Charlie Simpson, whose five-mile sponsored cycle ride has raised £194,000 for Haiti earthquake victims, shakes hands with a policeman outside No 10 Downing Street. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire.

And this week I’ll finish my reprise of last year’s news.

August: German inventor, Stefan Gulas, previews an electric bike that has a top speed of 50MPH, and the Maison d’Envie brothel in Berlin offers a discount to clients who arrive by bike.

September: 65,000 people take part in the London Skyride, a fun event that had 15 kilometres of London’s roads closed for 6 hours. Limar bring out the world’s lightest helmet, the 180 gram, Pro 104.

October: The 2010 Tour de France route is announced, and with 13 Pyrenean mountain climbs in the last week of the Tour it looks like a climber’s benefit.  Andrew Richie, the designer of the Brompton folding bike, wins the Price Philip Designer’s Prize.

November: Olympian Nicole Cooke, who won a gold medal in the women’s road race in Beijing, is awarded an MBE for services to sport by Prince Charles. London’s cycling Mayor, Boris Johnson, rides to the rescue of a woman who was being mugged by a group of girls.

December: Copenhagen cyclists pedal to power the lights on the giant Christmas tree in City Hall Square. St.Helen’s Primary School in Ipswich removes its cycle racks in an effort to stop pupils riding to school.

January: A millionaire living in Switzerland receives a £180,000 fine for speeding, and in York, Age Concern offers free cycling tuition for the over 50s, as part of its ‘Fit as a Fiddle’ campaign.

Braking News

Off-road and Online
The Woodland Trust is soon to create a website that will offer an online data base of more than 24,000 woods that allow public access. The site will also list the facilities that each area offers; such as car parking, toilets and free access.

The scheme has just received a boost thanks to a £1.2million grant from Natural England, and it’s hoped that the new website, called VisitWoods, will be ready later this year.

Pothole problems
Fortunately not a huge problem in the Channel Islands, but in the United Kingdom the cold weather has contributed enormously to the number of potholes around. Because water expands when it turns into ice, small potholes get bigger and cracks appear in the tarmac overnight. The Cyclists’ Touring Club says that its ‘fillthathole’ website has had a record number of potholes logged on the site during January.

Sprint Bonuses

• The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, due to be ready for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, has announced its first major event. Event Scotland has just revealed that the velodrome will host the 2013 Junior Track World Championships.
• Dublin has recently introduced a 30KPH speed limit in the city centre. In addition to this, the city has also imposed a restriction on the use of heavy goods vehicles.
• Dutch bike manufacturer, Koga-Miyata, has won the 2010 Dutch Bike of the Year award for the second year running. It took the prize with an electrically-assisted bike, the E-Light.
• Following an appeal from the Brighton and Hove branch of Epilepsy Action, cyclists in the area are asked to run their flashing lights on constant rather than flashing.
• Starting in February, Southend seafront will undergo a £7million transformation, which will see a new cycle path along the southern promenade in addition to landscaping and car parking changes.

And Finally,
A further big hurrah for seven-year-old Charlie Simpson, whose five mile charity ride around his local park has now raised an amazing £194,000 for the UNICEF appeal for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Arthur Lamy is a freelance writer who has written books, guides and articles for, among others, IPC Media, Ottaker’s Bookshops, Seaflower Books and Jersey Tourism.

He is a Blue Badge qualified tourist guide specializing in cycling and walking tours.

He is also a keen photographer – Joint winner of the 2009 Jersey Telecoms ‘Front Page’ competition.

More information can be found on his website: www.arthurlamy.com