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Thursday, 31 May 2012 11:10
Awards
Norfolk-based car-sharing organisation, liftshare, and the Belgian city of Ghent’s cycling programme have beaten off stiff competition from over 120 sustainable travel initiatives across the UK, France and Belgium to win the inaugural Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel.
The winners were selected against four other finalists for the ground-breaking ways in which they encourage people to think differently about how they travel. liftshare and Ghent City Council will now share £30,000 in prize money to further their work to promote sustainable travel.
liftshare was chosen as a winner for its tireless efforts to fill empty car seats on the roads, via its online car-sharing network, which offers a friendlier, greener and cheaper way to travel. liftshare stood out to the judges because of the breadth of its initiatives to promote car-sharing including; a free-to-use public car-sharing network for individuals, and tailor-made paid for schemes for local authorities, organisations and businesses which they then provide free to their users. This strategy, combined with creative marketing and innovative product development, has attracted over 332,000 active liftshare members, with 1 in every 100 cars in the UK registered on the network.
Liftshare helps remove around 100,000 journeys from the UK’s roads each day, which will cut 113,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, this year alone.
Ghent City Council was selected for its far-reaching mobility plan, which is designed to get more people cycling. Their approach, which includes the creation of a car-free city centre, extensive safety initiatives and investment in creative marketing support, impressed the judging panel. As a result of these efforts, Ghent has transformed from a city with high levels of traffic congestion to a clean, tranquil and safe cycling city, where two wheels take priority over four. One in five of all journeys to work or school in Ghent are now made by bike and the Council provides an excellent example of how to transform the travel habits of an entire city.
Nicolas Petrovic, Eurostar Chief Executive says; “We were delighted by the breadth and quality of all the entries into our first sustainable travel awards, making it a difficult decision to select both the finalists and the overall winners. liftshare and Ghent City Council stood out to us as winners for their innovative approach in helping to transform the way people think about travelling. By celebrating their achievements we hope to inspire more people to consider the environment when making their own travel choices.”
Sarah Butler-Sloss, Founder Director of Ashden added: “liftshare’s achievements are very impressive: with 1 in every 100 cars in the UK registered on the liftshare network a huge number of car miles are being saved, resulting in phenomenal carbon savings.
“The city of Ghent has made cycling safe, easy and pleasurable through its excellent cycling infrastructure, innovative marketing campaigns and well thought-through cycling support, from rentals and repairs at stations through to providing gloves for when it’s cold.”
The 2012 Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel culminated on 30 May at the annual Ashden Awards ceremony in London, where the achievements of all the finalists were celebrated and where the ultimate winners were announced. Eurostar, in partnership with Ashden, launched the Sustainable Travel Award in 2011 to celebrate and support local sustainable travel projects across the UK, France and Belgium. The Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel forms part of Eurostar’s Tread Lightly programme to reduce the business’s impact on the environment and encourage people to switch to more sustainable modes of transport.
Ascom proud to sponsor Kerry Wells
It’s not every day you get to cycle in the still of the night with no traffic on the roads.
Birmingham, UK (PRWEB UK) 31 May 2012
Project Manager, Kerry Wells will start his bike ride in London just before midnight on the 29th June and finish in the early hours of the morning of the 30th June in Brighton. Setting off from Alexandra Palace, Wells will pedal through the eerily quiet streets of London past some of the most famous landmarks before breaking out onto the open country roads of Surrey and Sussex, with an aim of seeing the early morning sun over Brighton seafront.
“While I have done some running in the past I have never been a natural runner and have always enjoyed being out on my bike, so a bike ride challenge was always a natural choice for me,” says Wells.
“It’s not every day you get to cycle in the still of the night with no traffic on the roads; the extra isolation brought by the darkness will make it even more interesting and exciting.”
The Moonriders event has been organised by international challenge events organiser, Action Challenge, who have been organising inspirational adventures across the globe since 1997.
“We wish Kerry the best of luck; he has been training extremely hard for this event and has been fitting in his training routine around his work life, waking up early to practice. All of us at Ascom UK are proud to support him,” says Hiral Chavda, Marketing Executive for Ascom UK.
For those who are interested in learning more about the event please visit the Moonriders site directly and to sponsor Kerry Wells, please click here.
ABOUT ASCOM WIRELESS SOLUTIONS
Ascom Wireless Solutions (http://www.ascom.com/ws) is a leading provider of on-site wireless communications for key segments such as hospitals, elderly care, independent living, manufacturing industries, secure establishments, retail and hotels. More than 75,000 systems are installed at major companies all over the world. The company offers a broad range of voice and professional messaging solutions, creating value for customers by supporting and optimizing their Mission-Critical processes. The solutions are based on VoWiFi, IP-DECT, nurse call and paging technologies, smartly integrated into existing enterprise systems. The company has subsidiaries in 10 countries and 1,200 employees worldwide. Founded in the 1950s and based in Göteborg, Sweden, Ascom Wireless Solutions is part of the Ascom Group, listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange.
Ascom (UK) Ltd (http://www.ascom.co.uk) is a fully owned subsidiary to the Ascom Group, responsible for marketing and sales in the UK. The company has been providing their solutions to key segments in the UK for more than 50 years and thrive on providing the latest wireless communication technology in the market today.
ABOUT ACTION CHALLENGE
Action Challenge is an international challenge event specialist. Since 1997 they have organised challenge events for charities, corporate groups, schools and private clients all over the world. With tailor-made events and itineraries across all continents, they offer some of the world’s best treks, cycling events and tours, multi-sport challenges and community projects.
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The warning, alongside a 27% plunge in profits, spooked the markets today and sent the shares sliding 9%, or 24.5p, to 251.4p.
The retailer said: “In particular we have not seen the usual seasonal demand for cycling and outdoor leisure products.”
Halfords, which sells one in four bikes bought in the UK, is hoping sales will pick up again after the wettest April on record.
Chief executive David Wild added that the timing of bank holidays, with the extra day for the Royal Wedding and an earlier Easter, also meant the outdoor activity season started earlier last year.
He said: “I don’t want to go into the weather because it’s something that retailers always talk about but it is encouraging that the weakness was in cycling and outdoors, which suggests it is just a short-term blip.”
Halfords’ best-selling bike is the Apollo, which sells for £100. Its Boardman bike, for more serious cyclists, was recently ridden by sports stars Andrew Flintoff and Lawrence Dallaglio in a 22-day fundraising ride from Olympia in Greece to London.
The firm posted £92.2 million in pre-tax profits for the year to March 30, down from £125.6 million previously. Sales of car maintenance products were down 4.5% over the past year as motorists drove fewer miles, while the lack of a prolonged spell of winter weather reduced demand for cold weather products such as de-icers, screen wash and batteries.
Garmin are the dominant force in the on-bike GPS market but a new brand – Mio – has just arrived in the UK looking to steal a share of the pie and we’ve been handed one their Cyclo 305 HC GPS units to test.
Mio might be a new name to many but the company’s heritage is in car sat-navs so they’re not going to send you down a cul-de-sac, and Paligap, whose brands include Cipollini, Ritchey and Torq, will be looking after distribution in the UK for the bike market.
Mio are launching with two high-end units, the 305 and the 300. The difference between the two? The 305 comes with a heart rate strap and cadence sensor, and can be bought with UK maps for £309.99 or Western Europe maps for £349.99. The 300 doesn’t come with a strap or sensor and has UK maps only, and that’ll set you back £259.99.
Pull the 305 out of the box and you have a rugged and well made unit, designed in Belgium and assembled in China, which is bigger than Garmin’s top-of-the-range Edge 800, but with a three-inch high-res and anti-glare touch screen which clearly displays the pre-installed Open Street Map and TeleAtlas maps, plus it’s very responsive and is easy to navigate around based on the quick play we’ve had. Mio use a similar stem/handlebar mount to Garmin to fix the unit to the bike – twist it and it’ll lock into place.
Mio’s most interesting feature is the Surprise Me function, where you select the length of your ride (in time or distance) and it’ll map three possible routes in three directions. The success of this depends on the device’s ability to select a route suitable for cycling – and not send you round a busy A road, for example – so we’ll see how we get on, but it’s an interesting feature nonetheless. What would be good is if Mio could recognise what roads cyclists are riding most frequently based on rides uploaded to the Mio Share desktop application, with the Surprise Me learning from that.
Other than that, the 305 includes all the features you’d expect from a GPS unit; you can navigate to an address, a point of interest (including bike shops, emergency locations and cafes/pubs/restaurants) or a point on the map, while you can also follow a route you’ve plotted online and uploaded to the device.
Battery life is 12 hours, while in the box you also get an instruction manual, mains charger, USB cable, mount, heart rate strap and ANT+ sensor.
So there you have a quick overview of Mio’s debut cycling-specific GPS unit. We’ll head out on the road and let you know how we get on.
MELBOURNE – May 31, 2012: It’s Bikies Wars at Shannons this
Monday in Melbourne, with the Douglas clan out to Triumph over the Ariel
Squares, the BAS Sloper set and the Goldwing gang.
Shannons June 4 Winter Classic Auction has plenty of two-wheel action
brewing with eight special motor cycles – seven British and one
Japanese – crossing the block from 7pm in their Cheltenham
showroom.
The main rivalry on the night will be for bragging rights between two
feisty Pre-War Brits – a ready-to race and well-maintained 1939
Velocette 350cc Mac and a rare 595cc 1932 BSA Sloper from a deceased estate
in the UK.
The Mac has been looked after by Les Diener, a well known South
Australian bike racer and Velocette specialist from the ‘50s and
‘60s and has been the subject of much recent mechanical work.
The Sloper houses the largest of the engines offered throughout the
model’s life and like the Velocette, is fitted with a four-speed
gearbox. Both are expected to sell in the $14,000-$18,000 range.
Pushing this pair very closely for desirability is a 1975 Triumph T160
Trident 750cc. Featuring electric start and a five-speed gearbox, this
last-of-the-breed bike with its three-cylinder air-cooled engine is
presented in excellent rideable condition and at its guiding range of
$12,000-$15,000 will appeal to enthusiasts who wants to ride a classic
motorcycle regularly.
Also very desirable for British motorcycle enthusiasts is a pair of
Douglas solos – a 1926 EW 350cc and a 1951 Mk 5 350cc solo.
The earlier Douglas ‘Twin’ comes from a deceased estate and
has been displayed and never ridden since its comprehensive restoration,
while the Post-War Mk 5 with its innovative horizontally-opposed 348cc twin
laid across the frame has covered just 3,396 miles since its restoration
some years ago.
The Pre-War Douglas is expected to sell for $10,000-$14,000 and the Mk 5
for $9,000-$11,000.
Another Post-War British classic is the 1947 Royal Enfield Model J 500cc
that comes from a Californian collection and has covered just 3,905 miles
since its complete restoration.
Presented in excellent condition, the bike would make a wonderful
display or club motorcycle and is expected to bring $10,000-$14,000.
For collectors and restorers, there is a 1957 Ariel Square Four 4G Mk II
1100cc that has come out of long-term storage.
The bike was partially restored from a bare frame some time in the past
but has lain dormant since and is incomplete. It is expected to attract
many Square Four enthusiasts at its projected $7,000-$10,000 selling
range.
Finally for cruisers there is a large and luxurious Australian-delivered
1982 Honda GL100 DC Goldwing motorcycle that is believed to have covered
just 42,000km since new.
The bike has been in the hands of its present owner for the past seven
years. It has been ridden and serviced regularly and is being reluctantly
offered for sale with no reserve following its owner’s move
interstate. Shannons are expecting bids in the $3,000-$5,000 range.
Quad insurance is up to 70% cheaper than car insurance
United Kingdom (PRWEB UK) 31 May 2012
With the cost of living continuing to increase and the effects of the continued economic downturn, many young drivers are choosing to buy a brand new quad bike over a second hand car with sales in quad insurance reaching an all time high in the UK and Northern Ireland.
Birmingham based insurance specialist Falcon Insurance provides insurance to many sectors including: vehicles, housing, business, charities, places of worship and much more. Falcon Insurance has established a reputation as a specialist insurance broker in all these sectors and a specialist insurance provider for all types of vehicle insurance, in particular for road legal and off-road quad bikes, buggies and other all terrain vehicles (ATVs).
Sales of quad bikes have grown year on year, in particular sales of road legal quads continue to outgrow sales of other vehicles such as motorbikes. Falcon has recognised the potential growth in this sector for insurance providing cover for all types of quads, modified quads, sports quads, imported quads and much more.
The current boom in quad bike sales has had a significant impact on the number of telephone and online quad insurance enquiries received at Falcon Insurance and ultimately on the quantity of quad, buggy and ATV policies sold by Falcon Insurance.
Ronnie Roberts, Sales Manager of Falcon Insurance adds: “Quad bikes are no longer seen as working vehicles. Over the last year, sales of adult road legal quad bikes have reached an all time high with dealerships springing up all over the UK.
“With petrol becoming increasingly expensive, a quad bike is seen as a real alternative mode of transport, with low running costs, purchase price and insurance up to 70% cheaper than car insurance, so it’s easy to see why they’re becoming so popular. In particular younger drivers don’t need to have any specialist licence, but can ride a quad bike with a full UK driving licence.”
Falcon Insurance is the chosen provider of cheap quad bike insurance, particularly for younger drivers aged from 17 whom many competing insurance companies won’t insure until they are at least 19 or in some instances 21.
Ronnie Roberts adds: “People ride for many different reasons – some just want a weekend car while others see quad bikes as a real alternative to a car or motorbike for every day use. As well as younger drivers, quad bikes are fast becoming an alternative weekend car for the over 40s who are looking for something a bit different that is both fun and quirky.”
Falcon Insurance compares quad insurance quotes with other companies to ensure their policies are tailored to fit the individual rider and their needs. With the growth in quad bikes, unfortunately there has been a growth in the number of thefts of quad bikes. From their UK based call centre, Falcon provides support and guidance on keeping quad bikes safe including recommending keeping in a garage, using insurance approved locks, alarms and immobilisers.
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£75, uk.thenorthface.com
There’s nothing nice about getting a sweaty back from your rucksack on long summer cycles. This clever pack has vented straps and supports to encourage airflow.
2. Finish Line Dry Teflon Lube
£3.99, evanscycles.com
This lube is made from Teflon so forms a surface barrier on your chain and cassette to stop dust and road grime from getting hold.
3. Flux 88 shorts
£59.99, madison.co.uk
The last thing you want in summer is a pair of tight black shorts. This baggy olive pair (available in men’s and women’s sizes) are just the ticket to keep you cool.
4. Slant gloves
£30, uk.thenorthface.com
A pair of lightweight summer gloves are essential. The soft mesh used in this pair keeps your palms cool, while still giving plenty of grip and protection.
5. Velow Kruizer
From £60, eastpak.com
Try this light satchel from Eastpak. It comes in three sizes with an integrated bike-light holder and lots of reflective patches for night riding.
6. Rapha Lightweight Jersey
£105, rapha.cc
Ideal for the roadbiker who wants to stay cool when the mercury is rising, this jersey is made from a merino-blend fabric which is very breathable and soft on the skin.
7. Reverb helmet from Giro
£49.99, madison.co.uk
This smart helmet it has six long air vents to keep the wind in your hair and it has a detachable cycling cap-style visor to keep the sun out of your eyes.
8. Kryptonite Evolution Lock Kryptoflex Cable Combo
£49.99, evanscycles.com
Cycling to the shops this summer? Try this D-lock and extended cable combo to keep light-fingered bike thieves at bay.
9. Muc-Off Trigger Spray
£7.99, halfords.com
The hosepipe ban can make keeping your ride clean after a long off-road scramble. This stuff works a treat. Use it with an old rag and a jug of water.
10. Continental Grand Prix 4 Season
£33.93, wiggle.co.uk
These military-grade tyres have layers of Kevlar (the stuff in bullet-proof vests) to stop shards of glass and nails ruining your ride.
ARE you keen to do your bit for the environment and ditch your car, but not sure about making the move to traditional pedal power?
An electric bike could be the solution – and the Post has teamed up with Big Green Week to offer readers the chance to win one of their own, worth nearly £2,000.
The UK’s first festival of environmental ideas, art and culture is taking place from June 9-17 and on the first Sunday (June 10), Park Street will be closed to traffic for the Atmosphere Electric Bike World Championships.
The event will showcase one of the best features of electric bikes – how easily they can get up hills.
You could get your hands on one of your own by filling out the entry form below.
The adult bike has been donated by manufacturers Hero Eco through Bristol shop Atmosphere Electric Bikes, which is at the bottom of Jacobs Wells Road.
It is a white Hero Eco Ultra Motor A-B hybrid 26′, which retails at £1,799.
Charged from mains electricity, electric bikes use low voltage motors and technically advanced batteries to boost traditional pedal power.
This means that you can cycle along as normal, losing none of the enjoyment and the motor will help you when the going gets tough up hills.
Another benefit is that you don’t need to have special cycling clothes, or even have a shower when you get to your destination – everyday clothes are fine and you won’t be working up too much of a sweat.
But the low impact exercise you get on one of the bikes is better for your fitness than sitting in your car.
And of course there is the environmental benefit – an electric bike’s carbon footprint is just 2.6g of carbon dioxide per mile.
For more information on events at Big Green Week and to buy tickets, visit the festival’s website at www.biggreenweek.com.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
8:06 AM
London is not one of the best places to get on your bike according to a list of the UK’s most cycle-friendly locations which puts the capital only 56th.
Plymouth in Devon came top on a range of criteria including bike thefts, accidents, cycle routes and bike-repair centres on the list compiled by Virgin Money.
Second on the list was Norwich, followed by Bristol, St Helens in Merseyside, Huddersfield and Glasgow.
Theft and accident levels kept the City of London at only 50th and Greater London was six places further back, despite the London Mayor’s ‘Boris Bike’ initiative.
Graeme Tones, of Virgin Money, said: “Cycling continues to increase in popularity and is a major contributor to improving general health and easing traffic congestion. Government and local councils are doing their best to help more of us to get on our bikes through tax incentives, cycle parks and cycle paths.
“Every town and city in the top 60 can be pleased. Reducing the level of accidents and serious injuries requires responsibility from cyclists, care from drivers and the desire from towns and cities to make it easy and safe for people to get on their bikes.”
» Read more transport related articles from our archive
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A bolt of light flashes across a corridor, and the illuminated face of a young boy appears out of the darkness.
