Dear <<First Name>> 

The news early this month was alarming. Rishi Sunak published his Plan for Drivers as part of the Conservatives' early electioneering but in doing so he rowed back on people-friendly measures such as low-traffic neighbourhoods, area-wide 20mph (as in Wales) and possibly active travel (he'd already cut funding for that).

Many of us were of the view that Gear Change and the LTN 1/20 infrastructure guidelines were the best things to come from Boris Johnson's premiership but his successor seems to have undone that in a stroke. 

But has he? Ask the experts and a lot of what Sunak has promised is undeliverable, especially as he has only a short time left in office before the election. Besides which, do the Tories really want to cancel out the safety, environmental and quality of life gains they have achieved? Is it really possible that Conservative Central Office wants to cancel schemes that allow people to travel on buses, by bike or on foot ... and get us all behind our own personal steering wheels in one gigantic jam?

Sunak's move is, er, interesting. We hope Labour and the Lib Dems will see through his ploy and avoid climbing on to the same bandwagon. Like everything that's political, let's assess it 18 months from now. We could be smiling! 

As this newsletter went to press, Adam Tranter, Ed Clancy, Dame Sarah Storey and Simon O'Brien – the active travel commissioners representing West Midlands, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region – had this to say in a letter to Sunak: "The most effective plan for drivers will be to get right behind the government's Gear Change Plan."

They said the key challenge was to ensure that the existing road network does not suffer huge congestion, bringing disbenefits to communities and local economies.

They told the prime minister that they stand ready to help deliver local transport networks that give people genuine choices. Read the full letter here. 

We do hope that the higher-ups at Essex County Council will be following a similar line.

Send your seasonal snaps (with your bike as the star!) to admin@colchester-cycling.org.uk and we may use them in the next newsletter. If you love your bicycle commute, please share it with the newsletter team via the admin address above.

The style of this sign may be familiar to some of you but where in Colchester is it? Answer below.

My beautiful commute

By Kim Barnetson

What can I tell you about my commute? Well, for a start, I don’t have one. I work from  home as a registered childminder but as part of my job I take the children I care for out and about most days.

As a non-driver  the first 21 years of childminding meant walking or catching the bus but in 2020 I bought an ecargo bike. Now we use it to go everywhere.

My "commute" varies according to where we want to go, I always try to choose a scenic and car-free route where possible.

The children love travelling to the library at Wivenhoe along the riverside trail. Likewise a visit to High Woods country park involves cycling through the tunnel under the railway where we take turns to shout and hear the echo.

Trips to visit a residential home are made over Balkerne bridge and past Jumbo.

The children get so much from our rides and because they are in the box in front of me, we can all chat or sing together.

Our commute might not be the regular kind but it's teaching children that there are other ways to travel than the car, that we can interact with our surroundings and get to know the city we live in.

Best of all we aren’t closed off from others, we can wave and stop for a chat with curious passersby. This is the kind of commute I really enjoy.

Colchester Bike Kitchen is a volunteer-run DIY bicycle workshop in the city centre. Users learn to look after their bikes under the supervision of an expert CBK mechanic. A full range of tools is available for the more experienced.
 
While CBK has enough mechanics for now, it would love to hear from anyone who can offer their skills to help behind the scenes.

Are you an expert with accounts? A marketing marvel? A bid writer? If you have talents and time to share, please contact Mike or Phin to find out more.

Find out more about CBK here.

The next Kidical Mass ride will be on Saturday October 28, starting at 2pm from Firstsite off the eastern end of High Street.

The plan is to ride along Queen Street, Vineyard Street, Vineyard car park cycle path, St John's Street, Head Street, High Street, Roman Road and finally into Castle Park to the play area.   

Organiser Jean Quinn says: "Having done a dummy run it is clear this is the busiest and for the children probably the most challenging ride we've tried.

"We feel we need as many marshals as we can get who are experienced, confident cyclists. Being a marshal will involve cycling on the outside of the group to keep other riders safe. Everything will be explained clearly beforehand."

If you can join Kidical Mass please contact Jean Quinn (jeanquinn42@yahoo.co.uk,  07791 916 914 or Kim Barnetson (kims2kids@gmail.com, 07956 653 035).

Jean adds that she hopes to stage a test ride for the marshals on Monday October 16 at 6.30pm.

• Note that Kidical Mass is a wholly separate organisation to Colchester Cycling Campaign although we do support KM's aims.

By Will Bramhill

It you're like me, you avoid taking your good bikes to the city centre because you fear that Johnny Lightfingers will strike. The new secure cycle park in Portal Precinct takes away that worry and you can park centrally -- to visit the cinema, Firstsite, the shops or museums for just £1 for the day.We hope to run a review of the facility in the next edition. Meanwhile please point people to it -- especially cycle tourists who want to keep their belongings safe. Details here

The cycling campaign has objected to a plan for farm buildings on Nightingale Hill, Langham, to be turned into five homes.

The road is part of the National Cycling Network and benefits from the low number of cars. We have said the plan is overdevelopment of a rural site.

The applicant gives figures for traffic generation but we have pointed to data flagged up by Prof Rachel Aldred of the University of Westminster. See rachelaldred.org/research/estimating-local-motor-traffic-1

By this measure, each urban home creates 3.4 trips per day, which includes deliveries such as Amazon and supermarkets, as well as service workers. Rural homes are likely to create more. 

The 3.4 trips are round trips, so there will be 6.8 journeys per home when you consider "there and back". With five homes this development will be responsible for 34 journeys a day – a considerable amount when compared with the current (lapsed) use.

CCC has adopted a belt and braces approach. Should the scheme be given permission we have asked for minimisation of developers' traffic (shared journeys, etc) and remodelling of the existing junction to give it the tighter geometry shown in LTN 1/20. We have also requested cycle parking by way of bike hangars or Asgard-type bike shelters (not wooden garden sheds), and a contribution  to Sustrans to improve local cycle routes.

Ever wondered how Victorian cyclists managed before the advent of the Wivenhoe or Rowhedge trails? This is the answer! Spring Wyncoll (b1863, d1930*), was the son of the landlord of the Whalebone at  Fingringhoe and the first cyclist in the village. He built this pedalo upstairs in the pub, stripping down a penny-farthing in the process, and "launched" it out of a top window. His friend Arthur Crickmar, whose father was the Fingringhoe postmaster, then pedalled it upriver to Colchester.

More information and pictures at Mersea Museum, which is well worth an hour or two of your time. If you plan to pedal to Mersea, one quieter route you may like to try begins at the northern end of Oliver's Lane, Colchester, and joins the Strood south of the Peldon Rose.

* We're unsure of his exact dates. There were two Spring Wyncolls in Fingringhoe/Peldon and there is conflict over his age.

What does the Colchester campaign team mean when it talks about LTN 1/20? Fortunately our colleagues in York made this page to explain.

No news this month, we're afraid. We'll send a newsflash to the CCC email group as soon as we hear anything.

This is a thoughtful piece on road danger reduction, which differs slightly from road safety, penned by Bob Davis, a longtime friend of CCC.

He asks: "Are we missing the point when measuring the ‘success’ of road casualty reduction, are Vision Zero aspirations actually making any difference at ground level, and what are councils and safety partnerships really doing to tackle road danger?"

Mike Polom of Colchester Bike Kitchen nominated this sign, which is in Stan Raby Way, King's Meadow, between Sportsway and the Dutch Quarter.

Mike writes: "One of my favourite hidden gems is the Viewfinder art trail by Michael Goodey, put in place in 2005.

"It is a 17-mile route around Colchester and these signs were concreted in place with really strong posts.

"There were ten in all and I’m not sure how many are left. Each one shows a view of the city and includes a silhouette of Jumbo and the town hall. There was a pamphlet too but I think that is lost to time."

• Nominate your Just for Fun puzzle at admin@colchester-cycling.org.uk

Have you signed the Colchester Cycling Charter yet? If not, please do. If you work or volunteer, please ask your organisation to sign for itself. The more people on bikes, the fewer traffic jams will snarl up our city.

Please feel free to pass on this newsletter via email and social media using the link at the very top ... and encourage your friends to join the campaign so they receive their own copy every month.

If this newsletter leaves you thirsting for more cycle news, here's the latest from Cycling UK.

Chairman: Stuart Johnson
Vice-secretaries: Alan Spence and Will Bramhill
Treasurer: Catherine Johnson
Committee: Committee: Alex Hooper, Chris Stevenson, Jean Quinn, Mike Polom, Nathaniel Catchpole, Paul Avison, Paul Byrne