Bike Train safer cycling expands to schools and events including Lewes Bonfire night- autumn timetable

Bike Train in Action in Hove Feb 2011

8 September 2011. Bike Train plans to start weekly rides to Brighton's Dorothy Stringer and Varndean Schools from tomorrow 9 September, and to various forthcoming events including White Night and Lewes Bonfire Night.

Organiser Duncan Blinkhorn said: "Bike Train is a group cycle ride which creates a friendly, assertive, hi-vis, safety-in-numbers presence on busy roads, to enable more people to cycle safely.

"We especially want to reach students, parents and staff at Stringer and Varndean schools and college and at Sussex and Brighton Universities."

Until now, Bike Trains have only operated on the Lewes Road in Brighton and Hove, running from the central location of The Level along the Lewes Road to the Brighton and Sussex Universities in Falmer.

Bike Train - Autumn Schedule

Daily Bike Train to Sussex University.
First of daily weekday rides for Autumn Term starts Mon 3rd Oct.
Depart from The Level at 8.30am or 9.30am
Return Ride departs 5.30pm from Falmer House entrance

Friday Bike Train to Dorothy Stringer/Varndean Schools 
First of weekly rides for Autumn Term starts Fri 9th Sep.
Depart 8.10am (meet at The Level 8am if poss)
Return Ride 3.15pm from Dorothy Stringer entrance.

Bike Train to Apple Day at Stamer Park 
Sun 25th September
Depart from The Level at 11am or Noon
Return rides depart from Stanmer Park at 4pm & 5pm.

White Night Bike Train 
Sat 29th Oct
Cycle into the City Centre and around key White Night sites
Depart Sussex University Falmer House at 7pm & 9pm
Depart from Moulsecoomb Library at 7.15pm & 9.15pm
Hourly rides between The Level & The Old Steine via North Laine & Cultural Quarter
Return rides to Moulsecoomb & Sussex University tba

Bonfire Bike Train 
Sat 5th Nov Mass cycle ride to Lewes for Bonfire Night Depart from The Level at 5pm or 6pm Depart from Sussex University at 5.30pm or 6.30pm Return Ride Midnight & 1am from Lewes Prison

Bike Train is a project of Lewes Road for Clean Air, "working for sustainable transport along the Lewes Road corridor". More information at: www.biketrain.org

Bike Train to Springwatch Festival at Stanmer Park, Brighton, 5 June 2011 - call for volunteers

Bike Train visiting the Drive, Hove

Brighton's Bike Train will try out an hourly service on 5th May, along the Lewes Road to Springwatch festival at Stanmer Park. The ride is part of the run-up to national Bike Week (18 -26 June).

Details of ride times and call for volunteers shown below.

Bike Train provides a safer, escorted service along Lewes Road - one of Brighton's main cycle routes - which is notorious for its dangerous pinch points and cycle-unfriendly junctions.

Organiser Duncan Blinkhorn said: "Bike Train enables people to cycle two abreast, taking up one traffic lane, in a fun, sociable, assertive and safe formation."

An hourly, family-friendly, group cycle-ride will go between The Level in central Brighton and Stanmer Park. There will be two speeds of ride each hour - an "Easy Rider" slow ride and a faster, though still moderate speed, "Express train". All rides will be supported by experienced ride marshalls and accompanied by some groovy tunes (yes, you heard that right - Mr Blinkhorn has a sound system mounted on his bicycle, loud enough to be heard in the traffic).

"If successful, we will run similar services to other events at Stanmer and the new Falmer Stadium," Mr Blinkhorn added.

Call for volunteers
Mr Blinkhorn called for volunteers: "We need lots of help on the day staffing the two Bike Train stations and supporting the rides."

If you can help for part or all of the day (8am - 6pm), contact Rebecca on 07739 181337 or Duncan on 07944 152706 or by e-mail info@biketrain.org

Depart from The Level:
10am, 11am, Noon, 1pm.

Return Rides from Springwatch:
1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm.

Join at any point along the Lewes Road Route.

More info: http://www.biketrain.org/

The event is registered with Team Green Britain Bike Week as an official Bike Week event: http://www.bikeweek.org.uk.

Brighton's Bike Train offers safety in numbers for cyclists in rush hour traffic

A community-run project offers Brighton's cyclists a safe way to cope with rush hour traffic by gathering them together in one big group - the "Bike Train".

Bike Train is a volunteer-run project set up by the Lewes Road for Clean Air community group, which is working to clean up air pollution on the Lewes Road
"through positive citizen action, promoting a shift to sustainable transport for a low-carbon future".

Of all Brighton's official cycle routes none are as scary as Lewes Road, with the Level and Vogue Gyratory and the underpass pinchpoint danger spots. The latter is where cyclist Joanna Walters was killed 14 July last year. She was cycling on the cycle route near the underpass on the Lewes Road when she was struck by a delivery van.

Other danger spots along this cycle route - National Cycle Route 90, no less - include the "Vogue Gyratory", a monster roundabout built in the mid 1980's with no provision for cyclists, and "The Level", with its cycle paths positioned in the path of oncoming buses.

Bike Train runs daily from The Level to Sussex University, departing from The Level at 8.30am.
www.biketrain.org