Sky Ride in Leicester

With perfect weather for the event , we expect that the forecast attendance of 12,000 for the Leicester Sky Ride will have been exceeded. There were cyclists of all ages on all sorts of bikes, everywhere.

Late News (31st August) Official Attendance 14,000.

A very popular feature of the Sustrans stand in Leicester's Market Place was the human powered smoothie maker, and with this level of effort one would need a drink for sure. The frantic arm waving was to fend off a number of troublesome wasps who were bent on having some of the smoothies. After killing some of them, I was stung on the wrist, but am expected to survive.

Plenty of Rangers to man the stall, so we were later able to get on our bikes and ride round the circuit of closed roads to see that there were hundreds of cyclists at the various "hubs" where there were other cycling based activities in progress.

Cash raised on the stall amounted to £53.71 of which £39.28 was by donations for the smoothies, and most of the rest by sales of puncture outfits..

An excellent effort by all concerned to popularise cycling in Leicester and to publisize Sustrans.

Riders arrive at the Town Hall to rest by the fountain.

Riders home in on the Sustrans stall

Cycle Show 2011

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After previously been sited in London, the Cycle Show moves to the NEC for 2011 and so is much more convenient for us here in the Midlands. The dates are Friday 30th September, Saturday 1st October, and Sunday 2nd October.
Furthermore, advanced tickets are available at discount through Sustrans or the CTC.
Tickets on the door cost £15.50, but at discount only £12 including a booking fee of £1. There is a further discount of 50p for concessions.
To book, go to cycleshow.co.uk and add discount code SUS (or CTC).
Although you are required to state your proposed day of attendance, the tickets, which you print off after keying in your credit card details, are actually valid for any of the three days.
We are proposing to go as a party by train on the Saturday.
The doors open at 9.30am and close at 5pm.
Perhaps Peter Ford would add best rail details.

Sky Ride in Leicester

http://www.goskyride.com/Leicester

Sunday 28th August sees the biggest mass participation bike ride of the year in Leicester. We feel that Sustrans should have a big presence at this event, so we are combining with the Leicester Rangers and other East Midlands groups to put on a big show centred on our trailer and gazebo. We will be handing out lots of maps, leaflets, flags and balloons, so book the date and come along. A limited number of car seats available from Derby and bikes can be carried in our trailer, so that you can join the ride. More details to follow.

Festival of Leisure Bike ride -The Conkers Circuit

The fresh air miles ride around the Conkers Circuit was sparsely attended(4 rangers, 10 enthusiastic members of the public) but was enjoyed by all. Here is a picture record of a passable first organized ride for the Gresley Rangers- the weather was scorching (35C) but everyone was up to the challenge and all went away with smiles and pleasant memories-I hope!

first the briefing-everyone listen up! Ben!

All set for the off- now were's the local MP when you need her!

The girls enjoying a much needed rest at the Navigation-Half way now!

How come the leader is at the back?-Top side Albert village Lake.

Speeding around the lake to check out....

The vociferous rescue dogs...Newfoundland??

Back at base. Les please put the kettle on we are proper parched!!

Festival of Leisure in Church Gresley

Rangers talking with the visitors to our stand.

A collaborative effort by the Gresley, Leicestershire and Derby Rangers this weekend was highly successful in promoting Sustrans and the National Cycle Network
Several thousand people came to the event which is held annually in Maurice Lea Memorial Park.
Saturday's weather was not quite up to the standard expected from the forecast, but Sunday's heat wave was right on the money, and the park was packed with crowds come to see all sorts of entertainment and activities in the beautiful Summer sunshine.

The view from our gazebo. An excellent pitch facing the main area.

We had plenty of visitors to our stand on Saturday in spite of the rather cloudy weather, and on Sunday morning Shawn and Ben led a Fresh Air Miles Ride around the nearby Conkers Circuit.
From then on we had a constant stream of people, many of whom owned bikes but knew not where to  ride them away from the traffic.  By the end of the afternoon we had almost run out of maps, leaflets, balloons and flags.
Next to us was the stand of Purple Mountain, the organisation which runs the new Hicks Lodge Cycle Centre at Moira.  In the few quiet moments that we had, we were able to discuss closer collaboration with them on some future projects.
The Derby Group's vehicle trailer proved invaluable not only for transporting our kit, but as a mobile advertisement and somewhere to put spare leaflets and other paraphernalia.
It would seem that we should do more of this type of event, where we can (as a charity) get the space for free.  Commercial organisations have to pay for the privilege.
It is amazing to see how many potential cyclists we have out there. Most people have a bike at home but do not ride it. There are several reasons for this, the main one being a fear of traffic and not knowing where they can ride on traffic free routes. Another reason is not knowing how to fix some minor (to us) mechanical fault with their bike.  It may be something as trivial as a puncture or a need for a spot of oil.
Many women feel that they should wear a helmet but don't like messing up their hair, and perhaps helmet maufacturers should be offering some alternative designs.
So it seems to me that these people need some help in overcoming their problems, and that is what we are doing at these events.
It is great to see young families enjoying cycling together, and we would hope and expect that the children will grow up as confident riders, passing the culture on eventually to their own children.