New opportunities to do free cycling activities in Birmingham

I've been asked to help publicise this scheme, which will hopefully get more people cycling. So here is the information from the Sky Ride Birmingham website.

"Be Active by Bike is an exciting new initiative funded by the NHS and delivered by British Cycling which encourages people to start cycling in Birmingham.

 Cycle Hubs have been set up to provide free access to bikes and cycling activities for those who don’t currently cycle. The hubs are perfect if you're new to cycling, or haven’t been on a bike for ages, as they're designed to help beginners gain confidence.


Hubs have been set up at the following locations:
Handsworth Leisure Centre (0121 464 6336)
Court Road Health and Fitness (0121 303 1700)
Nechells Community Sports Centre (0121 464 4373)
Ackers Adventure (07799 454181)
The HUB – Bromford Drive (0121 448 3739)
Ward End Park (07834 517347)

Each hub has 15 adult bikes and includes the following free activities*: led rides, cycle training with qualified Bikeability instructors, community group bike hire.

To access any of these facilities contact your nearest hub. For more information about the scheme, email dawnrahman@britishcycling.org.uk.

*You must have a Be Active leisure card to take part in any activities.

I know Digbeth Residents association were keen to find somewhere local to here for a hub, but hopefully these locations will all be well used and get communities cycling together.
If anyone has cycling events planned, please let us know and if you want to help us launch more bike trains this year, also get in touch.

Joe Peacock

Highlights of 2011 part 2

This picture shows a couple of members of The Opera Group, with whom we collaborated on a project to take art out onto the streets and engage with people ahead of their performance at the CBSO concert hall of Seven Angels.

One of the great perks of volunteering for Birmingham Friends of the Earth is the opportunity to get a free ticket to a festival in return for working shifts on our property lockups. The money raised from this is the main reason we can afford to employ a member of staff working on campaigning for all the environmental changes we seek in Birmingham.

It may not be the most glamorous or fun part of campaigning, but responding to consultations is really essential to developing our reputation as a serious organisation whose views carry weight. As well as the core strategy, we have responded to various transport consultations, including on HS2 and aviation and the National Planning Policy Framework. Copies of these can be seen on our website.

The award that we got was largely for the work done by our Faith and Climate Change project, whose funding was unfortunately cut before we received this. There is work under way to develop an even bigger project building on the foundations created to do something across the whole region now.

We won photo of the year for this shot from last year's Santa Parade:

Richard made a totally original acceptance speech that I would love to see taken up by one of the winners at the Oscars next year!

Rossiter's and LOAF did us proud with the food and our volunteers cooked up a storm on the Barbecue for this annual fundraiser that also acts as an awareness-raising event for the benefits of organic food.

Over the summer, we took some time to pause on the active energy campaigning and have a look around the city at what is already happening in the city. We drew up 15 case studies and this information is now proving very useful as we battle cuts to renewable energy subsidies and support for our new campaigns.

In September, for In Town Without My Car Day, we did something practical this year. 5 "Bike Trains" converged on the centre of Birmingham with commuters heading to work. The atmosphere was great and we hope to have inspired a few people to repeat this in 2012. We'd like it to become a regular event to get people building up their confidence for cycling in Birmingham.

Of course, what made it the perfect start to the day was that after burning off all those calories cycling in to work, people were then given a free breakfast to give them the energy to get through to lunch courtesy of three lovely local independent coffee shops.

Reasons to join a Bike Train #4

Boredom

Do you find that the days all look alike? Joining the bike train will not only improve your mood and stave off depression, it is a great way of getting to know your colleagues better and meeting new people! The bike trains event brings together people from all over Birmingham but also people from your area. It's easy to meet like-minded people and potentially find someone you could regularly go cycling with. Cycling is an incredibly sociable activity, and one you can get a lot out of, although if you want some time to yourself, it's easy to just focus on your surroundings and take in the excitement!

Organisation is the key...

Another thing is that instead of losing your free time through travelling by car or train, and going separately to the gym, you could neatly combine the two (thus saving time AND money!). Cycling on a regular basis gets you the exercise your body needs in order to stay youthful and alert. More likely than not, you'll find you'll also save time and money through not having to go to the doctor or chemist's; cyclists are definitely less likely to be struck down by illness, research has shown.

Did you know...? A study by academics at the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands has found that the health and other benefits associated with cycling outweigh the potential risks such as being involved in a road traffic accident or exposure to air pollution.

Don't forget too, that you would be able to interact with your environment and experience Birmingham in a completely different way: seeing buildings, trees, sky, other people and shops up close and colourful. The benefits of stimulating both your mind and body in this way are immense. Cyclists frequently talk about the feeling of freedom, the energy boost it gives you, the feeling of being in the fresh air and seeing places you normally wouldn't when driving. Joining one of the bike trains would give you the chance to experience this for yourself and test out whether it could work for you on a day-to-day basis.

You as a person become far more interesting, perceptive and fulfilled, because you are constantly being stimulated in a positive way. (Of course, cycling isn't the only activity that can make you 'interesting', but it certainly is fun and easy to integrate into your everyday life!) There's a good reason people as diverse as Matt Damon, Albert Einstein, Kylie Minogue, Brad Pitt are (or were) into it.

Or, as a group of cyclists from Lancaster put it when asked the question “What's the best thing about cycling?" for a survey:

“Well, by nature I’m a couch potato. By making cycling my normal way of getting around I at least get some exercise in a normal day. Furthermore I like the way getting that exercise is integrated into something else I have to do anyway (getting to work) and then finally it’s just a fun thing to do in its own right. It feels good.”

“Waving at the motorists stuck on the Skerton Bridge! Also keeping fit and feeling full of energy.”

“Feeling of freedom.”

Exercise whilst commuting. Racing down a hillside.

Feeling of freedom. Keeps me fit.

Lots of things. I enjoy the fresh air and exercise and knowing that it is good for the environment

“Beautiful views.”

Reasons to join a bike train #3

“A penny saved is a penny earned”, Benjamin Franklin said. It's almost as if he was speaking with the knowledge that petrol prices have reached an incredible £1.45 per litre in some parts of Birmingham. Cycling on the other hand is environmentally friendly, keeps you healthy and is absolutely FREE... Read on for all the financial reasons why you should join us on 22^nd September and make cycling part of your everyday routine.

• If you are currently a car driver, cycling to work would save you £5 per day for a five-mile journey. If you do it regularly, that's £25 a week that you could spend on language classes, re-decorating the house, or a train trip to somewhere exciting... It's worth exploring all the possibilities and thinking big.
• Doing the Banners Gate to Victoria Square commute could save you a whopping £40 a week (£160 a month); going from Quinton to town and back on a daily basis would save you about £1,222 a year! Think of all the things that money would cover: Bills. Taking your family out for a meal every month. You could even get a cleaner or gardener to help you around the house or earn yourself a weekend at a luxury eco-hotel.
• Train and bus commuters: switching to cycling would save you a minimum of £30 a month (that's £360 a year) in travel passes.
• Joining a Bike Train would give you the opportunity to see what cycling to work would be like and to see just how enjoyable and easy it is. You could then make the decision whether or not you want to make it a regular feature in your day!
• At a time when so many people are bemoaning the state of the economy, the grey skies/anti-social behaviour, and the approach of GMT, you could make a resolution to get fit, put a bit of extra money in your pocket and get to know your colleagues/meet new people. All of these things will put a smile on your face!
  By cycling to work, you could put that aside and focus instead on getting fit, meeting new people and putting a bit of extra money in your pocket in time for Christmas. At the very least, by joining your local Bike Train you could have a fun day out and meet new people (maybe even find a cycle buddy for every day!). Why wait for the New Year to make positive resolutions and change your life around? If you swap driving for cycling, you could easily save £200 that could go towards Christmas presents or a meal with your family for example.

"Money will come when you are doing the right thing." - Mike Phillips

Reasons to join a bike train #2

Another great reason to start cycling is for health. We all want to feel fit and good in our bodies and many of us will readily admit we want to shed those extra pounds!

A five-mile/30 minute bike ride burns about 180 calories; so if you do the Cotteridge-Victoria Square journey both ways (an hour altogether) you will burn 360 calories – the equivalent of half a portion of spaghetti bolognese or toad in the hole...If you want those calories in junk food terms, that's more than a McDonald's cheeseburger (300) and almost as much as their medium French fries (380). Other more sustainable meals are better for you and the planet, of course, so “I'm lovin' it” could be your new phrase for cycling and getting fit?!

Cycling also gives you more energy, helps improve the quality of your sleep, keeps your weight stable, and delays aging.

By joining one of our bike trains you could be making a step towards regaining your sense of well-being and youthfulness. If you want to be more emotionally stable, less stressed, and – paradoxically – more rested, you could do worse than joining a bike train from one of the five locations (Cotteridge, Quinton, Banners Gate, Cox Moors Woods, Fox Hollies) on September 22nd. Why not try for a day and see how you feel afterwards? You might be pleasantly surprised at how well you sleep that night and how satisfied you feel the next day!


Doing this may give you a taste for exercising on a regular basis – experts in The Lancet say that 15 minutes of daily exercise is the ‘bare minimum for health’. A Dutch study has also shown that people who cycle have fewer sick days: “The more often people cycle to work and the longer the distance travelled, the less they report sick.”


Gergana Manassieva

Critical Mass - cycling together in Birmingham

Using a push-bike for transport can be pretty stressful. Especially in a city which lacks bike routes but has tons of cars. The stereotype is that we hate cars, they hate us and it makes you believe that cycling is not that much fun. But you are wrong.

Cycling is great. What's more, it is currently the only truly green transport solution for cities. So let's make it more enjoyable by showing the city that cars and bikes are not enemies but fellow users of the same streets. This is why cities all around the world organise Critical Mass (CM) bike rides. The idea of CM is to ride our bikes together to show that we are not alone and if this "demonstration" can reach a critical number people can't avoid us anymore.

And what is the critical number? It depends. For example my city, Budapest, has been organising Critical Masses since 2004. The first event drew 4000 participants which surprised not only the organisers. This number did not stop increasing till we reached eighty thousand participants.

It was exciting to follow during these years how these demonstrations managed so achieve the main goals and changed the whole city! The city council started to build bike routes, modify traffic laws and arranged many new bike shelters. These are great things, but for me, CM is till about FUN. CM is about riding my bike with other people which gives me a feeling that I just can't describe.

You have to try it. Birmingham is not a cycling city (yet), we all know that, but a branch of resolute people are keep encouraging cyclist to join the monthly organised CM (first Friday of each month, meeting point at St.Philip's Cathedral, City Centre at 6 pm.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/13663283557/

Even though it is still a small event, (100-120 riders in each month) I find it amazing to participate in it from the beginning and hope that it will reach the critical number at some point in the future. But in the meantime I go to the monthly Birmingham CMs to enjoy the ride, the music, the great atmosphere with my friends and to make some new friends. See you at the next ride on 2nd September.

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=204956369564871

And for a commuting bike ride together, Birmingham Friends of the Earth is organising Bike Trains together with Sustrans and Push Bikes. Sign up to join one of the five routes on our website.

Zsuzsi Mayer

Reasons to join a bike train #1

Over the next few weeks, leading up to September 22nd, we're going to be posting reasons why joining our bike trains is a good idea, which also apply to increasing cycling in Birmingham overall.

Some of these will be more serious than others, but as the planet has now reached over 1 billion cars, there is an urgent need to start reducing our car use and In Town Without My Car Day or World Car Free Day is the perfect time to start.

Clean air: These days, the major threat to clean air is now posed by traffic emissions, so cycling on a mass scale can dramatically reduce air pollution, potentially making Birmingham a more pleasant and healthy place for both inhabitants and visitors. Given that the UK is also well behind on its NOx emissions targets, and facing fines from the European Union, we believe it would serve Birmingham – and Britain – well to act fast and effectively.

Please register on our website to join the cycling revolution and get on a bike train on September 22nd - it could be the start of something big.

Gergana Manassieva

Choo Choo! Here come the bikes!

This is the logo used by the group who have transformed commuting by bike along a busy road in Brighton by joining together for a safety in numbers approach, which also has the added benefit of getting to know some other cyclists.

It may not be as social as the Birmingham Critical Mass rides, which end up in the pub after work on a Friday evening, but they function to make people's journeys to work much nicer.

So, why am I telling you about this? Well, as you probably know many people think that the roads in Birmingham are a bit scary to cycle in to work along. Currently, nobody has set up a bike train anywhere in this city. We think it's time to rectify this situation and we want to make it a big story to encourage lots of people to do it.

For the last 2 years we've done high profile media work on In Town Without My Car Day, with our challenge to the power 50 and working with high profile businesses, as well as transforming a parking space into a park last year.

This year we want to do something more practical that might actually help more people out of their cars onto a more sustainable form of transport. In order for it to work, we need the help of experienced cyclists to lead the less confident, some volunteers to help with promoting it and doing the logistics of where/when the rides will happen and people to organise some kind of event at the end of it (possibly a breakfast for participants). We are in discussions with Pushbikes and Sustrans about collaborating with them already, but we can provide space in our office for a couple of people to work on this.

Fancy getting involved, then please contact us campaigns@birminghamfoe.org.uk or ring 0121 6326909 to get more information.