In an increasingly passive world, we need to encourage everyone to exercise. There are easy ways that are free: walk, run, bike (at least once you have a bike).

Cycle/pedestrian path going nowhere

A good friend often comments on how amazing it is that people jump in their cars to drive to a building that they pay £40 per month for the pleasure of riding a stationary bike!

Cycling offers many benefits, not least better health, but also reducing our reliance on motor transport and the related congestion and parking problems.

But we have a problem.

Ely simply doesn’t have enough safe routes for cyclists – not simply my view but points raised by so many people that I have spoken to.  Many of the roads are narrow – too narrow to add cycle lanes. Far too many of the paths are too narrow to become shared use. Pathways that could be cycleways simply come to an end.

Imagine if you could safely cycle to any part of the City – to the planned cinemas, the planned leisure centre, the planned North Ely Park. Cycling to the shops and even cycling to work, or as I did, cycle to the train for work. Children could cycle to school, although failure to build schools as the City has grown now means children living one side of the city having to travel across the city.

More cycling could ease (not cure) a number of problems, so we should support every effort to increase the number of people cycling. We need cycleways and safe crossing points across the whole of the city. We need to be able to get to the villages surrounding Ely and we need to make sure that the City is safe for all cyclists.

Let’s hope that all new developments include good quality cycle routes.