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You might have thought it was the Institut Géographique National’s role to map the Tour de France – but with the ride coming to Britain this year, the Ordnance Survey is getting in on the act.
Britain’s national mapping agency has launched a new app, ‘OS Ride’, with the endorsement of former Tour rider and British cycling personality, Chris Boardman.
It contains free mapping for all three British stages of the 2014 event, as well as OS maps for historic stages of the tour when the world’s most famous cycle race came to Great Britain in 2007, 1994 and 1974. Each stage has also been split into smaller segments, so that those who don’t want to tackle a lung-busting 200km can attempt a smaller part of the challenge.
The app also includes five bonus routes selected by Chris Boardman, featuring some of his favourite rides from across the country, including Aviemore, Lyme Regis, Llandegla, the Peak District and the Lake District.
Features include elevation plans, speedometer, and the ability to tweet or share your time. According to Chris Boardman:
“OS Ride allows keen cyclists to record, track and share their stage achievements for both the 2014 stages and historic stages from previous tours. I especially like the option to ride smaller segments of the stages, making it accessible for a wide range of abilities and a great tool to support training programmes. This app is a must have for any keen road cyclist with unrivalled mapping accuracy showing added detail including height and elevation data. The digital maps also feature valuable tourist information for those planning to make the most from the areas surrounding the tour stages."
The app is available exclusively for Apple iPhones and iPads and is free to download from the App Store.
And for those with a less masochistic bent, cycle.travel will be launching an app later this year – watch this space.
Cambridge has more people cycling to work and the shops than any other city – putting cycle parking at a premium.
Now, Cambridge City Council is installing 600 more bike parking spaces on city centre streets. As the council explains:
“High cycle use has led to a significant demand for cycle parking facilities within the historic core of Cambridge. The cycle parks at the Grand Arcade and Park Street car parks are both well used and demand for spaces often exceeds their capacity. This shortfall in cycle parking facilities has led to cyclists parking their bicycles along railings, against the sides of buildings and on pavements, creating a hazard especially for people with mobility difficulties or visual impairments.”
£200,000 is being spent at 30 locations around the city. Councillor Tim Ward told the Cambridge News:
“On Saturday, I watched a number of people having to lift their bikes up onto walls to find somewhere to park them, and in fact I had to do this myself – so I am very pleased to see this work going ahead.”
The new racks will be ready for use by late June.
A cyclist has been killed in a collision with a waste lorry in London this morning.
The accident happened at Ludgate Circus, where Fleet Street meets Farringdon Street. London Ambulance Service confirmed that the male cyclist died at the scene. The Times has reported that the truck driver has now been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
Eyewitness reports on Twitter said:
“guy on bike gets pulled under a waste truck as they leave the lights, we were on other side waiting to cross” [source]
“tbh the cyclist was on the phone but underneath the lorrys near side mirror as they pulled away” [source]
“Watching the paramedics just stand around when they arrived was awful. The poor guy must have been obviously past help.” [source]
Early suggestions are that the lorry was turning left at the junction. The rider is believed to have been an experienced cyclist who worked as a bike messenger. The accident is the third cycling death in London this year, and the first to involve an HGV.
The campaign group Stop Killing Cyclists this week condemned London boroughs for failing to install more protected cycle lanes. It said that only three boroughs have built segregated lanes since the 2010 local elections (Ealing, Camden and Waltham Forest), while 24 have not. Co-organiser Donnachadh McCarthy said:
“Every one of the 54 cyclists killed on London’s roads over the last four years is a tragedy. It is also important to note the literally thousands of other deaths from the London boroughs’ failure to provide a safe, unpolluted cycling and walking environment. Londoners should ask every candidate in May’s local and European elections if they will support 10% of their transport budget to be spent on segregated cycle lanes.”
Ashok Sinha, chief executive of London Cycling Campaign, agreed:
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the person who died today. It is not acceptable that Londoners making normal everyday journeys by bike must contend with the dangers of major junctions that provide no protected space for cycling. We don't know the circumstances of this particular death, but we know our transport authorities can and must take action to redesign our streets in a way that minimises the risk of harm to people who walk and cycle.”
We’re always slightly in awe of the pro cyclists who ride the rough cobbles of Belgium at ridiculous speeds… but to do it on a penny-farthing leaves us speechless.
That’s the challenge taken on by Londoner Joff Summerfield, who previously circumnavigated the globe on his old-fashioned bike. Now, to promote the Tour de France’s visit to London this year, the 46-year old is planning to ride the course of the ‘Spring Classics’ pro races.
The London-based athlete spent two and a half years travelling through 23 countries on four different continents riding a penny farthing that he built himself. His new challenge is shorter, but no less difficult, with bone-shaking cobbles, steep hills and daring sprints.
Summerfield and his high-wheel bicycle will attempt to ride the punishing short stage Sportives at some of the most famous one-day cycling road races in the world including the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege – all in celebration of the Tour de France Stage 3, which will see the world’s cycling elite take to the iconic streets of London this July. He said:
“The famous cobbled roads and the steep hill climbs of these European Spring Classics are going to test me and my penny farthing to the limit. I am really looking forward to taking on these very challenging routes and meeting some of the pro riders along the way. The Tour de France coming to London is going to be an incredible celebration of cycling. I’m proud to be doing my bit to inspire and invite people to come to the capital this summer to see the world’s cycling elite take to the city’s iconic streets, and perhaps go even further and take on the same route as the pros with RideLondon.”
Cycling fans are invited to enter a competition to win a trip to London to watch Stage 3 of the Tour de France by tweeting a picture of Joff on his penny farthing, themselves with a Tour de France picture board, or on their own bicycle to @visitlondon using #letourinlondon or via www.visitlondon.com/letourinlondon. The Tour de France Grand Départ 2014 sets off from Yorkshire on Saturday 5 July and Sunday 6 July, with the peloton of 200 pro riders speeding into London via Cambridge and Essex for the finish of Stage 3 on Monday 7 July.
On completion of his Spring Classics challenge, Summerfield plans to travel the world again in May this year – on his penny farthing once again.
Two cycleways are to be created through some of East Anglia’s most idyllic countryside thanks to a Lottery grant.
The Heritage Lottery Fund is giving £2.2m to the ‘Breaking New Ground’ project in Breckland, the little-visited heathland between the Fens and the Norfolk Broads. As part of the scheme, two new routes will be created: the Brecks Forest Way and the Brecks Rides.
The Brecks Forest Way will run beside the picturesque River Little Ouse for eight miles, from Thetford to Brandon. Bridges will be upgraded, surfaces improved and maps published for use by cyclists, walkers and horse-riders. Although there are already paths in the area, the project says “they have not been well-maintained, and there are areas where the river has moved”.
The Brecks Rides will be a 16-mile path from West Stow, near Bury St Edmunds, to Santon Downham. It aims to “meet a growing demand for safe, off-road cycling meeting the needs of the family audience as well as more experienced cyclists”. A new underpass is already under construction at the A11 at West Stow, linking the route to the Country Park there. At Santon Downham, the route will meet the Brecks Forest Way.
Lisa Chambers, deputy leader of Suffolk County Council, said:
“As a result of this award, the partnership will be able to carry out a great number of exciting projects for the benefit of the Brecks landscape, heritage and communities. These will include the creation of a conservation volunteer centre, walking and cycling trails, heritage interpretation that tells the story of the Brecks and new training opportunities. This is excellent news for the Brecks and Suffolk as a whole.”
In the long term, Suffolk County Council would like to organise a long-distance off-road cycling event using the Brecks Rides. The two new paths will be created over the next three years.
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
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