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BBC Sport (@BBCSport)
07/08/2012 08:44
GB Olympic cycling chief Dave Brailsford on legacy: "We want to get more people on bikes - making link between inspiration & participation."
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Richard Conway BBC (@richard_conway)
07/08/2012 09:10
Dave Brailsford most fascinating man in British sport? Stayed after interview to talk brain networking & impact on performance. As you do.
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@DaveBrailsford is on Twitter but he just follows people - no tweets do far!
There is going to be (already started) lots of 'talk' about an/the "Olympic Legacy".
Unfortunately most is likely to be about 'sport' with some emphasis on schools and perhaps 'don't sell off any more playing fields'
Things went sideways when someone on a bike got killed by the Olympic Park and Wiggins was ambushed into mumbling something about helmets.
It would be nice if some organisations could talk about a suitable legacy being 'more people cycling on more #cyclesafe roads' (and #ActiveTravel) - it's good that Dave Brailsford seems to be thinking more than 'just' sport. He will be aware that most successful Team GB cyclists train on the road part of the time - and not just closed ones! And also that most aspiring youngsters won't have a velodrome near by. (Wiggins used to cycle from Kilburn to Herne Hill.)
I'm hoping that various organisations will get together and at least put out a press release 'looking forward' to an Olympic Legacy that involved more people being more active in their daily lives and, perhaps, aspiring to future medals.
And obviously calling for a suitable range of measures to encourage this - better pavements, safer streets, fewer cars, reallocation of road space (mentioned by Chris Boardman on Newsnight!) etc.
This should be at UK level - TeamGB, BritishCycling, CTC, Sustrans, Living Streets etc. and also Scottish - Scottish Cycling, Cycling Scotland, Transform Scotland, local parts of CTC, Sustrans, Living Streets, plus Spokes, PoP, Glasgow2014, ERC, sportscotland etc.
It would of course be good if Governments agreed (and put some money into it...)
Dave Brailsford has another job as part of Team Sky. Some people have very mixed feelings because of the Sky/Murdoch connection, but the reality is that the Sky Rides (coming to Edinburgh soon) seem to 'work' - getting to people (and getting them out cycling) that the St. Andrews Ride or Pedal for Scotland perhaps don't reach.
It will be interesting to see if such participation increases massively after the Olympics - and continues in future years.
But ultimately the "Legacy" must include different attitudes in central and local government - and better infrastructure. THAT is more difficult. Start with Leith Walk??
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Jon Snow (@jonsnowC4)
03/08/2012 08:19
Maybe the way to honour Team GB's Olympic cycling prowess is to start right now investing in UK cycling infrastructure...
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Putting in world class cycle infrastructure with the redevelopment of Leith Walk would be a far better way to honour Chris Hoy's achievements than painting post boxes. If the Sky rides show us anything, people want to ride without mixing it with motor traffic, and the only way that could do that on a road like Leith Walk is if we build world class cycle infrastructure. A real Legacy from these games would be if we could make cycling a viable means of transport for everyone, whether they be 8 or 80!
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Carlton Reid (@carltonreid)
07/08/2012 11:25
Olympic legacy? Invest in world-class cycling itnfrastructure. BikeBiz:
http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/olympic-legacy-invest-in-world-class-cycling-infrastructure/013462
@BBCRadio4 @jonsnowC4 #youandyours
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This will be on Call You and Yours in 20 mins http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/olympic-legacy-invest-in-world-class-cycling-infrastructure/013462
Tweet or whatever to add to calls for cycling infrastructure!
We don't know how to do world class infrastructure. That needs to be addressed first. Send Council employees to see what it actually looks like. Or, if that's too expensive, send them off round their best attempts to date to see what's wrong for themselves.
Let's see the Sir Chris Hoy Cycle Network - at least up Leith Walk and round the Glasgow Velodrome http://pedalonparliament.org/a-golden-legacy/
@tom - we could maybe club together and send them on one of David Hembrow's study tours http://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/study-tour
Tom: Or, if that's too expensive, send them off round their best attempts to date to see what's wrong for themselves.
I'd help shepherd the Edinburgh cooncil for a Trambles 2. I'll have to bring more first aid stuff than I did on POP, mind.
"Let's see the Sir Chris Hoy Cycle Network - at least up Leith Walk ..."
... and the massively wide road past Meadowbank.
Let's hope there is more than this -
Man on the radio said earlier "we shouldn't be talking about legacy, we should be talking about" I think the word he used was progression.
I think that is a valid word to use in the context of elite sport.
The next Olympics performances of previous hosts has usually seen a decline in medals.
The UK - and especially Scotland - is looking ahead to the Commonwealth Games. Already Glasgow has scored a major victory - over Edinburgh - in terms of its new velodrome.
Maybe Scotland only needs one all-weather track?
Still, I think the word "legacy" is being used for more than top end sports performance.
Last night Shona Robison on Newsnight Scotland was talking about "participation" - ie getting more people doing 'sport' - though I'm sure she would include physical activity.
She mentioned the "Active Schools Network" a few times.
Some Active Schools Coordinators are very keen on cycling. In Edinburgh (and presumably in other places) ASCs are supposed to help schools organise cycle training - but not deliver it.
It would be nice if one aspect of "Olympic Legacy" was a recognition of the importance of activity in general and Active Travel in particular.
If only the Scottish Government and Cycling Scotland and local authorities could actually make sure that ALL children get cycle training - in school time.
Only a few schools in Edinburgh do.
@uberuce - good idea, did this for councillors in Dumfries, opened a few eyes.
"Hoy and Pendleton may be gone, but theirs is a genuine legacy"
http://guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/07/london-2012-britain-golden-games
Don't miss the bit about hot pants.
"You shouldn't have to have win an Olympic medal to deserve respect" - an imaginary public information film.
A selection of normal-looking people are depicted watching the Olympic cycling events on televisions and computers and phones, at home and in pubs and sneakily in the corner of the screen at work with their fingers poised over ALT and TAB, cheering excitedly as various members of Team GB win at cycling stuff. Cut to the same people in their cars on various journeys, again acting normally in that they start swearing and beeping at, making mysogynist remarks in the direction of, left-hooking, driving up the bottoms of and aggressively punishment-passing various normal-looking cyclists, only to spot over their shoulders or in their mirrors after their stupid manoeuvres that they've hooked, buzzed, accused of not paying road tax, scraped, threatened, objectified or carelessly endangered the same people they were previously applauding and whooping at. The unrealistic bit then kicks in as the various drivers pull over, get out, run over, fall onto their knees and apologise tearfully to the cyclists, who admonish them by quoting pertinent sections of highway code or traffic law. As the drivers are then shown subsequently leaving real normal cyclists plenty of space, staying out of advanced stop zones, not left-hooking and not making brainless comments a voice-over makes some sort of point about not all cycling being on a track or a closed road in pursuit of a medal, some of it being for people just like the drivers to get to work, or the shops, or out to visit a tourist attraction or just to stay fit but that participation in non-medal-acquisition-based cycling is no less valid and worthy of being treated as a fellow human than achieving world records and high placings in medal tables.
Is this legacy or sustainability?
@wingpig, that's a whimsical and entertaining fantasy.
There's a simple formula which one can apply to popular perceptions of cycling in the UK/Australia/USA/Canada/etc.
Sports cyclists = Elite athletes = Winners
Utility cyclists = Can't afford a car = Losers
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sarah oldnall @ofaytb123
@TeamGB just overheard two little girls playing on their bikes outside one says to other "you be Laura Trott and I'll be Vicky Pendleton"
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"London 2012 Olympics: Calls for ‘fair share’ of Olympic legacy"
http://www.scotsman.com/news/london-2012-olympics-calls-for-fair-share-of-olympic-legacy-1-2461824
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Promises of legacy are not enough
Published on 12 August 2012
Many will agree with your call for the Olympic medals so superbly won by our athletes to inspire a sporting and physical activity revolution (Leader, August 5).
But are the politicians listening? Four years ago, Chris Hoy, with three gold medals won in Beijing, called for more cycling paths, separated from traffic. It is obvious that Scotland will not become an active nation until, once again, most of our children can walk or cycle to school in safety.
So here we are, four years later, with the brilliant Sir Chris delivering even more medals, but with nothing changed as a result of his Beijing clarion call. The Scottish Government still spends less than 1% of its transport budget on non-motorised transport, when our European neighbours spend well over 10%. The First Minister aspires to deliver a physical activity legacy from the 2014 Commonwealth Games for all citizens. No chance, unless he tells his Transport Minister to start building the paths we all need between our communities. There will be no nationwide legacy from 2014 unless we are all walking and cycling across Scotland, through town and countryside, without having to dodge out of the way of traffic.
Dave Morris
Director, Ramblers Scotland
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http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/comment/letters/promises-of-legacy-are-not-enough.18389014
You should all get behind the campaign for a network of Cycle Super Hoyways. That would be a truly Golden Legacy!
Still trying to work out the rollerskating nuns reference! :-s
"London 2012 Olympics: Sir Chris Hoy says Athens’ lessons must be learned"
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“After Athens there was a lot of interest in track cycling, and people were saying ‘I would love to try it – there’s a track at Meadowbank [in Edinburgh], can I get on?’ That was at the end of August, and they were told, ‘Well, the track closes in two weeks’ time for the winter.’
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Both the UK and Scottish governments see greater focus on sport in schools as key to building on the Games, creating success for the future, and improving the nation’s health.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We’re increasing investment in PE, our active schools network is a huge success, opening up five million opportunities for young people to try sports.”
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So more pressure on Active Schools Coordinators to deliver sport. Will responsibility for cycle training be allocated to other people?
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British Cycling (@BritishCycling)
17/08/2012 11:05
Cycling's #legacy is already underway says British Cycling President http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/bc20120817-about-bc-news-Cycling-s-legacy-is-already-well-underway-0 #getinvolved
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Olympic fever – Hundreds of aspiring Chris Hoys and Laura Trotts have signed up to taster sessions at the country’s velodromes. The National Cycling Centre’s velodrome in Manchester is getting 200 new enquiries a day compared with a daily average of 20 before the Games. Taster sessions are now fully booked for the next four months.
Facilities - With the opening of closed road circuits in cities including Blackpool and Middlesbrough, state-of-the- art velodromes in Bournemouth, and now London and Glasgow, a resurfaced Herne Hill, one of the world’s first permanent indoor BMX tracks in Manchester and an international BMX facility in Birmingham as a legacy from hosting the BMX World Championships, British Cycling has continually supported and invested in projects to offer cycling opportunities for all. The main focus for next year is to provide a velodrome in Derby, closed road circuits in York and Bath, mountain bike facilities in Manchester and Essex and a BMX track in Burgess Park, London.
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Meanwhile in Edinburgh...
By the way, if you haven't already emailed your councillors in support of this, you might want to:
Two years on it doesn't seem to have worked.
(UK) Gov consulting on why people are 'less active' - but only seem to be interested in "sport".
Though people are pointing that school sport has been cut (in England).
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sport minister Tracey Crouch admitted levels of involvement in sport had declined since the 2012 Olympic Games as she launched a new strategy to encourage more widespread participation.
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latest figures for Sport Wales, Sport Scotland and Sport Northern Ireland all show increases in participation levels, almost 250,000 people have stopped taking part in regular activity over the past six months in England.
A major shake-up of the way sport is funded across the UK will now be considered, with money potentially diverted away from national governing bodies (NGBs).
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