Petition revives Wye Valley cycleway plans

The long-cherished dream of a cycleway up the Wye Valley, following the old railway line, refuses to go away. After Sustrans clarified that “it’s something we are always happy to talk about”, local people have addressed a petition to the Welsh Assembly Government, asking it to force Monmouthshire Council’s hand. The petition is currently just a few signatures short of its 2,000 target.

Making tracks for Tower Bridge

Artist Thomas Yang makes beautiful prints inspired by the nuts and bolts of everyday cycling – literally. His bike-themed images use tyres, chains and other cycle components to achieve a distinctive black-and-white look that has won several awards. Now his series of urban images has reached London with ‘God Save The Bike’, a portrait of Tower Bridge made with tyre treads. It’s $90 and there are just 19 remaining.

A bike made of pies

Now this is the sort of sports nutrition we like. To celebrate the imminent arrival of the Tour de France in Yorkshire, Ripon butchers Appletons have created a ‘pie-cycle’ – a bike-shaped assemblage of pies, sausage rolls and sausages. As the shop’s Toni Vauvert told the York Press, “all we need now is a fork in the road”.

It’s now legal to jump red lights… in Indiana

Most cyclists are tired of the accusation that they “always jump red lights” – but in the US state of Indiana, it’s now legal to do so.

Under some circumstances, anyway. A new law, nicknamed the ‘Dead Red Law’, allows cyclists to cross a red light if they’ve been waiting for two minutes.

The law is intended to address induction loops in the road, sensor panels that trigger a light change, but are often incapable of detecting lightweight vehicles like cycles.

However, local police admit that the two-minute requirement will be difficult to enforce. “No-one’s going to put a stopwatch on you,” police captain Phil Trent told wsbt.com. He emphasised that cyclists should still take care at busy junctions.

In some US towns, however, the induction loops have already become obsolete. Instead, motion-detection cameras are being installed on traffic lights, which automatically trigger the light sequence whenever anyone strays into view – whether they be motorist or cyclist.

Oh, I do like to ride beside the seaside

Cyclists in Weymouth are hoping to be the latest to overturn a promenade cycling ban.

Recent months have seen bike bans overturned on Seaford and Llandudno’s seafronts. Now this success has inspired a similar campaign by the cyclists of Weymouth and Portland – which shares a name with the US city, but not yet the bike-friendly attitude.

The campaign is being spearheaded by the local Weyforward initiative, which aims to shed the Dorset town’s reputation as “a graveyard of ambition”. Local cyclist Jason West has set up a petition, explaining:

“Someone somewhere has confused pedalling (cycling) with peddling (hawking, street selling). The result is that the cycling community of Weymouth & Portland, and all of the healthy cycling tourists we welcome, are banned from riding their bikes on the seafront by an ancient and misread byelaw!

“We think a sensible solution allowing both cyclists and pedestrians to co-exist in a safe way can be explored and found – such as exists in Bournemouth and most other seaside towns in the UK, as well as canals.”

The ban was last debated by councillors in 2008, but this time it looks like cyclists might have the council on their side. Christine James, in charge of transport at Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, told the Dorset Echo:

“I have always questioned as to why we can’t get cycling on the seafront. It does need to be debated again. The byelaw is ridiculous – once it has reached 600 signatures they can present it to me and it will be debated by the council again.”

You can sign the petition at avaaz.org.