Summer Newsletter – Cycling UK East Midlands Region
Welcome to the summer edition of our seasonal newsletter. One of our aims is to liaise with member and affiliated groups and other groups promoting cycling in all its aspects across the East Midlands Region. This newsletter should give a flavour of the huge number and wide range of activities happening this summer across the region and to help promote events such as organised rides, rallies and fundraising events for charity.
We would love to hear from you, we are your point of contact for the broader East Midlands Region. Cycling UK East Midlands Region committee held its AGM in April and we are delighted to say that Ray Clay continues to be our Chairman with Tim Newbery as Secretary and Safeguarding Officer and Ian Hill as Treasurer. We are pleased to have representatives from most of our six member groups on the committee, although we still have a vacancy for CTC Northampton and three representatives from Affiliated clubs.
This year we aim to encourage a wider audience and in particular younger riders and families to participate in rides and events. We hope to organise promotional events in 2023 to help achieve this aim.
Our member and affiliated groups in the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire were busy throughout spring and we now look forward to our summer rides and events, hopefully taking advantage of some fine weather.
The following are just a few examples:
ALFRETON
Alfreton CTC organise regular Audax events and Tom Fox is organising a shorter 100k BP National Arboretum event on Saturday 2nd September, starting from Denby Pottery. See the Audax website for full details. There’s also a trip to the seaside with a ‘Ride to Skeggy and Bus Back’ on Saturday 15th July amongst their full programme which can be viewed HERE
DERBYSHIRE
The Derby Tuesday Wayfarer Rides and Derby Thursday Rides along with Derby and Burton Sunday Rides have many activities on offer and there’s the ‘Derby to Skegness 100 Challenge’ a little later in the year on 9th September. More information on their Facebook page.
LEICESTERSHIRE and RUTLAND
The Summer 2023 edition of Cycle Chat is now available to view HERE and lists the various section's activities.
LINCOLNSHIRE
A highlight in the Cycling UK Lincolnshire programme this summer is a promotional ride on Saturday 10th June as part of the Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival. We’ll be advertising all the benefits that Cycling UK has to offer whilst delighting in the sights of the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Cycling UK Gainsborough is also organising a charity ride on Sunday 11th June with all proceeds going to the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Keep up to date on Notts CTC rides and events on their Facebook page.
BEHAVIOUR CHANGE PROGRAMMES
The Big Bike Revival has launched again for 2023. This year Cycling UK is focusing on continuing to work with our many excellent existing partners in the East Midlands. At the time of writing Big Bike Revival grants have already been agreed for Northside Bikes, Community Cycles, Ride on Sistas and Mini Bikers in Leicester, Women in Tandem in Nottingham and Inclusive Pedals in Chesterfield. More soon to follow across the region! The groups will be running free community events focused on fixing bikes, teaching cycling skills and leading rides, all geared towards encouraging more people to cycle more often. This year the programme will run until September 30.
Community Cycle Clubs offer their communities the opportunity to join a regular social group suitable for new or less experienced riders, and often aimed at people underrepresented in cycling. As the year progresses many groups who joined the programme in 2022 are doing great work developing their groups and building their activity. One example of this is Derby West Indian Community Association (DWICA) who started their club last September and have been riding pretty much every Saturday since, recruiting 14 regular members along the way! The DWICA Cycling Club is open to anyone with many members coming from the Black Caribbean and wider ethnic minority communities of Derby.
BIKE WEEK 100
Nationally, there’s plenty to look forward to including ‘Bike Week 100’ which runs from 5th to 11th June. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the UK’s biggest cycling awareness week celebrating the power of active travel. Bike Week 100 has a special focus on workplace cycling. Please note that this year, promotional material and free insurance is only for workplace cycling events. Full details HERE.
