Author name: Steven Edwards

For the last couple of years, IKEA retailers have been introducing electric trucks for home delivery services. Now, the IKEA franchisor is adding a more sustainable alternative home delivery transport solution: Solar-powered cargo bikes.
After evaluating the pilot, the worldwide IKEA franchisor (Inter IKEA Systems B.V.) now has decided to scale up and give all IKEA retailers around the world the possibility to add a more sustainable, accessible and cost-effective alternative to their home delivery fleet within their market.

With the number of cyclists running cameras on the rise and our Near Miss of the Day series now at well over 800 editions, it’s probably time for a chat about all things camera footage and what you should do if you capture a close pass or worse..

In fact, the head of road safety at Nextbase — the dash cam manufacturer that runs the National Dash Cam Safety Portal used by many police forces — last May revealed that submissions had increased by 25% since the Highway Code changes of January 2022.

Four thousand kilometres. Thirteen days. This is the record Kristina Rivers is attempting to break to be the fastest woman to cycle from Cottesloe Beach in Perth to Manly Beach in Sydney. Why does someone set such an ambitious goal? And what does it take to achieve it? Ellen Leabeater follows Kristina’s journey

It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of lock or preventive measure you use, or where you leave them, bikes – from a cheap, secondhand cycle to a top-of-the-range racer – can just go missing in an instant, with little recourse apart from claiming on insurance.

I won a Chopper in a colouring-in competition that was on the back page of the Dick Whittington on Ice programme in the winter of 1975-76. The famous clown Charlie Cairoli presented me with the bike during the interval of a subsequent showing of the pantomime at Wembley Empire Pool. He noticed my surname was Italian and said: “I’m a-glad-a you won,” which became a family catchphrase. I was king of the neighbourhood that year, and I’ve never properly thanked my sister for doing the actual colouring-in. Thanks, Anne. 
Pete Accini, 55, Brisbane, Australia

“Transport for London said they want every child and adult to have access to cycle training… Yet we don’t have the staff to deliver this promise

As industrial disputes continue to dominate the headlines in the early days of 2023 – with rail workers, bus drivers, nurses, National Highways workers, teachers, and ambulance staff all set for further walkouts in January – cycling instructors in London have become the latest group to consider strike action due to concerns over pay and working conditions amid the current cost of living crisis.
In October 2021, dozens of instructors cycled from Trafalgar Square to City Hall as part of a protest ride organised by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) to highlight Transport for London’s decision to slash the budget for cycle training in schools.

Flanders’ Copenhagen Plan had a goal of deploying 1,000 kilometers of additional bicycle paths but that number has been surpassed. The Flemish government had originally set aside 150 million euros for this ambitious endeavor. However, with 2,017 kilometers of projects submitted the local authorities and the provinces exceeded all expectations. Flemish Minister of Internal Administration, Bart Somers, decided to further increase the budget by 7 million euros. Together with the co-financing by provinces and cities and municipalities, this amounts to 412 million in new bicycle paths and bicycle highways.

The ambitions of the Copenhagen Plan have not only been met, but we have even revised them upwards.

Derby City Council has set itself the target of training all children to ride a bike at the 65 primary schools in its catchment area. The council’s Cycle Derby team has pledged that, with the support of teaching staff, no child will leave Year 6 unable to ride a bike

Cycle Derby’s efforts were noted after an Ofsted inspection at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary school. Ofsted inspectors visited the school while a cycle training session was taking place.  Cycle Derby’s Mark Smith told LTT:  “In the past, some schools who had experienced the same, had asked the Cycle Derby team to revisit when things were a little calmer. Staff at St Jo’s had a different approach and lauded the cycling offer and its impact on their children’s education.”
In Ofsted’s ‘Good’ report for the school last week, inspectors noted that “all the pupils learn to ride and are rightly proud of their achievements”.