From the Chair

This article was published in 2018, in Newsletter 138.

Image as described adjacent

This year’s Reach Ride was a huge success. I counted 1,092 seats on cycles parked around Reach, and I immensely enjoyed both the ride there and back. And possibly an ice-cream. Huge congratulations to Willa, Roxanne and Simon for making this year’s event such a fantastic celebration of people cycling.

Inside we continue this success story by introducing our newest employee. I personally believe she will help transform our organisation into a more focused campaigning engine that really engages with all those people who cycle today but either don’t know about us or don’t know what we stand for.

Of course, we also have lots of other stuff to talk about. Parker’s Piece has been reinstated, but the cycle parking is now terrible. Speeding vehicles are terrible, but speeding guided buses have caused serious incidents that need to be investigated or reinvestigated. Perhaps a technological solution is needed. We also look further afield at two cycling cities in the USA, Portland, OR and Boston, MA, and discuss how better pedestrian infrastructure is always needed.

Finally, we should celebrate the new cycle routes just created in Romsey. We’ve publicised these in the new Romsey Cycling News that we are trialling. Such changes show how easily an area can be made better for cycling if we just stop thinking only about metal boxes. There is still lots to do: the Space for Cycling ride showed that at the Station Square. But with your support we can make Cambridge a cycling city to be proud of.

Robin Heydon