Dear editor,
Bedford is and has always been a ‘Town of Cyclists’. This summer Cycling Campaign for North Bedfordshire (CCNB) would like to encourage even more residents to fetch that bicycle from the back of the shed or garage – pump up the tyres – check the brakes – oil the chain and bearings – and start to enjoy all the benefits that cycling can bring.
Cycling not only improves your fitness and health but by using a bike instead of a motor vehicle for short journeys also helps reduce Bedford’s traffic pollution and congestion and goes some way to preventing the irreversible climate change which is rapidly approaching if no action is taken now.
At the beginning of last year’s Covid-19 lockdown, a fall in motor vehicles on the roads saw a significant increase in cycling nationally but this has now fallen back as traffic returned to near normal levels.
Bedford is fortunate in having an extensive, reasonably safe, cycle network with some routes completely off-road and others using a mixture of off-road paths/tracks and quiet residential roads.
It is possible to cycle from every residential area to all the main destinations without going on any busy main road – yes there are some gaps and improvements still to be made but if you ever feel unsafe it is no hardship to get off and walk through a section.
Cycle Bedford this summer and you will wonder why you have never done it before.
Peter Blakeman
CCNB
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