in the £600 million Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said:

“This money will enable local authorities to put in place well targeted measures to protect cyclists across the country.”

The DfT and local authorities were guided in the choice of schemes to fund by CTC, British Cycling, Sustrans, and other bodies, including local cycle campaigners.

130 schemes were submitted by local authorities last summer and today’s announcement reveals which schemes will go ahead. he announcement does not include any scheme for London as this is handled by Transport for London.

The funding for each region boils down to:

East of England: £5.31 million
East Midlands: £3.17 million
North East: £3.29 million
South West: £3.09 million
North West: £14.77 million
South East: £5.57 million
West Midlands: £1.51 million
Yorkshire and Humber: £2.62 million

The schemes are a mix of improvements including the reallocation of road space, simplification of road layouts, changes in priority, changes in junction layouts, designs that lower car speeds, changes to crossings and, one one case, the provision of a £2m bicycle bridge in Bury St Edmunds.

The money from the Department for Transport includes £15 million of capital funding announced in June 2012 and £5 million announced in November 2012.

The Wigan West Cycling Corridor is getting the most expensive scheme at £8m, with DfT providing a grant of 8 percent. The next most expensive scheme is the Gosforth Great North Road and High Street Cycle Safety Bid in Newcastle upon Tyne. This £2.6m scheme will benefit from a 47 percent grant. In Leicester a lane of part of the ring road will be turned into a two-way cycleway.

The Ormskirk Road in Wigan will be redesigned to close side roads and provide a cycle route alongside what can be a road hostile to non-motorised users. A full list of the schemes can be found on an Excel document.

Beds for Cyclists, an online directory of cyclist-friendly accommodation, reports that one year after starting it now has 600+ hosts listed.

The service has developed key partnerships with national accommodation networks including the Youth Hostel Association, the Green Business Tourism Scheme, Velocate and Cycle End to End.

Beds for Cyclists also features in all new cycling maps published by Sustrans and CycleCity Guides.

Sustrans’ Digital Manager, David Harris, said:

“Beds for Cyclists is my go-to website for booking accommodation when I’m planning a cycle trip, whether I’ve already decided on a route or am looking for inspiration. It’s easy to find cycle-friendly places to stay, whether searching by location or route name, by browsing the results on the map. The mobile-friendly version is a bonus when you’re out and about.”

Dear DfT: your counterparts in Ireland have produced this excellent public information film, please do one for the UK. Thanks.

“Cyclists are entitled to road space as much as cars, vans, goods vehicles or indeed any other vehicle on the road,” says the Road Safety Authority of Ireland, promoting its new public information film which has started to air on TV in Ireland.

“This commercial aims to educate drivers on sharing the roads safely with cyclists, and motorists’ responsibility to cyclists as vulnerable road users.”

The RSA adds: “Ultimately, we are asking motorists to be respectful of cyclists and mindful of how they use the road. We all share the road, and if we’re considerate of each other, we’ll see fewer needless accidents and deaths.”

The TV ad – already going viral on YouTube – is aimed at motorists, although the perspective changes between cyclists and motorists, swapping from one to the other as they encounter each other. This is to contrast the perceived safety of a car versus the vulnerability of a bike, and to make motorists aware of this vulnerability.

The ad features a broad cross section of cyclists: commuters, shoppers, families and road gangs. Motorists are advised to anticipate cyclists at junctions and check blind spots; the ad shows how to avoid the risk of ‘dooring’ a cyclist; and, critically, there’s an excellent demonstration of how motorists should give cyclists a lot of room when overtaking, at least a car’s full width. Roadies will appreciate that the TV ad shows motorists how to safely overtake cyclists riding two abreast: there’s no admonition for club rides to willow out to single file.

The video is complemented by a new publication from the Irish transport authority showing how designing solely for motor traffic kills communities.

The Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets shows that it’s preferable to design for people, rather than cars. “The continued assumption of growth in private vehicle usage is not sustainable.” says the manual.

In a foreword to the manual, Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s Minister for Transport, said:

“Better street design in urban areas will facilitate the implementation of policy on sustainable living by achieving a better balance between all modes of transport and road users. It will encourage more people to choose to walk, cycle or use public transport by making the experience safer and more pleasant. It will lower traffic speeds, reduce unnecessary car use and create a built environment that promotes healthy lifestyles and responds more sympathetically to the distinctive nature of individual communities and places.”

British Cycling today set out ambitious plans to get one million more women riding bikes by 2020 at an event hosted at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in London.
 
The new strategy, supported by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, Sport England and British Cycling’s Principal Partner, Sky, covers getting more women into the sport at all levels from recreational riding and racing to volunteering and sitting on British Cycling’s Board.
 
British Cycling’s President, Brian Cookson OBE, said:
 

“At British Cycling, in partnership with Sky and Sport England, we have never been scared of a challenge, nor of setting ambitious targets. Whether it is winning eight gold medals at a home Olympics four years after the triumphs of Beijing, producing the first British winner of the Tour de France or getting a million people cycling, when we set ourselves goals, we set about them with seriousness and purpose. We are not saying we are going to be perfect, far less that we are perfect now. The direction of travel is important: our ultimate aim is to inspire one million more women to get on bikes and we are determined to make this happen.”
 

Double track world champion Becky James said:
 

“Knowing that my success can inspire other young women to get into cycling makes me feel really good. The performances of our female riders at Beijing and in London have already made a difference, now we just need to see more women doing everyday cycling and enjoying our amazing sport for all that it has to offer.”
 

GB cycling team Olympian Jess Varnish said:
 

“If we can realise this ambition it will go a long way to refreshing cycling’s image so it is not seen as a sport only for men in lycra. The best thing about cycling is that anyone can do it, and in whatever form they like. I’m looking forward to seeing more women riding bikes and, most importantly, enjoying every moment.”
 

Speaking at the event, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Miller, said:
 

“Cycling in Britain is in great shape after a fantastic London 2012, and it is fantastic that the sport wants to go further and get more women on their bikes. The likes of Becky James and Jess Varnish will inspire many other young women, and British Cycling’s plan shows that it is a sport that women can embrace at every level.”