newsnet 30.12.05

The weekly newsletter for members of CTC

 

News

 

Sign of The Times

Arguments about cycling that run and run are the stock and trade of the newspaper letters page, and The Times is no different. Earlier this month, we felt that an opinion piece in the paper exaggerated the benefits of cycle helmets: ‘Every morning my husband leaves the house, his cycle helmet swinging by its strap from his handlebars… No amount of beseeching will make him share my vision of his skull squished like a watermelon under an articulated lorry on Tower Bridge.’ Our published response elicited a number sharp retorts, which in turn resulted in six well-balanced replies.

 

New Yorkers Bike the Strike

The Big Apple is not known as a Mecca for cyclists, but a train strike earlier this month resulted in thousands of commuters taking to the city streets by bike for the first time. Unfortunately, a number of office managers were unable or unwilling to relax rules about bringing bicycles into their buildings, and as a result many were unable to park their bikes. Read more. If you are one of a number of people that cycle to your workplace, and you would like to foster a good relationship with your employer, you might like to find out about setting up a Bicycle User Group (BUG). Read more on our website here .

 

Car design re-cycling

A design of communal-use, electric car for the urban environment that stacks like a shopping trolley when not in use appears to cleverly blur the distinction between public and private transport, but is it missing the point? Mobile phone technology has allowed pool-bicycle schemes to evolve to a point where a scheme in Lyons has over 200,000 subscribers, and a similar project, OyBike, is enjoying success in London.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Products

 

Not happy with what you got for Christmas? Why not treat yourself to something from the CTC shop? There are many bargains, including £150 off the price of a 2005 Dawes Galaxy here. Remember that every time you buy you help raise money for our work to promote cycling.

 

The CTC shop can be found at www.ctcshop.com or feel free to give us a call on 0870 873 0069

 

CTC Campaigns

 

Mr Blair’s New Year Resolutions number 10

A coalition of environmental groups, including CTC, has handed Tony Blair a list of 10 New Year resolutions that it hopes will stop the Government effectively ignoring transport in its work on climate change. Among the changes called for are better conditions for cycling, and a reduction in speed limits on some roads. CTC’s Roger Geffen said: “Cycling is the ideal form of transport for many local trips- particularly the two-thirds of all journeys which are less than 5 miles long. There is huge potential in creating safe cycling conditions and encouraging it as a healthy and sustainable alternative to the car.” Read more here

 

Green Guide

The Green Guide is the most comprehensive directory of eco-friendly, natural, ethical and organic goods and services, containing everything the consumer & business user needs for a sustainable lifestyle & workplace. There are more than 12,000 entries in the database, of which over 9,400 are available online now, with more added each week. You can search the database here: www.greenguidedev.co.uk/ds

 

Member benefit

 

The CTC credit card can save you money and helps raise valuable funds for CTC’s campaigning and cycling development work - all at no extra cost to you. Benefits include 0% p.a. on balance transfers guaranteed for 6 months, no annual fee, 15.9% APR (variable) and up to 59 days free credit on purchases. Phone 0800 776262 and quote ref. MOH5 to request an application form.

 

Receiving this newsletter

 

SUBSCRIBE: If you have been sent this newsletter by a friend and would like to receive it directly, simply send your membership number (or post code) and email address to publicity@...

 

UNSUBSCRIBE: If you would no longer like to receive the newsletter, send the word unsubscribe and your membership number in the subject box of an email to membership@... 

 

If you would like to comment on this newsletter, or any other aspect of CTC, please visit the message board at www.ctc.org.uk

 

CTC will not disclose the information you provided whilst joining CTC or using CTC’s support services to any other person or organisation, except for the purpose of providing you with CTC membership services and membership benefits available to you as a member of CTC. If you do not want us to contact you about CTC membership benefits, products or services, or if you have any query about the use we make of your data, please write to the Data Controller at Cyclists’ Touring Club, Cotterell House, 69 Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 3HS.

 

________________________________________________________________________
This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet on behalf of CTC, the UK's National Cyclists Organisation . The
service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive
anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit:
http://www.star.net.uk
________________________________________________________________________