BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news

The Department of Transport will fund the 2003 Bike Week with a grant of £56 000 but from 2004 onwards, Bike Week has to be self-financing because "the cycling industry derives considerable benefit from Bike Week and there is no reason why it should not make a contribution in return for those benefits." Of course, the car industry derives considerable benefit from the sort of juicy new road schemes announced yesterday, and funded by the public purse, but the irony will be lost on a government furiously back pedalling when it comes to its famous integrated transport pledges

This year’s race will see Specialized join Karrimor as the title sponsors, bringing the prize fund for amateurs up to £8000. Other sponsors of the race include Extra and Science in Sport.

NewcastleGateshead - home of the Baltic art venue, the 'eyelid' Millennium cycle/pedestrian bridge, and the 52m high Angel of the North sculpture - is bidding to become the European Capital of Culture in 2008. A world class line-up of events, venues and initiatives makes up the bid, and the latest addition to the equation is a fleet of hire bikes to operate along a network of green corridors, boosting the presence of bicycles in the region.

Friends of the Earth, Transport 2000 and many local campaign groups are furious that the government this afternoon gave the go-ahead for a £5.5bn package of road widening measures, yet offered little new for public transport schemes and cycle/pedestrian initiatives (although, as a smokescreen, cycling made it into the first paragraph of the transport secretary's speech to parliament this afternoon).

BEN as in Benevolant Fund, the motor and allied trade's charity (and the bicycle trade is one of those 'allied' trades).