Dumfries Cyclists Join the Throng

Saturday saw 3,000 cyclists – including round-the-world cyclist Mark Beaumont – join a mass bike ride in Edinburgh for Pedal on Parliament which was jointly organised by Cycling Dumfries’s co-ordinator, Sally Hinchcliffe

Among them were several faces from Dumfries, including Cycling Dumfries treasurer  and CTC secretary Mike Gray, seen here with Hendrik Kant of the Dumfries and Galloway CTC group.

Other D&G faces spotted in the crowd were John and Rosie Rutherford from Cycling Dumfries and Paul Buxton from the Moffat area – and at least one set of Dumfries road club kit. It was heartening to see support coming from this corner of Scotland as well as across the nation.

The ride was in support of safer cycling and at the end, a petition was handed over to representatives of four parties: Jim Eadie for the government, Sarah Boyack for Labour, Councillor Gordon McKenzie for the LibDems and Alison Johnstone for the Green party. Unfortunately the Conservative MSP who had intended to come had another engagement.

Panoramic shot of the assembled crowd by Mike Gray

Pedal on Parliament has an eight-point manifiesto for safer cycling including more spending on cycling infrastructure, better design, safer speeds and more training for all road users. You can find out more about it here – and sign the petition (which will be formally lodged with Parliament in a couple of weeks) here.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to turn out – and don’t forget that there are local elections on Thursday where you can also make your voice heard.

Rising to the Challenge

Chapeau to Dumfries’s intrepid politicians who braved a dire weather forecast to join us on our ‘Council Candidates Cycle Challenge’!

Before the ride: Gail McGregor, Yen Hongmei Jin, Ian Blake, Bill Wright, Roger Grant, Russell Brown, Elaine Murray, Jeff Leaver and Ronnie Nicholson

Ian Blake (Conservative), Russell Brown MP (Labour), Roger Grant (Conservative), Elly Hurren (Conservative), Yen Hongmei Jin (SNP), Jeff Leaver (Labour), Gail McGregor (Conservative), Elaine Murray MSP (Labour), Ronnie Nicholson (Labour), Alastair Witts (SNP), and Bill Wright (UKIP), demonstrated that cycling was truly a cross-party affair by showing up – with and without bikes – to join around a dozen regular cyclists and one police officer for a tour of the town on two wheels. The idea to show them some of the problems – and opportunities – facing regular cyclists, as well as to give them an opportunity to tell us what they might be able to do to help if they were elected.

There were a few nervous faces before we set off, as not everyone was an experienced cyclist (and some of those bikes looked as if they’d spent rather too long in the shed…) but people were soon pedalling confidently around town as if they’d been born on two wheels. We looked at the new Bank street crossing, potential routes from Newall Terrace into town, routes to the High School and St. Joseph’s, the area around DGOne, and even tackled the Moffatt Road and the roundabout behind the station. By the time we made it back to Dock Park the nerves had been transformed into broad smiles (or perhaps it was just relief). Even the weather obliged – the rain held off and we were rewarded with a gorgeous spring evening. And Dumfries’s drivers didn’t disappoint either, with one impatient motorbike (once we’d lost our police escort) weaving so sharply through the group of cyclists that we feared he’d lose his pillon passenger.

After the ride: relieved smiles all round for Russell Brown, Roger Grant, Elly Hurren, Yen Hongmei Jin, Jeff Leaver, Gail McGregor, Elaine Murray, Ronnie Nicholson, Alsastair Witts and Bill Wright

We’d like to thank the Dumfries and Galloway police for providing a cycling officer for part of the ride – it certainly made a difference and allowed us to get through the junctions much more quickly and safely than we would have on our own.

One impatient motorbike aside, it was an enjoyable and informative evening on both sides. We’ll be giving the candidates a chance to tell us what they hope to do for cyclists over the next few days, so watch this space. Meanwhile, we’ll let the pictures tell the story.

Yen shows her SNP colours

Roger Grant (Cons) and Russell Brown (Lab) talk bikes with Mike Gray and Sally Hinchcliffe of Cycling Dumfries

Last minute Go Bike maintenance for UKIP's Bill Wright

Copenhagen ... Amsterdam ... Dumfries? The 'peloton' fills Newall Terrace

Come and Join us for the Cycle Challenge

Well, we’ve had a fantastic response to our Council Candidates’ Cycle Challenge. Despite some scepticism about whether it would be possible to get a councillor on a bike at all no sooner did the word go out than the responses come in, and overwhelmingly the answer was yes. We’ve got candidates from all the parties contesting the elections locally (Conservatives, Labour and SNP) as well as MSPs and even our MP. Bikes are being dug out of sheds, tyres pumped up and chains oiled even as we speak…

But it’s not just our local politicians who are invited. If you’re a regular cyclist around town – or even if you’re not because you’ve found it all too difficult or scary – then please come along and join us. It’s your chance to put your point of view to our elected or want-to-be elected representatives.

Meet us at Dock Park, at 5:30pm on Friday 20th April. And it will be by the Go Bike! stands so you can even get your hands on a bike if you can’t bring yours. More details

A Quick Route Recce

Mike Gray, John Schofield and myself set off last Friday on a short tour of the town to work out a route for the Council Candidates Cycle Challenge. The final route will be something like this:

View Larger Map

I’ll let John take up the rest of the tale:

Last Friday saw three cyclists taking a tour of Dumfries.  The plan was to follow a route that would show off the best and the worst of cycling in town to our councillors.  We also wanted to look at cycling provision for school pupils.  In just one hour, the route we chose ended up having some very high and low points!

Starting from Dock Park, we went along the Sands on the National Cycle Route.  This is pleasant and traffic free but very narrow at points with some possible pedestrian conflicts.  Passing by the old swimming pool, the route went onto George St heading for the main road at Academy Street; quite busy but traffic calmed.  There was nothing to deter any cycling so far.  However, things changed once we met Academy Street and turned left. Academy Street is one of the main roads in the town and as soon as we went onto the advance stop signs at the first set of lights, motorists started to become annoyed.  Heading towards Lovers Walk the road is quite narrow. When there are two or three cyclists the traffic is obliged to slow down, which caused one driver to drive very close to us as he overtook.  At the next set of lights, we thought it better not to use the advance stop lines to avoid any further aggravation with this driver. From Lovers Walk we turned up onto Newall Terrace, which should be the main cycle route from the train station into town, to go and survey the junction with Loreburn Street.  This junction is fairly cyclist unfriendly.  Cyclists either have to dismount or ignore a ‘No Entry’ sign to reach the junction.  To further continue into town, the cyclist must either walk or cycle along the pavement and then go the wrong way down a one way street, or take a detour along Munches street.  A small amount of investment is needed here.

Back along the Caledonian cycle way from the station, we met a couple of very pleasant cyclists.  One lady, who was used to cycling on the continent, hoped that things would improve greatly for cycling here.  Mike kindly assisted the other lady to pump up her tyres.  We continued the cycle route but then took a detour across the Auction Mart car park, despite having to mount and dismount at the gates.  There is the potential here to have a traffic free link to the High School.  Unfortunately, a person, claiming to be from the Auction mart, took a very dim view of us cycling across the car park. (editor’s note: we very much doubted he was… or else the Auction mart might like to review their drugs and/or alcohol policies)

Onto Moffat Road towards DG1, a flag ship facility that is absolutely not cycle friendly.  Dismount again to get onto Queen Street, up to St Joseph’s College, again a secondary school that would benefit from some ‘Rights of Way’ signing and a traffic calming link through the Health Board to Dock Park.

This route showed us the real assets that Dumfries has for cycling, but because these assets are not linked up, the intervening main roads are a significant deterrent to cyclists.  For a very small amount of money, the High School,  St Joseph’s College and Newall Terrace could easily become high quality links.