Toucan Crossing

Not the most exciting of pictures, but it's the first time I've managed to capture somebody using this combined pedestrian and bicycle crossing on a bike. A lot of effort is being put into the promotion of cycling at the moment, but I don't think Bradford is ever going to match places like York and Oxford for cycle use, this place is just too hilly!

Biking is a Breeze

If you fancy a bit of fresh air and exercise but are not confident on a bike you could always try an organised local bike ride. Anna (on the right) and her colleague are waiting for women cyclists to join them on a nice and easy ride from Bradford University to Horton Park and back. These regular women specific rides are organised by 'Breeze' (part of British Cycling) with the aim of getting more people to take up cycling on a regular basis. I believe mixed rides are available under the 'Skyride' banner.

National Youth Circuit Race Championships - Sharp Bend

Another picture from the National Youth Circuit Race Championships on Sunday. This was a very tricky part of the course, a sharp bend after a fairly steep descent, this caught one or two of the riders out.

National Youth Circuit Race Championships - Lister Park

Bradford's Lister Park hosted the National Youth Circuit Race Championships on Sunday. There were around three hundred and fifty young cyclists competing in events throughout the day. I was quite impressed with the professional approach these young, and in some cases very young riders had, there were one or two incidents where riders came off their machines, picked themselves up and carried on racing. I was also impressed with the local Army Cadets who gave up their time to act as stewards on the circuit. On a personal note, I found out that cycle races are quite difficult to photograph. The nice sharp pictures I took looked, well, nice and sharp, but totally lifeless. The pictures showing subject movement had a lot more life in them but looked, well, a bit blurry. On balance, I think I prefer the blurry ones, like the one above.

Bradford Butcher Bikers in Bingley

     I came across these two cyclists at the five rise locks in Bingley this morning. They are both butchers who took up cycling on retirement.  Phillip (on the left) had a shop in Thackley, which is on the outskirts of Bradford, and Paul had a shop in nearby Idle Village. They had ridden along the canal to Silsden, done a circuit of some of the green lanes around there before stopping off for pork pies on the return journey.  At a guess I'd say that's a round trip of maybe twenty five miles, and that's probably more than my son or daughter could manage!

Toucan Crossings

     There are a number of these crossings appearing in the town centre, they allow cyclists to ride across the road alongside pedestrians, I believe they are called Toucan crossings.  I'm all for cycling, I'm a cyclist myself, but I'm not sure mixing cyclists with pedestrians is such a good idea, I always get off and push my bike in pedestrian areas, it may add a few minutes to my journey but at least I'm not going to injure anyone.

Cycle Fest 2010 - Lister Park

This is Jimmy Biondi giving an impressive display of twisting, spinning and balancing on his BMX bike at the Bradford Cycle Fest 2010.  Jimmy travelled all the way from Strasbourg in North Eastern France to give this performance in Lister Park.