Egrets? We have a few

Cyclists could soon be enjoying a scenic ride along Sussex’s River Ouse along a new traffic-free route, the Egrets Way.

The route is proposed by the South Downs National Park – Britain’s newest – together with Sustrans and local cyclists. With funding already secured from the Department for Transport, the route has now been submitted to Lewes District Council for approval.

Two sections of the route have already opened: a link from the village of Kingston into Lewes, and a new one-mile bridleway between Rodmell and Southease. The latest application, however, would be the real breakthrough – a five mile largely traffic-free route beside the beautiful River Ouse.

The South Downs National Park received £3.8m from Government to improve local cycle routes, and the Egrets Way is one of the flagship schemes. The new route would link into the Anglo-French Avenue Verte at its southern end, and run parallel to the local railway for easy out-and-back family rides.

The Ouse Valley Cycle Network project sees the new path as the centre of “a network of interlinking cycle and walking routes within the Ouse Valley between Lewes and Newhaven”. Most of the path would follow the western riverbank, though around the village of Piddinghoe – where there is no footpath to upgrade – the route would divert onto the existing road.

Simon Giddey, chair of Cycle Lewes, said the plans were “bold, imaginative and realistic”. He explained:

“The current roads between Lewes and Newhaven are heavily dominated by road traffic and deter all but the most confident and experienced cyclists. The routes are almost impossible for pedestrians as, for large sections, there are no pavements. A safe, traffic-free, route for cyclists and pedestrians will be a huge bonus.

“It will also have significant potential benefits for local tourism. With the proximity to the Newhaven ferry terminal, it should prove very attractive to visitors from the continent.”

The Rodmell–Southease link is scheduled to officially open on 7th June: meet at Southease Bridge at 10am to walk, cycle or ride the new bridleway.

The Ouse Valley Cycle Network site has more details on the proposed route.

Cargo bikes come to Manchester

A new cycle delivery company is aiming to bring two-wheeled freight transport to Manchester. Manchester Cycle Deliveries carries loads of up to 180kg anywhere in the city centre, and offers a bike-train-bike service for long distances.

Mark Cavendish loses the way

The Tour de France is one thing: crowds lining the route, marshals and barriers prevent riders taking a wrong turn. Riding unsupported? Not so easy, as sprinter Mark Cavendish found this weekend. The Yorkshire Post reports that he was caught out in Leyburn, Yorkshire, after his GPS signal gave up. Modesty prevents us from recommending our easily printable PDF maps of the area...

Show me the way to go home: the homing hire bike

Frequent ‘Boris Bike’ hirers are familiar with the dilemma – you know exactly where you want to go… but the docking station is full. And the next one. If you can find it.

London developer Tom Armitage set out to create a solution: the homing bike. Named Columba, after the Latin name of the pigeon, the prototype clips to the handlebars and ‘homes in’ on the nearest docking station.

It uses Transport for London’s live datafeed to find out which docking stations have spaces, and updates a ring of LEDs accordingly. In Tom Armitage’s words:

“Columba sits on the stem of a hire bike, between the handlebars. A ring of lights acts as a compass – not pointing north, but always towards the nearest docking station with empty racks. As you near a station, the compass-point gets wider, much like the UI in a computer game. If a new station has become closer, the ring pulses green to indicate its ‘lock-on’ has changed.”

Columba exists only in prototype form for now. Its creator says his intention was to “demonstrate the value of civic connected objects” – showing that everyday objects, not just smartphones, can benefit from interpreting smart data on the Internet.

That said, if you do want to check out the concept on your phone, head to bikecompass.tomarmitage.com; or for more on the prototype, read the original blogpost.

Halfords booms thanks to cycling

National chain Halfords is thanking cyclists for a sharp upturn in its profits. In the fourth quarter, cycling sales jumped by a massive 42% over the same period in the last year; the rise over the whole year was 19%.