York gears up for weekend of cycling

After the spectacular Tour de France Grand Depart cycling fever is set to hit York once again on September 13 and 14, as the annual Festival of Cycling and Sky Ride York take place in the city.

The renowned York Festival of Cycling will once again take place in Rowntree Park over the weekend with all sorts of pedal powered activities for residents and visitors to take part in. There will be bikes of all shapes and sizes including adaptive bikes and penny farthings for people to test ride.
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Shocks on tour de cycle track

Graffiti 6 mile bridge York Selby cycle track 21st July 2014
With the Tour de France now relegated to one of the more obscure ITV channels, the Councils leadership were asked last week precisely what targets they had for the “heritage” programme?
They had no numbers to share.

Still the chances are that some additional tourists will find their way to York over the next 12 months.

 

 What impression will they get?
Graffiti Tadcaster Road cycle track bridge 1600 hours 21st July 2014
There has always been some criticism of he view from the railway carriage window on the East Coast main line approach to the City. Weeds, weed and more weeds is the usual vista.

But what of the dedicated cyclist making their way up the Selby to York cycle track?

The closer to York you get, the worse is the neglect, the  litter and the graffiti.

Obscene graffiti dominates the A64 underpass while the Tadcaster Road junction is rarely graffiti free.

 

Warning obscene graffiti

Warning obscene graffiti

At the Tesco roundabout the cycle path is now blocked by overhanging bushes.

 

 

 

 

The – St Johns University sponsored –  roundabout itself is weed infested and a poor advert for a City dependent on visitors to sustain its economy

Cycle lane blocked

Cycle lane blocked

Weeds take over Tadcaster Road roundabout.

Weeds take over Tadcaster Road roundabout.

 

 

 

University Road Cycle Route; Safety Improvements Consultation

City of York Council in partnership with the University of York, are proposing to undertake safety improvements and construct a cycle route alongside University Road to help make the area more accessible and safer for students and residents.

The proposed cycle path will extend along the northern side of University Road between Siwards Way and Innovation Way roundabouts, and will mainly be new construction within the existing verge area. The existing path areas near the library bus stops will be retained.
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Businesses challenge each other in the ‘York Cycle Challenge’

cycle to work

Ahead of the Tour de France coming to the city workplaces in York are invited to take part in a fun, free competition to encourage more people to get on their bikes.

Both Aviva and Natural England are two of the 65 business who are already getting into gear ahead of the York Cycle Challenge. Over 1800 people are expected to get on their bikes throughout the challenge which runs from 16 June until the Tour de France comes to York on 6 July.
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Road Safety Event in York on the 9th June

cyclesafe card

UK Road Safety Week, runs from the 9- 15 June 2014, with an event in Parliament Square, York, on the 9th June.

The event in York is being supported by 95 Alive, the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, City of York Council, North Yorkshire County Council, North Yorkshire Police, CFOA and the Mineral Products Association.

MP for Scarborough and Whitby and Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department for Transport, Robert Goodwill,will be attending as will Dave Etheridge, Road Safety Lead for CFOA and Honor Byford, Chair of Road Safety GB.

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Businesses challenge each other in ‘The York Cycle Challenge’

Workplaces in York are being invited to take part in a free competition to encourage even more people to ride bikes as part of the 2014 York Cycle Challenge.

York_cycle_challenge_web

With less than 50-days to go until the world’s largest cycle race comes to York, more than 90 businesses and 1,800 people are set to take to the streets over the next three-weeks to compete in their own cycle challenge. (more…)

Outdoor theatre show inspired by everyday stories of cycling to tour Yorkshire this summer

 Bike Story

Yorkshire theatre company 509 Arts has announced the premier in York and tour dates for its free performances of Bike Story, a brand new outdoor theatre production based on stories from the public about cycling.

The show, commissioned by Yorkshire Festival 2014 and presented in association with City of York Council, will tour festivals and town centres throughout Yorkshire. During the run up to this year’s Grand Départ, it will be staged in venues including Rowntree Park in York, Hull, Doncaster, Leeds, Grassington, Saltaire, Ilkley, Harrogate, Halifax and Hebden Bridge and is free to the public.

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Three women try out bike travel for three months

 York Bike Belles, York’s cycling community for women, launches their “3 women 3 bikes 3 months” scheme this week to inspire more women to combine travel and exercise. Three local women who are new to cycling, have been given three bikes and asked to blog about their journey into cycling over the next three months.

HistoricalImageWomanBikeThe scheme, which is supported by the charity Sustrans and City of York Council’s i-Travel York initiative, launches with a new video this week.

Only 1 in 4 cyclists are women and 75% of women never cycle at all. Recent research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, showed that the biggest threat to women’s health was physical inactivity.

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