A Busy Weekend

On Saturday 17 February 6 Newham Cyclists set up their stall to check and fix bikes at the children’s bike club of Ambition, Aspire, Achieve at the Terence Brown Arc Canning Town.  We were blessed with unseasonably sunny and warm weather as bikes were checked for future use by the club, including a ride we are proposing to lead on 24 February based on the Greenway.

The next day was the Secret Nuclear Bunker Ride.  Here is Steve’s Report:

Maybe it was the fine weather, maybe some cyclists felt impelled to know the whereabouts of a place of greater safety, the reason is unclear, but the outcome was that we had a record 21 riders for this second ride of 2018. The central line staff and passengers were bemused by the large number of cyclists boarding the train at Leytonstone for the journey Epping and the start of our adventure.

From Epping station the route took us on a long downhill out of the town, under the M11 and into the countryside. There had been some debate about whether the route is undulating or hilly, so this time we had among us one rider on a single speed fixy who would put it to the ultimate test. The ride up to Toot Hill is a good way to warm up, then we followed the small lanes to the London Road. We crossed over and followed Shonks Mill Lane down to the ford, often flooded in winter, but although the water in the stream was high the road was dry. We turned off up Lady Hill and this eventually brought us to the back of the SNB. Ignoring the “Keep Out”, signs we crossed no mans land and found ourselves outside the SNB and next to the familiar bombs/rockets. Some riders even locked their bikes to these for extra security during the visit.


On leaving the SNB we did have a problem as one rider had not left with the group and had to be found. Fortunately the lunch stop at “The Bricklayers Arms”, was only a couple of miles away in Stondon Massey, so we were soon reunited, and able to enjoy an al fresco break in the winter sun. The return leg took us via Ongar and Greensted, back to Toot Hill, where we retraced those undulations back to Epping. Indeed it was surprising but true that this ride is possible without gears, but perhaps not for everyone

Thanks to all participants, especially Arnold, backmarker and Robin for the photos; full album from-

https://flickr.com/photos/8798439@N03/sets/72157692799893044

Here is can animated view of the ride with statistics
https://www.relive.cc/view/g18004974574

Arnold

Partnership with Ambition, Aspire, Achieve

in 2017 we piloted partnership work with AAA, a charity based in the Arc in Hermit Road Park, Canning Town – by running a 3 bike fixing stalls at their Saturday morning children’s cycling club and leading a gentle ride along the Greenway.
The club runs from 10.30 am to 2.00pm each Saturday
This was considered sufficient of a success to repeat the activity this year, provided there is sufficient support for it.  Other suggestions for this year are:
  • to run the bike stall a week before a ride in order to do as much bike checking as possible as early as possible;
  • have a ride during the period of initial activity on the Greenway, following its official 24 hour opening on 8 January;
  • to fit as best possible with the Woodgrange stall and rides calendars which will shortly be published.
Three bike fixing sessions and three rides in the first half of 2018 are contemplated, for which 5 pairs of dates look feasible:
10 & 17 Feb; 17 and 24 Feb; 17 & 24 March;28 April & 5 May; 26 May & 2 June.
I have set up two Doodle polls (one for the stalls and one for the rides) and will take the best three sessions.  If you would like to help please sign up.  It is not necessary to be available for both date in a pair.  The only requirement is that there be a sufficient number signed up to run the events – probably 3 for each.
The Doodle poll for the stalls is:
Thanks for your help, if you would like to know more please get in touch with me.
Arnold

November News

Our next meeting will be 29 January, by which time we should have some more news on campaigning issues and our ride season will not only be published but will have started!

Stratford High Street

Major works affecting cycling have started at the Stratford Gyratory, the Strand East site near the Bow flyover, and Letts Road. This has exacerbated the difficulties of the Cycle Superhighway 2 which was already dogged by works. We have been active in seeking measures to lessen the impact (on occasions very severe) on cycling and have brought in the assistance of the LCC, Newham Officers and Councillors and the TfL Development Impact Adviser, who took a ride around with us to see the problems for himself.

Cycling in Newham

We have prepared a paper on cycling in Newham, inspired by (a) work done for us by “20’s Plenty” showing that Newham lags behind other boroughs in road safety and health and (b)TfL analysis the huge potential for cycling in Newham (which includes four of its top 20 London “Potential Cycle Connections” for the whole of London). Our paper reviews the approach to cycling in the borough, analyses why the cycling deficit has arisen, and calls for an effective and coherent cycle strategy. The full paper has been distributed to those councillors who have expressed an interest in cycling and is on our website.

Consultations

In the meantime Olawale, our Infrastructure Rep has taken the lead on a number of responses to consultations. Our general approach is aimed at pedestrian and cycling safety: by promoting segregated tracks and cycle lanes of sufficient width where traffic flow demands; safe junctions; 20 mph on residential roads: creating areas without through traffic; “Copenhagen” style pavements giving pedestrians priority over side roads; and opposition to parking on pavements.

The Autumn Ride Season

A crowded, enjoyable and varied series of rides took place through the autumn. This included another East London Brewery Ride, and a new ride out to Much Hadham (taking in a visit to the Henry Moore Foundation). The first Bike from Boleyn Ride of the football season attracted lots of publicity and a variety of cycles. The next will be in April. Our usual October Rainham ride was blessed with traditional fine weather and attracted a record participation. We were able to take in benefited an open day at Rainham Hall. Another first was a ride for the children of the “Ambition Aspire Achieve” Saturday Cycle Club along the Greenway. A late addition to the programme was a Newham Heritage Ride, as a contribution to Newham Heritage Week, using part of our familiar Newham Ride route with the addition of some historical sound clips provided by Eastside Community Heritage.

Fix My Ride Sessions

Undertaken at Woodgrange Market in September and October and at Ambition Aspire Achieve in Canning Town in November. And after all that… We are now planning our activities for 2018, and running a fully subscribed women’s bike maintenance class over winter.

Arnold

Your can find here our  November news .

Steve riding RideLondon 100

As some of you know, our ride leader Steve is riding the RideLondon 100 this year for AAA.  Please sponsor him if you can.  We are building a relationship with AAA, supporting their weekend cycle club, so this is a cause that we are very happy to promote!

From Steve:

I’m am riding 100 miles for a very worthy local cause; to help young people in need and promote cycling.
Can you help us raise money for the Ambition, Aspire, Achieve Cycling Hub for disadvantaged and disabled children and young people?
Please donate to their JustGiving Crowdfunding Page:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/AAALondon100?utm_id=1&utm_term=AKXN9byDN

Thanks for your support

TfL & Mayor of London’s Strategic Cycling Analysis

This is a fairly substantial, but hugely important document.  The committee will be reviewing it, but there is some big stuff in here and it would be good to get thoughts from as many people as possible.  It’s also worth reading Simon Munk’s (LCC’s infrastructure guru and Waltham Forest campaigner) blog which gives a good summary.

strategic-cycling-analysis

A Celebration of Cycling

On Sunday morning, thanks to the nomination I received from the group, I got to ride in a celebration of Women’s Cycling, on closed roads in central London as part of the events preceding The Women’s Tour.

It was a short ride but the women taking part were all there because of the part they play in inspiring other women to ride – whether by providing training, or leading rides, or campaigning to make the city a place where women feel safe to cycle with their children.  Some of the other LCC local groups were represented as was LCC HQ. There were bikes of all shapes and sizes – cargo bikes, side by sides,  an elliptical bike and even a penny farthing!

Both the Mayor of London and his walking & cycling commissioner, Will Norman, were there to wave us off as we rode out on part of the route that was ridden much faster later in the day by the elite women in the final stage of the Tour; along Piccadilly, Regents Street, Haymarket and around Trafalgar Square, before finishing on Pall Mall.

 

Bike stall success

We had a great day on Saturday at Woodgrange Market, helping a number of people of all ages and from all backgrounds get their bikes back on the road. One of our favourite visitors was Jan who had not ridden her bike for 4 years and wanted to get back on it.  She had a lovely dutch Gazelle bike which had a flat tyre & needed some general TLC.  We helped her replace the inner tube & get the wheel back on her bike.  She was spotted riding around Forest Gate the next day!

Our aim is to teach as many people as possible – especially women – to deal with basic problems, in particular fixing a puncture!

A few weeks ago, Woman’s Hour had a whole feature on cycling including this great video with Jenni from London Bike Kitchen which does just that, with some great tips & tricks!

Our next stall is on Saturday 10th June – see you there!