Author: Rachel M

What do you call a lady on a bike?

The latest cycle count results have again shown a significant bias towards males, a couple of months back Aberdeen Cycle Forum brought together a small group of women cyclists to have a look at this.

The group has had a few meetings now and have some great ideas that they are looking forward to putting into action. However before we kick off, we need a name for the group that describes what we are and what we do.. So suggestions please…

Sustrans have their Bike Belles, CTC Grampian have Five Mile to Fabulous, can you help us come up with a memorable name that would appeal to the women cyclists in Aberdeen? As an incentive the writer of the winning entry gets a

Cycle Count 2009

On 21st and 22ns April 2009 ACF conducted Aberdeen’s third cycle count and our first year-on-year one, so why count bikes? Cycle use statistics are important to ACF for three reasons: Quantified cycle use makes it a lot easier to lobby for new facilities in the city. Increasing or decreasing use shows if the (somewhat limited) facilities that exist do work. Statistics can be benchmarked with other cities in Scotland and further afield.

Cyclists are counted at 11 key locations around the city between 07:30 and 09:00, the objective of this is to gain a metric of cycle activity and not to count all cyclists. Details results are below, the striking change from 2008 are an overall increase of 10%, with the weather the same as the 2008 count this is encouraging. The largest increases were on the key commuter corridors of the Deeside line, King Street and Union Street, which recorded it’s first count of 100. From its original low level the number of female cyclists fell, if you think you know why let Liz know

Read the Detailed Statistics (PDF File, 22kb)

If you have any comments on the results, or want to be a “bike spotter” for our next survey (full training is given) please get in contact If you are interested in stories like this then why not join the ACF e-NEWS service to get alerts when new items are added to the web site

Get-About and Get Cycling

25th April to 2nd May is Aberdeen City and Shire Get-About week. ACF supported this Nestrans event with a kick off in Belmont Street on Sunday in Belmont Street where Get Cycling were on hand with a wide range of bikes for people to try.

Get-About week continues throughout the city and shire all week, if you missed the Get Cycling roadshow on Sunday they are at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (10:00-16:00) on Tuesday and Dyce on Wednesday (09:00-17:00 car park of Marriot Hotel map) So if you are in the area drop in. For information on other Get-About events, which cover more than just cycling visit the Get-About website

Try Cycling 2009

Easy-paced rides aimed at beginners or those who have not been in the saddle for a while

The rides, organized by the Cyclists? Touring Club and Aberdeen Cycle Forum, visit various places of interest such as ancient cairns, march stones, churches, bird hides, and local beauty spots. All are welcome, but they are aimed at beginners and those who have not been in the saddle for a while

• Experienced cycle trainers on all rides
• Families welcome (but see important note below)
• Start at 10.00 am, with a cafe stop on the ride, returning before lunch.

meeting points are:

FIRST Sunday of the Month – Duthie Park, at the pond off Riverside Drive (map)

SECOND Sunday of the Month – Hazelhead Park – Groats Road entrance (map)

THIRD Sunday of the Month – Seaton Park – at the car park on Don St. (map)

FOURTH + FIFTH Sunday of the Month – Duthie Park, at the pond off Riverside Drive (map)

Just turn up on the day, or for more information drop us a line on
trycycling@aberdeencycleforum.org.uk

Important Note : For insurance reasons all children under 17, need written parental permission. Those turning up as a family can just sign a form available on the day Unaccompanied 13 – 17 years olds will need to bring this with them, contact us for more details of whats required

Aberdeenshire’s Walking and Cycling Strategy

Well it’s been a long time coming, and thanks to everyone who participated in the Online survey. Aberdeenshire Council has now published it’s draft walking and cycling strategy. This is open to public consultation until 24th April, ACF will respond ourselves but comments are welcome from all stakeholders

You can read more, download the strategy document and have your say

Click here to go to Aberdeenshire’s Web Pages

Of course a strategy is really good, but what is even better is implementing it – as we have seen with other “local” local authorities this is the harder part. ACF watches with anticipation…

What the papers Say : cyclists are pampered

Do you cycle, do you buy the Press and Journal – ever wondered how compatible the two activities might be? On Friday 20th March the P&J published an editorial denouncing Aberdeenshire council for a “scandalous waste of resources”. Nothing new here, but what was this scandalous waste? Simply bulding a short cycle lane near Cairnbulg!

The Editor continues At a time when services for the elderly and the disabled are being cut, it is nothing short of scandalous that the pampering of cyclists continues uninterrupted.

So you read it here first, We cyclists are pampered by the local authorities. You can read the full article online which also suggests there is no case for the use of bicyces.

UPDATE 24th Mar – There are plenty of interesting online comments appearing and the discussion has now moved to the P&J’s Letters Page(4th letter down)

If perhaps you don’t feel the local authorities are pampering to your every cycling need, you might wish to make your own comments. There are number of ways to do so. You can Email the editor Fax : 01224 344114 or send an old fashioned letter; P&J Editor, Aberdeen Journals Ltd, Lang Stracht, Aberdeen AB15 6DF. There is also an option to leave your comments on the original online article

Of course in these financially constrained times you could always make your point and save your pennies by not buying the P&J!

Ladies on Wheels

You may have noticed in the results of our last cycle count there was a distinct male bias in the results. This may be due to the time of the count, or any number of reasons, we honestly don’t know. A small group of ACF’s ladies have come together to have a look at this and hopefully come up with ideas to help and encourage more out on their bikes. We have some great ideas – however YOU probably have some better ones…

If this is something that you are interested in and you want to get involved, please contact Liz for more details simply drop us an email at:

ladies@aberdeencycleforum.org.uk

Road Casualty Reduction Strategy for the North East of Scotland.

ACF has today submitted it’s response to the above consulation. You can read this on our consultations pages

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