It’s not long until Pedal on Parliament 2014 on the 26 April. Will you be there to add your support for a cycling-friendly Scotland? I plan to attend with some of my CTC buddies and colleagues, as well as friends that love a good old cycle on their bike and thousands of other like-minded folk.
I attended for the first time last year and had a bit of an epiphany on the day. I’d never seen so many people on bikes together before. It felt, well, amazing. The mass of attendees was something spectacular and made me realise just how many different kinds of folk on bikes there are. Sounds silly, but I’d never appreciated just how versatile and loved the bicycle is.
I love this amateur snap I took last year, which illustrates just what I mean. The chap in the full lycra standing next to the couple in casuals, along with high-viz commuter style shows just a tiny cross-section of the thousands of participants from the event.
In 2013 the queue of cyclists stretched from Middle Meadow Walk up to Summerhall. Perhaps this year we’ll get twice as far!
What everyone has in common is a love for riding, for embracing this most humble but wonderful form of transport. Pedal on Parliament proved to me that cycling is a truly universal thing. It can touch everyone. And it should. So we should get together to tell the Scottish Parliament that, don’t you think?
Last year I did my PoP in a purple dress, red gloves and high-viz pink waterproof, complete with helmet and other safety faffage. So I was kinda going down the commuter stroke everyday utility avenue, with a total and complete lack of understanding around colour and how it can clash quite painfully on people’s eyes.
This year I might wear TWEED. Though it is a bit restrictive across the arms. Hmm. And I figure I probably won’t rock up in a helmet either. I’m sick of feeling like an “other” when the bike is involved. (But I suppose that’s for another blog post!)
Anyway. I digress. You should come. It will be fabulous. Lots of bikes, lots of people on bikes, lots of solidarity asking for more time and money and thought to be given to people on bikes. And I believe there will even be some bicycle celebs like Graeme Obree attending too (although when I took this photo last year I had no idea who he was, oops!).
So what is not to love about Pedal on Parliament? 🙂 I’ll see you there, yeah? Ding ding!
Claire Cycles 
And did you enjoy the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling? I see you were reading the programme in the photo above, we hope to have this years programme ready for PoP 2014.
Hi guys! Yes, the festival brochure was handed out to me at POP and I was completely engrossed. Sadly last year I didn’t make it along to the events for one reason or another (I can’t remember why, but there must have been a good reason – perhaps I was on holidays?), but this year I hope to be participating and maybe even leading a ride! 🙂
Such a shame, Juliana’s talk (which you are reading about in the photo) about her setting the first woman’s world record for cycling around the world, was truly inspiring!
Hope to see you this year, its going to be great!
Yes, absolutely. Looking forward to it already!