Summer Cycle Special
Taking the initiative
Glasgow and Edinburgh have beaten off Gothenburg and Strasbourg for the right to host Velo-city 2001. The director plans to make it the most significant
international hike conference ever. Words: Erl Wilkie. director
The world‘s pic-eminent cycling conference. Velo-city. comes to Glasgow and Edinburgh next September. the right to host Velo—city 200] being conferred on the two cities after beating off challenges from the likes of Gothenbttrg in Sweden and Strasbourg in France.
As director of Velo-city' 2001 and a cycling officer with the City of Glasgow Council. it has already been an exciting few months preparing for next year. Some 500 delegates from all over the world are expected to attend Velo-city 200 I. But while the atmosphere of the conference will be distinctly cosmopolitan. Velo-city 200i intends to retain a strong
link with the people of Scotland.
That‘s why there will be a mass participation cycle ride between the two cities mid- way through the conference. That is why Velo-city 200] is already inviting school
children to come up with ideas to make
cycling safer and more fun. the best the
ideas to be showcased at
conference.
Q0 0 . . . . . . D 2 If there ts a single aim of Velo-ctty in 2001. it is this: great work has already 2’ been done to raise the profile of cycling. 03 e
to make it more popular and safer. Bttt there is still lots to do and if the world‘s most important cycling conference. by coming to Edinburgh and
Glasgow. can be the catalyst for even more improvements. then it
could prove to one of the most significant Velo-city conferences ever held.
Velo-city 2001, 0141 434 1500; web-site: www.velo-city2001.org
Short circuits
News from the two-wheeled world
ON TUESDAY 20 JUNE Britain's roads will be transformed. National Bike To Work Day should swell the number of cyclists — reportedly a million a day — who ride to work in this country. Leading the charge, twenty MSPs have pledged to pedal to parliament. As well as the obvious — health and environmental — reasons for cycling to work, there are practical advantages. Why? Well, cycling is the fastest form of transport over five miles in an urban environment, and cyclists make a fit and healthy workforce. Research has shown that they're more effective, more productive, and ill less often than their, ahem, sedentary colleagues. For more information on Bike To Work Day contact Going for Green on 0800 783 7838.
CATERING FOR ALL tastes, and levels of ability, Bike Blast brings regular closed- cirCu't cycle racing to lngliston, at the
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a second coming. and it's recently been re-born in. of all places. Bathgatc.
Royal Highland Centre beside Edinburgh AirpOrt. After a Successful first year in 1999, the series was doubled for this season and the age-related CirCUit races have proved a hit \Vllh everyone from
ten-year-old nowces to full-blown racers.
It's not Just ab0ut racing. Side shows include skills courses, mOuntain bike displays and bike maintenance facilities and advice. Dates: Wed 7 Jun, Thu 6 Jul, Thu 13 Jul, Thu 27 Jul, Thu 10 Aug (all 7pm), Wed 30 Aug (6.30pm).
THE GLASGOW CYCLE Fest in Kelvingrove Park and the Edinburgh Bike Fest on the Meadows, coinciding this year with the final Sunday of the Millennium Festival Of Cycling (17—25 June), are set to build on last year's successful inaugural showcase events.
David Marsh, of the Scottish Cycling Development Project, is the man behind the Glasgow version — which was attended by 400 people last year and is expected to attract up to 1,000 this time around - explains what's going on: 'In
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Glasgow we're having rides leading into, and away from, Kelvingrove Park to show various ways around the city away from traffic. The same is happening in Edinburgh.’
AS PART OF the Glasgow Cycle Fest, Kelvrngrove Park \‘Vlll also host two spectator-friendly closed-circuu races, one for youths and one for elite riders, incorporating the Scottish criterium (leCUlI race) championship. Other events include the new sport of Trailquest Cycle orienteering, the five-mile challenge and, for children, the lmpruve Challenge obstacle course. In both cities local cycling clubs and shops Will also be on hand to provide information about cycling actiVities in the area. Glasgow Cycle Fest: Davrd Marsh, 0141 287 9374; Edinburgh Bike Fest: Mark James, 0131623 7600.
A STATISTIC RECENTLY revealed by pressure group Transport 2000 suggests Britain lags far behind European in spending cash on improving the cyclist's lot. The amount Britain spends on cycling —
de France - yellow to match the pages of lfliquipc.
Duchamp's Bicycle
(1913 MOMA, New York) Duchamp, the master of the ready- made who once placed an urinal in an art gallery, also turned his attentions to the bicycle. His Bicycle Wheel, is Just that, a bicycle wheel.
Francis Bacon's Portrait of George Dyer Riding a Bicycle (1966, Basel) Not Just one for painting popes, Bacon also turned his hand to painting his lover George Dyer enjoying a bit of heavy-peddling.
newspaper that started the Tour in 1903.
Wanna: L'nlike so the many other sports.
you can cycle for hours and hours. and miles and miles. That's mainly because the weight of the body is supported by the bike. so there's relatively little stress — compared to rttnning — on the bones and tendons.\\'ith a bit of training. a cyclist's
Bikes in Art
Picasso's Bull (1913 Musee Picasso, Paris) What else would you expect from the famed fan of bull-fighting? Picasso took a bicycle seat and a set of handbars and created a bull's head.
Simon Starling's Work/Made/Ready (1997) In a tease on Duchamp’s ready-mades, the Glasgow artist demonstrated his deconstruction and construction skills by making a bicycle from an aluminium chair designed by Charles Eames.
Joseph Crawhall's Girl On A Bicycle (1896 Burrell Collection, Glasgow) A sweet rendition of a young girl on a pennyfarthing by the Glasgow artist. (Susanna Beaumont)
0.2 pence per head of the population — is precisely 100 times less than Germany, which spends a relatively whopping £20 per head . . .
SAFER ROUTES TO school are flav0ur of the month. In May, Scottish Transport Minister Sarah Boyack promised £52 million to improve such schemes, responding to Surveys showing that over the last twenty years the proportion of 7—8 year olds allowed to travel to school unsuperVised fell from 80% to under 10%. Parents have noticed the traffic Jams outSide school gates, while their children are getting fatter and losing their sense of self reliance. Safer routes initiatives try to overcome parents' safety fears wrth phySical improvements, like new crossing faCilities, and road training. for children who want to use their bikes (a Survey at Johnston High School in Renfrewshire found that 90% of children wanted to cycle to school). At the schools where these schemes have been tried, the results have been impressive: up to a third fewer cars outSide the school gate.
‘ Brakesarc what
muscles seem to have a remarkable ability to adapt to spending hours pedalling. The Tour de France. held over three weeks. sees the riders cover around 2.500 miles. Tiring stuff.
Many thanks to Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op (0131 228 1368) for use of pictures