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Spokes EdFoC events: Bike Breakfast June 18; Thanks for Shopping June 21

The excellent annual Spokes Bike Breakfast will be between 7.45-9.45am on Weds 18 June in the City Chamber quadrangle on Edinburgh’s High Street…

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Last year’s 2013 breakfast – click picture for full report

Please download this year’s Bike Breakfast Poster below and print out any copies you can put up at work, local shops, or elsewhere [click on the poster to download pdf 283k].BrekWeb2 - corrected final

As well as breakfast on your way to work [rolls, coffee, tea] there will be a big range of stalls, police bike security coding, bike chain cleaning and a £100 voucher prize draw by Edinburgh Bicycle … and much more.

There will be many councillors dropping by for chats on their way in to work at the City Chambers, and a few MSPs.  Take the opportunity to do some lobbying – politicians need and want to hear from ordinary constituents, not just spokes activists.  Just ask around and you’ll soon find some councillors and MSPs to chat to!

Soon after 8.30 there will be a speech from Edinburgh Council’s Transport Convener Cllr Lesley Hinds.  The  Council’s allocation of a % of the transport budget to cycling, now 7%, with many benefits too for walking, is unique in Scotland and possibly the UK, and helped enable the council to attract £4.8m additional funding from the Scottish Government/ Sustrans Community Links scheme.

Also speaking will be Jim Eadie MSP, Co-Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Cycling Group, and a vocal friend of cycling within the Parliament.  He has pushed hard for increased funding, although government cycling investment is still only 1%-1.5% of the Scottish transport budget, way below Edinburgh’s 7%.  Obviously government and council transport budgets cover very different responsibilities, but there is no way this level of funding will allow the government to meet its hugely ambitious ‘vision’ to raise cycling from 1% to 10% of all trips in Scotland by 2020.  Moreover, cycling investment is set to fall back in 2015/16 unless there are government changes – see forthcoming Spokes Bulletin 119.

We are hoping again to have feeder rides to the breakfast from various parts of the city, with local councillors/MSPs joining. Unfortunately our our previous feeder rides organiser, Mike Smith, is away and we’ve not yet found a replacement [most of it is done through social media].  The website is all ready to go if we can find an organiser!  www.spokes.org.uk/bikebreakfast

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The Breakfast is part of the amazing Edinburgh Festival of Cycling – check it out for loads more events – and of National Bike Week.

The summer Spokes mailout is on May 31

All Spokes members will receive Spokes Bulletin 119, a Breakfast poster, and a free new map of the C2C long-distance Solway-Forth cycleroute [normal price £4.99] and more.  The Bulletin features…

  • Big new Sustrans cash for Edinburgh & West Lothian
  • Spokes Summer competition My Memorable Moment – very desirable prizes!
  • Forrest Road – our ideas for a cycle-friendly corridor
  • Pedal on Parliament – pictures
  • The current situation on government cycling investment
  • Loads more local developments
  • It’s  not just ‘news’ – it’s asking you to act too!
  • and, as always, much more!!

Sat 21 June: THANKS FOR SHOPPING BY BIKE

After the Bike Breakfast there will be another Spokes event during EdFoC week … Everyone who comes by bike to the Castle Terrace Farmers’ Market, 10-12ish, will get a free lucky-dip goodie bag (until they run out), some of which will include donations by Farmers’ Market stallholders.     Including so far…

  • East Coast Organics
  • Caurnie Soap
  • Chillilicious
  • Well Hung & Tender
  • Gusto Oils
  • Chocolate Tree
  • Thisselcockrig
  • Claire Leslie Farms
  • Border Tablet
  • Eden Brewery
  • Magic Teapot
  • Arran Cheeses
  • Stichill Jerseys
  • Edinburgh Larder
  • Bang On Catering

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