October 2024
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Cycling & Sustenance: #SpokesComp results

Yes, bikes and food are inextricably linked in so many ways .. and our super competition entries certainly proved that! Sourcing food by homebaking, foraging, cafes or shopping; Sharing food for family, for friends, for people in need, and even using it to promote cycling. Entries in text, photos, diagrams or poems; advice or amusement; serious or tongue in cheek – our lovely entrants had it all!

And if anyone wondered where to go for a bike-cafe crawl, we discovered that East Lothian is without doubt the place to be!

PRIZEWINNERS & RUNNERS-UP

THEMES

Some of the main themes to emerge in the entries are listed below (in order of approx number of mentions). Obviously not all these themes are food-related, but as long as they were in an entry about food & sustenance they could be valuable additions.

  • DIY food – e.g. home grown / home made / foraging
  • Personal benefits and/or pleasures of cycling
  • Importance of cafes
  • Ethical & community aspects
  • Practical advice, including recipes
  • East Lothian (8 entries mentioned East Lothian, 2 Edinburgh, 2 ‘Lothians’, and 1 Midlothian)
  • Spokes maps or other Spokes assistance
  • Use of cargobike/trailer
  • Specific named cafes

TOP ENTRIES


First prize – Josh Turner, Edinburgh

Cycling from A to Bakery

This entry had almost everything – cafes, recommended eats, maps to get there, a personal story, a neat title and the whole entry beautifully written. It had to be top!

Find this and all entries in full in our results pdf, linked above.

Route to Musselburgh’s Company Bakery [arguably the best local cinnamon rolls]

Second prize – Charlie Wood, PortobelloBribing the kids

Family bike rides are still not all that common as the kids grow older. One of Charlie’s children commented: why can’t we just take the bus like normal people? Though, Charlie added: at least they said ‘bus’ and not ‘car.

But – success! – and this entry shows how to do it – cafes, fish suppers, ice cream, hot chocolate and suchlike will work the magic!


Third prize – Donald Smith, Haddington

Let them eat cake!

As a campaign group, we were totally impressed with this local initiative.

Anyone with a bike can turn up in Haddington town centre for a chat and homemade Dutch apple cake on the first Saturday each month, 9.30 to 10am. Advertised by word of mouth, local press and social media.

Why not try it too in your local area! If you’re a Spokes member we can put you in touch with others to gauge interest.


Fourth prize – Angus Ramsay

Home made cake at the Botanics

A young family, a cargobike and trailer, and a picnic with home made cake in a beautiful setting – what could be better?


RECOMMENDED CAFES

The following cafes were recommended by our competition entrants. Spokes, unfortunately, has not yet had the chance to try them all 😢 so we are relying on the comments (in italics) from our entrants here.

And our 6th prizewinner advised… “Never pass a tea shop or similar outside town without going in, this keeps you going and keeps them going, and means it will still be there next time you pass

THANK YOU – OUR SPONSORS

The top prizewinner gets to choose their prize from the list, second chooses second, and so on.

* This voucher may only be used for the purpose stated above. It may only be used by the winner and is not transferable. It must be used at an Edinburgh or Lothians independent bike shop which is not one of the major national chains. We will pay the shop direct.

** Your buff will show a section of our Edinburgh map (Midlothian buffs are sold out)

THANK YOU !!

Many thanks to you if you entered, even if you didn’t win this time.

Thanks also to the organisers from Spokes Resources Group

Thank you, the judges – Kate, Emma, Rosie and Dave from Spokes Resources Group and our external judge, Ben Seven, editor of the brilliant Edi.Bike weekly newsletter.

WHAT’S NEXT & WHAT CAN YOU DO??

  • Look through our full set of entries carefully – do any inspire you to try the same?  Are there any you could recommend to friends and colleagues?
  • If you’re in campaiging mood, how about emulating our 3rd prize winner in your local area? (we can put you in touch with other local members)
  • See the results of our many previous exciting, amusing and/or interesting competitions here.
  • If you’ve a great idea for a future competition, let us know!  A topic that is useful to other people and which most people are able to enter is what we need (so, for example, school travel would not be suitable)
  • Please retweet our tweet about this article.

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