This is the first blog item for quite some time. 2020 has been a year like no other and activities like cycling and blogging have taken a back seat to other priorities.
The effects of Coronavirus are evident throughout the many different forms of media and it has affected us all in some way. Thoughts go to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives to the virus in particular. I hope a thorough enquiry is made into the initial response to the pandemic, particularly in relation to the strategies of those countries who appear to have managed to suppress the spread of the virus to a significantly greater extent than here in the UK.
Whilst there are encouraging signs that the rate of infection is decreasing there is still a sense of caution, although for a minority it is debatable whether lockdown ever applied anyway. Hopefully we can avoid a second wave.
For cycling, walking and general outdoor exercise the situation has led to a noticeable increase in activity. Clearly when all other options have been restricted and an hour of outdoor exercise was allowed and the weather was nice, people took full advantage of that hour ( or several more in many cases).
The great thing about cycling and walking is that it does allow for social distancing, perhaps not as much as it used to but it is good to see people take steps they wouldn’t normally do. Hopefully this will encourage people to do so on a regular basis and discover the cycle network but in a safe way, within guidelines.
From a volunteering point of view all group activities were suspended at the start of lockdown and only in the last few days have Sustrans advised we can now volunteer individually on our sections.
Despite not being able to have a network of volunteers on the ground Sustrans have been busy lobbying for changes in cycling infrastructure as always but also involved in promoting schemes such as cycles for key workers. For more information click here.
There have been a lot of changes to cycling infrastructure during lockdown, particularly in cities and towns as temporary pop-up cycle lanes have become a common feature. Money has also been made available for walking and cycling schemes although many schemes were already in a bidding process or had been approved.
As we get more information locally, we’ll share on these pages. We will be having some online sessions about the Paths for Everyone project too.
In the mean time there is a detailed consultation regarding cycling and walking schemes in Staffordshire which I’m very pleased to see and share. This is part of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). Part of the National Forest area is within Staffordshire and Burton on Trent is a key part of the consultation. I encourage anyone who has cycled in Burton in particular to have a look at the consultation. The consultation only runs until 7th July. To read the information around the planned implementation of the scheme click here.
As we get back into cycling and walking the network we’ll be updating with more upbeat articles about our activities. I’ve also done a quick update of some of the links on the pages on the blog as some were a bit out of date. I’ve not had the chance to update those in the many posts as yet.
Hope you all enjoy a decent summer of cycling in the National Forest but above all, Stay Safe.
