Special Needs Cycling BikeActive
Brilliant charity supported by Sport Relief operating from Alton Water takes people out every Friday .
How to volunteer http://www.do-it.org.uk/search/opportunities/1795832/Bike_Active_Volunteer_Cyclists .
There is a map here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bike-Active-Alton-Water/155024427956677?sk=info
and a news clip on youtube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ7bMKWzbxg
Kevin
Tour of Britain 2012 – Ipswich again!
Ipswich has again been selected to host a stage of the Tour of Britain this year. The first stage of the tour will begin on Sunday 9th September from the Waterfront in Ipswich. This promises to be a full weekend for both sports and recreational cyclists, as the Ipswich SkyRide will also be held on Sunday 9th September.
Cycle Ipswich will be running a number of cycle trains from various parts of town, into the SkyRide.
Ipswich Skyride 2012 – date revealed
Following the success of last year, Skyride is set to announce that the Ipswich Skyride will take place on Sunday 9th September 2012. Find out more at /www.goskyride.com/Ipswich
Skyride Ipswich
Tour of Britain to pass through Ipswich – 17th September 2011
The official Tour of Britain route will pass through Ipswich, and motorcycles mapping out the route have been spotted this week as reported in the Evening Star on Saturday.
Setting off from Bury St Edmunds, the penultimate stage of the tour (Stage 7) will pass through Lavenham, Hadleigh, Ipswich, Helmingham and Diss before heading into Norfolk, finishing at Sandringham.
This exciting spectacle will pass through Ipswich on Saturday September 17th. The route will have the peloton pass down Westerfield Road, past Christchurch Park and then out of town along London Road, finally turning West towards Hintlesham and beyond.
There is a route map here.
Ipswich Skyride on Sunday 12th June
Imagine how great it would be to cycle around Ipswich in a traffic free environment. Well now you can find out. SkyRide is coming to Ipswich this weekend. An organiser told me they are expecting between 5,000 and 10,000 cyclists to congregate in Ipswich town centre on Sunday 12th June.
You can ride any part of the route you want, and possibly meet TV personality Jeff Brazier, Team Sky rider Alex Dowsett and Ross Edgar from the GB cycling team. There will also be related events and trade stands on the Market by Corn Exchange.
If you don’t have a road worthy bike, you can hire one from a variety of sources including the official goskyride.com website, or our very own Bicycle Doctor (see Cycle Shops)
You download the routemap here
Re Cycle your Old Bike
Today I had a great time volunteering at Re-Cycle in Colchester. This was the second day I have spent there lately and today I helped load a 20 foot container with 162 bikes and spares. The container was bound for a new partner project in Tanzania. When I put the seal on the doors at the end it was strange, and very exciting to think that in a short time the doors would be opened in a very different country, a long way away.
There is already a volunteer from Colchester, out in Tanzania, waiting to help set up the project and unload the bikes and spares we crammed in today. The container will also stay there as a workshop and store.
Re-Cycle partners with projects of various types in several African countries. The project might give free or low cost bikes to nurses , health visitors or HIV workers or to school children to help boost their attendance.
The gift of a bike is incredible. Workers can visit remote communities to help people, and students and adults can save valuable cash that they might have had to spend on bush taxis travelling to school and work.
Currently Re-Cycle is in desperate need of bikes. In previous years the Royal Mail donated 2000 old bikes per year. Last year that figure was 65 .
Today we packed 160 odd bikes off. Re-Cycle needs to fill a container every 4-5 weeks with up to 450 bikes ( see photo ) , that is a great number of bikes per year.
I have decided that the best way I can be of help to Re-Cycle is to increase the number of bikes I take down to Colchester.
So if you have a old bike or any bike related bits and bobs( pumps,tools, trailers etc) sitting in a shed somewhere Re-Cycle can send it will be hugely appreciated and make a massive difference. There is no problem persuading people to ride bikes in Africa ( unlike Ipswich ! ), a bike is a very valuable possession. Please ring me or email me if you have any to donate and I will collect asap.
You can see Re-Cycle’s website here http://www.re-cycle.org.uk
http://wwwbicycledoctor.blogspot.com/2011/01/today-i-had-great-time-volunteering-at.html
It’s snow time for my MTB
I may be the only person thinking this way, but I am LOVING this snow fall. First of all, I should say that there has only been a few inches in Suffolk, and that we are not suffering anything like as badly as other parts of the UK.
Earlier this year, I got a GT XC Agressor mountain bike. All summer I’ve been cursing its 2.5″ tires, because of the tremendous rolling resistance. But now the snow has some and I know why those clever folks at GT spec’d as they did. My Trek hybrid, with its skinny 28mm tires, is resting in the garage. For two weeks my MTB has been my main bike, waiting for it to snow….
And now….well what can I say? I am very pleased. I haven’t fallen over once. I only lose traction if I stand up in the saddle and really give it some welly. It turns in snow and on ice like a dream. Venturing off-road for my commute, I cut through the parks of Ipswich.
It’s not going to work – it’s an adventure and I am in control!
