We aren’t ‘cyclists’ – we’re everyone
4000 turn out for Pedal on Parliament
Last year 3,000 people, young and old, pedalled on the Scottish Parliament to call for safer cycling for everyone. Despite plenty of warm words from politicians since then, nothing fundamental has changed so we did it again. And this year even more came out to show their support for a cycle-friendly Scotland - 4,000 of them, on road bikes, trikes, balance bikes, hand cycles and even on foot.
Cyclists of ALL shapes and sizes! ©Ros Gasson, Photography Scotland
As last year, the day was marked by sombre moments – a minute’s silence for those who had died on the roads on their bikes – and also joyful ones – a mass ringing of bells by thousands of cyclists. Then there were comedic ones. There was good-natured bike queue of thousands to get out of the Meadows and onto the road. It is a measure of the success of the ride that 40 minutes after the ride started, there were still people leaving the meadows to set off – with the first already at Holyrood. The ride was led off by cycling legend Graham Obree, and the families of Andrew McNicoll and also the family of Audrey Fyfe, who was killed on the roads this year.
Graeme Obree addresses the crowd ©Ros Gasson, Photography Scotland
“I come here to enlighten our politicians that we’re not asking for spending here, but an investment, where young people can cycle freely and without fear. We want a network from our homes to our workplaces, our shops, and schools and everywhere we want to go. It’s an investment in the health of the nation.” - Graeme Obree
Pedalling on Parliament. ©Ros Gasson, Photography Scotland
What now
What happens next depends on our politicians – whether they listen to those who turned out on the day. You can help by signing the Get Britain Cycling petition. We also need you to write to your MSPs, join your local campaign groups, and keep pressing to make Scotland a cycle-friendly country. And you can also help us by taking part in our survey, uploading your pictures to our flickr group, and signing up to get involved in the future
What we want
- Proper funding for cycling.
- Design cycling into Scotland’s roads.
- Slower speeds where people live, work and play
- Integrate cycling into local transport strategies
- Improved road traffic law and enforcement
- Reduce the risk of HGVs to cyclists and pedestrians
- A strategic and joined-up programme of road user training
- Improved statistics supporting decision-making and policy
Just a ‘wee protest’ then? (© Richard Cross)
Who are we?
Pedal on Parliament is a grass-roots group of cyclists of all kinds who want to see Scotland become a place where everyone can cycle safely and enjoyably. We are supported by the Andrew Cyclist Charitable Trust, Spokes Lothian, GoBike Glasgow, CTC Scotland, Cycling Dumfries and the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain.
“Ian and I remain committed to working with others to make cycling in Scotland safer for all abilities and we strongly support the aims of the Pedal on Parliament team and will work with them to help achieve their aims. We are delighted to support Pedal on Parliament Scotland 2013. The turnout at PoP in 2012 was incredible and we hope that the turnout at this year’s event will be even higher. We will be there!”
- Lynne McNicoll, the step-mother of Andrew McNicoll and founder of the Andrew Cyclist Charitable Trust
Email us at hello {at} pedalonparliament.org
(Just change the {at} to the usual @.)
Our RSS feed is http://pedalonparliament.org/feed/
Pedal on Parliament is supported by:
Pedal on Parliament is a Bike Week event:
