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The Cycling Scotland ‘Missing inActive’ campaign might have generated an awful lot more column inches, but none would have been positive.
Instead, the story’s focus remained on the 70 percent of bikes that ought to be dug out and used.
The Daily Record mentioned the campaign as did the Glasgow Evening Times. The Scotsman will be running a piece on the Cycling Scotland initiative in its annual cycling supplement due on 7th April.
The re-jigged press release is below. The pix were taken by pro-snapper Paul Dodds.
Searching for Scotland’s Cycles
Where are the seven from ten, then? Scottish Spring Cycle Search launched “Find your bike and find Scotland now that Spring is here”. With a staggering seventy percent (approx 1.4 million) of Scottish cycles seeing no meaningful use, Cycling Scotland mobilised a posse of cycle searchers in Glasgow today to seek out the other seven from ten. Marco Librizzi, a Commonwealth Games medallist for Scotland, led a formation of cyclists from all spokes of life, as they assembled in central Glasgow to launch the Scottish Spring Cycle Search – a reminder to us all that there may just be a valued two-wheeled friend left forgotten in your bikeshed. The formation lined up in a giant “70%” to demonstrate the point that little has changed since the national Bike Week initiative last year uncovered the startling statistic. The posse, made up of couriers, carriers, commuters, recreational and leisure cyclists, assembled by the River Kelvin in the west end of Glasgow, on the pleasant and recently upgraded route that takes cyclists right into the heart of the city. Marco Librizzi, who competed for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester last year, said that cycling was for everyone, and Lycra was not a necessity: “Cycling is as versatile as you need it to be, whether it is competitive, leisure, part of your job or just a more pleasant means to get to your destination. You don’t have to be a remarkable performer to do something remarkable on your cycle. Many of us, for example, could actually commute to work faster by bike, without having to overly exert ourselves.” Helping to promote cycling for all, the Scottish cycling team wears the logo of Cycling Scotland, the initiative designed to encourage us all to experience Scotland from the saddle. All today’s posse were kitted out in an exclusive Cycling Scotland tee-shirt – 100% cotton without a trace of Lycra… Neil Macfarlane, who administers the Cycling Scotland initiative, advocated the leisure opportunities that seven in ten potential cyclists were passing up. “With Spring here, Scotland really is an ideal leisure cycling destination. You don’t have to be a sprint champion like Marco Librizzi to enjoy cycling in Scotland. Our support of Scottish cycling helps promote both the sport and the pleasure of cycling for everyone. If you’re in the saddle every day, if you’re an occasional rider, or even if you’ve never considered cycling before, you could do no better than experience Scotland by cycle.” Michael Addiscott, of the Scottish Cycling Development Project, said that cycling opened up a whole new perspective on familiar places. “When your journey to work takes you through such pleasant surroundings as this, then you really do begin to see the value of cycling. I suspect that the majority of us – who work in Scotland’s big towns and cities – rarely have the chance to experience the green spaces all around us. Spend a few days each year commuting by bike and you’ll see the better side of your town, save time and money and keep in shape without having to go near a gym.”
Weblink. The easiest way to find out more about cycling in Scotland is to log on to http://www.cycling.visitscotland.com , pedal down to your nearest tourist information centre and ask for the new, multi-lingual Cycling Scotland brochure or phone the National Booking and Information Line on 0845 22 55 121.
