John's Bikes at the Sky Ride 21/07/2010

John's Bikes Workshop team will be at the Sky ride, 25th July 2010, with a competition to find the fastest flat repair! Groups of people will be timed to find the fastest person to fix a puncture. Every participant will receive a cycle computer; the winner of each heat will receive a £25 John's Bikes voucher and the overall winner will get a £50 voucher.

Bath &North East Somerset Council is keen to get more local people to take part in this free family cycling focused event.

Sky Ride Bath will take in some of the city's most iconic landmarks and sites with entertainment taking place along the route. The Sky Ride route will open at 10am, with participants free to join in at any of the four main entertainment points along the route. The route takes in the spectacular Royal Crescent, then down past Royal Victoria Park onto the Upper Bristol Road, Locksbrook Road and Brassmill Lane. The route then turns onto Newbridge Road back up towards the Royal Crescent with a final loop around The Circus.

On the day, Gatorade will be handing out free refreshment at two points along the route and bike mechanics will be available to assist with any cycle checks. Entertainment and refreshments will be available at the event village situated in the Royal Crescent until the route re opens to traffic at 3pm. A Sky Ride hub will be available from Newbridge Park &Ride from which a route will be sign posted into the city centre to lead groups of cyclists to join the route.

Councillor Terry Gazzard, Bath &North East Somerset Council's  Cabinet Member for Tourism, Leisure &Culture (Conservative, Abbey) said:
"Bath &North East Somerset Council is already encouraging local people to get active through Council cycling initiatives such as Somer Valley Wheels and Avon Valley Wheels. It's also great to see local schools getting involved in cycling through the Sustrans Bike IT programme supported by the Council.
Sky Ride Bath promises to be a fantastic day out for all the family and we hope it will spur more people to get back on their bikes. It's a great chance take in the magnificent sites of the World Heritage City of Bath. If you haven't done so already, sign up!"

With over 5000 participants expected, the Council hopes that Sky Ride Bath will substantially increase visitor numbers to the City, with a positive knock on effect for city centre businesses and shops along the route.

Bath &North East Somerset Council's Cycling Champion, Councillor Roger Symonds said:
"The Sky Ride Bath will be a spectacular ride. The first Sky Rides last year in big cities like London, Manchester and Glasgow, were successful in getting many people back on their bikes, not only for a one off ride, but to continue cycling afterwards. That is also one of the aims for Sky Ride Bath. It will be up to the Council and partners in the area to make sure that the infrastructure to encourage an increase in cycling is put in place over the coming months and years. This is a great opportunity for mass participation, to increase cycling awareness and to promote cycling's positive image."

The Council is keen to make sure that there is good access to the City Centre with all council car parks remaining open on the day. The temporary traffic regulation order including details of planned road closures, temporary traffic regulation and parking suspensions are available on the Council's website at the Get Active page www.bathnes.gov.uk/getactive.
Letters have been sent to residents groups informing them of the proposed route.  Call Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41 or email transportation@bathnes.gov.uk if you require further information.
People interested in Sky Ride or cycling can visit www.goskyride.com for news, information and online registration for each of the Sky Ride events. More information about the Council's Somer Valley Wheels and Avon Valley Wheels which operate a programme of led rides for all abilities can be found at www.bathnes.gov.uk/getactive.

Combe Down Tunnel Open Day 10/07/2010

Saturday 17 July 2010

As its contribution to the Sustrans Connect2 celebrations for 2010, Wessex Water (the current owner of Combe Down Tunnel) has kindly allowed the Two Tunnels Group to hold an open day on Saturday 17 July 2010. Members of the public are invited to walk through the mile long tunnel which will form part of the new Two Tunnels Greenway, on which construction has now started. Our guided tours start from Tucking Mill Viaduct every half hour between 10am and 4pm. An hour should be allowed for the visit to which everyone is invited.

Full Route Walk

There will also be a full route walk. This will start at the junction of Bellotts Road and the Lower Bristol Road near the Royal Oak pub in Bath at 10am and will finish at the Hope and Anchor pub at Midford. The route follows the full Two Tunnels shared path. It is approximately 4 miles long and will pass over Devonshire Tunnel and through Combe Down Tunnel. About 3 hours should be allowed.

Booking

So that timeslots can be matched with visitors, it is requested that places are booked on our website at www.twotunnels.org.uk, where further details are available.

Health and Safety

Current health and safety requires hard hats (or something similar) to be worn, so if you have one please bring it: if not one will be provided for you. The tunnel surface is uneven so sensible shoes are recommended. And it’s dark inside, so please bring a torch.

Travel 

Limited car-parking is available. If you are able to use public transport or bike or walk, please do.

Charge 

The event is free, but a small voluntary contribution, suggested at £2 per person, to Wateraid or the Two Tunnels Project, would be appreciated.

Bath Cycle Summit 08/07/2010

John’s Bikes were the main sponsor of the recent Bath Cycle Summit, a meeting designed to further promote cycling in the great city of Bath.
 
Don Foster, who admits to keeping a folding bike in his shed (get your bike out more Don!), who chaired the meeting, is pictured with John and a TREK Allant.
 
The Allant is a bike similar to the ones featured in the film documentary ‘Beauty and the Bike’ that was shown at the meeting. The film focuses on the reasons why women do not ride more. John rode the bike to the meeting, arriving with a huge smile and quoting “It’s a great bike for the city!”.
 
At the meeting John spoke about the importance of completing the Two Tunnels project so it becomes an easily navigable, 14 mile, circular route around Bath.

Cars to be banned at Highgrove 02/04/2010

The Duchess of Cornwall was in Bath on Wednesday the 31st of Bath to order a fleet of of bikes for Highgrove including Electric Trek Ride+ and a fabulous Allant, however on seeing the custom Madone in the window she decided to save a little longer to buy a matching pair of 5 Series models.

We wish.....!

She was actually here to open the new Julian House charity shop next door, the largest charity chop in Bath. Spread over 2 floors it includes a huge book department downstairs. Julian House is a local charity catering for the homeless of Bath.

Spring is almost Sprung! 24/03/2010

Saturday 21st March was the first day of Spring, the clocks go forward to summer time on Saturday 28th and Easter is almost here. It's time to get ready for a bit of touring about the lanes and byways again. When it comes to cycletouring John of John's bikes has only one Golden Rule which if followed brings joy and happiness to all, it is NEVER GO BY AN OPEN TEAROOM. He is a big fan of the tea room and the English cafe (and the full English too).
We will be building a guide to local cafes, tea rooms and pubs which provide food, so if you know any please let us know. We will do some in depth investigations.

     Meanwhile here is a good one. It looks like a shed in a garden, that's because it is shed in a garden, but the Sharpham Tearoom is much more than that. It is situated just off the old railway path which runs from Glastonbury to Ascott and beyond. the Sharpham tea Room is an oasis of calm and tranquility in a brilliant area for cycling, flat, little traffic and different to almost anywhere in England.

      The Sharpham Tea Room does more than proper home-made teas and cakes, they do home made lunches, including a good vegetarian choice and even a roast on Sunday. There are seats inside and more outside in the garden. It's definitely got The John's Bikes seal of approval, give it a go.

James goes fully organic. 22/03/2010

John's Bikes staff in the shop and the workshop are now wearing their new 100% organic cotton T-shirts. Not only are they made from organic cotton, even the printing process is organic.

At present they are, like Henry Ford's early cars, only available in black.

They are in available in men's and women's sizes and are on sale in the shop at £24.99.

Work starts on the two tunnels project 11/03/2010

On Monday 8th March the Two Tunnels route was officially begun with a small ceremony prior to the digger being started up and going at it for the next few weeks. The whole project should be complete by December 2011 according to project manager              .
     
It is a very significant project for cycling in the Bath area, making cycling out of the city to the south possible for everybody, the old railway line was quite steep but is nothing compared to Wellsway or any of the other long and difficult hills leading out of Bath.

Soon we will have easy exits to the west along the Bath to Bristol path,to the east along the towpath of the Kennet and Avon canal to Bradford on Avon, Devizes and on to London and now the south. All we will need will be a chairlift up to the top of Lansdown.

Two Tunnels Gets The Go Ahead. 05/03/2010

Frank Thompson, chair of The Two Tunnels route praises all the people who sent e-mails to Cllr. Gerrish at BANES Council

“Thanks to all those that emailed Cllr Gerrish to give backing for BathNES Council to give the go-ahead for the Two Tunnels Project. As a result of your efforts the Council did give approval, which resulted in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding being signed between the Two Tunnels Group, Sustrans and BathNES Council on 19 February.

Picture of the signing ceremony (l to r; Paddy Tully Sustrans Project Manager, Roger Symonds, Council Cycling Champion, Frank Tompson Chair Two Tunnels Group, Gitte Dawson Chair Two Tunnels Steering Group, Adrian Clarke Council Transport Policy Manager)]
 
It is hoped that work will start week commencing 8 March with the excavation of Devonshire Tunnel following further Council approval of the conditions relating the original planning application.”
www.twotunnels.org.uk

Two Tunnels News, come and join in! 05/03/2010

Be at the start of the construction of this truly amaxing cycling project.

On Monday 8 March there will be a short ceremony to mark the start of work on the Two Tunnels Project, including a photo-call for local press. If you would like to witness the occasion you are very welcome to come along. We would also welcome your children who may take away a memory of the occasion which will stay with them in future years.  
 
Time: 4pm
Place: The Devonshire Tunnel portal at the Southern end of Linear park, towards Bloomfield Road, just below Hensley Road (look out for a big mechanical digger) (Please wear sensible footwear as the entrance can be a bit muddy)
 
The first job will be to start excavating the portal to Devonshire tunnel, which lies 7 metres below the surface, within the week.

Smoking brake pads cured by ace cycling detective Randy Stokke. 03/03/2010

A man goes into a bike shop..........
Allright, a really nice customer comes into John's Bikes Workshop with his 6 week old bike. It's Friday afternoon and he is looking forward to a bit of weekend cycling action but the brakes are squealing really badly. The workshop staff clean the rather grubby disc brakes including the pads and return the machine,pristine, to its owner.

Monday morning, the customer returns. The squealing has come back, but worse, on a decent bit of downhill, the front brake started smoking. Smoke on a bike ???

This is clearly a case for ace cycling detective and workshop manager, Randy Stokke. He puts the bike in the workstand, has a good look close-up at the front end. It's all very grubby again. Out comes the wheel and then the brake pads. Then, to the customer's amazement, Randy takes a good sniff at both parts.
" Do you have a large or medium sized diesel car?"he asks the customer
"Yes, actually I do" Randy passes the pads to the customer
"And do you carry this bike on a rack on the back of the car?
"Always" says the astonished man with the now cold but still smelly brake pads.

Problem solved: diesel cars emit oil and other particulates, probably more than petrol cars, and if you carry them on the back the chances are that, with disc brakes, one of the them will be near enough to the exhaust system to catch enough bits and pieces to make problems with disc braking systems. Cure the problem by covering up the brakes. Carrrier bags will do. Just secure them tight with tape. Does this happen with conventional brakes? If it does let us know.