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Andy Dunn, the Sustrans Ride the Net coordinator for Scotland, is on a mercy mission. He needs to find a load of cyclists willing to take a Wednesday off work to help publicise the launch of the National Cycle Network.
"Some of the legs for the Longest Ride are short of riders at present.
In fact some have no-one signed up yet. The Longest Ride has the potential
to give a huge shot in the arm to the whole cycling movement. The media
coverage that day will be intense. So we are looking for people willing
to do one of the legs.
Some people ask why Sustrans put it on a Wednesday. The answer is (apart from it being the longest day) that TV coverage has a much better chance midweek away from the big sporting fixtures. So, yes, it does mean taking a day off work.
Most of the rides out of Glasgow are short of riders. The destinations
are Drymen, Bathgate, Abington, Ardrossan, Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr. We are looking also for some ride leaders and we need a photographer on each. We are hoping that all Glasgow legs will have 10 riders.
If anyone would like to rides from other centres, the departure towns in
central belt are Edinburgh, Perth, Callander, Pitlochry. Further afield
we need riders from Lockerbie, Newton Stewart, Lochgilphead, Fort William."
This is a clear cut case for Scottish bike shops getting on the blower to their customers to drum up support for these rides. Or perhaps staff could be spared to make up the numbers? With a lack of riders but a good chance of media coverage, it may make sense for bike shops to piggyback themselves on these rides as soon as possible.
01505 613141
www.ridethenet.co.uk
