As you can see from the photos there’s been a bit of “horsing around” as we prepare for this year’s Guid Nychburris Parade.
Time for some horseplay: Getting ready for Guid Nychburris!
Category: Events
Next Meeting: A Crichton foray!
It may seem like our meetings are a bit of a movable feast these days, as we chop and change venues, but it’s not just to keep people on their toes! Our next meeting is at the Crichton (at Crichton Central), but this is for a good reason – because we’ve been asked to advise on their draft active travel strategy.
As well as a good opportunity to help increase the impact of one of the town’s greatest assets, this is also a good opportunity to kick things off with a little bike ride around the campus. So while the meeting will start at 6pm as usual, if you’re up for a pre-meeting ride, then meet us outside Crichton Central at around 5:15 for a short pootle in and around the grounds. If the weather is kind, there couldn’t be a nicer place to ride, especially in May when all the trees are coming into leaf and the blossom is everywhere.
Because many of us will be coming in from town, if you want to ride to the start in company then stop by our normal ride starting place (the rowing club bridge) around 4:45 to head up together.
How many cyclists does it take to make a ride?
Strictly speaking, how many people does it take to organise our year round ride programme? And the answer is, more than you might think!
We’re fortunate that Cycling Dumfries is made up of people happy to volunteer time to attend meetings, contact the council about active travel issues and whip up the all important baking for ride sustenance. In fact, sometimes it can seem there’s a whole army of volunteers, but we are in fact quite a small band of dedicated enthusiasts.
Our year round ride programme is a fantastic success, with turnouts getting on for 20 people, even during our winter rides. This typically means splitting the ride into two groups, to ensure safety and to be considerate of other road users. On the day itself we are often in need of four ride volunteers, not just the two we’ve normally operated with.
At the risk of sounding like an Oscar awards acceptance speech . . . firstly, thanks to everyone who comes on the rides – you are what makes them a success! Secondly, thank you to everyone who volunteers their time on the day, to lead the ride or marshal the ride as a back marker – you mean the rides can go ahead. Next up, huge Hollywood handshakes all round to our star bakers who provide sustenance and morale in the form of cake. And finally, thank you to the “behind the scenes” volunteers, who spend their time coming up with the routes, advertising them via the website, Facebook, emails and posters, sending social media reminders in the run up to the rides and writing post-ride reports – you create the rides and spread the word so people have a ride to go on.
In any given year we organise around 20 rides, plus a few bonus ones such as the Wild Goose Festival and campaign rides to highlight problem areas for cycling. Averaging at around two rides a month, we welcome anyone who would like to be involved in baking, leading or back marking as a ride volunteer, taking photos or videos of rides, writing it up afterwards, or getting the message out via social media. You may also think there’s something extra you can add – we’ve had great contributions such as historical guides to accompany our ride routes.
We are in particular need of ride volunteers. This doesn’t have to be in the form of a leader; back markers to bring up the rear of each group are just as essential. And it would be great if you can confirm before the day if you can volunteer on the ride. It makes the job of the ride leaders more comfortable, knowing there are volunteers to help out.
If you think you could help out, or would like some more information, email us at cyclingdumfries@gmail.com or message us on Facebook. Alternatively, you can chat to one of our committee members/ride leaders/bakers/backmarkers/content creators at the next meeting or ride you are at. Our volunteering is very ad hoc, and we are open to any contribution, large or small, regular or otherwise.
We also know that not everyone can volunteer all of the time. Whether you come along on a ride as a volunteer or participant, please know you are always welcome.
Celebrating Penpont!
Last weekend we attended the official opening and celebration of phase one of the Penpont to Thornhill active travel path – a real achievement.
Although it was a very brisk and breezy early spring day, there was a good turnout of people who had come to celebrate this fantastic new link that opens up a safe route to Thornhill for people in the village – walking, wheeling or cycling.
Continue reading “Celebrating Penpont!”April Meeting – Back to the David Keswick Centre
As part of our programme to keep you all on your toes and make sure you’re reading our posts (and also because The Bridge is closed for the Easter holidays), our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 2nd April at the David Keswick Centre, at the normal time of 6pm.
As we start to gear up for a new season of campaigning and activities there’s much to discuss – from the next step in our Missing Links campaign to our plans for the all important Guid Nychburris entry
Please come along if you want to help us fly the flag for cycling …
Our March Ride is a Movable Feast – this Sunday!
Our Curiosity rides are usually on the last Sunday of the month – but to avoid clashing with Easter, our outing to Drumcoltran Tower will be this Sunday, 24th March – so don’t miss it. We’ll meet at the bridge by the Rowing Club (see map) for an 11am start.
Ordinarily this is a 23-mile ride but we may need to adjust the route to avoid the Glen Road path which will add another 3 miles or so. There’s a bit of climbing (and descending) along the way but we’ll keep the pace steady and there will be a break and a chance to explore when we get to the tower.
As you might expect with an outing to a 500-year-old ruin, there’s plenty of historical interest there and along the way – as Jim Mackison has uncovered in his local history guide
Take note; there will be a quiz at the end (just kidding) (maybe).
Another ride, another meeting
Time flies, and even leap-year Februaries end eventually, which means our March meeting is just around the corner – and we’ve still got a ride report from last weekend to catch up on.
To get the business bit out of the way first – our next monthly meeting will be on Tuesday 5th March at the Bridge (note the venue) from 6 pm, when we’ll be looking forward to summer with discussions on our Summer Ride programme and – most importantly – our plans to take the Guid Nychburris parade cycle section by storm.
Meanwhile, February proved kinder than January on the weather front for our last Curiosity Ride – as 17 of us (plus the puncture fairy) gathered by the Rowing Club for our jaunt along the Cairn and Cluden Valley.
Continue reading “Another ride, another meeting”Swords and Sorcery! Join us for another curiosity ride this weekend
As spring grows near, it’s time to look forward to Sunday’s Curiosity Ride, a jaunt out along the banks of the Cairn (or Cluden) River. This will be a bit gentler than last month’s outing – 18 miles of quiet rolling back roads west of Dumfries. Meet at the bridge by the Rowing Club for an 11 am start – and bring some lunch to eat on the road as there will be no opportunity for a cafe stop.
Continue reading “Swords and Sorcery! Join us for another curiosity ride this weekend”Bringing Folk Along for the Ride
Yesterday we held our Democracy Matters conversation – a chance for people with a variety of interest in active travel from across the region to talk about how we thought local democracy could be strengthened in Scotland. As always when we have a chance to get together there was a real buzz in the room, with lots of connections being made and plans hatched, on top of the business of the day. People really engaged with the matter in hand and there were lots of thoughtful contributions and creative suggestions flying around the room – most people (ourselves included) left with a smile on our faces and feeling energised to keep on advocating for change to support active travel in whatever way is needed.
Continue reading “Bringing Folk Along for the Ride”Latest ride – and next meeting
Last Sunday saw us gathering for our latest Curiosity Ride to Crocketford and just like last time, we had a headwind on our way out – only this time much more so! After a January that seemed to consist entirely of alternating hard freezes and named storms the weather was actually an improvement, with no rain and fairly mild temps, but it was a battle once we headed into the wind.
Cycling Dumfries 