A10 Corridor 3rd Annual Awareness Ride, Sunday May 17th 2015

Despite an uncertain forecast, Sunday morning was bright and sunny and 45 riders, including many adults with young children in seats and tag-a-longs gathered at The Cross in Royston.

Some riders from CycleHerts representing various cycling organisations in Herts had even arrived by train from Welwyn to offer their support. Herts County Councillors, Fiona Hill and Tony Hunter waved the group off down Kneesworth Street, past the station, making a right turn to follow the cycle route down Gower Road, across the park to the railway underpass, emerging at the end of Green Street. The official cycle route ends here and riders followed the wide pavement beside the A10, arriving at the tree-lined crossing point over the A505. Visibility here is very limited and cyclists have to watch for vehicles turning left from the A10 as well as those travelling west along the A505 who are already accelerating out of the wooded roundabout before they come into view. This is a difficult split second decision for adults to make and quite out of the question for any children wanting to access villages north of Royston – a mere 20 -30 minutes ride away. Traffic was particularly busy this morning and there were long waits in between safe gaps in the traffic flow.

North of the A505, the ‘path’ has deteriorated badly in the last couple of years, in places a series of potholes, held together by threads of tarmac – dangerous for cyclists, runners and walkers alike and impassable for a mobility scooter. The people with younger riders on small wheeled bikes and tag alongs had particular difficulty, sadly saying they would not attempt it again.

Trying to cross (note the width of the path):

The next crossing of the busy A10 also proved frustrating with heavy traffic in both directions and without a central ‘refuge’, people may have to wait for up to 5 minutes before it is safe to cross. The final part of the route, through a wooded cutting and along Melbourn High Street, although on road was much more pleasant and relaxing, but it was a relief to arrive safely at Phillimore’s Garden Centre to enjoy refreshments. Cambridgeshire Festival of Cycling had joined forces to provide a memorable event with opportunities to try out a wide selection of bikes, trikes and other wheeled machines and fun was had by all.

Our annual awareness ride was on Sunday May 17th 2015. We organise rides each year to highlight infrastructure issues that need to be addressed, to meet up with people who have an interest in cycling from the area and to generally socialise with other riders. Two rides take place, one starting from Trumpington and one starting from Royston.
Cambridgeshire County Council had arranged for a Festival of Cycling to be enjoyed at the finish.
This year we were also joined by 3 tandem teams from Cam Sight for the ride from Trumpington.

Trumpington ride.

The three tandem teams set of a couple of minutes early as they need a little more space, followed by about 40 riders on solo cycles. A tandem soon highlights the weaknesses in any infrastructure. The route from the park and ride to the new path through Trumpington Meadows isn’t particularly well integrated with the entrance to the park and ride and Guided Busway path. Sharp 90 degree turns and barriers require low speed manoeuvring which requires some skill. Once on the path, it’s fairly plain sailing along the path on a light, sunny day (reports on dark winter nights are less favourable) until you reach the far end at Hauxton where a poorly positioned post makes another sharp 90 degree turn a more stressful exercise than is necessary on such a long machine.

From Hauxton, we continued on the shared use path to Harston. With its crossing of driveways every few yards that are hidden by thick vegetation, Harston is always an uncomfortable experience. Funding has been made available to improve this section. We look forward to seeing the proposals.
From Harston to Foxton, funding is also in place for a new path, which should be straight forward, there is plenty of space. Driveways are the only issue there, though there are far fewer.

On arriving at Foxton, we took the Barrington Road intending to use the gates to cross the railway. We found the gates broken and therefore locked. We turned back and headed down the A10 to use the gates on the other side of the road. They were broken and locked. This is an on-going problem.
Bikes were now on either side of the road looking for a way through. People had to shuffle through the narrow gaps as best they could around the typically heavy traffic.

From here it is relatively straight forward to Frog End. Once on the decent bits of path, a bicycle becomes a really nice place to be. We look forward to the funded stretches which should begin to link up the places people live with the places people wish to travel to. Cycle infrastructure might suit a piecemeal approach from an engineering perspective, but it does little for its usage. Short sections of path that connect nowhere useful invariably look like under used white elephants. Now for our third crossing of the A10. There are no half way refuge islands between Harston and Frog End, so you just have to take your time and wait for a gap from both directions. With the natural gaps in the traffic often filled by traffic turning onto the A10 from Melbourn, Fowlmere and Shepreth, this can be a lengthy task. With patience, all were eventually across and able to proceed to Phillimore’s Garden Centre.
Once at Phillimore’s, we were able to relax and enjoy the festival of cycling and the cake stall. There was a Doctor Bike and lots of unusual bikes to try amongst other activities. This drew a lot of people who were not on the ride. They were still busy several hours later and with new people still wanting to use the novel bikes at 2 o’clock when they had to close. A good time was had by all.

Many thanks to everybody who made this happen and attended. A special thank you to Phillimore’s Garden Centre, who allowed us use of their field again. A huge thank you to the Teapot Café for their excellent cake also.

A report of the Royson ride will follow when available.

Thank you to the following businesses who have offered their support by signing our business letter:

The Picture Framer, Meldreth
Barrington Hall
The Royal Oak, Barrington
Furry Friends Dog Grooming Meldreth
Leech’s Butchers, Melbourn
The Spice Hut, Meldreth
Melbourn Community Stores
Long Barn Bakery, Meldreth
Melbourn Chip Shop
The Barber Shop Melbourn
Looks Good Melbourn
Davey’s Butchers Meldreth
Gill Hooley Commercial Vehicle Repair Meldreth
The British Queen Meldreth
BA Hydro Solutions Shepreth
Vibratech Shepreth

The route from Cambridge to Foxton has now been awarded funding, and work should take place in the coming financial year, which of course is just around the corner. In fact you may have noticed that the hedging along the Foxton-Harston stretch of the A10 has already been cut back, to get that job done ahead of nesting season just in case diggers are ready to put into action. Officers will soon be getting to work on designing the cycle route through Harston, in conjunction with Harston residents and councillors.

Meanwhile, effort is continuing to try and get the Frog End-Royston stretch funded. This route would not stick to the A10, but thread through Melbourn village and out onto the A10 from the southern-most Melbourn/A10 access point, with a path on the east side of the A10 all the way to the A505 roundabout. A pedestrian/cycle bridge over the A505 has already been designed, and land issues sorted, so is what the business calls ‘shovel ready’ – but it needs funding. The City Deal Assembly has recommended that this scheme goes into a reserve list for City Deal funding, but the Executive Board – comprised of three leaders of South Cambs, Cambridge and County Councils – will decide whether to adopt that proposal.

The following businesses have added their support today:

Cross Camping and Leisure Ltd, Melbourn
Frog End Pet Supplies, Melbourn
Craft Corner Ltd, Melbourn
Unlimited Logos, Melbourn
Urban Plastics, Melbourn
Melbourn Flooring and Interiors
I Fairclough c/o Greenhouses Direct Ltd, Melbourn
Yeomans, Shepreth
Pavers Shoes, Shepreth
Tasma Products, Meldreth
Sure Safe, Meldreth
Momentum Body in Balance at Gymbos, Meldreth
Kenzies Coaches, Shepreth
Tesco, Royston

Thank you all for your support.

Businesses from small local employers to global multi-site corporations have been showing support for safe cycling routes along the A10 for their employees and for the wider community. They have done so by signing out business letter to the City Deal Executive Board Members and Assembly Members.

The letter can be read here

The following companies have all signed so far:

Johnson Matthey, Royston
South Cambs Motors, Melbourn
TAP Biosystems, Royston
ElTek, Haslingfield
The Plough, Shepreth
JRTech, Shepreth
Bury Lane Farms, Meldreth
Cambridge Assessments, Cambridge
AstraZeneca, Royston
MKA Ecology, Shepreth
Breathing Buildings, Cambridge
Sagentia, Harston Mill
Shepreth Wildlife Park
Harston Surgery
Orchard Surgery, Melbourn
River Rhee Consulting, Shepreth
Fieldgate Nurseries, Meldreth
Melbourn Coop
One Stop, Meldreth
Grant Instruments, Shepreth
TTP Group, Melbourn Science Park
Long Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge
Track Access Services, Shepreth
Maycroft Care Home, Meldreth
Reed Autos, Foxton
Outspoken, Cambridge
Village Cycles, Meldreth
Royston Means Business (association of shopkeepers)
Foxton Village Shop
Esson Print, Shepreth
Wrights Mowers, Shepreth
Tea Cake, Shepreth
The Green Man, Shepreth
Country Properties, Melbourn
Philimore Garden Centre, Melbourn
Melbourn Hub
East of England Ambulance Service NHS
Meldreth Parish Council
ARM, Cambridge
Melbourn Village College
Melbourn Library Access Point
Barrington Stores
AB Leisure, Melbourn
Dyspraxia UK, Barrington
Royston First
Melbourn Sports Centre
Oakland Innovation, Harston Mill

Thank you very much to the businesses who have signed. Please get in touch if your business can also sign the letter.

Another letter we have received. Cycles aren’t the only way to get from A to B. The paths benefit far more than just cycles:

As most of you will be aware, the final decisions on the city deal excluded all cycling schemes outside of the main city itself. The belief within the board that made the final decision was that people would not cycle more than one or two miles. The only consideration was “will people cycle the entire route” between Royston and Cambridge. For example, people using sections of the route were not taken into account. People who could cycle to the local railway station on a folding bike and use it the other end were ignored. People who work outside of the main city were ignored. The notion of a cycle or scoot to school, rather than being driven, didn’t seem to enter the collective consciousness of the board.

This belief can be changed though. As a campaign we need to gather evidence of the journeys people cycle in order to demonstrate the type of usage people make by bike. We all know journeys of considerably more than a mile or two are regularly completed. But those journeys of a mile or two are still to be celebrated. It’s a great way to get some exercise, reduce congestion and parking problems around the village shops and most importantly, it normalises cycling. The more people that are seen on cycles, the more it catches on.

So what can you do?

We need to capture the type of journeys people do. Do you cycle to the shops or school? Do you avoid the A10 like the plague and use the Fowlmere Newton road instead? Do you cycle all the way to town? We need to capture as many of ANY journeys made by bicycle, however big or small.

We are exploring ways to allow people to log their rides, but to start we are going to use two popular internet forms of media.

1. Twitter. If you use the hashtag #a10cycle with a small line of text like Foxton – Addenbrooks, 5 miles, we’ll be able to see that.
2. Strava. We have created a club called a10cycle on Strava, the popular (and free) activity logging site. If you are already a Strava user, you can simple join the club https://www.strava.com/clubs/a10cycle

If you like to track your activities and fancy giving GPS logging a go, Strava do Android and IOS apps for free that use your smartphones GPS.

An example of the letters we receive. The new sections of path are welcome, but a couple of short intermittent sections do not make a route desirable or even possible.

“Last Friday as I cycled South from Cambridge on the A10 at about 5pm, I got shouted at not once but twice in one hour by motorists who told me to use the ****** cycle path.