Late summer - I've probably done
as much cycling as ever - apart from when doing the transAm four years
ago (it is a shock to think it is that long ago - I had better do another big
bike ride soon!). Took my youthful relatives cycling the other week - every time
we go cycling I discover certain abysses in their knowledge of bikes - how do you
mend a puncture, what do we do when that big black cloud rains because I've left my
waterproofs at home. Hmmm, interesting questions. I guess I should learn that when cycling
with anyone you haven't regularly cycled with, it is worth asking what looks like a stupidly obvious
question - you've got a waterproof haven't you, etc.... Makes you realise that there's something
of a mountain to climb when bringing people to cycling who just don't have that childhood stuff of
doing cycling proficiency, and going biking at weekends with schoolmates.
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. I'll take a photo
shortly and you can see what 'minimal' and 'basic' mean in terms of cycle provision.
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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