It's pedals versus petrol

WHY would anyone want to cycle these days?

The roads in the major cities and in towns such as Bolton are almost universally clogged at rush hour, drivers often fail to look out for cyclists and side draught from huge lorries can almost suck them under the wheels.

Cycling, though, is good for your health fumes apart and, on a local level, it is becoming easier with the sprouting of cycle lanes all over the town.

On a national level, it is good for the country's carbon emissions and, on a global scale, it means fewer carbon emissions from cars, less damage to the ozone layer and, consequently, a reduction in global warming.

One of the country's top experts in the nation's cycling habits is University of Bolton lecturer Dr John Parkin, who has recently completed a survey of people cycling to work in all 8,000 council wards in Britain.

He found that cycling was more popular in flat areas such Cambridge but less common in towns like Bolton which is hilly and often wet.

In Cambridge, 28 per cent of people cycle to work once a day, whereas in Bolton, that figure is 1.35 per cent.

Next month, Dr Parkin will be organising a conference on the benefits of cycling to the leisure and tourism industries.

He said: "The personal health benefits of riding a bike every day are that regular use can knock 10 years off your age.

"We need to focus on the town centre and look to encourage more cyclists to access it. But we also need things like bike racks and employers to provide secure places to leave bikes.

"Another area which needs looking at is cycle proficiency training which the 20-somethings probably haven't been taught at school. Everyone needs to know how to behave on the roads."

Bolton Council, together with the Bolton Cycle Forum, has produced free cycle maps showing the existing on-road and off-road cycle routes in Bolton.

For the disabled and those with special needs, the Wheels For All Centre at Leverhulme Community Club can help, and local community bike enterprises include Tonge Bikes, a registered charity, and the Lancashire Road Club (LRC), which teaches children cycle skills and techniques at Bolton Arena to develop more confidence in cycling.

Also, a new Bolton Cycle Strategy and Action Plan was adopted in February this year, which provides a fresh focus to developing and promoting cycling in Bolton.

Bolton Council is overseeing the development of regional and national cycle networks in the area and the council, as part of a wider Valleys into Alleys scheme, has almost completed the central portion of Regional Route 80 which will run from Gilnow Lane, near the town centre, to the Middlebrook retail park, almost entirely off-road.

The council is currently working with Sustrans a charity which promotes the benefits of cycling to link this section into a wider route which will run through Rochdale, Bury, Bolton and Wigan.

At the same time, the council is also developing Regional Route 55 which will become part of the National Cycle Network a longer distance network of cycle routes.

Schools are also being encouraged to develop their own school travel plans and Bolton Primary Care Trust has bought a bike container, including cycles and equipment, to be located at the diabetes centre in Chorley Street.

Patients will be able to use the equipment and be taken on a gentle led cycle ride on off-road routes.

And here's how a cyclist and a driver fared on the same rush-hour journey into Bolton

Cycling saves time and money

COMMUTING to work in Bolton town centre from his home in Deane saves Nick Jackson both time and money.

To cycle along Wigan and Dean Road, into College Way and on to and across Bradshawgate a journey of two miles took 10 minutes. The opposite direction, being uphill, takes 15 to 20 minutes but it is still quicker than using his car.

Nick said: "There are the obvious drawbacks to cycling, of course. When it rains, you get wet and there's the issue of making sure you've got dry and presentable clothes to wear when you arrive at work.

"I'm lucky. It's downhill into Bolton town centre where I work and so I'm freewheeling most of the way in. This means I'm not hot and sweaty when I arrive for work. I usually carry my change of clothes in a rucksack.

"I wear a luminous jacket to make sure motorists see me I've nearly come a cropper several times with motorists almost knocking me over and my lights work for riding in the dark.

"I'm lucky that a secure space is provided at work to lock up my bike. Failing that, there are always railings and lamp-posts to attach it to. But it's important to use a robust locking device.

"The great thing is, I get home sooner on my bike even though its uphill quicker than I ever do in a car.

"The traffic in Wigan Road towards Deane is usually very heavy and I have had huge satisfaction in noticing that vehicles I have cycled past at the bottom of Deane Road, near the college, never pass me before I get to my house."

On a rush-hour road to nowhere

ANDREW Mosley thought he would have no trouble in beating Nick Jackson's 10-minute journey time as he travelled by car.

However, the journey along the same route took him several minutes longer then there was the additional walk from the car park to work.

Andrew said: "In my car, I have obvious advantages of being dry whatever the weather, and being able to play music or listen to the radio on the way into work.

"On the downside, despite a good start, I was three times slowed down by traffic lights.

"Also, perhaps because I was looking out for this sort of incident, I overtook and was subsequently overtaken by a man on a bike on two occasions. Extremely frustrating.

"As I approached the town centre, traffic slowed considerably, and it took me almost five minutes to travel the few hundred metres along Bradshawgate.

"On top of this, if I had been cycling, I could have simply dropped my bike off at work.

"But instead, I had to travel to the multi-storey car park in Bow Street, which, with an additional two sets of traffic lights to pass through, took another four minutes.

"Add the three-minute walk back to the office, and the entire journey was almost 20 minutes almost twice as long as Nick took on a bike."