http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2012/02/sky-ride-may-come-to-edinburgh/
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
"Sky Ride may come to Edinburgh"
(22 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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noooooo! why cant we have a ride thats nothing to do with murdoch?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Rugg, friend of mine had similar thoughts about the Skyride when it was London's turn in 2010.
It's a bit like Pedal for Scotland: a hyper-managed outing for hundreds or thousands of people who normally wouldn't cycle. At least PfS gets people out on the roads and interacting with traffic, instead of a route that's basically an artificial cycle path.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Similarly not keen on cycling round with a glorious hiviz SKY vest on. The Great Manchester Cycle looks much more fun (although is clearly not so useful for those in Edinburgh...)
Then again, I'm not sure how easy it would be to keep up the 18mph average required for the 52 mile-er whilst dodging through families pootling round the shorter route...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I dunno, if we chain-gang a couple of fuego's and use the airzound liberally it could work... ;)
Posted 13 years ago # -
Oh and my least favorite thing about the UCI championships was seeing the sky logo draped in the union jack, on the BBC! nuts!
Posted 13 years ago # -
We could probably get this up to speed with a few towing it
Posted 13 years ago # -
I took two of my boys on the Glasgow Sky Ride last year but we didn't bother to register or comply with any of Sky's rules. We just crossed the Albert Bridge and cycled alongside the river.
They didn't learn anything about us so the data gathering failed. I wouldn't be signing up for any Murdoch services anyway.
No Sky hiviz for us.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sounds awful.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Well if it gets a bunch of drivers and bus users to unearth the BSOs and weekend bikes out of their sheds/garages and have a ride around, then fine. Some of them might even keep riding afterwards!
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Crowriver, agreed. A little while back swmbo complained that "you're a bike snob", and, having had a think, I decided she was right...
I can give any number of reasons why a supermarket BSO is a poor buy and one should spend at least (random cost) £300 on a "proper" bike... but is the person using a BSO worse off than the person with a £1k superbike sat in their hall gathering dust? Of course not, and if they are happy with their choice of bike and it does what they want then it is the "right" bike for them.
In the same way, if Skyride gets bottoms on saddles and makes just a few people think "I quite like this, that man/woman on the train seems to manage, I wonder if I could...?" then it surely must be a good thing, however much the data gathering/advertising overload might stick in ones throat?
Posted 13 years ago # -
I agree with Smudge.
I'm no fan of Murdoch, his products or his empire or his (fading?) influence.
It's 'unfortunate' that it's The Times that started the current 'campaign for cycling'.
Any large company organising an event like the Sky Ride, will want something back.
At least people can think of it as the sky ride!
In addition - without being too (bike) snob about it - the demographic of Sky users might well be similar to that of people with underused or no bikes.
Better cycling than watching telly - but 'we' want both to be 'normal'.
Posted 13 years ago # -
It looks to me as if they are wildly popular and get a very great many people cycling for that one occasion. Even if it is on artificially closed streets then it shows that there are a lot of people who are willing to get on a bike if they feel safe in doing so. I think it is encouraging in a way.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Whilst they won't get a realistic experience of what it's like day-to-day (at least during the daytime) on closed streets, non-current-cyclist participants ought still to be able to get that "Really? That far? But it took only minutes!" revelation if they've not already had it or haven't had it for a while.
Posted 13 years ago # -
It looks to me like a foretaste of how popular cycling might become once we've provided proper infrastructure for it.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Ok Murdoch bla bla, but the intent is good. This is part of the 'masterplan' that brought us the Sky cycling team, and the tie up with British Cycling. Didn't hear many folks saying "Bloody Murdoch" when watching the track cycling at the weekend?
"Our ambition is to get 1 million more people cycling regularly by 2013" (from http://www.goskyride.com/)
I went to the Glasgow mass event a few years ago and thought it was quite good. Other than the cycling there were lots of activities put on, and Chris Hoy and a host of others (bmx'ers, MTB'ers etc) were rolled out for the event. They also host a lot of guided rides on roads and parks throughout the year for different ability levels.
Yes the approach can seem a little tabloid, but in reality that may be the only way to put cycling into the conciousness of the masses. Sorry for the pun, but bearded Guardian readers just aren't that plausible to most folk whereas Chris Hoy, and the local radio DJ are.
Posted 13 years ago # -
re "data-gathering overload" - is there information on how much participants cycled before? has there been a follow-up to see if they cycle more after? similar question apply to Pedal for Scotland and SEStran's Megacycle. Do these big events encourage cycling as a normal activity or mainly as a novelty?
(From sestran-megacycle.co.uk "Is there transport available and what do I need to do? Because the route is one way, transport for you and your bike is available from the finish point back to the start before and after the ride. This means you can park your car ...".)Posted 13 years ago # -
Let's face it - we aren't the target audience for the skyride. Sky could have chosen to sponsor a motor racing team instead of supporting cycling. Yes, they hope to gain a commercial advantage from these events - but that doesn't mean they are a bad thing.
Cycling dosn't always have to be about the day-to-day grind of commuting in a "real" environment - it is allowed to be a bit of fun for everyone, at least occasionally.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Well I'm going to be looking into how much it'll cost to have a citycycling stand... Don't have SKY; don't want SKY; don't like Murdoch. But happy to ride (lots of unintentional puns in this thread) on the coat-tails.
Posted 13 years ago # -
non-current-cyclist participants ought still to be able to get that "Really? That far? But it took only minutes!" revelation if they've not already had it or haven't had it for a while.
This. I still get baffled looks from colleagues when we're talking about travel and I say I save around 30 minutes a day since going bikey.
It does have to be said that these are people who will spend five minutes driving around to save themselves a one minute walk from the car.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I've ridden the Megacycle every year with the girls and it's been enjoyable in part because it runs downhill through the countryside on paths and quiet roads, with the prevailing wind and it's not that busy with lots of feedstops for them to look forward to. I suppose it's like a mini Edinburgh to St Andrews.
It certainly got my kids excited about where to try cycling next but the centre of Edinburgh wasn't the first place to spring to mind. If the Sky Ride can encourage people to try city cycling then that's great. It's just the streets of Edinburgh are not my idea of a great place to go cycling recreationally.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Not coming to Edinburgh this year -
http://www.goskyride.com/Search?mustFind=True&productid=5
Nor Glasgow.
Posted 13 years ago #
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