The Cycle Path

Duncan's Motivators

I need to tell you about my brother-in-law Pete who has inspired this trip through his own courage and fortitude. In May 2002 Pete was an RAF fireman and a retained member of the North Yorkshire Fire Brigade when he ran into the back of a broken down bus on his bicycle. As he was keeping fit for work (cycling 120 miles/week) and in training for a duathalon at the time he was doing about 30 mph and, although his cycle helmet probably saved his life, the force of the impact broke his neck and back.

The NHS Northern Spinal Injuries Unit, Middlesbrough; hundreds of kind-hearted firemen from all over the UK; family; friends; and, the redoubtable Back-Up Trust have all helped with Pete’s rehabilitation…but mostly his wife Ruth and Mossop the mad dog.

The Back-Up Trust is a charity (1072216) that works for all people disabled through spinal cord injuries giving them confidence to recover from the trauma and take on a new set of challenges. The Back-Up Trust uses places like the Lake District to get people up mountains, into canoes, sailing boats and abseiling down walls. It’s not for the faint hearted but it is inspirational. Please help me provide financial support for the Back-Up Trust. DONATE ONLINE via secure website: www.bmycharity.com/longslowandwiggly.

Sustrans has been building the National Cycle Network across Britain and Northern Ireland with funding from the National Lottery, local authorities and many other sponsors. It hopes to complete a 10,000 mile network by 2005. It is a registered charity (326650). Sustrans also runs a project to get children to cycle and walk to school. Essential to this is the ability to keep children safe from dangerous vehicular traffic. Hence the Safe Routes to Schools campaign which is now also tackling the issue of the health linkage between physical inactivity and obesity. Please help me provide financial support for Sustrans’ Safe Routes to Schools. Contact: www.sustrans.org.uk

Common Ground is the environmental campaigning group set up by Sue Clifford and Angela King to celebrate ‘local distinctiveness’. In the recent past they have re-invented May Day; created ‘Apple Day’ and brought the terms local and distinctive into the vocabulary of planning professionals. Their latest project is England-in-particular which seeks to open a dialogue with people about what enriches their lives and places. My journey, and a route A to Z will be logged by this, their website www.england-in-particular.info. See more about Common Ground's work at www.commonground.org.uk

The Slow City movement was invented by Paolo Saturnini, Mayor of Greve in Chianti and joined in 1999 by the mayors of Orvieto, Bra and Positano to cherish local traditions and culture whilst promoting a better quality of life for their citizens and visitors. ‘Slow Food’ was a spontaneous rejection of fast food by an Italian journalist, Carlo Petrini, outraged at plans to construct a McDonalds in Rome. Since 1986 it has grown to cover 50 countries and a membership of 70,000. Contact www.cittaslow.net or www.slowfood.com

The YHA and SYHA are the English and Scottish versions of the Youth Hostels movement providing affordable accommodation in stunning locations or interesting buildings whilst supporting green tourism and a sense of adventure for young and old alike. I will be using their buildings, friends’ houses, bunkbarns, and occasional B&Bs (and maybe a bivvy one night). Contact www.yha.org.uk or www.syha.org.uk

The Cyclists Touring Club represents the interests of anyone who wants to use a bicycle for work or to tour further afield. It is particularly active in the promotion of sustainable development through cycling. It also hosts the Cape Wrath Challenge set up by cycling journalist Rex Coley in 1949 as the Cape Wrath Fellowship and open to anyone who could prove they had cycled there. Contact www.ctc.org.uk

Transport 2000 is focussed on national transport policy with a speciality in benign forms of transport such as cycling and walking or public transport. T2000, as it is abbreviated, runs campaigns called ‘Tourism without Traffic’ and ‘Wise Moves’ (sustainable distribution of food)…we each travel 884 miles/year just to shop! Contact www.transport2000.org.uk

National Trust and National Trust for Scotland own, for public benefit, some of the nation’s most cherished landscapes and historic property. Their care of this vast estate ensures that we have access to unsullied vistas and places to breathe fresh air and enjoy ourselves. This work is paid for almost entirely by membership income. Contact www.nt.org.uk or www.nts.org.uk

UnLtd is shorthand for the UnLtd Millennium Awards Scheme. My UnLtd grant of £4000 is to promote the folding bicycle as a means of reducing traffic congestion; to link communities through green tourism and to celebrate ‘slowness’. Thanks to Cllr Terry Butcher of Isle of Wight Council and Cllr Steve Conway of Wokingham District Council for being my referees. Contact www.unltd.org.uk

The Isle of Wight enjoys a reputation as a holiday island already but is seeking to expand its tourism potential through new sports and year round activities. It has both Cycling and Walking Festivals and a Round Island route. Contact: www.islandbreaks.co.uk

Mackay Country Project exists to grow the potential of the north west corner of Sutherland in Scotland for sustainable community development through benign tourism, interpretation and a strong and active social culture. Durness and Cape Wrath lie within the project. Contact: www.mackaycountry.com