York Cycle Campaign and related dates for your diary

YCC members’ social and drop-in

Saturday 26 April – drop-in anytime between 2:30-5pm @Cycle cafe, Cycle Heaven cafe on Hospital Fields Road. You are invited to ‘drop in’ to find out more about what is going on in York, and what Campaign activities are planned in the next few months. The Cafe will be open as normal but we will have Campaign organisers on hand to talk to you and find out your top wishes for York, the Campaign and your neighbourhood. 

If you want to know more or contribute to the event,  contact Andy D’Agorne on 07941 392667

Friday evening social ride

25 April at 6:30pm – short ride sets off from York Minster at 6:30pm and ends in a cafe or pub (last Friday of each month). All welcome.

Cycle security marking

8 May from 4-6 pm at York Railway Station 

Sock it to ‘em bike party

4 May, 2pm at York Minster steps.

A new cycling event is happening in York on 4 May. York Bike Party is a mobile bike party suitable for all ages and abilities! There will be a free, easy ride around town with music. This event is a collaboration between York Beer & Bike and Cambridge Bike Party – the theme is “Sock Wars: May the Fourth be with you! A Star Wars Parody Ride”. Bring your quirkiest socks and battle for ultimate sock supremacy. Show off funky patterns or hilarious designs to see who emerges victorious in our “sock battles” at party stops. May the best socks win!

Add some fun lights to your bike, throw on a costume to match the theme (if you dare) and join the moving parade! There will be two party-stops in parks along the route for dancing and party games so bring your own refreshments and snacks.

If you would be interesting in volunteering as a marshal at the event, please contact Joe. 

May Mela

Sunday 11 May 10am -5pm in Museum Gardens The multicultural York Health Mela returns for lots of family entertainment with spectacular performances, street food and a pop up bike park (provided by York cycle campaign to keep your cycles safe).

Save the dates 

20-22 June: York Cycle Rally – York’s annual cycle festival on the Knavesmire 

2-3 July Active City York Conference – the annual networking event for Active Travel professionals is coming to our city! There will be lots of fringe cycle-related activities and YCC will be fully involved including:

Wednesday 2 July Barbican at 6pm, mass ride through the streets of York, past the Minster and along Terry Ave to end up with a picnic at Millennium Bridge. If it’s a nice evening perhaps we will have a bit of a party! We’re expecting this to be one of the biggest-ever cycle rides through York with the conference delegates joining in. We want a hefty representation from York so tell all your friends, work, schools etc and look out for more publicity soon. If you can offer to steward please get in touch. 

Recent events

BikeRegister events

At the beginning of the year, YCC set up a group of interested organisations (SecureCycleYork) who have been very busy tackling cycle security in York. The group is holding a series of events to get bikes marked with the BikeRegister system and provide advice on better locks and locking techniques. The ‘Spring into Action’ campaign began with marking 35 bikes loaned out by Get Cycling on 30 March. This was followed by the ‘Day in Action’ on 4 April,  when YCC worked with the NYP and York Bid, marking over 66 bikes and distributing hangers on safe bike locking techniques in the city centre. Sessions with the Minster Police and the British Transport Police marked another 50 bikes, with another 40 marked at a ‘Day of Action’ with North Yorkshire Police outside the Perky Peacock. Our bike marking sessions alongside the police at the railway station continue to be successful.  Look out for further BikeRegister sessions this month and in May via YCC’s Facebook and Instagram social media.  

YCC goes to the match

YCC had a stall at York City Football Club on Saturday 12 April before the home team crushed Aldershot Town 7-2. We spoke to around 40 people and promoted YCC and cycle security. We hope to continue our relationship with the club and would love it if we could recruit a group to cycle to the game and watch York play next season, holding a stall beforehand. Contact FAO Leah if you’re interested.

News

Station car park closure

The long-stay station car park is now closed whilst a multi-storey is constructed in its place. We are pleased to report that, as promised by the Council and Network Rail, the Lowther Terrace access route for cyclists/pedestrians has remained open with access to the station and directly onto Queen Street as previously. This and other upcoming changes to the railway station can be found on the Council website.

Jubilee Terrace riverside path

In last November’s newsletter we encouraged members to respond to the consultation about the improvement plans for the riverside path between Jubilee Terrace and Scarborough Bridge. YCC chair Robyn Jankel spoke at the council decision session in March to support the recommendations for route upgrades including separate cycling and pedestrian paths. She said this would be of great benefit to the cycling community but stressed the importance of speedy implementation.

Local Plan adopted

The Local Plan for 2017-2033 has finally been adopted. See particularly Section 14: Transport and Communications (p308 – 316).

Holes in the road

Potholes are a perennial problem on roads, and hold particular dangers for cyclists. An article in the Press recently revealed that the Council received over 2,000 reports of potholes needing repair in the 10 months to January 2025. And the repairs are an expensive business, taking up over £5m of the Council budget in 3 years between 2021-24. You can report potholes to the Council, but bear in mind those acted on most urgently are usually wider than 15 cm (6 inches) diameter, or deeper than 4cm (1.5 inches). Also, prioritise those that cause a cycling hazard, especially on your regular routes, so that the Council can direct its resources and spending to those causing a safety hazard.

Bootham Park gates closed again

We have been made aware that recently NHS Property services have once again been leaving the main gates locked, forcing cyclists to use the narrow pedestrian gate. We are taking this up, but please let us know if you are affected by it. 

Delays to re-opening Bishopthorpe cycle path

Although Bishopthorpe Bridge has reopened to HGVs after being strengthened, the cycle path remains closed as more work is done. The re-opening date has been put back from end March to 12 May. A diversion is in place for cyclists and the diversion signage needs to be followed carefully. 

On a bicycle made for two

Open Country’s tandem rides for people with disabilities have re-started for the April-October season. They take place every Tuesday, setting off at 6pm from Cycle Heaven on Hospital Fields Road. There is usually a pub stop on the way round for a breather and a catch up. They are always looking for more volunteer front riders to pilot the tandems, as well as needing a supply of willing riders with disabilities to provide the power at the back! Please contact them if you are interested in getting involved – you need to book onto the rides.

Bike Belles rides

York Bike Belles has launched a spring programme of bookable Nature Rides and Cycling Without Age Rides on Tuesdays. On Saturday 26 April there is also a Longer Spring Nature Ride, 2.30 – 5pm, from the Millennium Bridge along the traffic-free Greenway to Naburn Bridge.

Beautiful booklet: York to Riccall

iTravel (a Council team encouraging sustainable travel) has produced a stunning booklet covering the York to Riccall path – a shared use path along 6 miles of the former mainline railway between London and Edinburgh. The wonderfully illustrated booklet includes information about the history, fauna and flora of the route. It’s available online or print copies will be in the Visitor Information Centre in Parliament Street.

It’s worth having a browse of iTravel’s Cycle Route webpage if you’re not familiar with it: it includes 8 other leisure rides; the cycle route map of York; and videos of some of York’s cycle routes (filmed from a bike) so you can see before you try.

Opportunities and actions

Help needed for two big events

• YCC will have a recruitment stall at the annual York Cycle Rally and we need volunteers to help us on 21 and 22 June.
• The Active City York Conference will be a really exciting event with national speakers, media interest in cycling and walking, campaign organised ‘fringe’ etc when we will need lots of volunteers! Please put it in diaries now, book time off work so you can help us out and join in the fun!: 2 and 3 July. 

If you can help with either or both of these, please email us – the more volunteers, the less the load on any one individual. Thank you!

Bike marking events

Our recruitment team is always on the lookout for new volunteers to help them at the various events they hold across the year – with many more happening now Spring is sprung. Also, YCC is now officially a BikeRegister Partner. If you want to be an official marking and register volunteer, or just to help staff the stalls, please contact FAO Leah.

Barbican planning consultation

York Cycle Campaign has sent a formal response to this application welcoming the plans to improve the cycle lanes around the planned new apartments but also raising a number of  concerns. You can help by sending in your own views as soon as possible, either through the council planning portal (ref: 25/00215/FUL) or by emailing the Planning team. Points you might want to make: welcome the widening of the two way bike route alongside Paragon St and new bike lane along Barbican road; welcome one bike space per bedroom but suggest having smaller dispersed locations than one central location; query lack of charge points for EV bikes, no separate entry points for cycles, no visitor cycle parking, and bike store for Fawcett Street block is accessed from the gyratory rather than the bike lane at the rear (with the plan currently suggesting bin area there). If you use any routes past the site add in your relevant experience. Closing date: 22 April 

Your views: Huntington Road / Haleys Terrace 

YCC input was requested from the Council and the Civic Trust on this intersection refurbishment (traffic light controls) with minimal cycling facilities. Please get in touch if you use the route regularly and have ideas on what might be improved. Closing date: 4 May

Cycle stand audit: update

YCC volunteers have made fantastic progress with this. There are still 377 of the 898 parking locations that are mapped across York that have not been audited. If you are visiting one of these over the Easter holidays it would be great if you could complete the details by clicking on the app. If you spot cycle parking that is not marked on the app map, please let us know the details. We plan to submit the results back to OpenStreetMap where they will be publicly available. This is the data source CycleStreets uses for their cycle parking locations so they should be updated there too. Then you will be able to check out what parking is available before you go somewhere. And if you come across key destinations that you think need better parking, then contact your councillors, your local shops, gym, sports venue, cinemas, workplaces and explain what is needed and why.

Wheelchair accessible taxis

As reported last month, North Yorkshire Council has launched a consultation launched by on experiences and views about the availability and usability of wheelchair accessible taxis which disabled members may be interested in. The consultation runs until 30 April.

Petition

Reminder: A petition has been launched to ask government to shift the burden of proof from cyclists/pedestrians to more powerful road users (eg drivers) in certain traffic collisions. You can read more detail and consider signing here.

Do you want safer cycling to school? 

Setting up a school street or school bus in your area is an effective initiative being adopted in many UK cities and towns to make cycling to school safer for children. If you’re interested in setting one up at your child’s school, details on how to go about it can be found on the School Streets Initiative website. Let us know if you get interest from the school, we would be happy to support you. 

York Environment Weeks

If you’re interested in joining the team of volunteers who help create York Environment Weeks later this year (eg publicity, website, background admin…), please contact them.

And in other news…

Female and male cyclists diverge

A recent survey by Cycling UK suggests that women’s perceptions of cycling safety have stayed the same or worsened compared with seven years ago, whereas men tend to think infrastructure and driver behaviour have got better. London – which has invested significantly in cycling and walking infrastructure over this time – shows some significant improvements in ratings that aren’t seen elsewhere.

Orbit Clipper makes a splash

A cross-river ferry with a difference is due to be launched latest this Spring by Thames Clippers. Fully electric and zero-emission, Orbit Clipper will carry up to 150 passengers and 100 bikes between Canary Wharf and Rotherhithe. The boat is currently undergoing sea trials. The press release claims its “improved cycle access supports wider plans for e-cargo bike river crossings”.

Crowded out by carspreading

The charity Campaign for Better Transport has published a blog about the relentless increase in size of the cars on our roads – a phenomenon that has been called “carspreading”.

Smart cycle hangars

Glasgow recently installed 20 cycle hangars, secure and weatherproof cycle stores that users can book via a smartphone app.