Arthur Lamy

I’ve just been reading about what rates as one of the cycling success stories of the past few years, possibly the decade.

It is the London borough of Sutton that can claim one of the most massive turnarounds in commuter behaviour anywhere. In fact so successful has the project been that now transport authorities in China, Singapore and Korea are looking to Sutton to provide a model for their own needs.

Over only three years, and with the help of £5.1million in funding from Transport for London, Sutton has increased the number of people cycling by 75%, increased bus use by 16% and decreased car usage by 6%.

This has been achieved by two distinct routes: as expected, Sutton has improved the infrastructure and made the roads more cyclist friendly, but it has also, rather unusually, spent money on encouraging people to cycle. A team called on every household in the borough, offering them a set of vouchers that gave them free cycling lessons, 10% off cycle clothing and 50% off a new bike.

The results have been fantastic:

• All 68 schools in Sutton had travel plans in place two years before the Government deadline of 2010.
• 16,000 of Sutton’s employees work for a company that has a travel plan in place.
• 27,000 people went to Smarter Travel Sutton events during the last year of the plan.
• 10,000 school children take part in the WoW initiative (Walk Once a Week).
• Over 1,000 people have met with an Active Steps advisor for advice on improving their health by changing their travel habits.

It would be wonderful to think that something like this could happen in Jersey, until then I’ll keep dreaming.

See the BBC report at:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8585000/8585240.stm

Sprint Bonuses

• Shimano has recently returned to full production after a fall in demand in the second quarter of last year. A lack of interest for high-end racing bikes and mountain bikes had caused an almost 30% fall in production in the early part of 2009.

• Within weeks of the 2010 North American Handmade Bicycle Show finishing, already 31 exhibitors have signed to attend the 2011 show even before registration had started. The 2011 show at the Austin Convention Center will run from 25-27 February 2011.

• The end of the postie on a bike draws near- though not necessarily here in Jersey I hope!  The outgoing C.E.O of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, claims that they are doing it for safety reasons. He said that delivery accidents will be reduced. On the Royal Mail’s own website cycle accidents come in fifth spot, after trips and falls, and dog attacks.

• In the wake of the David Walliams’-and a load of other people’s – John O’Groats to Land’s End ride for Sport Relief comes another charity daring do, this time from five-time Olympic Gold winner Sir Steve Redgrave. He, together with a team made up of ex-rowing chums, plans to ride the RAAM. That’s the 3,000 mile Race Across America, which starts on June 12th. The team hope to raise £100,000 for Sport Relief and the Steve Redgrave Fund. Follow their exploits on: http://www.redgravecrew.com/

• Happening soon in old London town is the Tweed Run, an event for single speed and fixie riders. It’s mandatory to wear tweed and sport the attire of a bygone age of cycling. If you’ve got the garb, pencil in 10^th April for the 12 mile ride. See more here: http://tweedrun.com/?page_id=90

• Mayor Boris has just launched an Air Pollution Action Plan in London. London has the most polluted air of any European city, and air pollution is reported to cause the deaths of around 3,500 people from emissions-related diseases.

• The final cut of teams for this year’s Tour de France has been made, and released to the media. Expect to see the following, who were selected using the 2008 UCI agreement that said that all ProTour teams get an automatic entry: Team Milram; Quick Step; Omega Pharma-Lotto; Team Saxo Bank; Caisse D’Epargne; Euskaltel-Euskadi; Footon-Servetto; Team HTC-Colombia; AG2R La Mondiale; BBox Bouygues Telecom; Cofidis; Francaise des Jeux; Lampre-Farnese; Liquigas-Doimo; Astana and Rabobank. The following teams were invited to ride the event: Garmin-Transitions; Team RadioShack; BMC Racing Team; Team Sky; Katusha and Cervelo Test Team.

• Office products and services company Office Depot took up the baton for green transport last week, when they introduced a fleet of cargo cycles. Office Depot’s Ross Kavanagh, said:” The new cargo cycles will see three-quarters of our van deliveries cut from the City’s roads, reducing traffic in the Square Mile and cutting harmful emissions into the atmosphere.”

• Leading on from a story that appeared in the blog a few weeks ago, the winner of the Brompton US Championships was Aaron Ritz, a city planner from Philadelphia. The winner of the ladies’ race was Beth Green. They both won a trip to the Brompton World Championships in England in October.

• Exeter is promoting a ‘ Cycle Exeter’s Business is Better by Bike Award Scheme’, which invites businesses in Exeter to enter a competition to see who is the most bicycle-friendly employer. It’s expected that the front runners will have showers, cycle parking facilities and offer incentives to their employees to ride to work. The results will be out at the beginning of May.

And Finally,

Don’t try this at home kids! Here is the latest offering from cycle stunt superstar, Danny McAskill, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjAFgN3eQLY

Arthur Lamy is a freelance writer and tourist guide specialising in cycling and walking tours.

www.cycleinjersey.com