Our 2026 competition brought out a cornucopia of experiences, ideas and reminiscences. It is incredible to read not just how cycling and cycle facilities locally have changed over the years, but how individual lives have changed too, sometimes substantially, thanks to Spokes being around.
The life of our top prizewinner, Hazel, was revolutionised thanks to a cargo-bike which she bought in part using a Spokes grant. Although purchased, nervously, for child-carrying, growing confidence in the cargobike led to extensive volunteer work, cycling instructor qualifications, and eventually paid work setting up and running Porty Cargo Bike Library. Not to mention family shopping, cargo-bike camping, giving friends lifts – and getting rid of the family car!
Second prizewinner, Mike, actually moved to Edinburgh in part thanks to the Spokes Bulletin! Visiting Edinburgh for a job interview he chanced to pick up a Spokes Bulletin on a cafe leaflet rack – and realised there was more to the city than his ‘formal, pompous and pretentious’ interview experience. Some months later, going freelance, he was able to move, and chose Edinburgh!… rapidly buying bikes for his daughters, and joining Spokes! Since then, “cycling has been a central part of my life.”
Some pictures from the competition
[click pictures for full size – you can find which is from who in the file of entries, below]
Prizewinners and Runners-Up
See the full set of prize-winner and runner-up entries in this 7MB 150dpi pdf [or this 16MB 300dpi for higher-resolution]
Themes from the competition entries
Top theme: the value of Spokes in changing the local climate on cycling and cycling infrastructure, over many years
For example, 3rd prizewinner David Buchanan, “When I started cycling there were no cycle lanes, though plenty ‘No Cycling’ notices, and many councillors were very much against cycling. Whilst there is still much to do, the network of cycle lanes today has transformed the experience of cycling in Edinburgh. Without the work of Spokes it likely would not exist, or would be less extensive and functional.”
8th prizewinner Elaine Appleby showed how her family’s cycling changed each decade from the 1960s, thanks to developing infrastructure and Spokes influence. She included two touching generational photos – her son with stabilisers in the 1990’s and her grandson in the 2020s on a balance bike.
Spokes maps
Many entrants enthused on the importance of Spokes maps, and not just for the obvious purpose of cycling from A to B. “Understanding the city from a cyclist’s perspective,” said 15th prizewinner Steven Leitch; helping with a new business that involved many visits all over the city (4th prizewinner Tracy of Griffen Fitness) and investigating West Lothian history (7th prizewinner Martin Gemmell.
Ben Bate, 5th prizewinner, sent a great collage of his Edinburgh map collection including the first and the latest
Moving to Edinburgh and discovering Spokes
This was a quite unexpected theme, but mentioned in nearly one-third of entries! Indeed, 2nd prizewinner Mike Lewis moved to Edinburgh in part thanks to a Spokes Bulletin he had picked up in a cafe leaflets rack. Others were delighted to find a strong campaigning presence, for example 12th prizewinner Kate Thomas who said it showed that you don’t have to just accept the way the city is – you can contribute to making it better.
Others compared Edinburgh for cycling with their previous home – for example, runner-up Simon Krone, from South Africa, who sent this picture of a typical street in his home city of Maritzburg
Episodes from Spokes history
10th prizewinner Lynda Haughney recalled never-to-be-forgotten Cllr Brereton telling the Scotsman that “Spokes can get lost and take its Commie friends with it” (picture above, near start of article)
6th prizewinner Chris Hill highlighted the detailed, time-consuming and often unseen volunteer work of research, scrutiny of planning applications, etc; as well as ‘big picture’ episodes such as constructing the ‘Pilton Path’ (photo) and Spokes assistance to related groups (such as the Bike Station)
Impact on individual lives
Top prizewinner Hazel Darwin-Clements [picture above, near start of article] told how winning a Spokes grant towards a cargobike revolutionised her life, not just for its intended uses, but leading to volunteer work and then to paid bike-related employment. 4th prizewinner Tracy Griffen’s business (photo), which involved visiting many clients at home, relied on our Edinburgh map to develop itineraries.
Particularly rewarding to Spokes is that we inspired & helped people to become campaigners themselves, such as ‘badgering councillors,’ helping at a Spokes climate festival stall, or leafleting bikes with Spokes Bulletins. Indeed, 9th prizewinner Oliver Brookes channelled President Kennedy by titling his entry, “Ask not what Spokes can do for you, but what you can do for Spokes.”
Thank you – our sponsors
Top prizewinner gets first choice of prizes, and so on till all prizes allocated. Runner-up entries which don’t win a prize will get to choose a free Spokes map or buff
- Museum of Scottish Railways (Bo’Ness) Family annual pass to the extensive museum
- Bo’Ness & Kinneil Steam Railway Family ticket for one return trip
- Ember Bus [takes 2 bikes] £50 bus tickets credit
- Edinburgh Bicycle £50 Edinburgh Bicycle voucher
- Camera Obscura Family ticket [2 prizes]
- Filmhouse – prize of 2 tickets
- Laidback Bikes Recumbent tour or cargobike hire
- Harts Cyclery One-week ebike hire
- Edinburgh Festival of Cycling Urban Arrow Cargo-bike day hire
- Lanterne Rouge bike cafe, Gifford £20 voucher
- Water of Leith Visitor Centre – £10 cafe voucher
- Spokes £1000 voucher* towards cargo-bike purchase
- Spokes £200 voucher* towards e-bike purchase
- Spokes Set of all 4 Spokes maps
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, and Dave from Spokes Resources Group and our external judge, Brendan Paddy,
a long-standing Spokes member and also Director of Ramblers Scotland. Judges scored entries independently, and then discussed the combined scoring to determine a final agreed ordering.
What’s next and what can you do?
- Look through our full set of entries carefully – are there any ideas you could follow up or emulate? Are there any you could recommend to friends and colleagues?
- 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 repost our bluesky post about this article.