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Newsnet 01.05.09
01/05/2009
CTC Newsnet
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There’s a whole lot of potholes
According to figures out this week from the
Asphalt Industry
Alliance (AIA), the number of potholes on
the roads in England and Wales is up by 32% since last year and on average a road
now boasts a pothole every 120 yards. The AIA estimate it will cost £8.5
billion to bring the condition of roads up to scratch! If you spot a pothole,
don’t just cycle round it, report it on our site
www.fillthathole.org.uk.
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Bikes and trains in the Netherlands
In early April, MPs and peers, together with CTC’s
Chris Peck and Chris Williamson, spent two days as guests of NedRailways, the
operators of both the Merseyrail and Northern Rail franchises, on a tour of the
cycle-rail interchanges of the Netherlands. The tour was filmed by Carlton Reid
of Quickrelease.tv and
this video was
shown in Parliament this week. You can also take a look at
photos
from the trip.
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Counting the cost of helmets
New research reported this week in
New
Scientist magazine shows that if cyclists were forced to wear helmets, the
resulting health costs would be far greater than the benefits saved from any possible
reduction in injuries.
Piet de Jong
of Macquarie University has devised a new mathematical model to weigh up
the value of the injury savings: this research proves that inactivity caused by
not cycling is a far greater threat to health than any possible head injuries
caused by not wearing a cycle helmet. This is in line with
CTC’s stance on
helmets.
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The latest on the London Cycle Hire scheme
Earlier this week,
the
Mayor of London revealed the locations of 400 cycle docking stations, where
people will be able to pick up and drop off hire bikes in central London. CTC Campaigns team
has been looking at the scheme and are disappointed there’s no plan to provide
bikes at mainline stations. We feel that TfL’s concerns over controlling the
expected high demand at train stations are misplaced, as other cycle hire
schemes seem to cope.
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And the winners are….
Seventy years after
Chester and North Wales CTC was
formed, hundreds of cyclists gathered in Chester last weekend to mark the
occasion by attending
CTC’s National
Dinner and Awards. The Minister for Cycling, Paul Clark MP presented awards
for the Tourist Competition 2008, CTC Volunteer of the Year, CTC Voluntary
Group of Year, and the Gordon Selway Memorial Award. More
information
about the winners and photos of the event are online.
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A fabulous blog
At the
Chester Cycling festival on Saturday, CTC Member Sue Booth was busy promoting
Chester and North Wales CTC
and her ‘Fabulous Ladies Cycling Club’, which meets every month. Sue started
the short, friendly rides in January and now she has
a blog all about the new
group. The next ‘Fabulous Ladies Cycling Club’s meeting is on May 9 at 10am
at the Kingsway Café in Chester.
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Can you get young people on bikes?
Applications are now being sought for
Bike Club, our exciting new Cycling
England funded project focusing on young people. We are looking for a manager
and 8 officers who have a real passion for using cycling to help improve young
people’s lives. If that sounds like you please see
www.ctc.org.uk/vacancies
for details of how to apply. For further information on Bike Club, please see
www.ctc.org.uk/bikeclub.
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The CTC and Cyclenation Spring 2009 Conference
Book
your place on any of the weekend of events at CTC’s and Cyclenation’s Spring
Conference: on Friday 29 May from 10am at Manchester
Town Hall, there is a free seminar for cycle
planning, design and promotion professionals called
Cycling Futures –
Effective Planning for Cyclists. On Saturday 30 May, 10am - 5pm at Manchester Friends Meeting House,
Cycling as a solution will
explore how cycling can contribute to addressing the many challenges facing the UK, and will equip cycle
campaigners with the knowledge and skills they need to put cycling at the
forefront of decision-makers' minds. For more information, see
www.ctc.org.uk/conference.
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CTC’s Flickr group
Want to see what other CTC members get up to on
their bikes? Then take a look at over 500 pictures uploaded on
CTC’s Flickr group.
You can also comment on other people’s photos and upload your own images to the
group too.
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Dalby Forest fun
On 10 May, the National Points Series heads to Dalby Forest and
CTC’s Cycle Champions
project in North Yorkshire is running introductory off-road rides alongside
the event. Cycle Champions Officer Martyn Bolt also ran a similar event last October
and nearly 100 people took part. Martyn is looking for volunteer ride
leaders and volunteers to help book riders in and help run the base
station.
For
more information, email
Martyn Bolt
or call 0771 767 8549. |
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CTC Yorkshire & Humber Volunteer Event
In Sheffield on Saturday 6 June 10am – 4pm
CTC
will be bringing together people who are interested in practical ways of
getting other people cycling. The aim of the event is to help get you started
on leading a ride, creating a new CTC group or encouraging all ability cycling.
Lunch will be provided and we’re planning an enjoyable and sociable day. To
sign up, please e-mail
volunteer.event@ctc.org.uk.
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Grand Spring Draw – closing date May 18
The Grand Spring Draw raises valuable funds for
CTC Charitable Trust and delivers big cash prizes to
the lucky winning ticket holders. Your draw tickets were included with your
last copy of “Cycle” magazine and there’s just a couple of weeks left to sell
them, the closing date for ticket returns is May 18.
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France Sea to Sea
Due to a cancellation, we
have a place for one male on our classic ride from the Atlantic to the
Mediterranean. On the way, we take in the forests of the Landes, vineyards of
Aquitaine and the wilder landscapes of the Languedoc. Transport is by Bike
Express to Bordeaux, returning from Montpellier. Details from Bob Norton
bobn@tinyonline.co.uk France, Sea to
Sea is a 13 day holiday from 27 May - 08 June. CTC holidays are not-for-profit
and are exclusive to CTC members. For more information see the
CTC Holidays website.
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Member benefit: Get 3 months’ free membership or a bike cleaning brush set
Introduce a friend to CTC and each of you will
receive either
3 months’
free membership or a Weldtite 3 brush cleaning set (worth £9.99). If you
know someone who’d love CTC, we’d like to welcome them to our family of
cyclists. If they join before 1 June, both of you will get the choice of one of
these great offers. Simply call the CTC
membership team on 0844 736 8451 and give us the details.
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________________________________________________________________________
Created by
victoria.hazael@ctc.org.uk
on
01/05/2009
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