Thousands of people are expected to try out cycling on traffic-free roads in Edinburgh this Saturday 7 September…
The 5 km Holyrood Park road circle will be cleared of motor traffic from 10-4, and people of any age can come along and try cycling in a traffic free environment. You can come and you can leave at any time anywhere you like on the route!
There are no offputting rules about lycra, helmets* etc – everyone can come, you can bring any vintage of bike, you can hire a bike if you don’t have one, and you are welcome in your everyday clothes, whether T-shirt or suit! It is fun, not a race.
The aim is to get 1000′s of people, including anyone normally scared of motor traffic, to try cycling.
There will be entertainment and stalls at the start/end of the route (near the Parliament) and at key locations along the route. There will be a Spokes stall** and other bike-related stalls such as Dr Bike, bike shops, etc; and also plenty more general entertainment.
**We’d welcome a few Spokes volunteers to take a pile of the Summer Spokes Bulletin and wander round handing them out to participants. Call at our stall if you can help with this for half an hour or so.
See the Edinburgh Skyride web page for more info, and to register your interest.
See also last year’s lovely video narrated by BBC DJ Edith Bowman showing just how much fun cycling can be!
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT??
One disappointment is that, unlike most of the other big UK city Skyrides the route does not include any ‘normal’ city streets, and so does not demonstrate what these streets could be like if car-free, whether just for a Sunday or permanently. If you feel strongly about this, contact your councillors [www.writetothem.com] since the route is agreed between Skyride and the Council. Ask for a more ‘citylike’ route next year. Be positive – thank councillors first for having an Edinburgh Skyride in the first place, if you thought it a good idea, then ask for something more enterprising next year – planning would need to start well in advance to agree a route and road closures.
Meanwhile health experts in Britain and worldwide are asking for roads to be closed to motor traffic, for walkers and cyclists, every Sunday. The idea started in Bogota, Colombia, and these ‘ciclovías’ are starting to take root in more countries. If you’d like the same in Edinburgh – every Sunday – tell your councillors all about this too – www.writetothem.com.
*But unfortunately the organisers’ insurance will only pay up for injuries to people using a helmet. We will raise this with the organisers for next year.