Hello
Welcome to warmer weather, welcome to cycling in summer clothes, welcome to t-shirt sun tans and welcome to May's newsletter.
Here's the latest from the Cycling City project...
Biggest Bike Ride sets challenge for local employers
All employers in the West of England Partnership Area (Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol City, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire) are invited to join over 7000 riders in one of the UK’s biggest free, non-competitive cycling events.
The challenge is to have the highest number of employees taking part, relative to the size of the employer. It’s free to enter and you can sign up for the Business Challenge on the day of the event - after completing the ride, go to the certificates stand at the finish to have your name and employer recorded. Find out more here: www.betterbybike.info/biggest-bike-ride-sets-challenge-for-local-employers
Bristol Cycle Festival gathering momentum
Plans for  Bristol Cycle Festival were announced on Wednesday 5th May. That evening an enthusiastic cross-section of Bristol's cycle community packed themselves in 35 King Street to discuss ideas.
The event will be Bristol's first community organised bike festival, running between 11-26th September. You can help us decide what happens. Tell us about your ideas via the festival website - http://bristolcyclefestival.com
Already there is a host of great ideas, from pedal taxis to and from local festivals to Sustrans' rides celebrating 15 years of the National Cycle Network. Check out the emerging blog on the festival website for inspiriation.
Launched the same night were the Get in Gear Grants, aimed to support small events. Details, guidelines and application forms can be found on the website. For more info visit www.bristolcyclefestival.com
10,000th child Bikeability trained
 Bikeability cycle training classes are taught in the majority of primary and junior schools across Bristol and South Gloucestershire. This month will see a special prize for the 10,000th child on his or her Bikeability lesson.
If your child is taking part in a Bikeability lesson this month they might be cycling home with £200 of cycling vouchers!
All Abilities project
This month Cycling City signed a deal with Bristol City Council's Aiming High team and national cycle charity Cycling Projects to run a cycling project for disabled adults and children.
Cycling Projects will be setting up an all-inclusive cycling project, catering especially for young people with a range of physical and mental health difficulties. The project is set to be up and running by July.
Read more here.
Free breakfast if you cycle to work
 If you need an incentive to get on your bike then Bristol and South Gloucestershire's bike breakfasts might be just the ticket.
Cycle to College Green, Bristol on Wednesday 23 June (7.30-9.30am) or to the breakfast marquee on the Avon Ring Road (next to the MOD roundabout) on Wednesady 16 June (7.15-9.15am) and you'll be able to claim a FREE breakfast.
Hot bacon rolls, tasty pastries and a healthy fruit options will be on offer to anyone turning up with a bike.
The breakfasts are designed to encourage people who don't cycle regularly to give it a try. Help us spread the word by telling your friends and colleagues about the event.
It's Your Bristol
It's My Bristol is a new way to have your say about ideas for improving things in Bristol. The site launched in April and has already received lots of interesting ideas.
If you're a mountain biker with designs for a pump-track or you have a way of improving bike security in Bristol, please register and show your support. Get your friends to vote for your idea and you might have a chance at winning a share of £15,000 for the best ideas.
Log on to www.itsmybristol.org by 30 June, 2010 to submit your idea. Then sit back and start drumming up votes!
Bespoke bike project for teenage girls
Cycling City is funding two projects with Sustrans and Life Cycle UK to encourage more teenage girls to get on their bikes.
Sustrans' project is being delivered by Lucy Watson and initially focuses on Fairfield High and Redmaids, both Bike It schools.
Lucy will be spending 10 days in each school over the next four months, working in art, geography, english, science and PSE classes to encourage teenage girls to think more about cycling.
Topics such as route planning, staying fit and healthy and looking the part will all be covered. Plus, Lucy's 'pedal princesses' and 'bike belles' are even using their english lessons to write to designer Cath Kidston to ask for some new designs on the bicycle helmet!
On the blog
This month we covered Ben's Lands End to John O'Groats ride. Style over speed produced a lovely debate about different types of riding. We previewed the beautifully-shot Boikzmoind video about the fixed wheel scene in Bristol (see right) and Dan Coast told us how his Cycling City-funded work with British Cycling is going.
Elsewhere in Bristol...
New Electric bike store: The Bristol branch of The Electric Transport Shop recently opened its doors to customers. Based in Easton, the store is one of several in the city now specialising in electric bikes. Read more here.
 New bike magazine: The first edition of Boneshaker magazine hit the shelves across the country this month. Produced by volunteers at the Bristol Bike Project and featuring lots about other local projects, the publication is "a collection of articles, stories and anecdotes about people and projects doing great things with bicycles." Find out more, including where to get your copy at the Boneshaker web page.
Events: Fancy getting out on your bike this month? Check out our events calendar for all the latest things to do by bike. Don't forget Bristol's Biggest Bike Ride on Sunday 20th June or the regular Discover Bristol rides run by Bristol Cycling Campaign.
Get fixed: Dodgy brakes? Slipping gears? Sort out all your mechanical problems with Life Cycle UK's Bike Kitchen workshops or any of the other maintenance sessions taking place this month.
Until next month... happy cycling!
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Bristol and South Gloucestershire councils are leading on the Cycling City project, working with Bath & North East Somerset and North Somerset councils to promote cycling across the region.
