Hooray it is Spring! I've
done a few 40 - 50 milers already, which is a fair bit for me
(a deal of my cycling is utility - the shopping, etc). And as
the spring gets the sap rising, yes, time to get campaigning
a bit. We still don't have a committee and we are still
somewhat low powered, but that contrasts sharply with the
desperate need to do something about the smashing up of our
environment that is currently underway - global warming,
pollution (breathing air in Bradford must be equivalent to
smoking a few packets of cigarettes), the disgraceful semi
anarchy of Bradford's traffic. My suggestion is to tackle
transport by voting green in every election where you can,
writing as many letters as you can to shops and businesses
asking for cycle facilities, and doing lots of biking -
because being out on your bike is the best way to get
cyclists noticed and encourage people to get on their bikes
this year - and take your young relatives cycling somewhere -
my youthful relatives like somewhere muddy and hilly. It's
good for them and you are helping them to be ready for when
they can't afford petrol (we are now a bit passed peak oil,
so best to start them getting their heads around that).
Ah, my bete noir, Tescos! Look at their corporate web site
and you'd think it was the green party - go to their stores
and you realise they aren't quite there yet. Yes, I've softened slightly
because I've had a reply from Tesco that says they are introducing
bike parking at the Valley Road store. UPDATE: they've now introduced a
basic bit of bike parking near the grocery bits front door. Minimal, probably would
be caught on CCTV (hmm, maybe). Not undercover, sadly, and not full sheffield stands, and all a bit
cramped. But we should, I guess, give lots of marks for at least something. I think it is
probably the minimum that Tesco could do without being seen as deliberately obstructive. It is also
very good for getting straight into the store - you are not shoved out the way in some corner.
You can still write to Tesco - use a template
letter and make life easier for yourself. Shop by bike at
a shop with bike parking nearby. Otherwise give the shop the
boot - this has to be every eco warrior's and cyclist's view!
What about all the other superstores in Bradford, tho'? Most of them are not
anywhere near to where they should be. Perhaps we need a campaign where we leave
feedback with the store 'yes, I would have shopped here but there's nowhere to leave my
bike so you missed out'. The message board would be a good place to suggest possible
superstores to be contacted.
Bradford College is making efforts
to be bike friendly, we are told, and it looks like things may be
happening. There's a bike to work discount scheme
on their web
site, which is good. We hope to hear more soon. If you've got info, let us have
it so we can celebrate good news for cyclists. The front of the
college is pretty dense car parking, but there is more to it, perhaps,
than that. Bike experiences with Bradford College are very welcome
to the web editor - smcarr AT uklinux.net
I want to give an award of
the punctured bike tyre to the least bike friendly
institution in Bradford. Please send me nominations! Tesco? BMDC?
Nominations very very welcome...
BCAG campaigns for bikers
in Bradford. There is a huge amount of potential for
improving and developing the conditions for bikers in
Bradford Metropolitan District. But we need support and
volunteers to make it happen. Contact any of the email
addresses on these pages for more information and to get
involved.
Bike friendliness means
everything from decent air quality through to bike-friendly
road design through to recognition of the needs of the
cyclist commuter at the workplace (see BUGS - Bike User
Action Groups - in the links above).
BCAG, a friendly and sociable group of
cycle campaigners, has suspended its meetings until such a
time as a new committee can be found. So should you wish to
be a secretary or chair, there's a space. This site continues
to be updated though. If you've news, send it to the email
contact for the web site, below.
One option in the absence of a regular
meeting is to develop a virtual mailing list. It is hoped
that a more internet based group will be developing.
There's an e-mail discussion group for
BCAG - all you have to do to sign up is send a blank e-mail
to BCAG-subscribe@onelist.com.
Thereafter, anything posted to the address BCAG@onelist.com
will reach all on the list and everyone can join in the
discussion.
If you want to use any of the web stuff
on this site - software (it's a nice little applet) for the
RSS feed to the right here, bulletin board stuff, etc - then
contact the web master who'd be happy to help (tho' he's
usually a bit busy, so don't expect an instant response!).
The best email address for contact bcag
is smcarr AT uklinux.net (yes, replace the AT with an email
at, it's just a small anti spam measure).
Produced on Linux using Amaya, the open source free web
editor. Go Linux!
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