Setting off from Bury St Edmunds, the penultimate stage of the tour (Stage 7) will pass through Lavenham, Hadleigh, Ipswich, Helmingham and Diss before heading into Norfolk, finishing at Sandringham.

This exciting spectacle will pass through Ipswich on Saturday September 17th. The route will have the peloton pass down Westerfield Road, past Christchurch Park and then out of town along London Road, finally turning  West towards Hintlesham and beyond.

There is a route map here.

You can ride any part of the route you want, and possibly meet TV personality Jeff Brazier, Team Sky rider Alex Dowsett and Ross Edgar from the GB cycling team. There will also be related events and trade stands on the Market by Corn Exchange.

If you don’t have a road worthy bike, you can hire one from a variety of sources including the official goskyride.com website, or our very own Bicycle Doctor (see Cycle Shops)

You download the routemap here

There is already a volunteer from Colchester, out in Tanzania, waiting to help set up the project and unload the bikes and spares we crammed in today. The container will also stay there as a workshop and store.

Re-Cycle partners with projects of various types in several African countries. The project might give free or low cost bikes to nurses , health visitors or HIV workers or to school children to help boost their attendance.

The gift of a bike is incredible. Workers can visit remote communities to help people, and students and adults can save valuable cash that they might have had to spend on bush taxis travelling to school and work.

Currently Re-Cycle is in desperate need of bikes. In previous years the Royal Mail donated 2000 old bikes per year. Last year that figure was 65 .

Today we packed 160 odd bikes off. Re-Cycle needs to fill a container every 4-5 weeks with up to 450 bikes ( see photo ) , that is a great number of bikes per year.

I have decided that the best way I can be of help to Re-Cycle is to increase the number of bikes I take down to Colchester.

So if you have a old bike or any bike related bits and bobs( pumps,tools, trailers etc) sitting in a shed somewhere Re-Cycle can send it will be hugely appreciated and make a massive difference. There is no problem persuading people to ride bikes in Africa ( unlike Ipswich ! ), a bike is a very valuable possession. Please ring me or email me if you have any to donate and I will collect asap.

You can see Re-Cycle’s website here http://www.re-cycle.org.uk

http://wwwbicycledoctor.blogspot.com/2011/01/today-i-had-great-time-volunteering-at.html

Earlier this year, I got a GT XC Agressor mountain bike. All summer I’ve been cursing its 2.5″ tires, because of the tremendous rolling resistance. But now the snow has some and I know why those clever folks at GT spec’d as they did. My Trek hybrid, with its skinny 28mm tires, is resting in the garage. For two weeks my MTB has been my main bike, waiting for it to snow….

And now….well what can I say? I am very pleased. I haven’t fallen over once. I only lose traction if I stand up in the saddle and really give it some welly. It turns in snow and on ice like a dream. Venturing off-road for my commute, I cut through the parks of Ipswich.

It’s not going to work – it’s an adventure and I am in control!

The Local Transport Minister, Norman Clarke MP visited Ipswich today, to view the proposal.

Cycle Ipswich provided a response to the major scheme bid, and will be taking an active interest in ensuring that our recommendations are adopted.

You can read the Cycle Ipswich response document here.

The survey takes just a few minutes and is at http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/stationtravelplan

Cycle Ipswich has formed a Rail Focus Group which will be providing recommendations for improvements to SCC during October 2010. Contact Alex Oldman if you are interested in being involved in this exercise.

The Brewery Tap is located on Cliff Quay, just behind the Riverside NHS medical centre. There is a map on the Google place page. There is not much secure bike parking, so bring a lock and some lights for getting home afterwards. The Brewery tap have an excellent selection of bar food and restaurant meals, as well as local beers and other beverages.

We’ll be starting a consultation on cycling and rail in Ipswich. We’ll be looking at recommendations in the following areas:

• Security
• Storage
• Ticketing
• Routes to station
• On train cycling provision
• Other areas…

The aim is to provide an objective and balanced priority list of recommendations for future improvements.

We will publish our conclusions in mid-October.

If you have something you want to share with us, why not post at our discussion forum?

The climate change organisation 350.org has teamed up with 10:10 to
get people to do constructive work parties to combat/highlight climate
change. You can read more about this here:
http://www.350.org/about/blogs/getting-work-2010-our-new-plans.

The point of our bike ride would be to follow selected routes on the
Ipswich Cycle map and feedback to a central document. We might for
example, use the crowdsourcing software provided by http://www.ushahidi.com/
which was developed for disasters and emergencies but which can easily
be used for other purposes. (You could well argue that climate change
is a disaster, of course.)

The document could then be used to lobby IBC and SCC/HA to fund and
organise improvements.

We could meet in the centre of Ipswich and then split into twos and
threes and each group could ride a pre-agreed route. The point of the
crowdsourcing would be to upload problem areas of routes to a map from
our mobiles. We could also supply a questionnaire for those who prefer
that. I haven’t tried the software as yet.

I have talked to the Transition Ipswich Transport Group about this and
I’m sure that some people from there will support it.

Please let me know if there is any enthusiasm for this project. I
would need at least a couple of other people who are keen to get it
organised. I was involved in organising the 350.org/ Transition
Ipswich bike ride last year but I still consider myself to be a rookie
in these matters!

May of the bikes used were part of Gavins art collection.

This footage is close up and shows the art in action, as the participants cross the A14 slip road near Ravenswood Ipswich. The route followed Sustrans National Cycle Network Route 51.

Cycle Ipswich are calling for a cycle crossing to be installed at this site to improve safety and the speed to cross the road. The footage has been edited to remove the one minute wait before traffic is light enough to stop. This same crossing is regularly used by pupils and parents on the Nacton School Bike Train.

Following discussion with Des P, we agreed that something needed to be done with the kerb at the top of St Nicholas Street.

So on June 28th, I logged onto www.fixmystreet.com and reported the fault. You can submit a problem anonymously. You are encouraged to post a photo, which obviously would help enginers asses the problem remotely – saving time and money.

Before

3 days later - survey evidence!

After

Response

Just three days later, the site had been surveyed, as evidenced by the spray paint.

The fix

Now, just two weeks later, we’ve got a tarmac ramp, over the kerb. It doesn’t look like a long term fix, but it has already vastly improved the ride at that junction. What I impressed by is the convenience, anonymity and response that this site offers. Hats off to Ipswich highways for monitoring and responding to the alerts. Hopefully we can have a proper party when a more permanent fix is put in place.

Conclusion

What a great website! To report a fault in your street – road surface, signage, lighting, visit www.fixmystreet.com