Aiming to make riding your bike as easy as riding a bike…
Written by author on May 25, 2011
On the Thursday 26th May, Cycling Dumfries will be holding its inaugural meeting at Mi Amore on the corner of Bank St and Irish St. Cycling Dumfries is a brand new cycling group that will be campaigning to improve conditions for cyclists in and around the town so that anyone who wants to can use their bike to get around. Anyone who is interested in cycling – even if they don’t ride much or don’t even have a bike – is welcome to attend.
Cycling is a healthy, active way to get about that not only saves you money and keeps you fit but can make the whole town a more pleasant place to be, cutting congestion and pollution and easing pressure on the roads. More that 25% of car journeys in the UK are less than half a mile and 68% of journeys in Dumfries are less than 5 miles, distances which are ideal for cycling. Yet many people simply don’t feel able to get about by bike whether because they are worried about the traffic, don’t have a bike or anywhere secure to keep it, or don’t know how to go about it. Many parents would also like to see their children have the freedom to get around by themselves as they did when they were teenagers but feel it’s now too dangerous to let youngsters out on their own. While there have been some good cycling and walking facilities built around the town – such as the Maxwelltown Railway path and the Caledonian Cycleway – they’re still not joined up enough to make using your bike to get to the shops, school or work as easy as it could be.
Cycling Dumfries is a grass roots campaign which aims to identify and tackle some of these barriers to cycling, urging the council to do more and to make the legacy of the Go Smart! campaign permanent. We welcome the participation of anyone who lives or works in and around the town – including the outlying villages – or anyone who’s interested in promoting everyday cycling in the area. Anyone who’s interested can find out more by visiting our website on http://cyclingdumfries.wordpress.com or email Sally Hinchcliffe (sallyhinchcliffe@gmail.com)
