It seems everything is coming up roses for cycle fans in this fine city of ours: 2008 has seen hit after hit of good news for those that love to pedal!

Right at the beginning of the year, the Bristol based sustainable transport charity, Sustrans, won the coveted ‘National Lottery People’s £50 Million’ award – receiving 42% of the votes – with it’s Connect2 project meaning they would receive a huge cheque of National Lottery money to invest in walking and cycling schemes across the UK; money which is being matched to the sound of £100 million and is already making a difference around the country.

The second thing Bristol bikers have been able to shout about this year was back in May: after frivolous protests and strong campaigning, the cycling community were able to save the Bristol-Bath Railway Path from turning into a glorified bus lane, preserving the most used cycle path in the UK. Fabulous.

Thirdly, June 22nd saw over 5000 cyclists take to the streets as part of ‘Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride’ in the most popular year in the event’s history. The free, non-competitive occasion saw friends and family of all ages and abilities pedalling routes across the city ranging from 9 to 38 miles as roads were closed off around Bristol, demonstrating just how much we all value the two wheeled way of getting around here.

That same week saw the UK’s Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, name our very own Bristol as the UK’s first ‘Cycling City’. Fancy titleage aside, this is fantastic news and means there is to be even further investment in cycling schemes across Bristol. The government has donated £11.4 million in funding which Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council have pledged to match for investment in cycling in the coming years. Bristol will lead by example as the flagship city for a wider government programme to reduce traffic congestion and improve people’s health by getting bums off sofas and onto saddles.

Bristol now intends to double the number of cyclists over the next three years with a series of innovations and in the near future we can expect:

- State of the art facilities for cyclists commuting to the city centre, improved on-road cycle routes and more cycle parking.
- Improved links to the Bristol-Bath Railway Path and a new off-road cycle route between Lockleaze and Hengrove, north to south across Bristol linking the suburbs to the centre.
- Double the number of children receiving cycling training.
- A ‘Re-cycling’ scheme that provides and repairs bikes free of charge to deprived communities.
- The implementation of ‘Personal Travel Plans’ for individuals, employers and schools to target car journeys of less than 2 miles.
- Finally and most excitingly, Bristol is set to be the first city in the UK with a major bike rental network, based on the system in Paris. Basically, it will be an on-street rental scheme where you can pick up and drop off bicycles as you need from a number of different locations around the city including Temple Meads, the CREATE Centre, SS Great Britain and Broadmead and UWE. The first hour of hire will be free and then £1 per hour afterwards.

Finally it seems Bristol City Council have woken up to the fact that Bristol loves to cycle and we can be proud that this latest funding was won ahead of seven other potential cities because of the “bold and ambitious proposals” put forward by the Council. Councillor Bob Hewett said; “I think there’s becoming a culture in the city of people wanting to cycle and seeing more people do it and thinking ‘well I could do that’ - so I think it snowballs.”

www.hourbike.com

Matt Whittle