Bike TO the Park

Calling anyone living near Lochside, Lochthorn, Cargenbridge or Georgetown – as part of Dumfries’s Bike in the Park event, we will be leading very easy rides to and from the park. Anyone who wants to get to Dock Park by bike, but who feels a bit worried about cycling there on their own – or who just fancies some company on the ride – is cordially invited to join us on a led ride from four points around town into the park.

You can find out more here, including starting times, meeting points, lengths and routes. And whether you come along for the ride or not, please do come to the event itself, and drop by our stand and say hello!

Constitution and Membership

In order to get ourselves formally constituted as a body, and be able to open a bank account, we need a constitution, management committee and so on. With the help of the Hub, we’ve drawn something up (see below) and we hope to adopt it on Saturday, at the Bike in the Park event, so if you’re interested either pop along to the Cycling Dumfries Tent at 2:30 to put in your two-pence worth, or send your thoughts by email (cycling DOT dumfries AT gmail DOT com) or in the comments below.

We’ll be setting membership fees at an entirely reasonably £2 per year, principally to cover admin costs. You can join on the day or by paypal or by post – details to follow

CONSTITUTION OF Cycling Dumfries

Cross-border Cycling…

Well, across the Scotland/England border anyway.

Cycle Carlisle are holding a family-friendly mass bike ride this Sunday in the city centre (that’s Carlisle city centre, just to be clear – Dumfries is not a city & if this news story is anything to go by, not likely to become one either. Oops!). Not only will there be a short (1.5 miles) ride, but there will be fun and games after the event too – and a chance to get your bike fixed by Dr. Bike. Find out more here or on the Cycle Carlisle website.

Joined Up Thinking

I was musing last night about the planned Bike to the Park rides on July 2nd, and how best to plan the route. Lochthorn Library will be one of our starting points because it’s one of the Go Smart ‘Park and Choose’ points where drivers can take alternative forms of transport into town, such as one of the Bike to Go bikes.  From Lochthorn Library the very nice Caledonian Cycleway takes you right to the edge of town, well away from any cars, and perfect for beginners. So that part was easy. But once you get to the end of the Cycleway, what then? You can go down Nunwood Road – a nice quiet residential street – cross on the Nith Viaduct, and join the Maxwelltown Railway path for more quiet traffic-free cycling but that’s going entirely in the wrong direction.

I tried CycleStreets’s route planner to see what options it gave me, but it wasn’t a huge amount of help. It suggested taking the path down to the station (including a section where you have to dismount), along Newall Terrace (more dismounting) and along the High Street (some pedestrianised sections and not an inviting prospect on a Saturday morning with the market stalls up and a load of cyclists in tow). It’s hardly going to convince people that cycling is easy and convenient if they keep having to get off and push, is it?

If I was riding on my own, I know what I’d do. Down the Edinburgh Road, pulling out to the right to avoid the left turn lane at the lights, then turning right across traffic  … no, that doesn’t sound very inviting either. Perfectly doable, for a confident cyclist, but the whole point of the ride is that it’s for unconfident cyclists…

Turning right off the Edinburgh road, from Google Street View (c) Not for the faint hearted

The fact is, even with all the brilliant routes that we do have into town (and I know I bless the providers of the bridge over the Glasgow road roundabout every time I have to cross it), they do have a way of running out when you need them most. Fine if all you want to do is go for a nice bike ride; a little harder if you’re actually trying to go somewhere useful.

What could be done? Well, making it easier to cycle down the High Street would help, as the position at the moment is not entirely clear where cycling is permitted and where it’s not. Making the Friar’s Vennel and Bank Street two-way to bikes all along their lengths would also ease passage to and from the main shopping area and the cycle track on the Whitesands, especially if there were some bike as well as pedestrian crossings. There’s lots that could be done, and it wouldn’t even  cost much money or inconvenience the drivers in their cars.*

Meanwhile, I’ll keep thinking of the best route from Lochthorn to Dock Park – I’m sure there’s an answer somewhere that doesn’t involve going half way round the town. I just wish it could be made easy and obvious for anyone, so that we can get everybody on their bikes and out of their cars.

* by the way, the council is doing a consultation at the moment about changes to the road layout to ease congestion, although sadly this is not one of the proposed options. The changes, apparently,  ’could make life easier for pedestrians, cyclists, buses and cars’ – have a look and see whether you think they will do much for the first three (I know what I think). And do take part in the survey too, whatever your opinion…

Forum Added

By popular request – well, two people suggested it – we’ve set up a forum in Yahoo! Groups to allow people to discuss matters easily. At the moment it’s a private group and new members will be moderated, although this may change (posts won’t be moderated though).  You’ll need a Yahoo!, Google or Facebook account (they’re very quick and free to set up) and you’ll also need a Yahoo! profile – but if you’ve joined any Yahoo group in the past then you may already have one.

Anyway, if you want to get more involved with our activities, discuss matters relating to cycling in the area or just hang out with like minded local cyclists, please do join and have your say…

A Date for your Diary and Volunteers wanted

On Saturday the 2nd July – make a note – the Go Smart team will be organising ‘Bike in the Park‘ in Dock Park from 11-3. It’s all part of Bike Week, which is technically from 18th – 26th June but what’s a week late between friends? Anyway, they’re promising an extravaganza of bike-related fun from a stunt bike team to a best-dressed bike competition, led rides suitable for all the family, music and more.

Mama duck leading ducklings up White Rock Lake creek by oaphotos on Flickr

They’re keen for as many people as possible to arrive by bike rather than by car and this is where the volunteers come in. Would anyone be able to help lead rides from various outlying parts of the town into the park? We’ll work out a nice route on quiet roads and traffic-free paths as far as possible, and because we can register it as part of Bike Week, we’ll also handle the issue of insurance. It will give beginner riders a taster of how easy and pleasant it can be to cycle into town and hopefully encourage them to try it themselves. The distances will be short and the pace slow, so you don’t have to be a massively experienced cyclist yourself – just one who’s confident and, more importantly, loves riding their bike and showing other people just how much fun and how practical it can be.

Depending on the level of interest we’ll be running the rides from Lochthorn, Lincluden, Georgetown and Cargenbridge, taking advantage of the various cycle paths and routes. The rides in will leave around10:30 and the rides back will depart Dock Park at around 3pm

If anyone is willing to help or might be interested and wants to know more, please let us know either by leaving a comment under this post, or by emailing us directly at cyclingdumfries – AT – gmail – DOT – com.