Community bike station in Washington

Here’s a lovely little idea: a free-for-all bike repair station and information centre in Bellingham, WA. It’s been erected by a local building company on a busy street simply because “we want to support bike riders and pedestrians”. More please!

Taiwan aims to be “paradise” for bike tourists

A new 750-mile round-the-island cycle route is spearheading Taiwan’s efforts to become a “cycling paradise”.

The ambition is that of no less than Prime Minister Mao Chi-kuo. Taiwan is already a leading country in bike manufacturing: now it wants to attract more touring cyclists to its shores.

Cycling Route No 1, as it’s called, is a signposted route running around the Far Eastern island. Part is on-road, but almost 400 miles on the east coast runs along scenic bike paths. Along the way, 122 rest stops provide cyclists with supplies and a place to take a breather – with some even set up in local police stations. The full route typically takes nine days to complete, but the Taiwan railways have set up ‘transit depots’ so cyclists can travel part of the route then conclude their journey by train.

As the name suggests, this is just the first in several routes planned for the island. According to Mao:

“We expect to flesh out Taiwan’s future cycling network construction by setting up the second and third round-island routes. With an extended drive continuing into 2018, we have every reason to believe that Taiwan will become an even friendlier environment for cyclists while spurring growth in the local bicycle and tourism sectors.”

Mao is far from the country’s only bike-friendly politician. The Mayor of Taipei, Dr Ko Wen-je, recently cycled 240 miles in under 21 hours, and is widely touted as a future President of the nation. The country hosts an annual Taiwan Cycling Festival, established in 2011.

Full details of the round-the-island route are available on the iTaiwanBike website. bicycletouringpro.com has a good guide to cycling in Taiwan.

The badass who cycled 1930s Africa

Riding from North to South Africa is an amazing achievement today. In the early 1930s it was almost unthinkable.  Kazimierz Nowak did it, not once but twice. The Adventure Journal uncovers the tale of this “unequivocal badass”.

Colossal Nottinghamshire viaduct could become cycleway

The 450-metre Bennerley Viaduct, one of the most impressive disused structures to survive from Britain’s railway age, could become a new cycleway if a Lottery bid succeeds.

Cycling charity Sustrans has been granted £40,000 to develop plans to restore the viaduct. If they find that a bike route is feasible, they’ll then ask the Heritage Lottery Fund for £2m to carry out the work.

Local resident Kieran Lee, appointed as Sustrans’ Community Engagement Officer for the project, explained:

“Part of the £40,000 funding will be used to develop a heritage walk around the viaduct, and to produce materials for local schools leading to an exhibition at Erewash Museum to get the local community interested.

“In the future, when we have really good solid evidence that there’s huge community support for this project, we will be putting a further application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore and reopen the viaduct.”

The viaduct was opened in 1877 to give the Great Northern Railway direct access to the coalfields of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Crossing the Erewash Valley between Ilkeston and Awsworth, it was one of very few wrought iron viaducts to be constructed. The viaduct was closed to rail traffic in the 1960s and was in turn bequeathed to Sustrans’ sister charity, Railway Paths Ltd.

If reopened, the route would connect with the Erewash Canal towpath in the valley below, as well as a growing network of local routes between Nottingham and Derby.

Meanwhile, conservation and preservation work continues to be carried out on the viaduct by the Friends of the Bennerley Viaduct.

Boris's bike advisor calls for new routes

Andrew Gilligan, the Mayor of London’s cycling commissioner, is drawing up a list of new superhighways he wants to see constructed after Boris Johnson’s term comes to a close. The “legacy plan” includes a new segregated route along Westminster Bridge Road.