onionbagblog

Published as part of the Keep Colchester Cycling project.

The final speaker at the recent Active Travel conference at the University of Essex was our very own Marc De’ath - the founder of the Creative Coop, and one of the lead orgnaisers for Keep Colchester Cycling. Marc used his brief conference slot to explain and update how the project is progressing ahead of the launch. This would seem like a good opportunity to provide an online update as to how the bike pool scheme is shaping up…

Marc confirmed that a soft launch of Keep Colchester Cycling would take place in May. We want to make sure that the logistics of the bike pool are in place, ahead of the anticipated demand that we are planning for during Bike Week in Colchester.

We are thrilled to be working with re-cycle - an international organisation that just so happens to be working out of Colchester. re-cycle essentially collects up old and unused bikes, and then restores them for use in Third World countries. Never underestimate the social power of pedal power; Recycle is genuinely changing lives in areas experiencing a lack of transport infrastructure.

Keep Colchester Cycling is also partnering up with the Slug and Lettuce along the High Street. This will be our main distribution point, and the place where our pool of bikes can be collected and returned. The thinking is that this may be an atypical location in which to promote cycling. If we can encourage non-cyclists to explore their town via two wheels, then one of the main aims of the project will have succeeded.

A local artist is also on board to help customise our bike pool that we will receive from re-cycle. Although transport and sustainability are our main themes, adding an artistic angle is important too. A local mechanic has also kindly agreed to help us out with the maintenance of the fleet.

We are still looking for route suggestions or sponsors for certain routes. Each Keep Colchester Cycling bike will come with a route map, documenting places of local artistic and cultural interest. Any local cartographers who want to partner us in our work will be greatly received. Likewise if a local business wants to sponsor a route - please do get in touch.

And that is pretty much where we are at with Keep Colchester Cycling right now. The final plans are being put in place ahead of the soft launch, and then hopefully Bike Week will see a visible presence of our bike fleet around the town.

Not long now…