Pushing Pedals: Going Green? You Could Try Cycling

Published on: 26 Sep, 2022
Updated on: 27 Sep, 2022

This is the regular column on local cycling by the Guildford Bicycle User Group (G-BUG). Its vision is to make cycling in Guildford safer, more convenient and fun. Members share a passion for making the borough more accessible through increased cycling.

By Bridie Sullivan

This week Guildford celebrates Great Big Green Week until Sunday, October 2. This campaign has become the UK’s largest celebration of how to tackle climate change within your local community.

Photo: Beeline Navigation unsplash.

Last year, more than 5,000 events took place up and down the country to mark this nationwide campaign. It was all organised and supported by local groups, councils and businesses.

Launching this year’s series of local events, Guildford celebrated with another Car Free Day. Cars were re-routed and replaced with artisan stalls, live music, street play for children and an array of speakers. Plus a great spread of fabulous food stalls.

Great Big Green Week provides the perfect opportunity to join many other communities across the country who will also be doing their bit this week and to leave your car at home.

Try an alternative form of transport, such as cycling.

Regular studies reveal traffic-free routes would encourage many more of us to cycle local or longer journeys if it was possible to build up confidence and skills in our local area first, ahead of tackling busier and bigger roads.

To encourage more of us to cycle into town, an extra 50 cycle parking spaces were made available temporarily for the day. If you used one of the temporary cycle parking spots and you liked it, tell your local councillor or MP. Engage their help in trying to make additional cycle parking a permanent fixture in Guildford and not just rolled out for special occasions.

Photo: Aviv Rachmadian unsplash.

It’s also worth noting, that Brompton Bikes can be hired from Guildford railway station if you would like to try cycling to work this week but don’t have a bicycle of your own.

Last weekend’s Car Free Day was the first of many events that launched a whole week of events, many led by Zero Carbon Guildford at the bottom of North Street where a whole week of events, workshops and talks will give you plenty of opportunities to cycle shorter journeys across the whole week.

SafeCycling
G-BUG
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