Viva Lewes Issue #146 November 2018

BIKES AND BOBS
RIDERS OF LEWES #01
Two things stand out about the
roads of Lewes: they can get very
busy and they can be somewhat
steep. Cycle Lewes, our town’s
bike-oriented campaign group,
sets out to address both these
with its work to encourage people
to ride more. Getting on your
bike both reduces vehicular congestion
and improves fitness (so
the hills don’t hurt so much!).
Even a short bike ride across
town will get that heart pumping.
Cycle Lewes works at a number
of levels. “We’ve recently had a
very successful project to promote
the use of bells on bikes,”
explains Simon Giddey, Cycle
Lewes Chair. At a joint meeting
with Lewes Living Streets, one
concern was about “being approached
from behind by cyclists
without warning”. A grant from
the Town Council paid for some
bells, which Cycle Lewes then
fitted on people’s bikes at drop-in
stalls this summer.
More far-reaching is involvement
in shaping policy. Simon explains
that the Government wants to
“make walking or cycling an easy
option for everyday journeys and
the target is to double the numbers
of those walking or cycling
by 2025”. East Sussex Council is
working on walking and cycling
strategies for the county’s main
towns, alongside Sustrans (the
sustainable transport charity). Simon
says, “as Cycle Lewes’s strategy
was already quite detailed,
Sustrans was able to adopt many
of our draft proposals”.
If you’re interested in cycling – or
in sustainable transport – take a
look at Cycle Lewes. And watch
this space for more on bicycling.
Daniel Etherington
cyclelewes.org.uk