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MCC News, Issue 22, June / July 2002
BIKE WEEK JUNE 15th –22nd
It's Bike Week in Merton, and the Merton Cycling Campaign is urging people to give cycling a go - it's not that hard, and hey - you might even enjoy it! Merton Cycling Campaign is staging a number of events during Bike Week to highlight the benefits of cycling as a means of transport within the borough, including:
Sat 15th June
Merton Cycling Campaign information stall, Centre Court Shopping, Lower Mall, 11am - 4pm
Meet MCC members, find out what we do for cyclists in the borough, see the dynamic MCC display, collect your free cycle route maps, find out about the rides we organise and lots more!
Sunday 16th June
Wandle Wander Ride
Ride some or the whole length of the River Wandle from the mouth at Wandsworth to the source at Carshalton, choice of start points:
10.00 at Wandle Mouth, Wandsworth (by Waste Transfer Station)
11.30 at Merton Abbey Mills, off Merantun Way, Merton.
12.30 at The Watermeads, Sutton.
Contact ride leader Aitor for more info on 020 8540 5533
Wed 19th June
Richmond Park Sunset Ride
A gentle ride from central Wimbledon up over Wimbledon Common and into Richmond Park to watch the sunset, then a visit to local pub before return to start.
Starts at 8pm from outside Wimbledon station.
Contact ride leader Jean Curry for more info on 020 89423849
Friday 21st June
Barbecue and social evening
Come and enjoy a barbecue with members of the local cycling campaign group. Bring your bike, a bottle of something nice to drink, and something to slam on the barbie!
From 7.30pm, 88 Aylward Road, Merton Park SW20 Jenny: 020 8542 1246
Sat 22nd June
Merton Cycling Campaign information stall, Centre Court Shopping, Lower Mall, 11am - 4pm
Meet MCC members, find out what we do for cyclists in the borough, see the dynamic MCC display, collect your free cycle route maps, find out about the rides we organise and lots more!
Sat 22nd June
Dr Bike in Wimbledon Town Centre, 11am - 4pm
Visit the Dr Bike surgery outside the Tesco Metro store in The Broadway. bring your bike for an MOT and free postcoding service, get your bike checked over, advice and minor repairs by experienced cyclists.
Sunday 23rd June
Discover Merton Treasure Hunt Ride
Follow the clues along a short route along quiet roads and traffic-free cycle routes, all in Merton. Suitable for families and accompanied children, with prizes for winners and runners-up!
Start: 10.30am from outside the front of Wimbledon station, SW19
Ceri: 020 8542 9348
Dates for your diary
Sunday family rides, come and join us on gentle rides along attractive cycle routes in and around Merton.
All rides start at Wimbledon Station at 10.30 on:
Sunday 30th June
Sunday 28th July
Sunday 25th August
Sunday 29th September
Attached to this newletter……. you will find our Merton cycling survey. Please fill it out and post it back to us (freepost!) now, before it gets put aside and lost! And if you can help with distribution, e.g. to your neighbours and local friends (whether they cycle or not) please let us know how many copies to send you.
AGM news… The Merton Cycling Campaign have now adopted their own
constitution, approved accounts and elected officers, any member who would like a copy of the minutes or constitution contact Richard Evans (contact details on the bottom of this newletter).Wanted – front riders to ride tandems with people with visual impairment
The group has a number of tandems and run rides on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month – usually from the Guardian Centre, 67 Clarendon Road, Colliers Wood - out to Box Hill and other venues in Surrey. Come on a solo bike and try out a tandem for part of the ride. Phone Derek on 8540 3255 if you would like to try this.
NEW!!! NEW!!! Map centering on Wimbledon and extending to Balham, Kingston, Mitcham, Morden, New Malden, Roehampton and Tooting (map 14 in a series of 19 covering the whole of Greater London)
Launched by Ken Livingstone in Hyde Park on 23rd March 2002, these new high quality cycle route maps are now available free of charge. They are based on the A-Z map, and show signposted routes, traffic free routes, LCC advisory routes, proposed routes, toucan crossings and lots more...Map number 14 shows all of Merton plus substantial bits of surrounding boroughs and also an enlarged central London map. If you want to see cycle routes into central London, you would also need map 10.
To get hold of your free cycle route maps of Greater London, phone London Travel Information on (020) 7222 1234 or visit the LCC website at
"Can cycling solve congestion?"
Thursday 6th June, 6pm
Paula Smith of London Cycling Campaign speaks at an open meeting of
CILT - the Centre for Independent Transport Research in London. It's FREE for anyone to turn up but please let CILT know you're coming to help them plan refreshments:
Got two weeks to spare? Want to earn £500?
Merton Cycling Campaign has been awarded a lottery grant to do a survey of cyclists and non-cyclists in Merton. We have 10,000 survey forms to distribute across the borough, and £500 to pay someone to do it. We have lots of ideas where they should go, and we hope the person we employ to do the job will also have his / her own ideas.
Person specification
We are looking for a cyclist who will do this job by bike!
Ideally you will be a member of the London Cycling Campaign, so we know that you share our aims and objectives.
We are looking for quality distribution, not junk-mailing.
And we are looking for someone who can start as soon as possible.
If that sounds like you, please get in touch.
CAMPAIGNING ISSUES
We are campaigning for:
Manifesto for cycling - what we want from the GLA
a network of safe cycle routes in the borough - safe enough for use by an unaccompanied twelve year-old
lower speed limits, so that all roads become safe for cycling
radical improvements to Wimbledon town centre
radical improvements to Morden town centre
better air quality
stricter enforcement of road traffic laws.
the removal of rat-running through motor-traffic from Richmond Park, details here
the improvement of existing cycle routes, and in October 1998 completed a thorough survey.
an attended cycle parking facility - the first of its kind in Britain - at Wimbledon Station.
the early implementation of measures advocated in the government's July 1998 Integrated Transport White Paper - see our open letter to Roger Casale MP
We are campaigning against:
a new supermarket
compulsory helmet legislation
Over recent years MCC has developed a good relationship with Merton Council and we are now regularly consulted on transport planning and implementation issues.
We have put a great deal of effort into making sure that cycling is well represented in Merton's Local Transport Plan, upon which depends the amount of money the council gets for cycle schemes in the borough.
We give advice on issues ranging from design of the London Cycle Network and accident remedial schemes to location of cycle racks.
We work closely with the council to produce the Merton Cycling map, which shows all the cycle routes in the borough, both implemented and planned. It is available free from the council's libraries, bike shops, or MCC
We are also advising on improving the numbers and locations of cycle racks in the Borough - tell us where you would like to see a new rack.
We campaign on all issues that affect cycling in the borough - if you have an issue that you want us to raise, tell us about it!